Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection

Congrats to our CF+TC and India + Sri Lanka trip graduates! From the CF+TC: Erin Yoon, Maya Abrol, Sophia Peck, Sarah Orsinger, Tabitha Mueller-Schrader, and Ashley Kim ❤️ From our India + Sri Lanka trip: Sabrina Kogan, Dara Frankel, Imani Bodet, Alexis McMurray, Julia Schanen, Adrienne Correia, and Sarah Orsinger 🇮🇳 🇱🇰 We are so proud of all of you and grateful to have spent these last years learning, creating, exploring, and growing together. We will miss you on campus, but we know that you will do incredible things out in the world!

Join us Tuesday, May 19th at 4:30 PM in HEB T45 Gallery for the opening reception of “Who Owns What?” curated by Ashley Kim ‘26. The exhibition investigates fashion’s relationship with identity through the various perspectives of those who may refer to themselves as “The Owner.” The exhibit is divided into three sections: “The Creator,” “The Wearer,” and “The Steward.” “The Creator” explores design process, brand identity, labor, and consumerism. “The Wearer,” reveals how clothing can become intimately personalized. “The Steward,” raises questions about the slipperiness of meanings over time. Through a series of vignettes, identity becomes something owned and shown in a multitude of ways. Funded by the Charlotte A. Jirousek fellowship.

Extended by popular demand ‼️ through October 1 ❤️ If you’re coming to campus for graduation, reunion, CAU, summer session courses, or just enjoying a visit to Ithaca in the coming months; or if you’re a new student (or returning from abroad), you’ll have the opportunity to view “Fashioning Justice: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ‘54 and the Power of Presence” in the Rachel Hope Doran ‘19 Level T Display Cases in the Human Ecology Building. Thanks to everyone who made this possible ❤️ Come by and check it out!

There’s still time to apply for a Master’s of Professional Studies - deadline is Friday, May 1! If you are interested in building a career at the intersection of fashion, curation, collections, design, innovation, and human thriving, the MPS in Human Ecology offers a specialization in Fiber Science and Apparel Design. For students drawn to the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection, the MPS can support focused study in fashion collection management, curation, fashion history, material culture, and textile conservation, with the opportunity to expand expertise in areas such as fiber science, apparel design practice, wearable technology, sizing and fit, functional apparel, branding, sourcing, supply chain management, trend forecasting, mass customization, and other digital and technological areas of innovation.

The program includes 30 credits of graduate coursework, with up to 6 of those credits dedicated to an independent project, allowing students to develop a focused professional project aligned with their interests, expertise, and career goals.

Potential career pathways include museums, archives, fashion and textile collections, curation, fashion history, apparel design, product development, fashion business, sourcing and supply chain management, wearable technology, and textile innovation.

Learn more about Cornell’s MPS in Human Ecology with a specialization in Fiber Science and Apparel Design and how to apply (by May 1!) through the link in our bio or contact [email protected] 📧

It’s Dragon Day at Cornell 🐉 so thought we would share a few pieces from the collection featuring dragon motifs: a silk embroidered Chinese wedding robe from the 1920s (photos 1 and 2); a woven placemat from the 1930s, made in Italy (photo 3); a late 18th century silk embroidered textile from China (photo 4); a pin purchased in Paris in 1930 (photo 5); a robe embroidered with silk and metallic threads from China, likely early 20th century (photos 6 and 7); and an early 20th century opera robe with dragon closure at the neckline (photos 8 and 9).

Featured on WBNG 12 News last night! Check it out!

Cornell exhibit explores Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legacy through fashion A new exhibit at Cornell University examines the life and legal legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg through the lens of her fashion and style choices.

We had a sparkly ✨ and inspirational evening with Hayley Paige ‘07 💖 who joined our “Fashioning Justice” class via Zoom to talk about her career trajectory, creative work, and the importance of knowing how to protect those things legally. You can see her striking 2015 gown design on display in “Fashioning Justice.” 💫 PhD student Samantha Alberts wrote the label:

Geometric patterns cascade down this illusionary, trumpet-style gown, built from thousands of hand-applied sequins, beads, Tiffany-set Aurora Borealis cut glass, alabaster stones, and crystals. Designer Hayley Paige ‘07 sought “that explosion of sparkle, but not in a traditional rhinestone way,” choosing unusual materials that refract light in shifting prismatic tones. The effect recalls the delicacy and complexity of lace—long associated with bridal tradition—but reimagined here as contemporary glamour through new materials. Paige wore the dress in 2015, and broadcaster Zuri Hall wore it to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards in early 2016.

Hayley Paige ’07 began her career at Priscilla of Boston, designing for their Melissa Sweet and Marchesa bridal collections. She moved to JLM Couture where she built a beloved bridal brand for JLM Couture that was defined by whimsy, craftsmanship, joy, and personal connection. From 2011 to 2020, she rose from an emerging designer to become a bridalwear celebrity and social media influencer. Her success, however, became entangled in a prolonged legal conflict with JLM over intellectual property—including trademarks, design assets, and social media accounts tied to her name. In addition, a noncompete clause restricted her ability to work as a bridal gown designer. After JLM filed for bankruptcy in 2024, circumstances shifted and offered a new legal pathway to resolution. Through a settlement, Paige was able to restore the rights to her intellectual property, and to design wedding dresses under her own name.

Her case raises broader questions about creative labor and identity: When a designer becomes the brand, who owns the work—and who controls the name?

Today, March 25, marks the 115th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911.

The shirtwaist was one of the first widely mass-produced ready-to-wear fashions for women, offering a new kind of practicality and style. But that affordability came at a profound human cost. Shirtwaists depended on the labor of mostly young immigrant women working long hours for low pay in overcrowded and unsafe factories. The Triangle fire laid bare the deadly consequences of those conditions: of the 146 people who died, most were women, many of them young Jewish and Italian immigrants.

The shirtwaist shown here is part of our current exhibition, “Fashioning Justice: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54 and the Power of Presence,” in the “Politics of Lace” section. While it is displayed in the gallery beside a 1980s pinstripe Etro powersuit styled with one of RBG’s own lace shawls, we photographed it here next to one of RBG’s lace jabot judicial collars to underscore the judiciary’s role in confronting workplace injustice and RBG’s commitment to fighting discrimination at work.
That commitment was also personal. RBG was the daughter of first- and second-generation Jewish immigrants in New York City, and her mother, Celia Bader, worked in a garment factory during the Great Depression to help support her family and send her brother to Cornell. Decades later, her daughter would also attend Cornell. Celia died the day before RBG graduated from high school and never had the chance to see her become a Cornell student and graduate.
This shirtwaist is a reminder of labor, sacrifice, and loss — and of the fact that fashion history is also labor history.

Today would have been Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 93rd birthday—making it extra meaningful to spend the day putting finishing touches on our installation of “Fashioning Justice: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ‘54 and the Power of Presence.” The exhibition opens to the public March 16. Visit the Rachel Hope Doran ‘19 Level T Display Cases in the Human Ecology Building to see pieces worn by Ginsburg alongside selections from the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection that explore her legacy and the intersections of fashion and justice. Here’s a sneak peek!

We begin installation tomorrow and look forward to welcoming everyone to see the show in the Rachel Hope Doran ‘19 Level T Display cases in the Human Ecology Building on March 16!

RBG’s influences featured in ‘Fashioning Justice’ exhibit | Cornell Chronicle Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54 was a champion for women’s equality. Her style, and the substance behind it, will be on display in an exhibit, “Fashioning Justice: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54 and the Power of Presence.”

If you swooned over the gown designed by for the wedding at Super Bowl LX’s halftime show, you’re going to LOVE her most recent donation to the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection! We look forward to displaying this gem alongside works from a range of different designers in our upcoming exhibition, Fashioning Justice, opening March 16✨ Stay tuned for more details!