The Museum at FIT Fashion Culture Podcast

In conjunction with the exhibition Paris, Capital of Fashion, The Museum at FIT is publishing Paris related content to its Fashion Culture podcast. Episodes will feature past Fashion Culture programs exploring Paris designers and historical events, as well as original commentary about the exhibition from Dr. Valerie Steele.

In this episode, Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT, discusses the trajectory from the splendor at the royal court to the spectacle of the haute couture and explores the history of the beginning of Paris becoming a fashion capital. 

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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

Robin Givhan, Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion critic for the Washington Post, presents her first book, The Battle of Versailles. Givhan, in conversation with Patricia Mears, deputy director of The Museum at FIT, shares the story of a 1973 face-off at the Palace of Versailles between five American designers (Anne Klein, Stephen Burrows, Bill Blass, Halston, and Oscar de la Renta) and five French designers (Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin among them). 

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

Dr. Monica Miller and Eric Darnell Pritchard, in conversation about Patrick Kelly at The Museum at FIT's annual fashion symposium, Black Fashion Designers, held on Monday, February 6, 2017. The one-day symposium featured talks by designers, models, journalists, and scholars on African diasporic culture and fashion.

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

On Wednesday, September 4, 2019, the Couture Council of The Museum at FIT honored iconic footwear designer Christian Louboutin with its 2019 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion at a luncheon at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City. After the luncheon, Louboutin joined Dr. Valerie Steele for an intimate conversation on his career.

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

On October 17, 2017, Dr. Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at FIT, presented an in-depth look at the new edition of her book, Paris Fashion: A Cultural History. First published in 1988, this revised and expanded work explores the reasons Paris is considered the capital of fashion.

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

Reina Lewis presents “Modest Body Politics: Faith, Fashion, and Ethnicity” at The Museum at FIT's 19th fashion symposium, Fashion and Physique, held on Friday, February 23, 2018. The one-day symposium featured lectures and panels on topics such as the emergence of the plus-size fashion industry in the early twentieth century, the impact of popular culture on how we assess the female body, and fashion accessibility for the disabled in the technological age.

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

Patricia Mears, deputy director of The Museum at FIT, presents "Fashion from the Extreme: The Poles, Highest Peaks, and Beyond" at The Museum at FIT's 18th fashion symposium, Fashion, Science, and Exploration, held on Tuesday, October 10, 2017. The daylong event explored the impact of scientific thought on fashion in conjunction with two current MFIT exhibitions Expedition: Fashion from the Extreme and Force of Nature.

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

Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT, presents "A Queer History of Fashion" at The Museum at FIT's 13th fashion symposium, held November 8-9, 2013. The symposium was presented in conjunction with the exhibition A Queer History of Fashion: From the Closet to the Catwalk, the first museum exhibition to explore in depth the significant contributions to fashion made by LGBTQ individuals over the past 300 years.

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

On March 16, 2017, Alexander Joseph, editor of FIT’s Hue magazine, moderated a lively conversation about the diverse future of menswear with four designers: Auston Björkman, founder of Sir New York, a “gender nonspecific menswear” firm; Andrew Morrison, winner of the 2016 Out magazine Fashion Vanguard Award; and Abdul Abasi and Greg Rosborough, who draw on their military and athletic backgrounds for their forward thinking tailoring and sportswear using natural textiles.

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

Lacey Flint presents at the eighteenth academic symposium, Fashion, Science, and Exploration on October 10, 2017. The daylong event explored the impact of scientific thought on fashion in conjunction with two current MFIT exhibitions Expedition: Fashion from the Extreme and Force of Nature. 

Lacey Flint is the archivist and curator of research collections at The Explorers Club. She serves as a contributing curator on the Travel Channel’s Mysteries at the Museum and received her MA in museum studies from the University of Leicester.

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