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SUNY Korea Signed an MOU with HDC I'PARK Mall SUNY Korea Signed an MOU with HDC I'PARK Mall - HDC I'PARK Mall offers various opportunities including internship experiences to students at SUNY Korea SUNY Korea (President Arthur H. Lee) and HDC I'PARK Mall (CEO Daesoo Kim) announced that they signed an MOU agreement on February 22. The main contents of this MOU agreement are △Offering HDC I'PARK Mall internship experiences towards outstanding FIT students △Planning of education and trainee program events jointly participated in professors at FIT, SUNY Korea, and executives and employees of HDC I'PARK Mall △Visiting both institutions and developing of various programs are in the works. President of SUNY Korea Arthur H. Lee said, “By forming a new partnership with HDC I'PARK Mall, the trend-setter of Korean Fashion, our FIT college students will have a window of opportunity of experiencing practical work in various fields". HDC I'PARK Mall CEO Daesoo Kim said, “I’m very glad to allow having a practical work experience to students of FIT, one of the world’s top four fashion schools. For the students to grow into experts, we will continue to develop and provide opportunities to improve various work capabilities.”
2023.02.23 Hits 4514
Introducing FIT’s Social Justice Center On Dec. 8, FIT launched an unprecedented initiative to transform the lives and careers of people of color in the creative industries. Through a multifaceted, comprehensive approach, the Social Justice Center at FIT (SJC) is designed to increase opportunity and accelerate social equity for those whom the industry might otherwise leave behind. People of color make up only about one in five workers in the creative industries. Because the problem of underrepresentation is deeply rooted, the solution cannot be one-dimensional. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) individuals in these industries face systemic barriers at every stage of their lives, beginning in childhood and lasting through retirement. That is why the SJC is building a seamless and sustained support network that addresses early education, college mentorship and training, and professional career support. “The focus for the Social Justice Center at FIT is on the whole individual,” says FIT President Joyce F. Brown, who spearheaded this first-of-its-kind initiative in higher education. “We will intervene early with BIPOC youth so they can make informed decisions about their future and the careers they might choose to pursue. While they are in college, we will provide exposure to the inner workings of industry as well as concentrated support and training. Our partners in industry will then mentor, guide, and provide opportunities to accelerate their career potential.” The SJC aims to nurture a racially and ethnically diverse talent pipeline, from the middle school classroom to the executive level. If successful, it will break down systemic barriers and ensure that BIPOC professionals achieve their full potential. It will provide scholarships for middle school, high school, and college students, and offer a pathway to advancement through internships, mentorships, and apprenticeships with SJC partners. This approach is supported by four pillars: collaboration among leading corporate and nonprofit CEOs who are committed to this vision, the talent, creativity, and expertise of FIT faculty, staff, and students, a sustained commitment to funding scholarships and programs, and ongoing accountability that will identify and measure the advancement of BIPOC professionals. Dr. Joyce Brown and Jeff Tweedy in the Pomerantz Center lobby at FIT The SJC has received substantial industry support, including $1 million pledges from the foundations of PVH Corp., owner of iconic brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger; Capri Holdings Limited, whose luxury portfolio includes Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, and Versace; and Tapestry, Inc., which owns Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman. G-III Apparel Group made the establishing gift to the SJC Scholarship Fund, which already has reached more than $1.5 million in contributions. Stefan Larsson, chief executive officer of PVH Corp., hopes that his company’s early involvement will encourage further investment by industry: “It is only by coming together that we can make a real and lasting, positive change.” Numerous scholarships are already available: the Social Justice Center Endowed Scholarship, the Amsale Aspire Initiative, the Art Smith Memorial Endowed Scholarship, the Black Student Illustrators Graduation Award, and the Prada Scholarship at FIT, among others. Jeffrey Tweedy, former president and chief executive officer of Sean John and a Menswear Design and Marketing alumnus, will be a special advisor to President Brown to help build and expand the center. A search for an executive director is underway. Additionally, an industry advisory council of 16 executives has been established to counsel, collaborate, and help measure progress toward equity. “After George Floyd’s murder, it occurred to me that we were in a very different place than a lot of the people and companies who simply wanted to do something,” President Brown says. “We were really very privileged to be in a position to make a difference. I wanted to create a different kind of pathway for people of color, so that we could see a different kind of outcome.”
2021.12.10 Hits 19603
This Cat-Crazy Holiday Window Gives Us a Special Glow On a cold winter day in New York, there’s nothing like strolling past the holiday windows of upper Fifth Avenue. Luxe retailer Bergdorf Goodman mounts the ne plus ultra of window extravaganzas, and this year Fashion Illustration faculty member and alum Carlos Aponte, Illustration MFA ’21, is a creative force behind one of them. The project began in June when David Hoey, who directs the Bergdorf windows, reached out to Aponte. Hoey envisioned a building exterior with a view inside the apartments, and cats sitting on the fire escapes. Someone proposed including an artwork that portrayed a cat, and then the ideas started flowing, Aponte says. “Once I began sketching it was obvious that all the rooms needed to be about cats. … Suddenly the concept turned into a massive cat dollhouse.” “I had to design 15 apartments, and I decided to make each one different to show the diversity of the city of New York—classical, retro, Latin-inspired, etc. I sketched all the ideas. Once they were approved, I did a color version.” The apartments would be rendered in 3D, with exaggerated perspectives, and foam-core models were created. Once those were approved, they were printed in color and assembled. “I’ve never done paperwork in 3D, so this was an opportunity to be creative outside the flat image,” Aponte says. Look carefully at the finished product for witty details, like a painting of a cat made to look like an Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe portrait. There’s also a Roman emperor feline bust and a Picasso-inspired Cubist kitty. “I was very proud of creating a pattern to make a disco ball out of paper that really looks like a disco ball,” Aponte says. “It took me a while to figure that one out.” The window was certainly a team effort, with contributions from Bergdorf artists Carl Tallent and Sebastian Montoya. Artist Samantha Smith created the furry cats that clamber across the composition. And Aponte learned something as well. “I had no idea how to do this project,” he says. “Having no idea of how to do something opens the possibility of play, and play leads to other creative realms.”
2021.12.06 Hits 19000
A Journalist’s Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan She almost didn’t escape. In August, the United States began withdrawing forces from Afghanistan, ending the longest war in U.S. history. New York Times journalist Fatima Faizi was living in Kabul, the capital. As the Taliban started to reclaim the country, Faizi gathered her family together and prepared to evacuate. “Don’t worry about bringing clothes or shoes,” a friend advised. “You can replace those. Just bring things that remind you of home.” In the end, she carried only a knapsack and a tiny painting from Bamyan, a city she loved. On November 11, Faizi spoke virtually about her experiences as an Afghan journalist and women’s rights advocate for FIT’s Department of Social Sciences’ World Affairs Lecture. The annual talk, which is open to the public, offers students a firsthand account of global events that might seem removed from daily life in the U.S.. Souzeina Mushtaq, a faculty member of the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, interviewed her. When Faizi arrived at the Kabul airport, the scene was chaotic, with the sounds of gunfire and crowds of people desperate to escape the shooting. Faizi and her family raced from one corner of the building to another. Eventually, a member of the Taliban told them they had to return home. “There are no planes,” he told Faizi. She and her family hid out in a journalist colleague’s house for several stressful days. Ironically, when air transport finally became available, members of the Taliban escorted Faizi to the plane, and to safety. Growing up, Faizi wanted to be a journalist, but her family was opposed to the idea; so she studied photography. She got her break at a protest in 2015. A friend at the news channel Al Jazeera knew of her work and asked for photographs; she had also done a few interviews, so she sent both, and the outlet published them. Two years later, a friend who was leaving the Afghanistan Times bureau told her to apply for the job and explained how to get in touch with the bureau chief. Faizi got the gig. As a woman journalist in Afghanistan, she had better access to women’s stories than most men. But in conservative or rural areas, she stood out; once, a male subject told her that her trendy sneakers signaled that she was an outsider. Mushtaq pointed out grim realities of reporting in Afghanistan, and asked how Faizi dealt with trauma. “I go for walks, and I cry a lot,” she replied. “Sometimes, I don’t sleep for two weeks.” One student wanted to know what strategy, as a journalist, Faizi used to keep readers from feeling desensitized by the tragedies in Afghanistan. “When it’s just numbers, no one pays attention,” Faiza said. “‘500 people were killed somewhere’? It is just a number. But when we tell stories about personal experiences, personal lives? Then they become human beings, and people pay attention.” This lecture was organized by Praveen Chaudhry, professor of Social Sciences, and presented in partnership with the Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Presidential Scholars Program, and the Office of International Programs.
2021.12.03 Hits 23519
Love the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? There’s an FIT Connection Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade turns 95 this year, and properly observing this landmark event requires a lot of clowns. “Half-baked holiday sweets” clowns, as Macy’s calls them, will be costumed as pies, cookies, and cakes. “Silly seaside” clowns appear as starfish and seahorses. “Spacey” clowns are astronauts, and—a new category this year—“first-responder” clowns, outfitted as firefighters and hospital workers. These and many more were dressed by a crew assembled and overseen by the parade’s costume crew chief, FIT adjunct faculty member Barbara Berman. This is her 20th parade. Some things never change. As always, Berman and her team arrived at the New Yorker Hotel on West 34th Street at 4:45 am. There, they helped the 600 clowns, 300 float escorts, 159 teens, 75 stilt walkers and special characters, 2000 balloon handlers, 450 officials, 100 banner carriers and more, into their costumes. After performers complete the 2.5-mile procession from Central Park to Macy’s at Herald Square on West 34th and Broadway, Berman’s team will help them back into their street clothes. “The transformation is amazing,” Berman says. “Performers might arrive sleepy or a little grouchy, but after they walk that parade and see all the happy people? They come back euphoric.” For the Green Giant parade float, Berman’s team dressed the float escorts as ears of corn and sunflowers. Universal Studios is presenting the Holiday Express float, with escorts outfitted as train engineers; and the South Dakota Office of Tourism will present a float that resembles—you guessed it—Mount Rushmore. (Escorts dress as park rangers.) Costume hems require special attention; if they get stepped on, the outfit can unravel, so Berman’s crew members are quick to provide hand-sewn solutions or, in a pinch, safety pins. “The styling certificate program in FIT’s Center for Continuing and Professional Studies has classes in hand-sewing, pinning, and taping,” Berman points out. She recruited part of her team from her class in PR and Special Events in the Fashion Events Planning and Publicity Program, where she serves as the lead teacher. Because of COVID-19, parade proceedings will be slightly different this year. “It’s not back to normal because normal isn’t normal any more,” Berman says. Macy’s is taking every precaution to keep marchers and attendees safe. Berman’s team has been reduced from 100 to 85. Some participants were mailed their outfits to reduce density at the New Yorker, but that creates an additional challenge: “COVID put 20 pounds on a lot of people,” Berman says, “so we have to have emergency sizes available in a huge trunk near the start.” Tall, vertically oriented balloons require the handlers to stand close together, so they were omitted last year in favor of the horizontal balloons. In 2020, much of the event was curtailed, and certain segments were pre-recorded at Macy’s satellite spot at the New Jersey Meadowlands. The good news is, this year, the whole parade will be live. Berman’s team helps keep the parade’s holiday spirit alive, and in 2008, Macy’s thanked her with a Rollie—a special award for working on the event. “Will I be working on the 100th?” she wonders. She thinks for a moment, then smiles. “Probably.”
2021.11.30 Hits 15710
Chalk Murals Beautify FIT’s Exterior Once Again Chalk FIT, an annual tradition since 2013, brings together fourth-year Illustration students to create chalk murals along the college’s concrete exterior walls. The illustrators paint with a chalk suspension to allow for precise detail and shading. This year, Chalk FIT went up in late October and will be viewable through the fall semester, if not longer. The theme is “The New Normal”—a look at how students have persisted through the COVID-19 pandemic. About 80 students created panels, as well as 15–20 alumni from the class of 2021 who didn’t get to participate last year. Associate Professor William Low oversaw the project this year; faculty members Richard Elmer John Nickle, and Steven Tabbutt also included their classes in the project. “I think it’s a great way to show that we’re back in business,” said Dan Shefelman, chair of the Illustration and Interactive Media Department and the founder of Chalk FIT. “It’s also a way to show passersby all the different sides of FIT students: They’re political, they’re bright, they’re fun, and some of them are dealing with pretty dark issues.” Shefelman pointed out two standout collaborations between students: a mural addressing suicide, by Rylie Coen and Brianna Kelly, and another, by Melanie Wong and Oscar Yohe Tapia, emphasizing the importance of imagination and fantasy while being stuck in front of a computer. “It brings a vibrance to the community,” Shefelman says. “People look forward to it, and now it’s back up.”
2021.11.23 Hits 21041