Calendar of Events
Fashion Culture | Symposium | Talk & Tour | Lunchtime Workshops | Past Events
Fashion Culture
Fashion Culture programs are organized by
The Museum at FIT to provide new perspectives on the culture of fashion.
Admission
All programs are free unless otherwise indicated. However, reservations are strongly encouraged, as space is limited. The Museum at FIT and the college reserve the right to cancel a program at any time.
Program Venues
The Katie Murphy Amphitheatre is in the Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center on
the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 27th Street.
Other venues can be found on FIT's Campus Map.
Fashion Culture
The Regency Era: Fashion or Fantasy
Hilary Davidson and Summer Anne Lee
Thursday, February 26, 5:30 pm
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.
Image: A Guide to Regency Dress: from Corsets and Breeches to Bonnets and Muslins. Yale University Press.
Person Place Thing: Art X Fashion
Dr. Elizabeth Way and Randy Cohen
Wednesday, March 4, 5:30 pm
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.
Image: Moschino Cheap and Chic, jacket referencing Roy Lichtenstein, spring 1991. Gift of Michelle Perr, 2019.72.3
From Function to Fashion: The Enduring Legacy of Utilitarian Design
Sonya Abrego, Charles McFarlane, and Dr. Hilary Davidson
Wednesday, March 11, 5:30 pm
Join us for a lively panel discussion with fashion scholars, each of whom will speak to a different facet of utilitarian-inspired dress. Expanding upon the themes of the MFIT exhibition Beyond Utility, scholars Sonya Abrego and Charles McFarlane will explore the topics of military, workwear, and craft in fashion and share their relationship to utilitarian dress. The talk will be moderated by FIT professor Dr. Hilary Davidson.
Image: Yvonne Schichtel, Trench Apron Dress, 2020, USA. Photo courtesy of designer.
The Modernity of Antiquity: Karl Lagerfeld's Vision of Ancient Greece
Christophe Koné
Thursday, April 16, 5:30 pm
Associate Professor of German at Williams College Christophe Koné explores Karl Lagerfeld's fascination with Ancient Greece. Using Chanel's "The Modernity of Antiquity" 2017/18 Cruise collection as a point of departure, Koné will discuss the recurrence of Greek Antiquity in Lagerfeld's work for both Chloé and Chanel, as well as in the designer's photography.
Image: Karl Lagerfeld at MFIT's 2010 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion Luncheon, NICK HUNT / PatrickMcMullan.com
Symposium
Art X Fashion Symposium
Friday, March 27, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
The Museum at FIT's 35th symposium is planned in conjunction with the exhibition Art X Fashion. The history of fashion's entangled relationship with the world of fine art has many points of convergence, from art as fashion inspiration, to fashion's presentation in art spaces, to artists utilizing garment forms. Speakers include fashion designer Christian Francis Roth, Dr. Émilie Hammen, director of Palais Galliera, Paris, and Dr. Alexandra Schwartz, curator of modern and contemporary art, craft, and design at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD).
Symposium schedule and speaker bios
Image: Sonia Delaunay, hand-colored print of four women, 1925, France © Pracusa 20251024.
Lunchtime Workshops
Beyond Utility Mending Workshop
Kate Sekules
Thursday, March 5, 12:30–2:30 pm
Join dress historian and mending expert Kate Sekules for an intimate mending workshop that celebrates sustainability, creativity, and utility. Learn how to breathe new life into your wellloved garments through visible mending techniques and mindful craftsmanship. Participants will explore the functional origins of craft and repair as an artistic practice and an act of connection— to our clothes, our hands, and our histories. Bring an item that requires mending. All other materials will be provided.
Image courtesy of Kate Sekules
Pressed Flowers Workshop
Ali Haas
Thursday, April 9, 12:30–2:30 pm
Join artist Ali Haas for a hands-on workshop exploring the delicate art of pressed flowers. This workshop highlights how pressed flowers can inspire fashion, including delicate patterns and accessories. Whether interested in crafting fashion accessories, framing floral compositions, or simply preserving blooms from a garden, participants will learn how to select, press, and arrange botanicals to create works of natural beauty. All materials will be provided.
Image: "Mouse King" Pressed Flower Illustration © Alison Haas, wildlypressed.com
Talk & Tours
Check-in for Talk and Tours in the lobby of The Museum at FIT
Beyond Utility Talk and Tour
Monday, March 9, 5:30 pm
Wednesday, March 18, 11 am
The exhibition Beyond Utility explores the history of functional design and follows the development and transformation of these items within and beyond the fashion system. Organized into three sections, Workwear, Military, and Craft, Beyond Utility invites visitors to reexamine everyday fashion objects in an exciting exhibition of never-before-seen garments from the MFIT Study Collection.
Image: Cover of Vogue of a woman wearing a greatcoat. Illustrated by Georges Lepape. June 15, 1920.
Art X Fashion Talk and Tour
Wednesday, February 25, 11 am
Monday, April 6, 5:30 pm
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 The Museum at FIT'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.
Image: Wales Bonner X Kerry James Marshall, cotton T-shirt reproducing Lost Boys: AKA Black Sonny (1993), spring 2023, England, museum purchase, 2022.51.1
The public is always welcome at The Museum at FIT and our programming is always free.
If you are able, please consider supporting the Museum's collection and programming by making a donation in any amount.
Your support helps the Museum continue to educate and inspire diverse audiences with world-class exhibitions and public programs that focus on diverse and inclusive themes and are free to the public.
Fashion Culture Spring 2026 is made possible with the support of the Couture Council of The Museum at FIT. Support for programming was provided by the Boris Lurie Art Foundation.
