This summer, The Museum at FIT received accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition for a museum. Only 4.5 percent of America’s 17,500 museums, and less than 1 percent of college or university museums, are accredited. The committee praised MFIT for having “one of the most important collections of its type” and being “truly a teaching museum in all senses of the word.” Much more is happening at the museum this fall. Its online collections, featuring more than 600 objects and growing, were recently relaunched at fashionmuseum.fitnyc.edu. A book, published by Taschen, is in the works, including more than 500 fashions from the museum’s collection, plus photographs from past exhibitions. Ivy Style, a show of the menswear worn on Ivy League campuses early in the 20th century—and an examination of how it has informed men’s fashion—is on display through January 5. Fashion & Technology, which examines how technological advancements have influenced fashion over the past 250 years, runs from December 4, 2012 to May 8, 2013.
This year, Elle magazine held its third annual Fashion Next design competition at FIT. The contest challenged students from the classes of 2012 and 2013 to create a collection inspired by New York City. After a team of FIT faculty and Elle staffers led sessions to help students perfect their garments, 18 finalists presented their work on the runway during New York Fashion Week. More than a dozen celebrity judges, such as Christina Ricci, Alexis Bittar, and Elle’s creative director Joe Zee, Advertising and Marketing Communications ’92, chose two winners, both from Korea. Tae Kyung Kim ’13 won the $25,000 Elle Fashion Next Design Award, and Jongsuk Park ’13 took home the $25,000 Maybelline New York Design Visionary Award. Yvonne Luong won the $10,000 People’s Choice Award from Elle.com readers. Their looks are featured in Elle ’s December issue. Kim’s collection represents her growing appreciation for the city, as her garments brightened the longer she stayed in New York. “The use of different materials mixed with the knits created a textural story,” Zee said. “This is not your grandma’s knitting!” Park’s looks, which bring a menswear aesthetic to women’s wear, were partly inspired by the rust still visible in the city as new construction replaces old. Zee loved the “delicate and deliberate asymmetry of each piece,” and called the combined effect “stunning and directional.”
Larry Busacca/Getty Images
Students Compete for Elle Prize
Kim alongside her winning garment, a knit blue-and-black dress with a leather back and a sheer organza cover.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
what’s happening on campus
MFIT Earns Accreditation
Park and his winning garment, a brown leather cropped jacket with a gray shirt and black harem pant.
Eileen Costa/MFIT
Winning FMM Students Visit Chico’s HQ
See this madras jacket by Chipp, circa 1970, and other Ivy League attire, including a 1920s raccoon coat and classic Weejuns, in The Museum at FIT's exhibition Ivy Style.
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hue | fall/winter 2012
This spring, Chico’s sponsored the capstone course for bachelor’s degree students in the Fashion Merchandising Management program. Student teams were asked to create a new merchandising strategy for the brand. The winning team of Diana Barbosa, Danielle Hiller, Woosung Jang, and Katie Martel, in Assistant Professor Catherine Geib’s class, devised a mobile checkout system to improve customer service and sales. Each student won $1,000 and a trip to Chico’s corporate headquarters in Fort Myers, FL, to meet the executive team. From left, the students in the center are Martel, Hiller, and Barbosa.