Exhibitions

 

Current All Galleries May 25 – September 15, 2026

Galleries Closed

Flat lay of short sleeve dress with varying plaid prints on bust and skirt with white belt and a pair of tan boots with trompe l'oeil ankle strap high heel pump design
The Museum Galleries are closed until Doll Dressing opens on September 16, 2026.
Current Museum Lobby June 12 – July 12, 2026

Pick Up the Pieces

Illustration of a white and yellow plaid picnic blanket with various characters making art including a guitar, scissors, crayons, paper, and ink on a hill
The 2026 MFA Illustration Visual Thesis Exhibition, Pick Up the Pieces, represents the culmination of three years of graduate study for the FIT MFA candidates. During their final academic year in the program, each graduating student develops and executes a unique body of work that showcases the technical exploration, artistic growth, academic research, and professional focus developed during graduate study. The 2026 exhibition showcases the MFA Illustration cohort's focus on visual narrative, with an emphasis on traditional and digital artwork, painting, picture books, and comics.

Exhibition Hours: 
Weekdays: Noon to 8pm 
Weekends: 10am to 5pm

 

Upcoming Special Exhibitions Gallery September 16, 2026 – January 3, 2027

Doll Dressing

Learn more on Doll Dressing Exhibition Page
red jacket and skirt withprint of trompe l'oeil draping and protruding white tabs like paper dolls
Doll Dressing centers on the longstanding connections between dolls and high fashion. Historically, dolls operated as miniature fashion models—they were shipped around Europe and abroad, communicating the latest styles in three-dimensional detail. By the early twentieth century, dolls were not merely sharing the latest trends, but setting them. Curated by Dr. Colleen Hill, senior curator of costume, the exhibition explores 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. Beginning with a brief history of fashion dolls from the eighteenth century to the present, Doll Dressing continues with designs from Marc Jacobs, Patrick Kelly, Lanvin, Jeremy Scott for Moschino, Martin Margiela, Anna Sui, and many others.

Image: Moschino Couture (Jeremy Scott), trompe l'oeil printed jacket and skirt, spring 2017, museum purchases, 2028.9.1-2.

 

UPCOMING Special Exhibitions Gallery February 17 – April 18, 2027

Fashioning Desire: Willy Chavarria and Bárbara Sánchez-Kane

barbara sanchez-kane wearing a black suit against a white lace backdrop and willy chavarria in a black jacket and baggy white pants styled with a cross necklace and a red antharium installation behind him

Fashioning Desire: Willy Chavarria and Bárbara Sánchez-Kane is an exhibition exploring the work of designer Willy Chavarria and designer and artist Bárbara Sánchez-Kane in dialogue with one another. These two queer designers of Mexican heritage are reshaping global fashion through their innovative collections. Organized by MFIT's senior curator of education and public programs, Tanya Meléndez-Escalante, the exhibition celebrates how the designers' identities inform their creative vision. The works of Chavarría and Sánchez-Kane are imbued with desire—libidinal, sensual desire, but also a desire for belonging, for resistance, and for visibility. The exhibition will be organized thematically, bringing together works by both designers that reveal shared aesthetics and ideas. With fluid boundaries and bilingual texts, these sections will allude to the binational origins of the creators. 

Image: (L) Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, Photographer: Dorian Ulises López Macías. @dorianuliseslopezmacias. (R) Willy Chavarria, Photographer: Diego Bendezu

shoes a-z book cover

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Museum Publications

MFIT on the Road

The Museum at FIT often loans objects from its permanent collections to other institutions for use in exhibitions. Check out what venue is featuring MFIT on the road.
What's traveling?
Bodice view of blue and green evening dress wih blue cross-over bodice creating a deep V-neck
Elizabeth Hawes, evening dress, blue silk taffeta and green satin, Fall 1936, USA, gift of Mrs. Dudley Schoales, 69.156.1

There’s no shame in living in the past

We have an archive of over ten years of exhibition websites. Take some time to explore our curatorial history!
Catch up on past exhibitions

 

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