Last Monday, the Met Gala asked its guests to interpret the “Art of Fashion” through the lens of the body—a prompt that could have been lifted straight from a design school brief. And indeed, just days later, the Fashion Institute of Technology’s annual Future of Fashion showcase answered that call with a collection that was equal parts provocation and confession.
Opening the sportswear segment, Sebastian Matus presented a black zippered dress with winged cap sleeves and squared-off hips that seemed to armor the wearer. Naïma Naas followed with a pin-striped bustle coat, its shoulders padded into a hunchback silhouette—a deliberate distortion that recalled the exaggerated hip pads of 19th-century corsetry, which once reshaped women’s bodies to fit an ideal. In the intimates section, the body was laid bare, but knitwear took the most surreal turn: a hoop skirt reimagined as a circus tent, and a blue duster cardigan whose sleeves appeared to knit a red scarf mid-air.
This year’s show christened FIT’s new Joyce F. Brown building, named for the former president’s three-decade tenure. New director Jason Schupbach described his first four months as “the most magical” of his career, likening the role to “being in Willy Wonka.” On the runway, 80 students presented 91 designs, selected by a panel including Halston creative director Ken Downing—a house that, under Roy Halston Frowick in the 1970s, revolutionized American sportswear with fluid, body-conscious silhouettes—and Fern Mallis, founder of New York Fashion Week.
Mallis also announced a “Shanghai Experience” initiative, sending two students to learn about supply chains and, potentially, design stage costumes for K-pop group Big Ocean. Macy’s, returning as lead sponsor for the fifth time, presented two awards. Marina Malkhaslan’s gray scarf coat, layered over pleated white, combined military and school uniforms as a tribute to young Russian draftees; she used dead-stock fabrics “that got thrown away because it resembles how those young boys’ lives got thrown away, too.” Athmiha Saravanen won the Capsule Collection Award for a day-to-night denim set inspired by the lives glimpsed from the Queens subway. Her dream? To work for Sacai—a brand known for its structural hybrids—even if it means moving to Paris. “I speak French,” she said, “so maybe that’s a start.”
Originally reported by WWD