Emma Joan Foley, a midwesterner, won Supima’s 17th Annual Design Competition following a joint display during New York Fashion Week on Thursday evening.
Foley was born in Minneapolis, a twin city with St. Paul separated by the Mississippi River, and graduated from The New School, Parsons School of Design in New York. Foley’s collection, like her city, was a combination of two crucial elements: a strong awareness of the potential of employing Supima cotton and her bold inspiration, medieval armor and 17th-century court attire.

The Supima Annual Design Competition, held every year, is a one-of-a-kind prize in which six graduate students with bachelor’s degrees from prominent American design schools compete.
Each designer presented five looks made of denim, shirting, jersey, twill, or velveteen American supima, a cashmere cotton farmed by approximately 300 farmers in the southwest United States. Each young star will perform in a collaborative event inside the Prince George Ballroom in midtown Manhattan.
“I am very grateful. I had a wonderful time working on this collection. It was an honor to extend my thesis from Parsons and maintain that influence. Thank you very much,” Foley said, beaming.
If anything, this was a vintage competition and one of the best Supima displays of all time. Henry Hawk of the Rhode Island School of Design impressed as well, focusing on workwear and riffing on late 19th-century San Francisco, indicating that he is bound for a successful career in hipster sportswear.

A meeting of Catholic schooling and churches pervaded Jules Gourley’s display at the School of Art Institute in Chicago, whose gothic shapes, tulip sleeves, and brutalist cutting made a dramatic message.
Marina Lamphier, a Drexel University graduate, followed with a natty nautical display featuring navy flags and insignia reminiscent of her days sailing in the Great Lakes. And a relevant one, given that the latest American Cup began last week in Barcelona.
Mina Piao of the Fashion Institute of Technology expressed a wish to address the demons of one’s upbringing through clothing, citing the “toxicity” of career achievement demanded of all second-generation Americans. Her carefully crafted voluminous gowns, embellished with creative flaws, created a genuine effect.
Finally, Lizzy Truit of Kent State University, who comes from a family farm in Alabama, demonstrated romantic fashion using quilting techniques.
After voting, the winner received a $10,000 award from a committee chaired by designer Phillip Lim, who will perform his own display in the meatpacking area Sunday.
“After this show, the future of fashion seems very assured,” exclaimed Lim, who spoke to the crowd alongside the prize’s driving force, Buxton Midyette, Supima Vice President of Marketing and Promotions.
Lim presided over an expert panel that included Fern Mallis, Avril Graham, Mickey Boardman, Freya Drohan, Gilles Dennis, Lida Lockwood, and yours truly.