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Last night, Parsons The New School for Design's annual Fashion Benefit honored its main men: Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler. The design duo, and Parsons alumni, spoke at the benefit along with fellow honoree Bonnie Brooks, President and CEO of the Hudson's Bay Company.

The major event, attended by the usual fashion crowd and academia authorities, supported a good cause, too. The 65th year of the annual benefit toasted graduating students with awards for Children's, Menswear, and Womenswear Designer of the Year. The function also raised money for prospective students' scholarships at the academic institution.

Joel Towers, Executive Dean of Parsons, chatted with us about the philanthropic party. He said "There's no better cause than of scholarships because that's the next generation of designers. Innovation comes from diversity. The scholarship money makes it possible for us to bring in students from anywhere based on their talent and not their ability to pay."

Moments before receiving his honorary award from famed fashion journalist Cathy Horyn, McCollough talked to us about being honored, his sass-free critiques, and Proenza Schouler's futuristic insight.

What was the most valuable thing you learned at Parsons?

I learned a lot at Parsons. They teach you how to put together a collection, draw, drape, and do everything on a technical level. Of course, they also have incredible access to the industry. They have so many connections and made so many introductions for us. It was actually at this event, 11 years ago, that started our career. We met Peter Arnold, who was the director of the CFDA at the time. He introduced us to Barneys, who bought out senior year collection. It can be a powerful event for a lot of the students here, today. Who knows what could come out of it?

Does it feel surreal to be honored by the school?

It felt more surreal yesterday, actually. We went up to the school to see the senior theses. We gave the top 15 students critiques. One of them will become Designer of the Year. We went around and they showed us the collections and talked about their inspirations. That really took us back because we were once there. We experienced that whole thing and I remember being so nervous at the time. Narciso Rodriguez came and we were so starstruck by him. It's weird to be on the other side of it. We're not cutthroat, mean critics whatsoever. We didn't get too sassy. I don't think anyone left with hurt feelings.

What was your favorite class when you were a student?

I loved a lot of the work we did outside of Parsons. We had so much homework. We did so many projects due once a week, which we did a full week before outside of class. We pulled all-nighters nearly every other day just trying to get those projects done. I have so many memories of being at home drawing all the time, doing fabric boards, and being introduced to fashion.

Your recent collections have been largely inspired by the Internet and Tumblr culture . Where will you find your next inspiration?

We're a little schizophrenic. Who knows? We like there to be a connection between past, present, and future collections. It's so hard to say what's going to inspire us and what path we're going to go down. It's so organic, instinctual, and of-the-moment for us. We listen to what our instincts are and just go with it. You'll see. We're already working on Spring [2014]. I feel like it's already right around the corner.

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