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DTech Lab has announced Annalisa Nundahl as the winner of the fifth annual PETE Prize for Entrepreneurs. Nundahl is the founder of Iron Step, a footwear business concept that offers a "recovery slide" designed for industrial workers experiencing foot pain and discomfort caused by protective footwear. "Built for the shift after the shift," the slide is crafted to provide relief outside working hours while maintaining durability and comfort. "The concept really started through observation and experience," Nundahl said. "After nearly 15 years working in industrial and workwear sales, I became very aware of how physically demanding these jobs are and how little attention is given to recovery after long shifts. This project feels personal to me, and I'm excited by the opportunity to turn an idea into something real that could genuinely improve someone's day-to-day life."

For the second consecutive year, students from FIT and H-FARM College near Venice, Italy, joined together in a unique collaborative study abroad opportunity exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and fashion. The students spent an intensive two weeks - half in Venice and half in New York City - visiting arts and culture sites, learning about the two cities, and preparing for final team presentations. The curriculum, created by FIT's DTech Lab and H-FARM, was designed to give the next generation of creatives a chance to enrich their education by experiencing the fashion industry across continents while incorporating AI in real time. This year, six FIT students joined six Italian students from H-FARM. The theme of the New York component this year was "Reimagining the Fashion Value Chain: Human-Centered AI, Artisanship, and Genius Loci." The students emerged from the program with an understanding of how AI is transforming the fashion industry, bridging the gap between tradition and innovation. "This was a remarkable opportunity to bring really talented, smart, ambitious, young, fresh minds together to create and explore the new dimensions of technology, but within the context of traditional artisanal practice," said Michael Ferraro, executive director of the DTech Lab.

The winner of FIT's fourth annual PETE Prize for Entrepreneurs was announced Wednesday, May 13, at FIT. The 2025 winner, Harnoor Sekhon, whose company is SNJA (meaning "communal ownership"), has created a direct-to-consumer brand specializing in easy-to-wear, performance-enhancing pre-tied turbans designed to provide convenience for the wearer. Sekhon, the first graduate student to win the PETE Prize, is a graduate of the Global Fashion Management program and was chosen from among ten competing teams. As the winner, she is receiving $30,000, along with office space for one year and marketing, legal, financial, creative, and operational guidance on how to build and launch an innovative company. She plans to use the $30,000 for product development and product refinement, and hopes the product will launch early next year. The PETE Prize is administered by the FIT DTech Lab as a jury-picked merit award competition that recognizes excellence in the development of fresh, insightful, and creative ideas which are envisioned through execution-focused business plans that demonstrate innovative, design-oriented thinking.

When Faryl Robin Gilston, Accessories Design '89, Marketing: Fashion and Related Industries '88, and her footwear company, Faryl Robin, came to FIT to develop a completely new identity for the brand, she worked with the college's DTech Lab to freely generate the new look and new designs.

Earlier this summer, eight students explored the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and fashion in a unique study abroad curriculum created by FIT's DTech Lab and H-FARM College, the institute for undergraduate and postgraduate education of H-FARM located near Venice, Italy. This two-week summer program was taught for one week on H-FARM's Campus in Italy and the second week in New York City at FIT. The five participating students from FIT are all Social Justice Scholars, an initiative to benefit BIPOC students and promote diversity in the creative industries. During the program's second week, June 10-15, classes were taught on campus at FIT in the DTech Lab, the college's innovation and research lab. Students learned about production, manufacturing, and customization, and how AI is being used to study past trends and create new designs. They also took field trips to fully immerse themselves in New York City's culture and energy. The consensus from the program's participants was that AI is not to be feared - instead, lean into it and customize it to help creatives work smarter and build on their inspiration and processes.

The winners of FIT's third annual PETE Prize for Entrepreneurs were announced Thursday, May 16, at FIT. The 2024 winning team of Michelle Chung, Entrepreneurship '22, and Sonia Yanes, Fashion Design '22, whose company is Odera, have created a business making online shopping for fashion an easy and enjoyable experience for the disability community. Odera is an online marketplace designed for disabled individuals, pioneering adaptive fashion's shift from being function-focused to fashion-focused, and also offering a guided shopping experience to the neurodivergent community. Chung and Yanes, who were chosen from among five teams, are receiving $30,000, along with office space for one year as well as marketing, legal, financial, creative, and operational guidance on how to build and launch an innovative company. The PETE Prize is administered by the FIT DTech Lab as a jury-picked merit award competition which recognizes excellence in the development of fresh, insightful, and creative ideas which are envisioned through execution-focused business plans that demonstrate innovative, design-oriented thinking.

On Thursday, March 21, FIT's DTech Lab hosted an AI Symposium for the creative industries to discuss how the rapidly evolving technology can transform the future of design and business. In front of a lively and engaged audience in the Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, innovators in artificial intelligence explored opportunities, ethics, and challenges in the field. Speakers included experts from Google, IBM, and AI creative studio Maison Meta, as well as entrepreneurs like alumna designer Norma Kamali. Maison Meta presented case studies that featured the use of generative AI by major luxury brands. Marc Beckman, CEO of DMA United, provided insights on the ethics of AI and large language models, emphasizing the importance of individual responsibility when using these tools. Representatives from IBM talked about their outward-facing and internal AI tools that focused on fashion, highlighting their comprehensive strategy of implementing internal governance in upholding trust. Among the takeaways: Kevin Fried, managing director of Branded Apparel and Durables at Google, said that instead of seeing AI as a threat, creatives should add it to their skill set. "AI is not replacing anyone," he emphasized. "It's a tool." Norma Kamali said she used AI as a way to expand the possibilities of her 56-year design archive, to let her designs "live beyond me."

More than 225 people gathered on Tuesday, December 12, at the UNIQLO Fifth Avenue Global Flagship Store to celebrate the launch of RE.LIVE, an exclusive upcycling collection developed by FIT students in partnership with UNIQLO to reimagine new, creative solutions for unsellable product. This marks UNIQLO's first collaboration with a U.S.-based college, and it is the latest initiative from its RE.UNIQLO program. Under the guidance of FIT's DTech Lab, three Fashion Design BFA students and two Advertising and Digital Design BFA students from the Class of 2024 collaborated on the RE.LIVE project, from inception through to the campaign rollout. The students reimagined 11 LifeWear pieces, with design themes including Craftland, Re-Automation, and Modern Anatomy, using non-sellable and non-wearable UNIQLO products previously donated or returned by customers. The collection is now available at the RE.UNIQLO Studio inside the Fifth Avenue store. "I've loved working with the UNIQLO team, the DTech team, and my classmates on a sustainability initiative," said student designer Bridgette Schaeffer. "My generation of designers are more passionate about sustainability than ever before. We understand that it is not only important, but essential."

The Japanese retailer collaborates with FIT's Design and Tech Lab for an exclusive collection available at the Fifth Avenue global flagship store. Uniqlo has announced its collaboration with the Fashion Institute of Technology and its DTech Lab for a limited-edition upcycling collection called Re.Live. The 11-piece collection of knitwear, outerwear, shirts, jumpsuits and accessories was developed using completely non-sellable and non-wearable Uniqlo products.

The winners of FIT's second annual PETE Prize for Entrepreneurs were announced during Entrepreneurship Month on Thursday, November 30, at a breakfast at Spring Place. The 2023 winning team of Habin Lee, Technical Design '23, and Mary Addison Davis, Fashion Design '23, whose company is RANEA: Courage to Move, have created a business manufacturing and selling athletic wear that facilitates proper muscle movements and reduces stress for chronic injuries for both men and women.

Fashion Design MFA students, in consultation with world-renowned designer Bart Hess, designed a garment that will be part of his Unwearable Collection, a collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The collection interprets the devastating impact and unpredictability of a rare skin disease, generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP), through fashion. To inform their design, students Natalia Robles-Oteiza and Urvi Selarka heard from people living with GPP, who said the flares were "very unpredictable." Their design, titled "Trapped by Uncertainty," combines unwearable elements, such as crystals and glass, with diaphanous materials used in fashion design. The outer layer emulates smoke, representing the unpredictability of a flare, while the interior symbolizes the beauty and individuality of people living with this rare disease. FIT DTech Lab Executive Director Michael Ferraro was the creative director for the college's partnership. "The students were insightful and empathetic in their ability to creatively convey through an evocative and alluring design the emotional uncertainty and discomfort of living with GPP," Ferraro said. On June 27, the five pieces were unveiled to a private audience that included Hess, people living with GPP, and members of the FIT DTech Lab and Boehringer Ingelheim teams.

Haley Schwartz, 22, won FIT's first PETE Prize for Entrepreneurs, chosen from a field of 40 applicants. Her company, Vertige, will make fashion-forward adaptive wear for people living with heart monitors, colostomy bags, ports, feeding tubes and breast cancer. The award brings $30,000 in seed money, a year of office space at FIT's Center for Innovation at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and marketing, legal, financial, creative and operational guidance. It was announced at a ceremony on Thursday, September 29. The PETE Prize is administered by the FIT DTech Lab as a jury-selected merit award competition. It is named for Peter G. Scotese, a pioneering entrepreneur and chairman emeritus of the FIT Board of Trustees, with initial funding from Edwin Goodman, a former board chair and a partner at Activate Venture Partners.

On August 10, legendary toy store FAO Schwarz hosted "Kick It with Karma's World," an all-day event for kids built around the Netflix series, with shopping, giveaways, interactive activations and the show's product line and soundtrack. Chris (Ludacris) Bridges, creator and executive producer of the series, joined the festivities and welcomed the FIT alumni who developed clothing designs for six of the dolls in the Karma's World collection. 2021 FIT graduates Juliana Bui, Jake Valliere and Desiree DiCarlo talked with Bridges about the new toy line, and current student Jada Wilkerson joined as well. Valliere, an Accessories Design grad, called it a milestone to walk into a store and see Mattel dolls wearing his designs. The full design team comprised Bui, Brianna Castillo, Jacob Desvarieux, DiCarlo, Hawwaa Ibrahim, Carly McBride, Valliere and Wilkerson. The FIT DTech Lab, a key component of the college's Innovation Center, provided a high-impact learning environment for the team, with faculty advisers and alumna Brandice Daniel, founder of Harlem's Fashion Row, as series fashion consultant.

On Tuesday, March 1, FIT's DTech Lab launched the PETE Prize for Entrepreneurs, a student award recognizing excellence in developing fresh and creative ideas translated into business plans that leverage innovative design-oriented thinking. It carries a $30,000 cash award. The prize is inspired by Peter G. Scotese, chairman emeritus of the FIT Board of Trustees and a pioneering entrepreneur. Initial funding comes from Edwin Goodman, a former chair of the board and a partner at Activate Venture Partners. PETE is also an acronym for passionate, empathetic, tenacious and enthusiastic. Selected applicants take part in five months of clinics, workshops and knowledge-sharing with established venture capitalists, industry leaders and mentors. Teams of one to three people are eligible, and the grand prize winner was to be announced after New York Fashion Week in September 2022.

Inspired by the animated Netflix series "Karma's World," FIT students have designed a 50-piece fashion-forward children's collection for licensing partners to incorporate across a range of consumer categories, with the first product set to launch later this year. Designs include jumpsuits, jackets, sweatsuits, dresses, swimsuits and footwear. The project came together via 9 Story Media Group creator, producer and distributor of award-winning animated and live-action content for young audiences, and Karma's World Entertainment, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges' entertainment media company, which forged a partnership with Fashion Institute of Technology's Design and Technology Lab.

9 Story Media Group and Karma's World Entertainment, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges' entertainment media company, announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with the Fashion Institute of Technology's Design and Technology Lab (FIT DTech). Inspired by the hit animated Netflix series Karma's World, FIT students designed a 50-piece fashion-forward children's collection for licensing partners, spanning jumpsuits, jackets, sweatsuits, dresses, swimsuits and footwear, with the first product set to launch later that year. The design team included current students and 2021 graduates of FIT's Fashion Design program: Juliana Bui, Brianna Castillo, Jacob Desvarieux, Desiree DiCarlo, Hawwaa Ibrahim, Carly McBride, Jake Valliere and Jada Wilkerson. The FIT DTech Lab, a key component of the college's Innovation Center, provided a high-impact learning environment for the team. Footwear and Accessories Design Chair Sarah Mullins, Assistant Professor Lauren Zodel and Adjunct Instructor Gregg Woodcock teamed up with FIT alum Brandice Daniel, founder of Harlem's Fashion Row, as an advisor to the students and series fashion consultant. The partnership embodies a shared commitment to social equity within the creative industries for Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities, which was also the impetus for the recent launch of the Social Justice Center at FIT.

In a world where isolation and work-from-home lifestyles have become the new norm, many industries and institutions — including fashion design schools — found themselves having to shift gears and pivot to a remote mode of operation. When it came to showcasing their students' graduate collections, Central Saint Martins put together an interactive 3D exhibition, Parsons presented a fashion film in collaboration with 1 Granary and FIT organized a groundbreaking digital fashion show. Dubbed 7 Collections, the online event put the work of eight MFA Fashion Design students on display via DTech Live — FIT's on-campus innovation lab working with design and emerging technologies. The event took place as a virtual showcase, but as the young designers presented their work, those viewing the show could purchase the garments from home. The shoppable graduate fashion show, powered by Bambuser, is the first of its kind, marking a new chapter of connecting design students with their potential customers.

An inaugural pilot program, powered by Bambuser, launched April 6 and features an online interactive fashion event with made-to-order shopping from debut collections designed by recent alumni from FIT's School of Graduate Studies. FIT is advancing its investment in experiential learning through the launch of DTech Live, a series of interactive events powered by Bambuser, that will connect designers directly with consumers for a live shopping experience. An extension of FIT's Innovation Center and a first-of-its-kind initiative in higher education, DTech Live debuts Tuesday, April 6, at 1 pm, with 7 Collections, a fashion pilot featuring the extraordinary work of FIT alumni from seven countries, all of whom earned MFAs in Fashion Design. "Innovation requires tremendous determination, resilience, and agility," said Michael Ferraro, executive director of DTech Lab. "The designers featured in 7 Collections developed these critical career skills through a learning environment that models professional practice and closely connects students to industry."

The new vest was designed by students from the Fashion Institute of Technology. It was released on Tuesday, along with more than a dozen separates for Girl Scouts in grades six through 12, including things that are likely already in their closets, like black spandex leggings and a denim jacket. The student-designed collection is an attempt to make the Girl Scout uniform more versatile and relevant — to infiltrate the modern teenage wardrobe with scouty swag, sometimes camouflaged as athleisure.

For over a century, Girl Scouts have proudly worn uniforms that symbolize everything a girl can achieve through Girl Scouts. As trends evolve, we offer new features and designs that match modern girls' interests and passions. For the 2020 back to troop season, GSUSA collaborated with the Fashion Institute of Technology to design new uniforms and apparel collection which are guaranteed to make girls feel their best when representing Girl Scouts. Learn more about the history of the Girl Scout uniform and visit the Girl Scouts official online store.

Four students from FIT's Fashion Design class of 2020, Nidhi Bhasin, Zhuo Ran (Jenny) Feng, Melissa Posner, and Daryn Huang, have reimagined the Girl Scouts of the USA uniform. On August 25, that uniform and apparel collection officially launched. The new apparel collection honors the classic Girl Scout look while also incorporating modern, fashionable elements to ensure that every girl can express her unique style. By offering a variety of options, girls can proudly showcase their personalities while also sporting the iconic Girl Scout trefoil.

After completing her university studies in Colombia, Karina set off to New York where she was able to gain first-hand experience in 3D design at the FIT DTech Lab. We are very proud and excited for her and wish her all the best!

Innovation is the lifeblood of FIT, and the FIT/Infor DTech Lab is one of the biggest drivers of that innovation. This public-private partnership with Infor, a global leader in business software, was established in June 2017 with a mission to engage faculty and students in solving industry problems using design, science, business, and technology. With Executive Director Michael Ferraro at the helm, DTech has undertaken nearly 30 projects with 35 faculty members and 115 paid student researchers from a range of majors. Industry partners include Tommy Hilfiger, IBM, Adidas, and the Girl Scouts. DTech operates as a design studio and thinktank to innovate for industry, drawing from the college's creative and intellectual capital and developing solutions in an educational context. This groundbreaking partnership has forged a talent pipeline through which students contribute to new products and services in numerous industries, work that often gets them hired at firms like PVH, IBM, and Lafayette 148 before they graduate. The article walks through five notable DTech projects: reimagining the Girl Scouts uniform, adaptive leg-brace covers for people living with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a cutting-edge FIT-branded apparel line made with OnPoint Manufacturing, an artificial intelligence collaboration with IBM and Tommy Hilfiger, and adaptable accessories for people with Cerebral Palsy.

DTech Lab and IBM have partnered to educate the next generation to use technology to forecast trends in the past. Today, we are excited to be part of IBM's Retail and Consumer Products: Future of Retail website, and we are looking forward to new and exciting collaborations with IBM in the future.

Today at the DTech Lab, a Q&A video series, featuring current students from the classes of 2020 and 2021, and recent alumni from the class of 2019, being filmed and moderated by NPD Group, a leading market research company. The three research topics being covered are GenZ, Sustainability, and Beauty & Technology. Larissa Jensen, Executive Director, Beauty Industry Analyst, who is moderating the Q&A is also an alumna of our Fashion Institute of Technology School of Graduate Studies Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management program.

Before launching into his October 30 talk about artificial intelligence for marketing, Michael Trapani, director of marketing at Acoustic (formerly known as IBM's Watson Marketing), told a story about the moon. He flashed a picture of pioneering software engineer Margaret Hamilton next to her comically tall stack of handwritten code that powered the guidance computer for Apollo 11. The moon landing was a historic moment for software and humanity, but "this is where we are with AI," he said. "Fifty years from now, we'll look back and chuckle." AI is making life easier today, especially for marketers. To find insights that inform the best possible customer experience, they need to prep and analyze tons of data. "We're starting to feel more like data scientists than creative thinkers," Trapani said. AI helps solve the problem by ingesting this data, finding patterns, and then making predictions and recommendations. He specified that marketing does not use general AI but narrow AI, which is "really good at doing one or two things," and assured the audience that no jobs are on the line: "Human plus machine always beats the machine itself." The event was a collaboration between the Advertising and Marketing Communications Department, the Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology, FIT/Infor DTech Lab, and IBM, through the efforts of Associate Professor Jean Marc Rejaud and Professor Albert Romano.

Neue and the FIT/Infor DTech Lab collaborated with two Swedish fashion companies: POC Sports and Ann Sofie Back to create new products that incorporate their wearable technology into new designs for brand's product lines. The fashion industry's slow evolution has created new opportunities for innovative technology to have a profound impact on the entire fashion value chain. Neue is a Swedish Fashion Technology company that has developed a new microchip and software platform designed to specifically integrate into fashion apparel and accessories.

The FIT/Infor Design and Technology Lab (DTech Lab) and IBM announced a collaboration that will transform how the fashion industry operates, and will help build the creative fashion workforce of the future. FIT will leverage IBM's artificial intelligence (AI) for fashion capabilities, a suite of application programming interfaces developed and trained for the fashion industry that use deep learning, natural language processing, and computer vision to improve customer experience and enhance product design, development, and merchandising. FIT's initial experience with IBM AI for Fashion was in 2018, when Tommy Hilfiger teamed with IBM and the DTech Lab on "Reimagine Retail," a project to show how AI can give a fashion brand a competitive edge with market insights, product design, personalization and supply chain optimization. "Embedding emerging technology into our lab where faculty and students are solving industry problems is the next step in our evolving relationship with IBM," said Michael Ferraro, director of the FIT/Infor DTech Lab. "We're leveraging the fresh perspectives and new ideas of talented creative students in an agile research environment." The expanded collaboration covers four areas: use of IBM AI for Fashion inside the DTech Lab, joint partner projects with leading fashion companies, enhanced curriculum that integrates IBM's AI tools into FIT courses, and joint research with IBM Research on challenges such as supply chain effectiveness and fashion sustainability. Since its inception in the summer of 2017 through the spring 2019 semester, the DTech Lab has taken on 19 projects involving 76 students and 21 faculty.

The FIT/Infor DTech Lab has announced a partnership with OnPoint Manufacturing that will lay the groundwork for the college to launch its own branded lines of apparel and accessories. FIT will develop a brand and a series of labels designed, marketed, and retailed by students and manufactured using OnPoint's fit personalization technologies and supply chain strategies. The brand will carry a wearable avant-garde aesthetic across two collections of women's wear, one aimed at a luxury market and the other at a mid-market consumer. OnPoint's Unique.Fashion platform will act as the marketplace for students working on the project from FIT's Fashion Design, Technical Design, Fashion Business Management, Textile Development and Marketing, Advertising and Marketing Communications, and Communication Design programs. The technology personalizes garment fit using age, weight, and height, without measurements, photographs, or scanners. The partnership also opens the way for students to explore technology that could reduce waste and costly overdevelopment through on-demand manufacturing. Michael Ferraro, executive director of the FIT/Infor Design and Technology Lab, said the arrangement offers students, brands, and designers a revolutionary fashion value chain inside an innovative learning environment.

Software that runs some of the world's largest companies will soon contain elements designed by FIT interns. The FIT/Infor DTech Lab partnered with Hook & Loop, a design agency within the multinational software company Infor, to improve the user interface and user experience of various Infor products. FIT students were hired as interns to work on the projects under faculty supervision, and on November 27 they presented their work to Hook & Loop management at Infor headquarters in New York. Neil Hicks, a Production Management faculty member, led four students in customizing a software suite for shoe designer Noah Waxman, an FIT Design Entrepreneurs alumnus; they settled on CloudSuite Industrial, and if the product succeeds Infor might roll it out for other emerging designers. Kathleen O'Brien, Advertising Design, created new color palettes for Infor products along with a training webinar for Infor Expense, the company's first mobile app, while Elizabeth Hartley, Graphic Design, worked on a standardized interface across Infor products. C.J. Yeh and Christie Shin, Communication Design Pathways faculty members, guided a team in reimagining employee training modules for three tiers of staff. Nunzio Esposito, vice president and head of experience for Hook & Loop, said the interns had made an impact on core Infor technology. Michael Ferraro, executive director of DTech, said the students are changing the face of enterprise software.

At the FIT/Infor DTech Lab, students and faculty work with industry to experiment with innovative technologies that could shape the future of design, manufacturing, and retail. The lab recently investigated 3D digital draping software. Over the 2017-18 academic year, Fashion Design student Lucy Chen and Technical Design student Stephanie Hutton, working with Leonard Bess, assistant professor of Fashion Design, tested a range of 3D modeling programs for apparel companies. The programs create a lifelike digital mannequin so that patterns can be corrected without physical samples, reducing costs and waste and shrinking the design timeline. After surveying the most popular programs, the team focused on Browzwear because it accurately renders garments on a virtual mannequin, and gave feedback to its developers. Hutton found the software handled everyday classic styles such as polos, button-downs and hoodies well, but grew very complicated with a strapless pleated dress. When the DTech trial ended, Hutton won a highly competitive 3D design internship at PVH, the first of its kind in the company's history. Chen was hired part-time at PVH as 3D materials librarian, also a newly created position. At FIT, Bess is developing a course in 3D digital design, to debut as early as fall 2019 and also to be offered through the Center for Continuing and Professional Studies. Michael Ferraro, executive director of DTech, said there is a real sense in the air that people are coming out of FIT prepared for the future of the industry.

Since its inception in 2017, the FIT/Infor DTech Lab has collaborated with 16 faculty members and hired 60 student interns to design innovative technologies for major corporations like PVH and IBM. Students from across the college apply for these coveted, well-paying internships, which take place inside DTech on the first floor of the Feldman Center, with frequent visits to the sponsoring companies. The companies have shown interest in adopting the students' recommendations, and have offered some students further internships and jobs. Michael Ferraro, executive director of DTech, describes the placements as experimental research environments rather than internships where students are told what to do, built on repeated ideation and iteration. Alongside the IBM/Tommy Hilfiger artificial intelligence project, DTech projects have included reimagining Infor employee training modules, adapting Infor software for independent shoe designer Noah Waxman, testing 3D-modeling programs later applied at PVH, and working with Swedish wearable tech company Neue to embed a microprocessor, sensors and electroluminescent fabric into cycling pants, helmets and bags for POC Sports to improve biker safety. This academic year, business and design students are collaborating on an FIT private-label brand meant to serve as a case study for industry, and DTech interns are analyzing in-store engagement at JCPenney to help revive the company's women's apparel business. Lucy Chen, a Fashion Design student who worked on multiple projects, said the group felt like innovators and that the ambitious mood was contagious.

A giant white dome took over the FIT/Infor Design and Tech Lab in April 2018. It is Big Alice, a six-meter photogrammetric scanning studio outfitted with 64 high resolution DSLR cameras that capture the full dimensions of a person or object in the blink of an eye and convert them into 3D data for AR, VR, and 3D printing. The college used the rig to explore applications for bringing an immersive experience to online fashion retail. Big Alice is owned by 3DCopySystems, which is headquartered in Austria and brought it to campus for a week-long stay in the lab.

Fifteen students from Textile Development and Marketing, International Trade and Marketing for the Fashion Industries, and Fashion Design, with three faculty mentors, teamed with IBM and Tommy Hilfiger to explore how artificial intelligence could elevate design inspiration, manufacturing, and marketing. The project was developed and overseen by the FIT/Infor Design and Tech Lab. Using IBM Research tools for computer vision, language understanding, and deep learning trained on fashion data, the team analyzed roughly 15,000 Tommy Hilfiger product images, about 600,000 public runway images, and nearly 100,000 fabric patterns. IBM researchers turned the output into insights on silhouette, color, and print that guided the students' designs. The results included Grace McCarty's plaid tech jacket with color-changing fibers, her cognitive print jacket, and Amy Tae Hwa Eun's SolarActive sundress, shown at NRF 2018, Retail's Big Show, at the Javits Center in January. Michael Ferraro, executive director of the lab, said the machine learning analysis surfaced insights into the brand's DNA that human analysis alone would struggle to reach.

On October 24, 2017, founders of startups, employees of major brands, and FIT faculty and students gathered on campus for the Innovation Across Retail conference. The event was one outcome of a partnership between the FIT/Infor Design and Tech Lab, an innovation think tank on campus, and the Fashion Tech Consortium, which connects tech startups with established fashion brands. Michael Reidbord, the consortium's founder and a FIT instructor, opened the day with promotional videos from eight startups. Among them were Sizer, which helps online shoppers choose well-fitting garments; Hexa, which shows garments in three dimensions; Syte, which finds matches for clothing in photos; KonnecTo, which uses customer data to personalize retail service; and Pvilion, which makes solar-cell fabric. Speakers took up the need to speed up product development so fashion can move faster, the case for major innovation in textiles and apparel, and the part startups can play in retail research and development. Michael Ferraro, executive director of the lab, said that engaging industry is one of its four core initiatives.