Beyond Graduation
FIT enjoys international recognition for the quality of its programs and the caliber of its graduates. At FIT, you're connected, through a faculty of industry professionals and extensive networking opportunities. As a result, FIT graduates have a higher than average job placement rate.
Graduates in Footwear and Accessories Design hold positions as assistant or full-fledged designers of shoes, handbags, belts, and small leather goods;
stylists; merchandisers for manufacturers or retailers; product-line builders; production personnel; lead patternmakers; and entrepreneurs.
Graduates have been placed at major companies including:
- The Row
- Coach
- Marc Jacobs
- Tory Burch
- Kith
- Nike
- Alexander Wang
- Tommy Hilfiger
- Ralph Lauren
- Steve Madden
Where Are They Now?
Sarah Flint, Accessories Design ’10, loved beautiful shoes—but also craved comfort. Her obsession
with footwear sparked a career-defining mission to merge luxury and function for the
modern shoe consumer.
Jonathan Mateer ’19, a Genspace Scholar and sneakerhead, experimented with bioforms to replace nonbiodegradable materials for midsoles used for most sneakers. He also used 3D printing
and incorporated environmentally friendly products in his projects.