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Fashion Design AAS Exhibition Fall 2024: African Diaspora

2024

Fashion Design (School of Art and Design)

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Exhibitions (events)
Annuals (exhibitions)
Exhibition installation photographs
Fashion design

The show, featuring garments created by FIT's second-year Fashion Design students, takes its inspiration from The Museum at FIT's (MFIT) exhibition Africa's Fashion Diaspora. Both exhibitions delve into themes of identity, resilience, and creativity, celebrating the contributions of African-descendant communities to style and self-expression in fashion design. By exploring the interconnectedness of Black culture across borders, the exhibitions invite visitors from all backgrounds to engage in this shared narrative, emphasizing the dynamic role of African influence in the contemporary fashion landscape.

Sayang

2026

Textile/Surface Design

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Textiles (visual works)
Textile design

Program/Degree: Textile/Surface Design BFA

New Junkie

2026

Textile/Surface Design

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Textiles (visual works)
Textile design

New Junkie, Jacquard Woven, as the name suggests, mixes Renaissance-inspired design with elements of modern street culture, like graffiti. At first, they may seem completely unrelated, but I wanted to combine them to create an unexpected sense of chic.

Held in Thread

2026

Textile/Surface Design

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Textiles (visual works)
Textile design

Artist Statement:

Sok: Cultural Expressions of Laos and Cambodia

2026

Textile/Surface Design

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Textiles (visual works)
Textile design

Sok' (translated to peace, love, and prosperity in Lao and Khmer) focuses on the art of weaving, with supporting prints highlighting auspicious motifs in Lao and Khmer culture. At a young age, my parents journeyed from Laos and Cambodia to America, escaping their war-torn homes in search of a better life. While the lands they left behind were devastated, the culture and spirit remained. To pay homage to their stories and contribute my own, Sok is a cultural expression of my family's native lands.

Designed for interiors, the collection includes hand woven and jacquard woven fabrics, a hand woven rug, and hand drawn prints.

The Wonder Within

2026

Textile/Surface Design

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Textiles (visual works)
Textile design

To create this collection of work, I utilized a variety of references from vintage circus acts. I then sketched both digitally and physically to create a painterly effect.

Still Becoming

2026

Textile/Surface Design

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Textiles (visual works)
Textile design

Artist Statement:

Duane

Brandice Massey

2026

Photography and Related Media

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Photographs

I have seen my father transition from the man who provided the world for us to a man fighting an incurable illness from the inside out. He manages the daily toll of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with a grace and grit that most could never summon. His endurance in the face of such hardship says it all. My dad is a superhero.

How Symbolic Association Affects the Perception of Two Fetish Fashion Items

Elyse Sedore-Mallin

2025

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

This paper examines how symbolic association shapes the cultural reception of two fetish-derived garments: the kinky boot and the gimp suit, as they move through fetish subcultures, print media, and mainstream fashion from 1946 to 2016. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, semiotics, and visual culture analysis, the study traces how the kinky boot gradually shed its deviant connotations and became a widely accepted fashion object, while the gimp suit, defined by full-body enclosure and facial concealment, remained a culturally taboo signifier of fetishistic anonymity and submission. Through comparative analysis of imagery from underground fetish magazines such as Bizarre, AtomAge, Shiny Rubberist, and Marquis, alongside mainstream fashion publications including Vogue and other editorial photo shoots, this research demonstrates how each garment's semiotic structure determined its capacity for reinterpretation. The kinky boot's erotic associations proved flexible enough to be reframed through narratives of empowerment, glamour, and spectacle, allowing designers and editors to integrate it into broader fashion systems. In contrast, the gimp suit's symbolic foundations of erased identity and depersonalization remained too rigid to assimilate into mainstream dress, even when referenced in avant-garde fashion. By tracing these divergent trajectories, the paper argues that the mainstreaming of fetish objects depends less on their material form than on the cultural meanings they encode. This reveals how fashion negotiates the boundaries between sexual transgression, aesthetic innovation, and social acceptability.

A Proposed Methodology for the Digital Reconstruction of Nonextant Garments

Alexis Pecknay

2026

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

This qualifying paper begins by defining "practice-led research" and establishing how historical dress reconstruction fits into this definition. Dress reconstruction is neither experiential archaeology nor is it experimental archaeology. Rather, the purpose of the reconstruction - engagement, technical analysis, or preservation - determines the methods. It is necessary that specialists are involved in the reconstruction process to ensure all components are well-researched. For nonextant reconstructions, pictorial and documentary evidence are necessary.The benefits and disadvantages of both physical and digital reconstructions are explored. Digital reconstruction is determined to be a better method for nonextant garment reconstruction given its adaptability and flexibility in regards to material and patterning experimentation. Utilizing Jane Malcolm-Davies' dress reconstruction methodology as a framework, a new methodology is proposed. With this new digital dress reconstruction methodology, six categories of reconstructions emerge: evidence-informed reconstruction of an extant garment, evidence-informed reconstruction of a nonextant garment, replication of a fantastical depiction, reconstruction of an imagined garment, fantastical interpretation of an extant garment, and fantastical interpretation of a nonextant garment. Four case studies involving digital dress reconstructions of medieval and early modern nonextant garments dated between 1475-1615 are analyzed. They are then labeled as either an evidence-informed reconstruction of a nonextant garment, replication of a fantastical depiction, reconstruction of an imagined garment, or a fantastical interpretation of a nonextant garment.

Blue Boxes: Construction of Archival Enclosures for Textile Collections

Jean Rafael Colón Guerra

2026

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

Text
Thesis

Boxes, trays and related enclosures are ever present in textile collections today, as they make up one of the main supports for the collected objects. By doing so, they become an intrinsic part of collections care. Although they may form only a small part in the active effort of textile preservation, every aspect of said enclosures is important to fulfil this goal. Most collections' enclosures are built with archival-quality corrugated board, commonly known as blueboard. It is this material, along with any other materials implemented, and the method of construction used, that are going to determine how successful the enclosure is going to be. Its success is defined by being safe for the objects within, and holding its physical and chemical integrity for long-term storage. Numerous discussions regarding the custom construction of enclosures are scattered through collections management and conservation sources, across different media. Most of these are not directly related to textile-based collections and do not hone-in on all the aspects of enclosures and their construction. This qualifying paper gathers the relevant information presented across the various sources, and expands on it with a particular focus on construction. This was done in such a manner that the topics build on each other to go from the basic elements to the more complex applications. The discussions begin with the chemical and physical qualities of blueboard in light of textile collections. Following this is the presentation of the common materials and tools any enclosure-maker will need, as well as an introduction of tried methods of construction. An illustrated manual supports this section. Lastly, present-day examples of the roles these enclosures play in textile collections are provided as studies. This also showcases how professionals in the field approach the use and construction of such enclosures. All this information in one singular source provides the reader with the necessary base to start constructing structurally sound and stable archival custom enclosures. Making boxes and trays for collections is an action that entails the evolution of the field, individual or institutional decisions, and both a scientific and creative approach.

Performing Race in Costume: Possession and Agency in Sexualized Representations of Asian Women in American Entertainment, Early-to-Mid Twentieth Century

Sandy Ing

2026

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

The trope of the hypersexualized Asian woman in American media is well acknowledged in academic and public discourse. A number of academics and an even greater breadth of online bloggers have written on the topic, often referencing Golden Age Hollywood films to understand the development of the "Dragon Lady" and "Lotus Blossom" tropes. A lesser known chapter of Asian American history was the "Chop Suey Circuit," a network of nightclubs most active in the 1940s and 1950s, located predominantly in San Francisco, which showcased a primarily Asian American cast of dancers and performers who presented popular American-style songs and dances.This paper examines costume as a tool for creating narratives about Asian femininity, surveying representations of Asian women in popular American films of the early-to-mid-twentieth century as examples of epistemic violence, and then comparing these representations with those of performers of the "Chop Suey Circuit" who, through a combination of costume and choreography, exercised agency and reframed preconceived notions of their sexuality, cultural identity, and personhood.

Off the Market: A Case Study in Commercially Traded Antiquities, Object-Based Research, and Ethical Considerations for Small Collections

Abby Cottier

2026

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

Many objects enter museums through the commercial antiquities market, whether that is via museum purchase or by donation from a dealer or collector. Often, these come without secure, well-documented provenance. As many–though not all–of these unprovenanced antiquities on the market were likely looted from archaeological sites, caring for them poses certain ethical challenges for collections.This paper explores these challenges and the steps that collections can take to ethically deal with these artifacts, beginning with provenance research, technical and contextual research, and identification. Armed with research, collections can reach out to countries or communities of origin to pursue further action, including repatriation. The paper uses a case study of a group of Ancient Andean textiles in the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)'s Graduate Study Collection, shining a spotlight on the struggles of small collections that are often left out of repatriation and ethical stewardship conversations.

The Downward Spiral: Horror, Dress, and Witchcraft in Robert Eggers’s The Witch (2016)

Zachary Portnoy

2026

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

Along the periphery of the fantasy genre exists a type of film that confronts the more terrifying aspects of the world, that of folk horror. In Robert Eggers' 2016 film The Witch, horror is used to heighten the film's fantastical elements. Horror best manifests itself in The Witch through the dress of its characters, reflecting the setting of 1630s New England. Carefully executed by costume designer Linda Muir, the sartorial atmosphere of Robert Eggers' film is legitimized through extensive research and attention to detail. Focusing on Muir's work, this paper frames costuming as the focal point of worldbuilding in The Witch, presenting an unsettlingly convincing view of the intended period. Eggers' directorial choices are also discussed, tracking the progression of the characters' sartorial unraveling as they become subject to the horrifically sublime. As hair and skin become exposed in the film, contemporary theology related to dress and morality is analyzed. Finally, the paper confronts the body itself within the film. Examining the film's harrowing climax, connections are drawn between body horror as a film subgenre and the theory of dress as embodied practice. The naked body in The Witch is reframed as a dressed one, symbolizing the complete destruction of the believable world built through Linda Muir's costumes. Ultimately, this paper dissects Robert Eggers' story of a downward spiral, confronting the understudied intersection between dress, witchcraft, and the horrifically fantastical on screen.

Vera Maxwell: Form and Function in American Sportswear

Audrey Teuber

2026

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

American designer Vera Maxwell (1901–1995) made significant contributions to the American fashion industry in sportswear design during the mid-twentieth century. Over the course of her career, which spanned the 1930s to the 1980s, Maxwell created functional and timeless garments for work and travel. This qualifying paper shares the history of designer Vera Maxwell, including her background in dance and her work as a fashion designer, followed by chapters on her design philosophy and process. Based on evidence drawn from interviews with Maxwell, print advertisements, and news articles, the final chapter showcases six of her most famous designs. Throughout this paper, I provide context on Maxwell's background, including her sources of inspiration and the influence of American society on women and their fashion choices in the mid-twentieth century.

Rose Benedetti’s Legacy: From São Paulo to Yves Saint Laurent = O legado de Rose Benedetti: De São Paulo a Yves Saint Laurent

Cristiane Peixoto

2026

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

Text
Thesis

This qualifying paper recounts Brazilian costume jewelry designer Rose Benedetti's (1939–) professional life through the use of oral history methodology. The paper includes an interview with Rose Benedetti, conducted by me in her apartment, on January 16, 2026, in São Paulo, Brazil. Drawing on Rose Benedetti's own recollections, the paper highlights her fifty-year career, with particular emphasis on her role as the representative of Yves Saint Laurent jewelry in Brazil as well as her role as an entrepreneur. The paper is supported by images of her Yves Saint Laurent jewelry pieces and sketches, along with newspaper and magazines clippings from her archives, and an additional video recorded in her showroom after the interview. Despite her significance as a pioneer in high-quality costume jewelry design, her work remains largely undocumented. The interview has been recorded, transcribed, translated, and deposited in FIT's Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC), ensuring accessibility for future research.

Hard Truths on Soft Surfaces: Fifty Years of United States Story Quilts (1975–2025)

Catherine Kate Mellina

2026

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

Text
Thesis

In the past fifty years, the United States has seen a significant growth in the popularity of art quilts—quilts that don't follow traditional piecing and stitching patterns and that employ such unconventional mediums as paint, print, photography, and found-object assemblage. These experiments have led to a rich new treasury of "story quilts"—a pictorial subcategory of art quilts that addresses personal and universal themes with a mixture of directness, humor, caring, alarm, and hope.This qualifying paper contains a detailed project plan for a proposed exhibition called Hard Truths on Soft Surfaces: Fifty Years of United States Story Quilts (1975–2025), built around fifty-six of these affecting and innovative works. The quilts are divided into three interrelated themes ("The Personal," "The Societal," and "The Planetary"), and each object is accompanied by a proposed wall label and tombstone text. It is designed for implementation in New York City's Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), whose complementary mission is "to collect, display, and interpret objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design."Supporting materials include an overview of art quilt and story quilt history, an object checklist, and a mapping of the quilts to MAD's fifth-floor exhibition space. Additional components include suggested public programming, artist and community outreach opportunities, and an exhibition catalog proposal.

Portraits of Self

Haydeé Garrote Gonzalez-Peña

2026

Photography and Related Media

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Photographs

When was five years old, my parents brought my sister and I to Canada from Cuba, followed by many more moves every few years. I formed a pattern of introducing myself, getting to know people, saying goodbye, then doing it all over again. This cycle of yearning for connection and understanding has manifested itself into my artistic practice. I feel compelled to create artwork through performance, photography, film, fashion, and music in order to reconcile with the fragmented nature of identity and interpersonal relationships.
My life and artistic practice have been a constant rejection of being put into a box. Despite society's desire to categorize, I believe humans contain multitudes and should not be forced to dilute themselves in order to succeed. As an immigrant, a new girl, a performer, a young woman finding herself, I have held onto the art of transformation as a way to portray the millions of identities that live inside me. My hope is that as I become more empowered with this truth, so will the audience with their own infiniteness.
'Portraits of Self' is a series of self portraits depicting dramatizations of cinematic and cultural archetypes to represent the fragmented nature of personal identity. Swiss psychologist Carl G. Jung wrote that "our personalities divide themselves into these characters to play out the drama of our lives". Creating this work will allow me to reconcile with the fact that I am not just one thing, but a sum of all parts. Simultaneously, it will highlight the inherent connectivity between humans, as archetypes symbolize the "collective unconscious" of the human race.
Shot in studio and with close attention to hair, makeup, and styling, each character archetype represents a different facet of the human condition, within the context of my life story and personal experience. The artist does not attempt to hide herself in these characters - showing tattoos, piercings, and other adornments as another representation of the self.

The Night's Not So Dark

Brian Ramirez

2026

Photography and Related Media

Image
Photographs

Program/Degree: Photography and Related Media BFA

Rooted Stillness

Katrell Mack

2026

Photography and Related Media

Image
Photographs
Composite photographs

In a chaotic, fast paced world, we often lose touch with the past and the foundations that shape who we are. Rooted Stillness is a self portrait that illustrates a moment of pause and reflection, connecting me to my identity. Over the past four years, my work has evolved from a focus on technique to a more intentional exploration of storytelling and self representation. Showcasing a deeper understanding of my artistic voice.

Digital Girl

Coral Day

2026

Photography and Related Media

Video

This is an ad for Jefferey Campbell, the last of my Thesis Series, "The Digital Girl."

Through self-portraiture, I crafted and executed narrative advertisements for fashion brands. I will identified each brand's image to tell my version of it through photos and videos, incorporating graphics and alternate materials that amplify the relationship with the internet, femininity, and self-obsession.

The digital girl is the oversaturation of femininity and technology on social media. She represents the way we are accustomed to simultaneously exist online and in person. In a digital age, our existence is composed of who we are on the internet as who we are in real life; The two influence each other and become one in the same. Fashion photography makes a home for consumers online and specifically, on social media. This theme shows up consistently in social media fashion photography. I seek to continue to embrace the inevitability and oversaturation of this overarching theme of the digital girl in fashion photography.

Glo

Nina Perricone

2026

Photography and Related Media

Image
Photographs
Mixed media works
Installations (visual works)

Gloria was a radiant source of warmth and positivity. After her Alzheimer's diagnosis, her optimistic persona slowly disappeared. This project acts as a visual representation of how a neurocognitive disorder can affect an individual and their loved ones. The installation aims to mirror her disoriented perspective and fragmented memory.

The Death of a Neighborhood

Zaren Hormuzdiar

2026

Photography and Related Media

Image
Photographs
Sculpture (visual works)

Through the use of photogrammetry, I created 3d scans of different buildings in my neighborhood in an attempt to better understand the construction of these highly complex structures.

Enmanuel

Stephany Hurtado

2026

Photography and Related Media

Image
Photographs

The work contains two perspectives: my cousin navigating two cultures, and me trying to understand my own through him. Every photograph becomes a way for me to reconnect with parts of my heritage that felt distant: family traditions, language, and cultural experiences. My cousin lives within those experiences. Through this journey, I find a way to become part of them, too.

Foreign Art, Foreign Land

William Viquez Mora

2026

Photography and Related Media

Image
Video
Photographs
Video art

Foreign Art, Foreign Land is a photographic and documentary project that reflects on the displacement of cultural heritage and the global conversations surrounding restitution. Using cardboard replicas of sculptures and artifacts displaced from countries that were once colonized, the project photographs these objects within landscapes, cities, and communities connected to their cultural origins.
Through interviews with archaeologists, historians, and people connected to the cultures represented in the work, the project gathers voices and perspectives that will inform a future documentary and book.
By imagining these objects back within their cultural landscapes, the work invites viewers to reflect on memory, belonging, cultural identity, and the journeys objects take when they are removed from their places of origin.