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What does the future of fashion look for the class of 2026? It\u2019s not one without obstacles: the traditional retail landscape is wary at best, and the luxury sector\u2019s AI dam has seemingly begun to break. And yet, for the Fashion Institute of Technology\u2019s graduating class, the answer seems to center on adaptive conversations rather than reactive opposition. \u201cWe are not sitting on the sidelines as the industry is happening,\u201d said Jason S. Schupbach, who assumed the role of FIT president just four months ago. \u201cWe\u2019re going to go through the transformation with the industry at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
This manifests in dynamic business classes and in sitting down to understand how to incorporate AI into the classroom and creative process in genuinely productive ways. \u201c[AI] creates new jobs, other jobs go away\u2014that\u2019s all typical, but we want to be part of the conversation,\u201d Schupbach said. However, as he also notes, a humanoid algorithm isn\u2019t what\u2019s sending a finished product down the runway; it\u2019s the students\u2019 ability to physically execute a garment that is.<\/p>\n
Despite the relatively muted color palette displayed by many of last night\u2019s almost 80 designs, an undercurrent of hope glimmered through much of the students\u2019 work. A sense of polish shone through, too, as also demonstrated by the delightfully airy silk chiffon scalloping of Hye Ji Jo (look 26) and Na\u00efma Naas\u2019s \u201chunchback\u201d tailored coat that turned to reveal a striking red ruffled backside (look 3). The latter\u2019s steampunk aesthetic likely sums up the retrofuturistic attitude taking hold of much of the creative industry as of late (see: Meruert Tolegen\u2019s Rococo renaissance or Colleen Allen\u2019s subtle Victorian bustle-backed gowns). Tyler Mervine, who won the school\u2019s Critic Award, spoke of the immortality of human memory and creation, and manifested that idea through his charcoal coat\u2019s infinite draped loop (look 17), taking inspiration, in part, from Gabriel Garc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez\u2019s novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold<\/em>. AI may be popping up in global luxury ateliers, but ChatGPT isn\u2019t sewing Mervine\u2019s fringed corset\u2014yet.<\/p>\n Levity was brought in via the children’s clothing interlude, when the student fashion show-appropriate bass thud was swapped out for The Jackson 5\u2019s \u201cABC,\u201d a hopeful planting of the seeds for a next generation of designers, photographers, and stylists. Brightness continued more clearly through knitwear\u2014a notably difficult class to master, as some students jokingly lamented. Many of the category\u2019s designers\u2014including two other Critic Award winners, Beatrice Xuan Mak\u2019s homage to the vibrancy of her home country, Malaysia (look 61), and Rachel Marino\u2019s felted bulbous sculptures (looks 55 and 58)\u2014chose to demonstrate the textile\u2019s lightness, a counterpoint to the heaviness of world events we see on all fronts these days.<\/p>\n The evening was presented in partnership with Macy\u2019s. The winner, Marina Malkhasian, whose pleated garments spoke of a warmer remembrance of her childhood in Russia before the war (looks 2 and 18), will see her pieces produced and sold in select Macy\u2019s stores come next spring. At the flagship in Herald Square, last year\u2019s winner sold out the first night it was available. It\u2019s a hopeful indication that the world still values young designers\u2014and their physical craft, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n