Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection

We were delighted to welcome the Textile Society of America to Cornell Human Ecology last month as part of its flagship Textiles Close Up program! 🪡

Visitors enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at the research, collections and creative spaces that make the Department of Human Centered Design a leader in textile innovation. Highlights included:

- A tour of the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection, home to more than 10,000 garments, accessories and textiles spanning the 1700s to today. Student curators showcased remarkable pieces ranging from vintage corsets and intricate lace to a recently restored golden silk slip dress.

- A visit to the Hybrid Body Lab, where researchers are developing innovative materials and wearable technologies that seamlessly integrate textiles and electronics, including knit and woven e-textiles.

- Stops in our apparel and knit studios, where faculty and students are partnering with local farmers to help build a sustainable New York farm-to-fashion wool pipeline.

It was a pleasure to share our spaces, research and creative work with textile scholars and practitioners from around the world. We look forward to welcoming them back in the future!

Photo Credit: Darcy Rose

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] 📧