The Museum at FIT Fashion Culture Podcast

Nick Knight and Amy de la Haye engage in a conversation about his photographs of roses for The Museum at FIT's 24th academic symposium Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion held on April 30, 2021. This virtual event explored how the beauty, mythology, and symbolism of the rose have long influenced fashionable dress. #RoseInFashion Nick Knight OBE is one of the world's most visionary, inno

Leading celebrity stylist Misa Hylton joined FIT professor Elena Romero in conversation on November 17, 2022. Hylton is acclaimed for creating iconic looks such as the purple pastie-and-pantsuit ensemble worn by Lil’ Kim at MTV’s 1999 Video Music Awards and Beyoncé’s leather MCM bustier and trench coat worn in the 2018 “Apesh*t” music video. Hylton’s past clients inclu

In February of 2021, Stella Jean, the Italian-Haitian fashion designer, joined Dr. Valerie Steele, director of MFIT, for a discussion on expanding diversity in the Italian fashion system. Stella Jean, whose clients include Rihanna and Beyoncé, collaborates with artisans in Africa and Haiti, and has been an advocate for Black designers in Italy. Watch the full video with captions o

New York-based fashion designer, Nicole Miller joined Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT, in conversation to discuss Miller’s career in fashion. After studying at Rhode Island School of Design and mastering the classic French techniques of Haute Couture while at Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris, Miller founded her namesake brand in 1

In a special collaboration with Radio Cherry Bombe, host Kerry Diamond interviews Melissa Marra-Alvarez and Elizabeth Way, curators of The Museum at FIT exhibition Food & Fashion. Together, they discuss Elsa Schiaparelli’s lobster dress, Rachel Antonoff’s pasta puffer, this summer’s grocery girl trend, and more. This episode first launched on Radio Cherry Bombe’s podcas

Co-curators of ¡Moda Hoy! Latin American and Latinx Fashion– Tanya Meléndez-Escalante and Melissa Marra-Alvarez – discuss their curatorial process in putting together the exhibition, which showcased the fashion contributions of designers of Latin American descent. On view from May 31 - August 27, 2023, the exhibition was organized into thematic sections such as art, craftsman

Recorded in 2021, Uruguayan-born fashion designer Gabriela Hearst takes a stroll down memory lane with Dr. Valerie Steele as they discuss how growing up on the family ranch influenced Hearst’s designs as well as how she rolled out not one but three collections during the pandemic. She is the winner of the 2016/2017 International Woolmark Prize for Womenswear, the 2020 CFDA Americ

Elizabeth Hawes is known for her timeless fashion designs and her written critique of the fashion system, such as in her 1940 book Fashion is Spinach. In this conversation moderated by author and podcaster April Calahan, professors and fashion historians Lourdes Font (FIT) and Francesca Granata (The New School) discuss the importance of Hawes in American fashion. She was an America

In 2013, The Museum at FIT hosted its A Queer History of Fashion symposium in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name. The cultural commentator Fran Lebowitz was one of the more than twenty participants, and she joined Valerie Steele to discuss – in her quintessential acerbic style – Marlene Dietrich suits, San Francisco vs New York, the appeal of leather, and recurrin

Philip Gefter’s book What Becomes a Legend Most: A Biography of Richard Avedon is a study of the legendary photographer’s life. A fashion photographer and portrait artist, Avedon’s subjects included some of the most notable figures of the twentieth century including James Baldwin, Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote, and Marilyn Monroe, as well as iconic models such as Donyale Luna