The Academy of Art University’s annual graduation fashion show Friday night proved to be yet another stylishly social affair. Under the Bryant Park-style tent at the university’s Brannan Street building, local gadabouts (Willie Brown, Sonya Molodetskaya, Joy Bianchi), fashion gurus (John Capizzi of Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue's Michael Fink) and celebrity designers and honorees (Ralph Rucci and James Galanos) gathered for a display of some of the city’s most promising emerging talent. “This doesn’t happen anywhere else, not even in Europe,” said Rucci. “Half the town is here!” To a pumping soundtrack, graduating students from the Academy’s school of fashion presented their stellar work, including 17 menswear and women’s wear collections, many of which incorporated avant-garde metalwork, intricate knitwear and original textile prints. Here are a few standouts from the catwalk:


A look from BFA fashion design student Katie Lares' collection

And the two students who won internships with American couturier Ralph Rucci:


Looks from BFA fashion design student Ronnie E. Escalante Jr.


Looks from BFA fashion design student Alyssa Prentice


All images courtesy of Randy Brooke