Behind the scenes at The Museum at FIT

By Alex Joseph, MA ’15

Photos by Nick Parisse ’09

Aside from being the most fabulous museum in New York (and the only one featuring fashion exhibitions year-round), The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is also something ordinary: a workspace. Or rather, one giant workspace comprising many smaller ones. On second glance, however, these places are anything but mundane. Unseen by the average museumgoer, they glimmer with significance, evoking through their tools and technologies the critical functions that make MFIT unique. Our feature celebrates the museum—this jewel in FIT’s crown—and the singular people who work there. 

REGISTRAR’S OFFICE

Jill Hemingway, Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice MA ’14, Visual Art Management ’08, Display and Exhibit Design ’96, associate registrar

“This office is the first stop for any object coming into the museum. They get photographed, entered into our database, and tagged before they move to the conservation department for further prepping. We also arrange for the objects to get here via various couriers, including me.  I’ve been in this office for 20 years and though most items are in flux, a few have been here since my first day. That oversize photo of actor Lisa Kirk wearing a Charles James dress came from a retrospective show the museum did about James in 1993.”

CONSTRUCTION SHOP

Ken Wiesinger, technologist

Michael Goitia, senior exhibition manager

“All the built elements that go into exhibitions are made here—like that mannequin platform or ‘bump up’. That includes the assembly of plexiglass vitrines. Fashioning Wonder [which closed April 20] was the biggest show we’ve ever built in terms of lumber. Recycling is very important to us and it also helps us maximize our budget. We also give a lot of recycled material away to students. The space can’t be very personalized because so many people come here as freelance art handlers and carpenters. They need to be able to find things, so we have to be very organized.” —Goitia

EDUCATION ROOM

Tanya Meléndez-Escalante, Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice MA ’04, senior curator of education

Frida McKeon Loyola, Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice, Art History and Museum Professions ’22, Fashion Design ’96, Fashion Buying and Merchandising ’95, assistant curator of education

“This is a hands-on learning space. We hold workshops here for children and adults as part of our public programming. One year, the museum did a Day of the Dead event and kids made picture frames dedicated to designers who had passed away—Versace, Chanel. A designer led a flower-dyeing workshop for adults. We have a partnership with Chelsea Prep, which is in the nearby public housing. Throughout the spring semester, we visit their kindergarten classrooms four to five times and lead workshops. Right now they’re dressing paper dolls. The purpose of the program is to get children to see the museum as a place of fun and learning. FIT Fashion Design students studying children’s wear come with us to Chelsea Prep. These aspiring designers get to study how children use clothing, how they move in it, something they can’t learn in a traditional classroom.” —Meléndez-Escalante

THE STUDY COLLECTION

Raissa Bretaña, Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice MA ’19, education and collections assistant

“We have over 1,000 garments in the study collection. Most are too fragile or damaged to exhibit, but they reflect the quality of the pieces in the permanent collection and are incredibly valuable teaching tools for faculty. Students can actually touch these pieces—they can look inside them to understand construction and handle the fabrics. Where else could you feel the pleats of a Fortuny Delphos gown? Design students tend to get most excited about the high-end brands—Balenciaga, Dior, Chanel—while fashion historians enjoy seeing the rarer 19th-century garments. My favorite piece is this yellow dress designed by Edith Head that Shirley MacLaine wore in What a Way to Go! (1964). This thing has hugged Gene Kelly! The Museum at FIT’s collection is unique in that it includes film costumes. We have several by Adrian from his glory days at MGM, which are great to have alongside his later fashion work.”

THE CONSERVATION LAB

Alison Castaneda, Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice MA ’10, associate conservator

Callie O’Connor, Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice MA ’20, assistant conservator

“Our roles include much more than just conserving objects with sewn treatments or cleaning. We monitor the temperature and humidity of the exhibition and storage rooms. We make exhibition mounts and mount the objects. We research and test materials that come in contact with the objects. We also have an integrated pest management system to prevent bugs from entering the museum: When garments come in, we freeze them or seal more fragile objects in an anoxic chamber to deprive any potential pests of oxygen.”

“This is an 1880s Charles Frederick Worth gown. It was haphazardly altered in the 20th century to make it larger, probably for a costume, and I’m returning it back to its original appearance, using hints like old creases from pleats and old stitch lines.” —Castaneda

“This is a latex garment similar to one worn by Nicki Minaj. We exhibited it in Fresh, Fly, and Fabulous: Fifty Years of Hip Hop Style [2023], and then it was accessioned into the collection. Latex is a quickly degrading material, so I’m experimenting with different ways to preserve it, using samples of the material that the designer sent us.” —O’Connor