The Museum at FIT Fashion Culture Podcast

Lifestyles is a six-episode original short podcast series from The Museum at FIT. Join MFIT Digital Media Manager Tamsen Young as she sits down with people whose distinct expression of style is outside conventional fashion trends. Discover how they use clothing to define themselves on their own terms.

View images of our guests, and learn more about the Lifestyles podcast series, on our website. 

New episodes drop twice a month. Subscribe and listen to find your own style inspiration. 

Using flea market finds, thrifted pieces, and found objects, FIT alum Wren Britton creates tr...

Lifestyles is a six-episode original short podcast series from The Museum at FIT. Join MFIT Digital Media Manager Tamsen Young as she sits down with people whose distinct expression of style is outside conventional fashion trends. Discover how they use clothing to define themselves on their own terms.

View images of our guests, and learn more about the Lifestyles podcast series, on our website. 

New episodes drop twice a month. Subscribe and listen to find your own style inspiration. 

Cheyney McKnight is an historical interpreter and artist. She founded Not Your Momma’s Hist...

Lifestyles is a six-episode original short podcast series from The Museum at FIT. Join MFIT Digital Media Manager Tamsen Young as she sits down with people whose distinct expression of style is outside conventional fashion trends. Discover how they use clothing to define themselves on their own terms.

View images of our guests, and learn more about the Lifestyles podcast series, on our website. 

New episodes drop twice a month. Subscribe and listen to find your own style inspiration. 

Cynthia Alberto is a multidisciplinary artist and designer and the founder of Weaving Hand, wh...

Lifestyles is a six-episode original short podcast series from The Museum at FIT. Join MFIT Digital Media Manager Tamsen Young as she sits down with people whose distinct expression of style is outside conventional fashion trends. Discover how they use clothing to define themselves on their own terms.

View images of our guests, and learn more about the Lifestyles podcast series, on our website. 

New episodes drop twice a month. Subscribe and listen to find your own style inspiration. 

Dandy Wellington, born and raised in Harlem, New York, is a bandleader, entertainer, event pr...

Lifestyles is a six-episode original short podcast series from The Museum at FIT. Join MFIT Digital Media Manager Tamsen Young as she sits down with people whose distinct expression of style is outside conventional fashion trends. Discover how they use clothing to define themselves on their own terms.

Learn more about the Lifestyles podcast series, and view more images of our guests, on our website. 

New episodes drop twice a month. Subscribe and listen to find your own style inspiration. 

The artist and maker Debra Rapoport brings a playful exploration of beauty and ing...

From the 19th-century corset to the modern waist trainer, the fashion industry has long held that most bodies require correction. In this episode, Dr. Valerie Steele and Tim Gunn trace the historical arc of body ideals in Western fashion, from the voluptuous Venus of the Victorian era to the increasingly narrow and homogeneous standards that dominate runways today.

Drawing on decades of curatorial scholarship and industry experience, Dr. Steele and Gunn examine the persistent reluctance among designers to create beyond a narrow range of sizes, the structural barriers facing fashion students seeking education in plus-size design, and...

Norma Kamali studied fashion illustration at FIT before taking a job at Northwest Orient Airlines. From 1964 to 1968, she traveled to Britain every weekend, where she immersed herself in the culture of 1960s London. In 1967, she and her husband opened a boutique in NYC and filled it with items purchased in London. She supplemented her stock with her own designs and eventually began to focus primarily on her original creations. Among her most celebrated creations is the “sleeping bag coat" and a swimsuit worn by Farah Fawcett in one of the most memorable photographs of the 1970s. However, she also de...

Piet Mondrian's abstract paintings were appropriated by various aspects of popular culture throughout the 1960s, notably by Yves Saint Laurent in his 1965 dress series. Co-authors Nancy J. Troy and Ann Marguerite Tartsinis join MFIT's senior curator of costume Dr. Colleen Hill to discuss the wildly popular dress series and how art, commerce, and fashion became intertwined in the postwar period. 

This talk was recorded March 6, 2024.

Watch the full video with captions on YouTube.

The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in New York C...

Robin Givhan, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, presents her new book, Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh. Appointed as head of menswear for Louis Vuitton in 2018, Abloh was the first Black designer to serve as artistic director in the brand's 164-year history and his rise was amid a cultural moment that would upend a century's worth of ideas about luxury and taste. In this conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Way, The Museum at FIT's associate curator of costume and accessories, Givhan discusses Abloh’s disruptive impact on the fashion industry, his controversial de...

Colombian designer Lia Samantha Lozano, a pioneer of Afro-Colombian fashion and speaks with Professor Dr. Tamara J. Walker about Lozano's eponymous brand, Lia Samantha, which translates the power of Black and Indigenous peoples’ cosmovisions, traditions, wisdom, spirituality, and beauty into contemporary design.

Walker, an associate professor of Africana studies at Barnard College, Columbia University, centers her research on slavery, gender, and racial formation in Latin America. Walker’s first book, Exquisite Slaves: Race, Clothing, and Status in Colonial Lima (2017), won the 2018 Harriet Tubman Prize.

This talk occurred on October 25, 2024 at The Museum at the FIT's Afri...

How can fashion schools institutionally cultivate support and accelerate the many changes already happening in the classroom around inclusion and equity? Ben Barry, Dean of Fashion at Parsons School of Design, explores the decolonization work at Parsons and the successes, challenges, and discussions that arose from that process.

Ben Barry was named to the Vogue Business inaugural “100 Innovators” list in 2022. Barry is leading the Parsons fashion community to embed equity, inclusion, and justice in its curriculum and culture. His current research, funded by the Ford Foundation, explores how to redesign fashion education and the fashion industry to enab...

Olivier Rousteing, creative director of the house of Balmain, joins Dr. Valerie Steele for an intimate conversation with FIT students. He recalls his personal struggles and hardships, offering a candid look into his journey and the lessons he’s carried along the way. Speaking on diversity and inclusivity in fashion, Rousteing shares: “We always win when there is love… We can build a community of people that believe in the same world, and we’re all here to shape this world.” He takes a number of audience questions and gives thoughtful and personal answers to the students' questions.

This tal...

Costume design can make or break a character or TV show. Author, consultant, fashion director, and media personality Hal Rubenstein shares amusing insights about the most influential fashion on television from the 1950s to today. Based on research from his book Dressing the Part: Television's Most Stylish Shows, Mr. Rubenstein reveals the surprising ways our favorite shows have reflected and often shaped the way we dress. He is joined by costume designer Eric Daman, whose work includes looks for the TV show Gossip Girl.

This talk was recorded February 15, 2024.

Watch the full video with captions...

Andy Hilfiger reminisces with MFIT curator Elizabeth Way about the early days of Tommy Hilfiger and how Hip Hop artists incorporated the brand into their style. This talk was part of MFIT’s 2023 fashion symposium Fresh, Fly, and Fabulous: Fifty Years of Hip Hop Style.

Andy Hilfiger has been blurring the lines between music and fashion for decades. He began his fashion career at 12, selling jeans at his brother Tommy Hilfiger's first business, The People's Place. Hilfiger relocated to New York City to perform in the downtown rock scene. He was instrumental in introducing the Tommy Hilfiger br...

What is circular design and how does it fit in the fashion industry? A circular economy is a production and consumption model that emphasizes sharing, reusing, repairing, and recycling materials and products to extend their lifecycle. Lauren B. Fay and Cynthia Power discuss the work of brands and retailers working in this way and answer some great audience questions. 

This talk was recorded September 26, 2024.

Watch the full video with captions on YouTube.

The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in New York City. https://ww...

The Museum at FIT's current exhibition Fashioning Wonder: A Cabinet of Curiosities is all about sparking awe. In conversation with Randy Cohen of the podcast “Person Place Thing,” Dr. Colleen Hill, MFIT’s curator of costume, discusses how three objects from the exhibition piqued her own curiosity. Cohen's interview approach is to delve into what people are most passionate about, showing that the most captivating conversations happen when we talk about something we care deeply about – not just ourselves. 

This conversation was recorded as part of MFIT's Fashion Culture program series on March 4, 2025. 

Fashioning Wonder: A Cabinet...

For #WomensHistoryMonth, listen in to this MFIT Fashion Culture Podcast episode highlighting Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s life and influence as a business woman, muse, and style icon. This conversation between fashion creative director Sunita Kumar Nair and CFDA CEO Steven Kolb was recorded at a 2024 MFIT Fashion Culture program. 

Sunita Kumar Nair is the author of CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, which gathers the greats of the fashion world to speak about Bessette Kennedy's timeless style. 

As chief executive of the CFDA, Steven Kolb is a driving force behind New York Fashion Week and many initiatives for...

“We wanna be fabulous. We wanna be fly. We wanna be fresh!” declares Ralph McDaniels.

For #BlackHistoryMonth we’re excited to share this conversation between Video Music Box co-creator Ralph McDaniels and FIT professor and author Elena Romero about the styles, sounds, and scene of early hip hop in NYC. 

Ralph McDaniels is the founder and curator of the Video Music Box, which airs on NYC-TV, (channel 25 or 22). McDaniels, also known as "Uncle Ralph," has directed and produced over 400 music videos, and co-produced the films Juice (1992) and You’re Watching Video Music Box (Showtime, 2021). McDaniels's microphon...

Simon Porte Jacquemus, who was born in the South of France and is now based in Paris, established his eponymous brand in 2009 with no formal training, dedicating the brand to the memory of his late mother. A passion for art and the decorative arts informs his creativity, inspiring the JACQUEMUS men's and women's ready-to-wear and accessories collections that reference French culture and universal gestures of beauty: from fine art photography, painting, and sculpture.  

The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT honored Simon Porte Jacquemus with its 2024 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion during its annual lu...

“I think there's something quite magical about when you're backstage. And it's not quite seeing behind the magician's curtain, it's more like you know seeing the play from the inside out I guess? ... [McQueen's] backstage was so different to other shows. He was totally hands-on ... and he was involved in everything. He was totally focused and the same obviously was true of all his staff and the interns," explains Alexander McQueen enthusiast John Matheson.

Alexander McQueen’s spectacular shows were full of extraordinary moments and people. In this podcast episode, author and photographer Robert Fairer discusses McQueen’s runway...

In this conversation between designer Willy Chavarria, professor Aída Hurtado and MFIT’s education curator Tanya Meléndez-Escalante they discuss the term Latinx and its constructs of inclusivity.

This talk was part of The Museum at FIT's fashion symposium “Moda Hoy! Latin American and Latinx Fashion” that was held on October 7, 2022. 

Watch the full video with captions on YouTube. | Read Transcript (PDF)

The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in New York City. https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum

The Museum at FIT's Associate Curator of Costume Elizabeth Way sits down with Digital Media Manager Tamsen Young to discuss Africa’s Fashion Diaspora. From past exhibitions to featured designers and objects, Way shares her inspiration and process for curating the exhibition. Together, they delve into the central themes of Africa’s Fashion Diaspora and introduce listeners to the exhibition’s world of diasporic crossings. 

Africa’s Fashion Diaspora is on view from September 18 - December 29, 2024. 

Transcript (pdf)

The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in...

“‘Cat Walks’ as they became known were transformed into eye-popping theatrical productions to showcase equally dramatic and one-of-a-kind garments. They became increasingly celebrity driven as well as a form of entertainment for the masses.” - Patricia Mears

In this podcast episode, MFIT Deputy Director Patricia Mears provides an intimate account of several groundbreaking runway shows from the 1990s that she witnessed firsthand. She also describes those she did not attend, but which nonetheless had a profound influence on her burgeoning understanding of fashion. This talk was part of The Museum at FIT's 26th academic symposium “Reinvention and Restlessne...

When it comes to creativity, fashion designer Anna Sui explains, “I’m like a magpie. If I see something shiny or something that attracts me, I have to look at it and touch it. I could see a fabric, and suddenly I can see a collection.”

Anna Sui is known for her contemporary reimagining of historic textiles and vintage clothing. In this month’s Fashion Culture Podcast episode, Sui is interviewed by MFIT’s deputy director Patricia Mears. They discuss how Anna Sui first got interested in fashion and what inspires her today. This event was recorded on April 2...

Before fashion objects can be exhibited, they are first examined by a textile conservator. If the condition of the object is too poor to be mounted or dressed safely, or too visually degraded to provide value in an exhibition, museum conservators conduct specialized treatments. They might stabilize an area of weakness or return an object to its original appearance as much as possible. 

In this conversation, the curator of MFIT’s Statement Sleeves, Dr. Colleen Hill, and assistant conservator, Callie O’Connor, discuss the hidden work of the conservator on three key fashion displays in the exhibition. 

...

Paul Martineau, curator of photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum, and author of the new book "Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith," joins David Campany, ICP curator at large, in conversation. They discuss the work of photographers Rodney Smith (1947-2016) and William Klein (1926-2022) and what makes fashion photography art. This event was held September 27, 2023.

Read Transcript (PDF) | Watch the full video with captions on YouTube.

The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in New York City. https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum

Image: R...

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, innovative and creative image makers. Working primarily in the realms of fashion and style, his award-winning images have been instrumental in challenging conventional notions of beauty and identity. In order to champion fashion film and develop...

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 include Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Missy Elliott, Faith Evans,  and Kimora Lee Simmons. She is the founder of the Misa Hylton Fashion Academy, which offers education for creatives looking to build a successful career in the fashion world.

Watch the full video wit...

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 on YouTube.

The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in New York City. https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum

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 1982. Her vision is grounded in empowering women who want to look and feel their best, while also making the world a better place through her philanthropy. Miller’s designs have been seen on Beyoncé, Blake Lively, Miley Cyrus, Keke...

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 podcast on September 18, 2023.

View transcript (PDF) | Learn more about Radio Cherry Bombe
The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in New York City. https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum

Intro music...

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, craftsmanship, elegance, gender, Indigenous heritage, politics, popular culture, and sustainability. It sought to challenge stereotypes about fashion by designers of Latin American heritage, moving away from a notion of a singular Latin American style and drawing attention to a diversity of talent. 

View transcript (PDF)

The M...

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 American Womenswear Designer of the Year Award, and the recipient of the 2023 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion.

(Recorded October 4, 2021)

Watch the full video with captions on YouTube.

The Museum at...

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 American designer, author, labor organizer, and social critic whose ideas many praise to be decades before her time. Over the course of her career, Hawes questioned the division between menswear and womenswear, advocated for what we call today “slow fashion", de...

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 recurring ("horrible") fashions.
(Recorded Friday, November 8, 2013)

View transcript.

The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in New York City. https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum

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 and Jean Shrimpton. The book offers a detailed and luminous portrait of the man and his era. Gefter talks with MFIT curator Melissa Marra-Alvarez about Avedon’s early years and his transformative work for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue...

In 2019, Zandra Rhodes and Fern Mallis discussed "Zandra Rhodes: 50 Fabulous Years in Fashion," a book that celebrates Rhodes' 50-year career in fashion and textile design. Both a fashion trailblazer and a consummate textile designer, Zandra Rhodes influences the work of contemporary labels such as Mary Katrantzou and Alice Temperley. The book honors the centrality of textile design in Rhodes’s work, while exploring the versatility of her imagination throughout her long career.  

Watch the full video with captions on YouTube.

The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in New...

Berlin was a fashion capital in the 1920s, with hundreds of thriving clothing manufacturers, most of them Jewish, before it was destroyed by the Nazis. Author Uwe Westphal shares this history in a discussion with FIT historian Keren Ben-Horin and journalist Jennifer Altmann, whose grandfather ran one of Berlin’s fashion houses. Organized in collaboration with the Museum at Eldridge Street.

Watch the full video with captions on YouTube.

The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in New York City. https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum

Couture designer Ronald van der Kemp and The New Fashion Initiative founder Lauren B. Fay discuss van der Kemp's career and his devotion to craftsmanship, upcycling and reducing waste in fashion.

Ronald van der Kemp is a Dutch fashion designer and founder of demi-couture fashion house RVDK, his namesake label, which shows at Paris Couture week and uses exclusively upcycled fabric. Lauren Fay has spent her career committed to improving sustainability, transparency and accountability in the fashion industry. The New Fashion Initiative (TNFI) was born out of a need to create a more collaborative and interdisciplinary approach...

On November 5, 2022, Regan de Loggans (Mississippi Choctaw) moderated a conversation with Jeffrey Gibson and Korina Emmerich. Each discussed their experience working as Native Americans in creative industries, weaving in current issues of diversity and sustainability. Gibson is an award-winning Choctaw-Cherokee artist, whose work combines traditional Native American elements with contemporary references. Emmerich is the founder of EMME, a fashion brand, which reflects her indigenous heritage stemming from the Coast Salish territory, Puyallup tribe.

Watch the full video with captions on YouTube.

The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the...