Alex Joseph, Managing Editor of FIT's Hue Magazine interviews Susan Rietman, a professor from FIT's Textile Service Design and Fabric Styling program. Susan recalls her childhood and how her life led to fashion, particularly how a serigraphy course led her into the field textiles. She talks about her mother's designer clothing collection that she has kept, and about her move to New York right after college in 1961. Her first job was with Leslie Tillet at "D.D. and Leslie Tillett" where she helped him design bathing suits, and custom fabric, including fabrics for the 1964 American Worlds Fair pavilions. She talks about her freelance work with Jack Lenor Larsen, and the shoe company she worked on with the Tillets called Shoe Fou, which led to her work for Magnin. She then talks about how she began teaching for the Textile Department at FIT in 1966, a year before the union was introduced, what the college looked like, as well as what the students were like at that time (beehive hairdos, patent leather mascara, classroom smoking), and how things have changed. She recounts her time as acting dean, and the transition the textile department made to using digital technology. She discusses her husband's art book store Jaap Rietman, and how she kept the books after the store closed. She finally discusses the first sustainable project conducted in the Textile program called SOS, Save our Surface, and about a book she's writing about a journalist's archive that was donated to her.
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Sem títuloEllen Goldstein, the Chair of the Accessories Design and Millinery Department, started with FIT’s Fashion Design Department as a part-time instructor. In 1981, the school received a federal grant for industries affected by imports and was able to start an accessories department. With additional support from the industry, the department has taken off. Goldstein explains her beginnings as a tapestry weaver and how she got into handbag design. She then describes the demographics of her department’s diverse student body. She discusses how both the 1-year and 2-year program are feeding the accessories industry and how FIT’s millinery program has revitalized an industry thought to be dead.
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