Lifestyle // Women's
“Dressed” Documents Nary Manivong’s Path to Nahm
Designer Nary Manivong
“You probably won’t make it, because most people don’t.” That’s how Simon Collins, dean of fashion at Parsons, The New School for Design, describes the plight of aspiring fashion designers in New York. One designer to defy the odds also overcame childhood abandonment and homelessness to pursue his ultimate dream of showing his collection at New York Fashion Week. Nary Manivong, the self-taught designer, is today designing Nahm, the collection of contemporary dresses he launched with Ally Hilfiger, daughter of Tommy Hilfiger. (Nahm is an acronym of the partners’ initials.)
Nahm, Spring 2012
Manivong’s incredible journey unfolds onscreen in the documentary Dressed. Recently the film made its Dallas premiere at the historic Texas Theatre where fashion enthusiasts and aspiring designers from El Centro School of Fashion Design gathered to view the screening and personally ask questions of Manivong and Hilfiger.
The film’s raw accounts and commentary from leading fashion industry experts like Lynn Yaeger, legendary fashion writer, and Mickey Boardman, editorial director of Paper Magazine, put the overall message into perspective. Perhaps commenter Simon Doonan said it best when he quoted Andy Warhol: “Success is a job in New York.”
Neiman Marcus, which sponsored the screening, has picked up Nahm for Spring.
Shop Nahm at select Neiman Marcus stores.
