Savannah College Of Art And Design’s Starry Night

My best purpose is to allow creative expression to flourish,” said Russell Simmons as he accepted his SCAD Étoile Award, alongside Robin Givhan, Cornelia Guest, costume designer William Ivey Long, and NYC planning director Amanda Burden last night at Manhattan’s James Cohan Gallery. The evening was the New York kickoff for SCAD Style, two months of events at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia—including exhibitions and lectures by Rita Konig, Lela Rose, Simon Doonan, and Badgley Mischka, among others—which culminates with a student fashion show and the bestowing of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award. This year’s award will go to Ruben and Isabel Toledo. (John Galliano was last year’s recipient.) In the crowd last night were Yigal Azrouël and Lars Nilsson, both SCAD mentors. The former, a self-taught designer, is getting a kick out of the gig as well as appreciating the irony of teaching at a fashion school, as he never attended one. “You learn something about yourself,” he said of the experience. What lessons is Nilsson imparting to his students? “To stay focused and never give up,” said the Swede, who is working on a furniture line in Paris and keeping mum on future fashion plans. If the sparkle in his eye is any indication, there might soon be news to report on that front.