Newswise — Students from Parsons School of Design, a division of New School University, and Columbia Business School will unveil future design ideas to some of the world's finest producers of luxury goods on Monday, December 8th, at the Parsons Auditorium. This presentation marks the 10 Year Anniversary of this interdisciplinary course, a project funded since its beginning by the Colbert Foundation (a U.S. not-for-profit organization promoting French-American cultural exchange through educational programs).

The presentations will mark the culmination of a semester long course, where students interact with executives, design staff, and visit corporate headquarters, in order to answer a series of assignments given by this year's participating companies: Baccarat, Chanel, Christian Dior, Hermès, Krug, and Lalique. Working in teams of seven, Parsons students of Product Design, Communication Design, Design & Management, and Columbia Business School MBA students join forces to come up with some truly innovative product design and business suggestions.

"This type of collaboration between the US and France is the first of its kind and the longest running, providing a unique intersection between academia and industry. The presentations by students are extremely valuable for their market perceptions," explained Arie Kopelman and Alain Boucheron, Vice Chairmen of the Foundation.

Richard Yelle, one of the project faculty members, added, "The design students at Parsons get real-life interaction with top-level executives and learn how business decisions affect design. This sort of learning is unique and absolutely critical to their development as designers."

At last year's presentation, students came up with a new travel apparel line for Chanel, a new métier to expand the Hermès collection, and a collectible lighting system for Bernardaud.

Comité Colbert was founded in 1954 and is made up of about 70 extraordinary French companies in the areas such as fashion, wine, publishing, home decor, crystal, porcelain, leather goods, jewelry, hotels, restaurants, and fragrances. Visit http://a.parsons.edu/~comitecolbert/Fall02/ for information on last year's presentation.Visit http://www.comitecolbert.com for more information on Comité Colbert.

The Members of Comité ColbertBACCARAT 1764 "¢ BERLUTI 1895 "¢ BERNARDAUD 1863 "¢ CHAMPAGNE BOLLINGER 1829 "¢ BOUCHERON 1858 "¢ BREGUET 1775 "¢ BUSSIÈRE 1924 "¢ CARON 1904 "¢ CELINE 1945 "¢ CHANEL 1912 "¢ PARFUMS CHANEL 1924 "¢ CHÂTEAU CHEVAL BLANC 1832 "¢ CHÂTEAU LAFITE-ROTHSCHILD 1855 "¢ CHÂTEAU D'YQUEM 1593 "¢ CHRISTIAN DIOR 1947 "¢ PARFUMS CHRISTIAN DIOR 1948 "¢ CHRISTOFLE 1830 "¢ D. PORTHAULT 1924 "¢ DALLOYAU 1802 "¢ DAUM 1878 "¢ ERCUIS 1867 "¢ FAÏENCERIES DE GIEN 1821 "¢ FLAMMARION BEAUX LIVRES 1875 "¢ GIVENCHY 1952 "¢ PARFUMS GIVENCHY 1957 "¢ GUERLAIN 1828 "¢ HÉDIARD 1854 "¢ HERMÈS 1837 "¢ PARFUMS HERMÈS 1948 "¢ HÔTEL DE CRILLON 1909 "¢ HÔTEL LE BRISTOL 1924 "¢ HÔTEL MARTINEZ 1929 "¢ HÔTEL MEURICE 1835 "¢ HÔTEL PLAZA ATHÉNÉE 1911 "¢ HÔTEL RITZ 1898 "¢ JEAN PATOU 1925 "¢ JEANNE LANVIN 1889 "¢ JOHN LOBB 1899 "¢ CHAMPAGNE KRUG 1843 "¢ LA CHEMISE LACOSTE 1933 "¢ LALIQUE 1910 "¢ LANCÔME 1935 "¢ CHAMPAGNE LAURENT-PERRIER 1812 "¢ LENÔTRE 1957 "¢ LEONARD 1943 "¢ LONGCHAMP 1948 "¢ LOUIS VUITTON 1854 "¢ LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT 1977 "¢ MAUBOUSSIN 1827 "¢ MELLERIO dits MELLER 1613 "¢ OUSTAU DE BAUMANIÈRE 1945 "¢ PIERRE BALMAIN 1945 "¢ PIERRE FREY 1935 "¢ PUIFORCAT 1820 "¢ COGNAC RÉMY MARTIN 1724 "¢ ROBERT HAVILAND & C. PARLON 1924 "¢ ROCHAS 1925 "¢ CHAMPAGNE RUINART 1729 "¢ CRISTAL SAINT-LOUIS 1586 "¢ SOULEÏADO 1780 "¢ S.T. DUPONT 1872 "¢ TAILLEVENT 1946 "¢ CHAMPAGNE VEUVE CLICQUOT PONSARDIN 1772 "¢ YVES DELORME 1845 "¢ YVES SAINT LAURENT 1962 "¢ PARFUMS YVES SAINT LAURENT 1962 "¢ Membres Associés : ACADÉMIE DE FRANCE A ROME - VILLA MÉDICIS 1666 "¢ AIR FRANCE 1933 "¢ CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES 1661 "¢ COMÉDIE-FRANÇAISE 1680 "¢ LA DEMEURE HISTORIQUE 1924 "¢ MANUFACTURE NATIONALE DE SÈVRES 1738 "¢ LA MONNAIE DE PARIS 864 "¢ L'OPÉRA NATIONAL DE PARIS 1669 "¢ ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE FRANCE/ADEMMA 1925

About Parsons School of DesignParsons School of Design, a division of New School University, is one of the largest degree-granting colleges of art and design in the nation. Currently enrolled are about 2,400 undergraduate students, 500 graduate students, and 2,500 non-degree students from all 50 of the United States and from 60 countries. Parsons' main campuses are located in New York City's Greenwich Village and Midtown Manhattan. In addition, Parsons has affiliate schools in Paris, France; Kanazawa, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; and at Altos de Chavon in the Dominican Republic. Undergraduate degrees are offered in Architectural Design, Communication Design, Design and Management, Design and Technology, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Illustration, Interior Design, Photography, Product Design. Graduate degrees are granted in Architecture, Design and Technology, Lighting Design, Painting and Sculpture, Photography, and the History of Decorative Arts.

Scheduled to attend: Hosted by:Victor Luis, President & ceo, Baccarat, Inc.Charles-Henri Cousin, President, Bernardaud, naKurt Eckert, u.s. Ambassador & Director, Champagne KrugBarbara Cirkva, Senior Vice President, Fashion, Chanel, Inc.Marla Sabo, President, Christian Dior, Inc.Robert Chavez, President & ceo, Hermès of ParisDaniel Barth, President & ceo, Lalique, naMarti Carroll, President & ceo, Longchamp usa