What does the “Future of Fashion” look like? At FIT’s 2025 student showcase of the same name (“FoF” for short), the future looked a lot like the present. 

Among the 81 designs on the runway at the New York State school’s Manhattan campus Thursday, trends ranging from artisanal textures to diva tailoring, transparencies, corsetry and upcycled materials were right in step with those from current collections of major high-fashion brands.  

Not even a rain shower dampened the outdoor festivities, though it was a bittersweet end, not just for the graduates after four years of study, but also for FIT president Joyce F. Brown, who announced she will be stepping down at the end of the term. Appointed in 1998, Brown was both the first female and the first African American to lead FIT. 

During opening remarks, Brown welcomed family, friends and faculty, some of whom were tuning in via livestream. “Each year, the ‘Future of Fashion’ show gives budding designers a unique opportunity to demonstrate to the world what they can achieve when their passion and their training are synchronized,” she said. “It’s a chance for our young designers to give us the tangible representation of all that they have learned over their academic journey and a chance for us to highlight the value of an FIT education.”

Throughout the spring semester, BFA design students collaborated with a group of alumni critics who made frequent classroom calls, assisting them during the creation process. In April, their final pieces were presented to a panel of judges — including fashion director for The New York Times Vanessa Friedman, designer Phillip Lim and chief curator for the FIT Museum Dr. Valerie Steele — who ultimately selected those that made the lineup.

The judges also selected this year’s winners for each of FIT’s BFA sub-specialities. They are Paris Liu and Lauryn Ilasco (knitwear); Alexandra Dayton, Burak Turp, Evelyn Hernandez, Geon Hyung Yu, Allison Margaret Smith, Xiangyu Yang, Yuxiang Xiong (sportswear); Leyi Huang, Yuval Sorotzkin (special occasion wear); Leah Robinson (childrenswear), and Hannah Kisilevich (Intimate Apparel).

As the event’s lead sponsor for the fourth consecutive year, Macy’s presented two awards prior to the runway portion tied to its social purpose platform, Mission Every One. An extension of the department store’s Future of Style Fund, Macy’s has granted $2.3 million to various initiatives like “Future of Fashion” that support emerging design talent. 

The Empowered Design Award, which acknowledges one student‘s ability to see their inspiration through from idea to completed product, was given to Allison Margaret Smith. Looking to female land artists like Agnes Denes and Ann Hamilton, “who wove their lives into nature through everyday crafts,” Smith said she was drawn to the “way these women engaged with the natural world, not as a backdrop, but as a living material and an extension of self.”

Her balsa wood jacket worn over twill flared pants “was a labor of love,” she added, “with each strand of straw being pulled through the knit raffia fabric and hand knotted in place.”

Khoboso Nale took home the Capsule Collection Award, which allows one student to gain real-life experience by working with Macy’s executives in retail and manufacturing. Her look, a ladylike pink ribbed off-the-shoulder cardigan and ruched dress in baby blue jersey, will be produced under Macy’s private label Bar III before being sold at the Macy’s Herald Square flagship and other select locations come spring 2026.

Excited by the opportunity of a lifetime, Nale said: “There is nothing more fulfilling as a designer than this.”