Oral Histories

The oral history collection of FIT contains over 400 interviews of prominent 20th-century fashion industry insiders, including Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne, Princess Grace of Monaco, and Vera Maxwell, as well as members of the FIT administration, faculty, and staff. This collection of in-depth interviews with individuals in every segment of the fashion and related industries creates a broad historical record that is drawn directly from the knowledgeable, informal, and often colorful expressions of its practitioners.  

• Some of the recordings (video and audio) can be accessed via Archive on Demand
• The Oral history project of the fashion industries began informally in the late 1970s, and was soon officially funded by a grant from the Educational Foundation for the Fashion Industries beginning in 1981. The project was guided by an industry advisory committee chaired by Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr.
• Begun in 2014 by the head of FIT's Special Collections, Karen Trivette, the FIT Talks oral history series holds recent interviews of fashion industry insiders as well as members of the FIT community.
• Other oral history collection series include:
  • The Bloomingdales interviews, 1986-1987
  • Bergdorf Goodman oral histories, 1977 and 1994, bulk 1994
  • FIT 50th Anniversary oral histories, 1994
  • Ford Models oral histories, 2010
  • Fragrance Foundation oral histories
  • Norman Norell oral histories
  • Maurice Rentner oral histories, 1982 May 11-September 20
  • Saks Fifth Avenue oral histories
  • Oral History of FIT