A Q&A with the winner of the IMM x With Love Halston student design contest 2022

Recently, nonprofit organisation With Love Halston held a Halston inspired event and student fashion design contest in collaboration with art and design school Istituto Marangoni Miami (IMM).

The event took place at the IMM campus in Miami, Florida on November 28, and took its inspiration from New York nightclub Studio 54, frequented by Halston.

With Love Halston was founded by the late American fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick’s niece, Lesley Frowick, to celebrate and honour his fashion legacy.

With Love Halston x IMM student design contest

IMM and With Love Halston held a student design contest. Student Ryan Anthony Hamilton won the competition with his Halston inspired jumpsuit with splatter paint design.

The other finalists were Marissa Mercado, Maria Cacciatore, Jose Angel Costa, Paola Pueyo, Vanessa Lubeigt, Valentina Arenas, Camila Balleste, Veronica Scutaro and Nicole Leave.

For the contest, students had to come up with a Halston inspired design by creating inspiration boards, paper sketches, and fabric swatches.

Designs were to be shown with front and back views and one of the requirements was the use of Ultrasuede, the material synonymous with Halston's work.

Q&A with winner Ryan Anthony Hamilton

FashionUnited was able to ask Ryan Anthony Hamilton, student and winner of the 2022 contest a few questions over email about what it was like to merge his own vision with Halston’s and his hopes for the future of the fashion industry.

FashionUnited: Why did you participate in the With Love Halston Student Design Contest?

I knew about Halston prior to the competition being announced. Knowing his style and how he designed, I felt that I could reinterpret his style in a contemporary way. I felt very passionate about Halston, I loved his vision and his story.

What did you want to evoke with the jumpsuit design you submitted?

To me it was a fusion between functionality and aesthetic, which I felt represented Halston design philosophy of something being very visually appealing while also being completely functional.

How was it to combine your own vision with Halston’s?

Being able to design something that represented Halston but also had my own vision was not difficult; he was a minimalist but I wanted to add a bit of fun and juvenility.

Certain aspects of it were a bit left-field, like the jumpsuit being unisex and it not being as glamorous as one would expect from Halston, but in the end, it was kind of glamorous in its own regard.

What was the most challenging part of the contest and how did you overcome it?

There was never really a challenge for me to be honest. Getting the pattern for the jumpsuit correct in order to achieve the best fit was a bit tricky but it never hindered anything during the journey.

What is an aspect of the fashion industry that you want to help improve or have a positive impact on?

As much as I love womenswear and I've been doing that since I began designing, I would love to venture into menswear. I think it is emerging pretty rapidly. For me, I want to step up the drama and make it more fun. They're kind of a tough crowd since they tend to stick with the same silhouette but I would at least like to try.

Would you like to use the vision you used to create the jumpsuit on a larger scale, for a collection for instance?

The jumpsuit I feel is only the beginning, it could totally become a full collection.