Art X Fashion, opening February 18th, looks at the entangled and shifting relationship between fine art and fashion – typically considered a "decorative" or "applied" art. This exhibition invites viewers to consider the much-asked question, "Is fashion art?" through historic and contemporary examples. Learn more.
Beyond Utility, curated by graduate students in the Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice MA program in collaboration with The Museum at FIT, examines the perpetual transformation of utilitarian design within and beyond the fashion system. Opens February 25th. Learn more.
Currently on view in the lobby is The Legacy 2026 Exhibition: African Fashion Heritage - Eight African Countries. In celebration of Black History Month, this 3D virtual fashion exhibition presents 28 digital versions of traditional African ensembles as well as contemporary looks by fashion designers from eight African countries: Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, and South Africa. Rendered in 3D and contextualized through the stories of cultural trailblazers whose lives and legacies have shaped global audiences, these works honor the richness, innovation, and enduring influence of African fashion while preserving its cultural heritage for future generations. Learn More
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Winter has had no shortage of snow, cold days, and long nights. As we bundle up, we're looking forward to the coming spring and our Fashion Culture programs! From book talks on the Regency era and Karl Lagerfeld's vision of ancient Greece to lunchtime workshops on mending and pressed flowers, The Museum at FIT has much to offer this semester. There will also be exhibition-related programming for Art X Fashion and Beyond Utility, including the Art X Fashion Symposium and other lectures.
See below for what's coming up first, and visit our website for the full listing of programs!
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VILCEK AWARDEE: TANYA MELENDEZ-ESCALANTE
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The Vilcek Foundation celebrates its 20th year of awarding immigrants and cultural leaders. This year, Tanya Meléndez-Escalante, senior curator of education, received the $100,000 Vilcek Prize for Fashion & Culture for her work as an arts administrator and fashion curator at MFIT where she develops meaningful exhibitions and programs that reveal the hidden diversity of talent from across Latin America. Growing up in Mexico City, Meléndez-Escalante moved to the United States to complete her MA in Museum Studies: Costume and Textiles from the Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY. She has created numerous educational programs built on international collaboration and inclusivity. Read more about the award in WWD.
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| OBJECT OF THE MONTH
"There is today the distinct possibility that we Americans will end up dressed like a bunch of robots...we shall have enormous masses of similar things to dress in, all very cheap. Dressing like a robot is easy in one way... We wouldn't have to make up our minds about clothes." – Elizabeth Hawes, It's Still Spinach (1954) Learn more about fashion in our Online Collections.
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DRESS DREAMS DESIRE SURVEY
Did you visit Dress, Dreams,
and Desire: Fashion and Psychoanalysis in person? We'd love to hear from you! Tell us what your favorite object was or how you think we're doing? Take the survey today!
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PODCAST
Virgil Abloh didn't just join the fashion industry; he crashed the gates. In this must-listen conversation, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Robin Givhan breaks down her new book, Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh, with MFIT's Dr. Elizabeth Way. Listen today!
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FEATURED VIDEO
#BLACKHISTORYMONTH
Alphonso McClendon gives a talk on "Fashioning Black Culture: Beyond the Archive" at the "New Directions in Fashion Research Symposium" held on April 5, 2024. Watch on Youtube
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For the full listings for Spring 2026 Fashion Culture Public Programs, VISIT OUR WEBSITE.
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Image: Wales Bonner X Kerry James Marshall, T-shirt reproducing Lost Boys: AKA Black Sonny (1993), cotton jersey, spring 2023, England, museum purchase, 2022.51.1
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Art X Fashion Talk and Tour
Wednesday, February 25, 11 am | FREE
Art X Fashion explores the relationship between the worlds of Euro-American fine art and fashion from the late 18th century to the present. Featuring more than 140 objects, drawn mostly from MFIT's permanent collection, the exhibition includes styles by Elsa Schiaparelli, Isabel Toledo, Martin Margiela, and Grace Wales Bonner, as well as textile designs created by Sonia Delaunay, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso. Musicians will perform works selected in dialogue with the exhibition. Organized in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic.
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The Regency Era: Fashion or Fantasy
Thursday, February 26, 5:30 pm | FREE
FIT professor Dr. Hilary Davidson, chair of FIT's Fashion and Textile Studies department, uses her latest book, A Guide to Regency Dress: from Corsets and Breeches to Bonnets and Muslins, to explore the intersections between historic fashion of the early 19th century and its fantasy fictions on screen and the runway. In conversation with FIT faculty member Summer Anne Lee, Davidson looks at the enduring popularity of the Regency period today, from Jane Austen adaptations to Bridgerton and Regencycore. A book signing follows the event.
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| Image: A Guide to Regency Dress: from Corsets and Breeches to Bonnets and Muslins. Yale University Press, 2025.
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Image: Cheap and Chic by Moschino, jacket, acetate and rayon blend, spring 1991, Italy, gift of Michelle Perr, 2019.72.3
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Person Place Thing: Art X Fashion
Wednesday, March 4, 5:30 pm | FREE
Join Randy Cohen and Dr. Elizabeth Way, MFIT curator of costume and accessories, for a live podcast recording of their conversation about the exhibition Art X Fashion. Cohen’s podcast Person Place Thing is an interview show based on the idea that people are most captivating when they talk not about themselves but rather about something they love. For this episode, Way will discuss three particularly meaningful objects featured in the exhibition and how they reflect the complex relationship between fashion and fine art.
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CURRENT | THE LEGACY 2026 EXHIBITION:
AFRICAN FASHION HERITAGE - EIGHT AFRICAN COUNTRIES
February 2 – 16, 2026
Museum Lobby
Professor Jennifer Lee, Ph.D. (Fashion Business Management, FIT) presents a 3D virtual fashion exhibition of 28 looks of both traditional African ensembles and contemporary fashion designs from eight African countries. Learn more.
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UPCOMING | ART X FASHION
February 18 – April 19, 2026
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Art X Fashion will look at the entangled and shifting relationship between fine art and fashion – typically considered a "decorative" or "applied" art. Organized by Dr. Elizabeth Way, curator of costume and accessories, this exhibition will feature 140 garments, textiles, and accessories from MFIT's permanent collection, and we invite viewers to consider the much-asked question, "Is fashion art?" through historic and contemporary examples. Learn more.
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UPCOMING | BEYOND UTILITY
February 25 – March 22, 2026
Museum Lobby
Beyond Utility, curated by graduate students in the MA Fashion and Textile Studies program in collaboration with The Museum at FIT, examines the transformation of utilitarian garments within and beyond the fashion system, pairing archetypal workwear, military dress, and craft traditions with their later reinterpretations. The exhibition will showcase never-before-displayed objects from the MFIT Study Collection and the FTS Graduate Study Collection. Learn more.
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UPCOMING | DOLL DRESSING
September 16, 2026 – January 4, 2027
Special Exhibitions Gallery
This exhibition will explore the ways in which dolls have influenced fashion and dressed appearance. Doll dressing takes many forms, ranging from the appeal of youthful baby doll dresses, to the 2D quality of "paper doll" looks, to the influence of creepy dolls on fashion. It encompasses clothing and accessories, hair and makeup, and even movement and gestures that take their cue from dolls. Learn more.
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// MEET US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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CALLIE O'CONNOR PUBLISHES ARTICLE ON FIT'S TEXTILE STUDIES IN LEADING CONSERVATION JOURNAL
Callie O'Connor, assistant conservator at The Museum at FIT, is lead author of a feature from the American Institute of Conservation's newsletter examining four decades of conservation education and illuminating why FIT's textile studies program still stands apart. The program was built to train both curators and conservators before institutions bothered to draw hard lines between them.
GIORGIO ARMANI'S FASHION HERITAGE AND CULTURAL HERITAGE PRESERVATION
Giorgio Armani had safeguarding his fashion legacy in mind as he prepared for his brand's 50th anniversary last year. Armani positioned his work not merely as luxury or vintage fashion, but as cultural heritage. However, rather than relying on the cultural property law in Italy to define the importance of his work after the fact, Armani collaborated with major museums and established the Giorgio Armani Foundation, constructing a private yet public-facing framework for preservation, interpretation, and control.
THE RISE OF THE FASHION ARCHIVE
While archives were once the preserve of universities, museums, and official brand historians, now almost anyone with an Instagram following can try to turn their closet of vintage treasures into one.
AMERICAN MENSWEAR DESIGNER JEFFREY BANKS IS FINALLY SHARING HIS STORY AND STARTING A NEW CHAPTER
Menswear designer Jeffrey Banks recounts his more than 50 years in fashion, from working for Ralph Lauren to launching his own label, in his new memoir Storyteller: Tales from a Fashion Insider. Banks is a friend of MFIT, having co-organized our 2018 exhibition Norell: Dean of American Fashion with MFIT’s prior deputy director Patricia Mears.
CLOTHES GETTING EATEN BY MOTHS? HERE'S WHAT TO DO
With winter comes wool and with wool comes moths. So what can you do to keep them away or get rid of them entirely?
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GET SOCIAL
#ArtXFashionMFIT #BeyondUtilityMFIT
#MuseumAtFIT
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HEADER IMAGE CREDIT
Detail of a silk twill hand-smocked two-piece dress, c. 1887, possibly United Kingdom, museum purchase, 2005.81.1
EXHIBITIONS HEADER IMAGE CREDIT
William Morris, red cotton velveteen textile, c. 1877, United Kingdom, museum purchase, P90.98.1
The exhibitions and programs of The Museum at FIT are supported in part by
the generosity of the members of the Couture Council.
If you enjoy our Fashion Culture programs help support them with a small donation.
For press information about any of our exhibitions or programs,
please contact the Office of Communications and External Relations, press [at] fitnyc.edu
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