Genesee Community College is offering an outstanding opportunity for those interested in fashion and strategic marketing to hear first-hand accounts of what goes on behind the runway curtains when John Tiffany delivers a lecture on Wednesday, October 24, 2012.

Tiffany is an author, lecturer and fashion historian with unrivaled insights from the glamorous and high-stakes world of fashion. His expertise comes from learning first-hand about the iconic events that propel fashion onto the center stage from Eleanor Lambert, the legendary publicist, credited with putting American fashion on the world stage. Tiffany’s book Eleanor Lambert: Still Here details her passion for promoting designers she considered truly gifted, including Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Karan and Christian Dior, and how her efforts catapulted them into the fashion stratosphere. Lambert raised the visibility of the industry by creating Fashion Week, the Coty Awards, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the CFDA Awards, and the International Best-Dressed List. She was also instrumental in launching the Museum of Modern Art, the American Art Dealers Association, the National Council on the Arts, and the precursor to what is now Sotheby’s USA.

Eleanor Lambert and John A. Tiffany

With more than 20 years of experience in the fashion industry, Tiffany will discuss event production, strategic marketing and public relations. His lecture will take place in room T119 of the Conable Technology Building on the Batavia campus at 1:30 p.m. on October 24 and is free and open to the public.

“John Tiffany is a brilliant storyteller and an authority on his mentor, Eleanor Lambert, commonly referred to as The Empress of Fashion,” said Jessie Barth, a member of GCC’s fashion advisory committee. “John’s great gift is in the spirited telling of the history of American fashion through the life of the pioneering woman who fashioned it into an industry, and we are very fortunate to be able to host his visit!”