FIT’s 1971 retrospective on Hollywood costume and fashion designer Gilbert Adrian was not an exhibition — it was a live runway show. Organized to raise money for student scholarships, it featured more than 200 garments borrowed from private lenders and institutions across the US. Upon hearing about the event, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer unearthed movie costumes that Adrian […]

The Fashion Institute of Technology has organized this retrospective exhibition of the genius who was known in his lifetime as the King of Fashion – the man who liberated women’s bodies by abolishing the corset – whose imaginative creations were the ruin of a stodgy society – who was the father of modern dressmaking. In […]

Three Women: Madeleine Vionnet, Claire McCardell, and Rei Kawakubo is an examination of construction and style in three great designers of the twentieth century. Each designer, in a a separate era of the century, provided a new concept and vision of dress. They reformulate and reform dress. All three offer clothing design as a conceptual […]

Fashion and Surrealism was one of FIT’s most popular and influential exhibitions. “The Surrealist preoccupation with the body . . . lends itself to fashion, said Richard Martin, adding: “Fashion is where Surrealism still lives.” Key Surrealist tropes included bodies and parts of bodies, as well as mannequins and chess pieces, often in a state […]

The curators of the exhibition, Richard Martin & Harold Koda, had organized its contents according to 12 types: the Cowboy, Hunter Sportsman, Man About Town, Businessman, Rebel, Dandy, Worker, Joe College, Military Man, & the Jock & the Nerd. According to Martin & Koda, the Jock and the Nerd are “roles that have arisen to […]

Halston: Absolute Modernism is an argument for Halston’s conception of fashion as essential form. His reductive approach to shape corresponds to Minimalism in its fundamental geometry and its intelligent and sensual preoccupation with primary form. This exhibition does not include Halston’s millinery design nor is it a retrospective; instead, it begins with an examination of […]

Recycling is becoming part of our daily routine, and consumers are enthusiastically buying products made from recycled materials. Hello Again! Recycling for the Real World presents a selection of remarkable products made from recycled and reused materials. Practical, appealing, and often amusing, these products are not only marketable but inspire further creativity. Recycling cannot be […]

With more than 100 garments and accessories dating from the nine­teenth century to present day, China Chic: East Meets West traced the extraordinary evolution of Chinese dress and its profound influence on modern western fashion. Curated by Dr. Valerie Steele, the museum’s chief curator, the exhibition was organized according to categories of traditional Chinese clothing […]

The corset was one of the sexiest items of clothing in the history of fashion — and one of the most controversial. Like the high-heeled shoe, it is viewed as both an icon of erotic femininity and an instrument of women’s oppression. The Museum at FIT examined the social and cultural significance of the corset […]

The first major exhibition in the US to explore the importance of London as a fashion capital throughout the 20th century. With more than 75 clothing ensembles on view, the exhibition featured a range of works, from cutting-edge designs by Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan to London’s’ contribution to street-style with examples of punk and […]

The couturière Lucile (Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon, 1863-1935) believed she could transform her fashion models and clients into stars – the first It Girls. Realized in romantic and dramatic named creations such as “The Birth of Venus,” the Lucile style bridged the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, high society and the demi-monde, the artistry of the […]

Madame Alix Grès (1903-1993), was one of the twentieth century’s most brilliant couturiers. During a career that spanned six decades, beginning around 1930 and lasting until 1988, she developed unique construction techniques that allowed her to craft garments of exquisite sculptural beauty. Because Grès draped each garment by hand and eschewed novel, thematic collections, her […]

Gothic is an epithet that evokes images of death, destruction, and decay. Such negative connotations have made the gothic an ideal symbol of rebellion for a wide range of cultural outsiders. From its origins in 18th century gothic literature of terror to its contemporary manifestations in vampire literature and cinema, the gothic has embraced the […]

Fashion designed and made in the United States over the past one-hundred years has attained worldwide influence due in large part to the creation and popularization of sportswear, denim, and mass marketing. Yet, America has also produced artistic and innovative clothing that utilized the craft of dressmaking. American Beauty examined the relationship between the philosophy […]

Exhibition Webpage Each stage of fashion production has environmental consequences. Designers who use, produce, and promote ethical and sustainable products are working to diminish fashion’s harmful impact on the environment. Their work is being supported by conscientious consumers—Julie Gilhart, eco-advocate and fashion director of Barneys New York, has observed that people now “want things that […]

Japan Fashion Now explored how Japanese fashion has evolved in recent years. Japanese fashion today embraces not only the cerebral, avant-garde looks associated with the first wave of Japanese design in the 1980s, but also a range of subcultural and youth-oriented styles, such as the Elegant Gothic Lolita style and the Cosplay phenomenon. In addition, […]

The exhibition Daphne Guinness featured approximately 100 garments and accessories from Guinness’ personal collection, including designs from the likes of Alexander McQueen, Azzedine Alaa, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, John Galliano for Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, and Valentino. Guinness’ own designs were also on display. The exhibition was co-curated by Daphne […]

Ivy Style celebrated one of the most enduring clothing styles of the 20th century. While viewed today as a classic form of dressing, in its heyday, Ivy style—or the Ivy League look—was actually so cutting-edge that it went on to inform the evolution of menswear for decades. This exhibition examined the genesis of Ivy style […]

Exhibition Webpage Shoe obsession is not a new phenomenon, but it has heightened in recent years, as extraordinary designer shoes with extremely high heels have become increasingly central to fashion. Why are we so obsessed with shoes? And why are shoes so important now? Our obsession with shoes is “over-determined” (as psychiatrists would say), because […]

Curated by Fred Dennis, senior curator of costume, and Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT, with exhibition design by award-winning architect Joel Sanders, the exhibition featured approximately 100 ensembles spanning more than a century of fashion. Organized in roughly chronological order, the exhibition explored the history of modern fashion through […]

Despite a dire financial and political environment, the 1930s was a period of great stylistic achievement and technical innovation in design. In contrast to the preceding Edwardian era – in which stiff, structured clothes dominated high fashion 1930s garments were softer, minimally ornamented, elegantly proportioned, and reflected the streamlined art moderne aesthetic. Presenting both men’s […]

Exhibition Webpage “If mine are copied, so much the better, ideas are made to be communicated.” Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel Throughout fashion history, copying—whether authorized or unauthorized—has caused confusion about what should be considered an authentic designer fashion. In recent years especially, the demand for designer garments and accessories has made unscrupulous copying and counterfeiting a […]

Yves Saint Laurent and Halston were the most famous and influential fashion designers of the 1970s. Drawing inspiration from menswear, foreign cultures, and historical periods, Saint Laurent and Halston crafted a new, chic, and modern way of dressing that became synonymous with the sexy and glamorous lifestyle of the decade. While they and their designs […]

Exhibition Webpage The globalization of fashion has given rise to new fashion cities that now annually host hundreds of fashion weeks around the world. Each city’s cultural identity and particular economic, political, and social circumstances combine to elevate its designers to international prominence. Through over 70 objects, Global Fashion Capitals explores the history of the […]

Exhibition Webpage Denim: Fashion’s Frontier explored the multifaceted history of denim and its relationship with high fashion from the 19th century to the present. The exhibition featured more than 70 objects from the museum’s permanent collection, many of which have never been on view. In addition to the history of jeans, Denim examined a variety […]

Exhibition Webpage | Interactive Experience   “The Paris openings have really opened something. They have opened a desire in the feminine heart for more beauty, more elegance, and more luxury. They have suddenly awakened the Sleeping Beauty slumbering in all of us, turning every woman into a fairy-tale princess. It is so easy to imagine […]

Exhibition Webpage Black Fashion Designers examines the impact made by designers of African descent on the world of fashion. Drawing exclusively from The Museum at FIT’s permanent collection, the exhibition features approximately 75 fashion objects that illustrate the individual styles of more than 60 designers, placing them within a wider fashion context. Objects date from […]

Exhibition Webpage | Exhibition Blog Paris Refashioned, 1957-1968 examines the significant role that Paris played during one of the most fascinating and groundbreaking periods in fashion history. In 1957, twenty-one-year-old Yves Saint Laurent was made creative director of the esteemed couture house of Christian Dior. His first solo collection for Dior included his A-line “trapeze” […]

Exhibition Webpage Force of Nature examined how the beauty and complexity of the natural world inspired fashion designers for centuries. The exhibition placed more than 95 objects from MFIT’s permanent collection, dating from the 18th century to the present, within a context of period philosophies and scientific literature in order to demonstrate the deep interconnectedness […]

Expedition: Fashion from the Extreme examined high fashion inspired by clothing made for survival in the most inhospitable environments on earth and beyond. Today’s luxurious parkas trace their roots to the “heroic era” of polar navigation (1890 to 1922), while down-filled “puffer” coats and backpacks were originally perfected for extreme mountain climbing in the mid-twentieth […]

Exhibition Webpage Fashion is inextricably linked to the physical form of the wearer. The cut of a garment draws the eye to zones of the body, simultaneously accentuating and concealing in order to achieve a desired silhouette. Elaborate undergarments, diet regimens, exercise routines, and even plastic surgery have all been promoted as necessary tools for […]

This large-scale retrospective presented an in-depth study of one of America’s greatest and most influential fashion designers. It was organized by guest curator Jeffrey Banks and MFITs deputy director Patricia Mears. Born in 1900, Norman Norell had an extraordinary career that spanned six decades. Working in the theater, film, and fashion industries, he incorporated the […]

Many visitors to fashion exhibitions expect to see only garments in perfect condition that exemplify a theme, a time period, or a designer’s aesthetic.

Pink is popularly associated with little girls, ballerinas, Barbie dolls, and all things feminine. Yet the symbolism and significance of pink have varied greatly across time and space. The stereotype of pink-for-girls versus blue-for-boys may be ubiquitous today, but it only gained traction in the mid-twentieth century. In the eighteenth century, when Madame de Pompadour […]