Legends and luminaries

Legends and luminaries

Celebrated leaders in fashion and film

Year by year, quarter by quarter, SCAD hosts a vast array of spectacular special guests — big names who are icons in their industries and whose expertise and wisdom are invaluable to SCAD students. From master classes with stars of the stage and silver screen at the Savannah Film Festival and SCAD aTVfest to one-on-one critiques with superstar fashion designers through the Style Lab mentorship program and SCADstyle, SCAD students are afforded a first-person account of how to create, work and succeed in today’s demanding global marketplace.

With a roster of visitors that includes Tom Ford International chairman Domenico De Sole; television stars Connie Britton, Terrence Howard and Mindy Kaling; fashion journalists Anne Slowey and Kate Lanphear; Oscar-winners Alexander Payne, Geoffrey Fletcher and Jeremy Irons; and fashion wunderkinds Joseph Altuzarra and Alexander Wang, countless moments to stoke the fires of creativity await each and every SCAD student.

Isabel and Ruben Toledo

Cuban-American fashion designers Recipients of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2009

Oscar de la Renta

Dominican-born fashion designer Recipient of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2001 SCAD FASH inaugural exhibition, 2015

Diane von Furstenberg

Belgian-born fashion designer Recipient of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2010

"A fashion show is a bit of theater … creative people expressing themselves with a dress or suit or sweater … we experience their creative voices."

—  Marc Jacobs, American fashion designer

Miuccia Prada

Italian fashion designer Recipient of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2003

Tom Ford

American fashion designer Recipient of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2005

"SCAD is an amazing university because it encourages students to design their own careers and express their own visions. As a continuation of this mission, I am confident that SCAD FASH will inspire students, and all those who visit, to inspire others in turn. It’s all about creating that cycle of empowerment."

—  Diane von Furstenberg, Belgian-born fashion designer

"SCAD is the most extraordinary design university … it nurtures its students, and the road ahead of them is paved with a strong foundation that is confident, strong and empowered."

—  Ralph Rucci, American fashion designer

Ralph Rucci

American fashion designer Recipient of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012 SCAD Museum of Art exhibition, 2012

Manolo Blahnik

Spanish fashion designer Recipient of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2011 SCAD Museum of Art exhibition, 2011

Vera Wang

American fashion designer Recipient of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2006

"SCAD students get so much attention and support, which is a rare thing. I feel like I am watching their dreams come true, and it makes me feel wonderful."

—  Bibhu Mohapatra

Francisco Costa

Brazilian fashion designer Recipient of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2013

SCAD Museum of Art exhibition, 2013

Stephen Burrows

American fashion designer Recipient of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2014 SCAD Museum of Art exhibition, 2014

"If we can encourage all students to approach the world with design thinking and design intelligence the way SCAD students do, the world would be a better place."

—  Neil Blumenthal, cofounder and co-CEO, Warby Parker

"Your college years should be so creative … just inventive and off-the-wall. At SCAD, students are able to invent their materials, their fabrications and their prints. I have never seen a school so inspiring."

— Betsey Johnson, American fashion designer

Vivienne Westwood

British fashion designer Recipient of the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2015 SCAD Museum of Art exhibition, 2015

Betsey Johnson

American fashion designer SCADstyle guest, 2013