© Patrick McMullan

For the second year in a row, Parsons The New School for Design and retail gallery Début have teamed up to showcase collections of recent design graduates, including Robert Fitzsimmons (2009 Womenswear Designer of the Year), Casey Kresler, Shawn Reddy, Jon Pagels, Jonathan Cohen, Desiree Neman, Fabiola Arias, Gigi Burris, and Hanna Haein Lee. Début will devote its entire space to make available the graduating designers’ collections until June 21st–for everyone who wants to get their hands on the next Marc, Jason, or Alex before the rest of the world does. To kick off the week, a cocktail reception was held at the store to honor the young talents and their first big collections. And there was plenty to admire: all Reddy’s garments could be worn upside down or inside out, Arias’ columns were made out of thousands of tiny fabric squares, and Fitzsimmons’ focused on architectural draping. “It’s a strong group,” summed up Début owner Lisa Weiss. “I have high hopes for all of them!” THE DETAILS: Début, 298 Mulberry Street, between Houston and Bleecker.