A teacher at Parsons the New School for Design in New York has accused celebrity designers - particularly Rihanna - of launching clothing lines that take attention away from new, young fashion talent.

John Kyle Farmer, a professor at the prestigious college, spoke out against the craze for celebrity design collaborations at a panel discussion on Thursday.

'Ree-kauna? Ree-hanna? The singer? Oh, right, Rihanna,' he began.

'[She] put her name on this River Island collection and completely took all the press of London Fashion Week away from all these new, young people and I find that really painful.'

Mr Farmer, who got his master's in fashion at London's Royal College of Art, explained that with the ******* of celebrity clothing lines recently, up-and-coming designers tend to get overlooked.
'I think that's one of the problems that's getting in the way of getting this new talent out,' he said.

'I think people do know good things when they see it, but sometimes there's so much going out that sometimes people don't go, "Okay, is that good? Is that not good?"'

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Rihanna getting people pressed not only with her music but also her clothing line.

and his opinion matters why?

He sounds single and thirsty.

Wow that was really dumb tbh , Y He so P R Ss D ?

So wait. Do we blame Rihanna for doing what she wants to do by releasing a clothing line (which there is nothing wrong with) or the people who he claims give her the attention because of it? If people are interested in it because of Rihanna's involvement then that's their issue, not Rihanna's.

Can we expect people to stop doing this out of courtesy of the "new talent"? It's a competitive industry. You don't give leeway to newbies. They need to make it work.

Exactly what I thought.

But, um, Styled to Rock was Rihanna's show focused on getting unknown designers some publicity?

He just mad his students are flopping even after graduating at the supposedly prestigious college he's teaching.

This is how show biz works though, what is he bitching about?

This is exactly why his statement is so senseless

I kind of agree but then again the fashion industry is very competitive.

Wait I did not see this. That professor does not know what he's talking about.

London fashion week isn't really that big, the only huge brand that shows there is Burberry but most buyers/magazines will skipt it for Milan or Paris.

Thanks for sharing your opinion. Next!

How does him making a negative statement about one of your faves automatically make him pressed? I think he has a perfectly valid point. Obviously the press are gonna wanna focus on a line which has Rihanna's name attached to it (regardless of how involved she was in the design) and so new, talented designers are gonna have the focus taken from them.

Doesn't mean he's pressed. It's a valid point he's making.

"Mr Farmer, who got his master's in fashion at London's Royal College of Art"

Matters because he know what he's talking about.

.

Jealousy.

It's all about money, and Rihanna can attract hundreds of thousands of customers. Silly American, stay out of our ****.

I agree with him.