On Wednesday, May 11, FIT held the Future of Fashion, Presented by Macy’s. Following two years of digital presentations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show was held outdoors on the campus Breezeway for the first time. Featuring nearly 100 looks created by a select group of 2022 graduates of FIT’s Fashion Design BFA program, this year’s themes included sustainability, gender neutrality, heritage appreciation, accessibility, and mental health awareness.
FIT President Joyce F. Brown gave opening remarks expressing her excitement at the return of an in-person show, allowing the students to show off their talent and hard work. “Our students spend their time here refining and developing their individual design talents and sensibilities under the guidance of FIT’s dedicated faculty,” she said. “Tonight, they demonstrate all they have learned.”
This year’s class featured 12 Critic Award winners. These awards are given each year by the industry mentors who work alongside students in their final semester of study. Each critic is a leader in one of FIT’s five areas of specialization—sportswear, knitwear, children’s wear, intimate apparel, and special occasion—and many are alumni of FIT’s Fashion Design program. The 2022 Critic Award winners are:
- Yawen Chen (Special Occasion)
- Amy Eisenstein (Knitwear)
- Claire Greidanus (Knitwear)
- Karisma Hisahkawa (Sportswear)
- Jiawen Hou (Special Occasion)
- Allison Ko (Sportswear)
- Marie-Louise Kurrer (Sportswear)
- Devin Olguin (Intimate Apparel)
- Monica Palucci (Sportswear)
- Yuna Seki (Sportswear)
- Xiahela Xiaokelaiti/Shahira Shokrat (Sportswear)
- Guziyu Yan/Tiffany Yan (Children’s Wear)
Macy’s supported the Future of Fashion by presenting the show and launching two exciting new programs: the Macy’s Capsule Collection and the Macy’s Bold Representation Awards. These awards are an extension of Macy’s enterprisewide social purpose platform, Mission Every One, which aims to create a brighter future with bold representation. Three students were recognized by Suzanne Anderson, vice president, Design Apparel, at Macy’s, and Michelle Wang, vice president, Retail Diversity Strategy, at Macy’s. Sandra Zapata (Sportswear) was named Best Use of Sustainable Materials, Renee Clifford (Sportswear) won Most Commercial Look, and Karen Qu (Sportswear) won for Most Inclusive/Gender Neutral Design.
Francesca Bornancini (Sportswear), was named the Macy’s Capsule Collection winner, and her design will be produced and sold at Macy’s Herald Square in New York in the fall. The hang tag will feature Bornancini’s name, photo, and biography.
The evening show was attended by Ken Downing, chief brand officer, HLC E-commerce; Zanna Roberts Rassi, co-founder, Milk Cosmetics, and style host, E!; Brad Hoylman, New York State Senator; Kesha McLeod, image consultant and wardrobe stylist; Suzanne Anderson, vice president, Design Apparel, Macy’s; Michelle Wang, vice president, Retail Diversity Strategy, Macy’s; Stacey Tester, senior design director, Coach; Jeffrey Dodd, fashion designer, Jeffrey Dodd; Flora Backer, founder and designer, Rya Collection; Keith Lissner, executive vice president of design, Vera Wang; Andrea Pitter, founder and designer, Pantora Bridal; Halla Elias, founder and designer of Halabaloo; Julie Wainwright, founder, The Real Real; Moshe Ben-Ari, founder, Ari Soho; Mia Dell’Osso-Caputo, creative director, Avirex; Drew Elliot, senior vice president global creative director, MAC Cosmetics; and Ting Ting Lee, creative director, Saks Off 5th.
Find student portfolios from the entire 2022 Fashion Design BFA graduating class at fitnyc.edu/FOF.
Some of the highlights from the runway show are posted below.
