The Museum at FIT in May

PUBLIC PROGRAMS Fashion Culture: Special Programs CURRENT EXHIBITION Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT, Part One UPCOMING EXHIBITION Art & Design Graduating Student Exhibition 2012  UPCOMING EXHIBITION Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT, Part Two  LINKS WE LIKE A world of fashion is on the web MUSEUM PUBLICATIONIMPACT - 50 Years of the CFDA MUSEUM INFORMATION

THE LATEST NEWS ... What's Happening ... **Get Down Here Soon!** Part One of Fashion A-Z closes on May 8th. **Do You Pin?** We do! We're now on Pinterest and hope you'll stop by to take a look at our inspirational boards! We've got loads of fashion history boards organized by centuries, decades and designers, as well as boards on fashion illustration, style icons, techniques, fashion photography, and much more. **Valerie Steele discusses Fashion & Film ** Valerie is participating in Fashion Studies Today: History, Theory and Practice, a two-day conference May 4 and 5, organized jointly by Fashion Studies at the CUNY Graduate center and The Costume Studies Program at NYUSteinhardt. Valerie's lecture will include a discussion of the forthcoming exhibition on Hollywood costume design at the Victoria & Albert Museum, as well as touch on the new genre of short fashion films created by designers and luxury brands, which are increasingly shown on the internet. **Two-Part Harmony** Another wonderful (free) event on Saturday May 5 is a symposium on Fashion & Music, organized by graduate students in the MA Fashion and Textile Studies Program at FIT. Cintra Wilsonis the keynote speaker, and talks include From DIY to LED: The Costumes and Music of Björk and Kind of Blue: The Changing Music and Personal Style of Miles Davis. **Award winners!** Eco-Fashion: Going Green will be presented with the Costume Society of America's Richard Martin Exhibition Award at their National Symposium in Atlanta, GA on June 1. Congratulations co-curators Jennifer Farley and Colleen Hill! Read more here.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS Fashion Culture: Special Programs Fashion Culture programs and events are free unless otherwise indicated, and are organized by The Museum at FIT to provide insightful and intriguing perspectives on the culture of fashion.  Reservations are required. Space is limited. To RSVP for a program, Register Online Here Franca Sozzani at The Museum at FIT Join legendary Franca Sozzani, the Editorial Director of Condé Nast Italy and editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia,l'Uomo Vogue, and Vogue Gioiello for a discussion about her impressive career. Friday, May 4, 6pm

CURRENT EXHIBITION Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT, Part One Thierry Mugler ensemble - Metallic silver lilac lamé, lilac satin - Circa 1987, France, Museum purchase. Closes May 8, 2012 Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT, Part One is the first of two exhibitions that highlight modern and contemporary pieces from the Museum’s permanent collection. More than fifty garments and accessories are featured by designers from Alaïa to Zoran, including work by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Christian Dior, and Miuccia Prada. Full portraits of all exhibition objects from the two exhibitions will be included in a companion publication by TASCHEN, forthcoming fall 2012.  Read more here.

UPCOMING EXHIBITION Art & Design Graduating Student Exhibition 2012  May 9 - 22, 2012 This show presents the work of more than 800 students receiving AAS and BFA degrees from the School of Art & Design and is on view throughout the main floors of the Marvin Feldman Center, the Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, the Shirley Goodman Resource Center, and the John E. Reeves Great Hall. The exhibition features work in seventeen areas of study - Accessories Design, Advertising Design, Communication Design, Computer Animation & Interactive Media, Fabric Styling, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Jewelry Design, Menswear, Packaging Design, Photography, Textile/Surface Design, Toy Design, and Visual Presentation & Exhibition Design. The art selected is the culmination of each student’s unique experience in the Fashion Institute of Technology’s diverse, challenging, and demanding undergraduate Art & Design programs. Featuring juried, award winning, and thesis projects, this presentation is the manifestation of several years of research, experimentation, critical thinking, and artistic proficiency. The Graduating Student Exhibition advances the College’s applied philosophy that integrates practice in industry with theory and teaching inside the studio.

UPCOMING EXHIBITION Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT, Part Two  Alexander McQueen, dress in silk satin and chiffon with photo digital print, spring 2010, England, museum purchase.  May 23 - November 10, 2012 Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT, Part Two is the second of two exhibitions that highlight modern and contemporary pieces from the Museum’s permanent collection. More than sixty garments and accessories are featured by designers from Adrian to Zoran, including work by Charles James, Ralph Lauren, and Diane von Furstenberg. Full portraits of all exhibition objects from the two exhibitions will be included in a companion publication by TASCHEN, forthcoming fall 2012. Read more here.

LINKS WE LIKE A world of fashion is on the web Prepping for Preppy  A behind-the-scenes look at some of the work happening on this fall's Ivy Style exhibition. Bill Cunningham's hats  You know him as the inimitable style photographer for the New York Times, but Bill Cunningham used to design hats. Twenty-three of them went on sale at auction last month and one kind soul bought the lot of them in order to keep the collection together by donating them to an NYC museum. It is official - Raf Simons!!  There have been many speculations and rumors as to who would replace John Galliano at Dior. But the selection has now been made and New York Times' Cathy Horyn explains. Special Online Exhibition  Have you seen the latest online project of Museum of the City of New York? Oh la la...House of Worth and Mainbocher!! 119 stunning works by two masters of haute couture provide history, details, and construction from the outside-in. London Design Awards Winner  Issey Miyake and his Reality Lab team won in the fashion category at the London Design Awards on April 24th for their 132.5 collection. Congrats!!! Check out the video of their origami-inspired eco-fashion collection. Valerie Steele's on Raf Simons for Dior  “I think what [Raf] has done over the last couple of years at Jil Sander is exactly what’s needed to bring Dior into the present moment,” says Valerie Steele to fashion journalist Robin Givhan. Earliest Painting of a Transvestite Uncovered in London Gallery  A fascinating new discovery. Reminds us how excited we are for our Fall 2013 exhibition Queer Style.

MUSEUM PUBLICATIONIMPACT - 50 Years of the CFDA Book Cover IMPACT is the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, exploring the influence of the careers of America’s most influential designers over the last five decades. Anchored by Patricia Mears’s illuminating essay on the history of the CFDA, this book incorporates over 300 personal Impact statements from the most important names in American fashion, including Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, Ralph Lauren, Proenza Schouler, and Donna Karan. Illustrated with many never-before-seen images, this is the ultimate American fashion who’s who and a celebration of this important fashion organiza­tion. Accompanied by elegant images of these career-changing moments, this book is the definitive word on the voice of American fashion. About the authors Cathy Horyn is an American fashion journalist who works as a critic for the New York Times, where she also keeps a highly noted and provocative blog called On The Runway. Diane von Furstenberg is an internationally renowned designer and current president of the CFDA. Patricia Mears is deputy director at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology and was the curator of the 2012I MPACT exhibit that accompanied the publication of the book. Available from Abrams

MUSEUM INFORMATION The Museum at FIT is dedicated to advancing knowledge of fashion through exhibitions, programs and publications. The Museum is open to the public free of charge, Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 8pm, and Saturday 10 am - 5pm. Located on the Southwest corner of Seventh Avenue at 27th Street in New York City, the museum can be reached by subway: 1, C, E, F, M, N, or R, and by bus: M20 and M23. Penn Station is close by at 31st Street for the Long Island Railroad, New Jersey Transit, and Amtrak. For more information, be sure to visit our website at www.fitnyc.edu/museum or phone our information line at 212-217-4558 For Press Information about any of our exhibitions or programs, please call the Office of Communications and External Relations, 212-217-4700

The exhibitions and programs of The Museum at FIT are supported in part by the generosity of the members of the Couture Council

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