Fashion Design MFA

FIT’s MFA in Fashion Design program students conduct rigorous research that culminates in creating eight-look collections, thesis papers and presentations, videos, lookbooks, brand business plans, and portfolios. Graduates leave the program prepared to make a positive impact as industry professionals by working within existing fashion companies or launching their own brands.

Our Fashion Design MFA 2024 graduates will be participating in New York Fashion Week with their upcoming show, BEYOND. See their collections by tuning into the livestream.

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Information Sessions

Fashion Design MFA information sessions will take place on the following dates. Click on a date and time to register for the session.

Six graduates "Design the Look"

NBC’s TODAY with Hoda & Jenna partnered exclusively with FIT on a new, weeklong series: Hoda and Jenna’s “Design the Look.” Custom looks for the hosts were unveiled every day, created by six recent FIT Fashion Design MFA graduates.

Play the segments here>

Our program’s unique four-semester thesis process will give you the freedom to experiment and create in a highly-structured environment supported by an experienced and dynamic faculty. Through your courses and guest lectures, you’ll learn about brand identity, legal issues, and the global supply chain to help focus your designs, develop prototypes, and define your market niche.

Degree Details

With the time, resources, and support to innovate in silhouette, construction, fit, and materials, our students thrive.

Design by Zining Ye, winner of 2023 Global Design Graduate Show in the category of Fashion, Accessories and Textiles

Lilach Porges and Zining Ye, Fashion Design MFA '23, were winners in the 2023 Global Design Graduate Show in the category of Fashion, Accessories and Textiles.

students in the FIT MFA Fashion Design program preparing fabrics for the Unwearable collection

Fashion Design MFA students, in consultation with renowned designer Bart Hess, designed a garment for his Unwearable Collection. The collection, a collaboration with pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, explores the devastating impact of a rare skin disease.

FIT alumna Hee Jin Hwang’s capsule collection for the 2023 Supima Design Competition

Titled The Sculptor’s Daughter, alumna Hee Jin Hwang’s capsule collection for the 2023 Supima Design Competition featured structural looks, abundant texture, and a great deal of surface manipulation and volume.

yellow, pink, and orange dresses designed by Bryan Barrientos

Fashion Design MFA student Bryan Barrientos was won of eight finalists in the 2022 Supima Design Competition during New York Fashion Week.

adaptive accessories created by Fashion Design MFA students

With access to the FIT DTech Lab, Fashion Design MFA students created adaptive accessories, including a messenger/tote bag, wallet, chest pack, and umbrella for the Cerebral Palsy Foundation.

Explore

Theory plus practice … Start with an idea. Focus the idea. Work on it. And see where it takes you.

When you experiment and play without knowing the endpoint, it opens up whole new possibilities.

Kritika ManchandaFashion Design MFA ’19 and winner of the $25,000 Geoffrey Beene Design Scholar Award

Graduates work in bustling, high-end design houses, leading fashion brands, intimate ateliers, and entrepreneurial ventures, including starting their own brands and consultancies. Others go on to teach in addition to their robust careers.

Our faculty members have made their mark on leading brands. Now they want to help perfect yours. Meet more Fashion Design MFA faculty.

Cathleen Sheehan

Cathleen Sheehan is a fashion industry veteran, multidisciplinary strategist, and an associate chair of FIT's Fashion Design MFA program. She has successfully advised hundreds of global brands, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits on design, product, and market strategies to leverage core strengths and opportunities within the dynamic fashion, beauty, tech, and retail landscapes.

Kip Chapelle

As a designer for dozens of celebrity clients and one of the first to have a retail presence in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, Kip Chapelle has been instrumental in shaping New York’s fashion scene. Having worked for Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Sean John, Geoffrey Beene, Barneys New York, and Saks Fifth Avenue, he was inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2011. He holds an AAS from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Vasi Zivanic

The work of Vasi Zivanic spans commercial fashion and fine arts, with collaborators including Zaha Hadid, Calvin Klein, Estée Lauder, fashion designer Victoria Bartlett, and fashion photographer Steven Klein. Her costume designs are frequently commissioned for award-winning stage performances, while her art has been exhibited internationally. A winner of the Kahn Career Award for Exceptional Talent, Zivanic holds a BFA from the University of Design in Belgrade and an MFA from Boston University.

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