City Tech students designed several outfits for different models to wear. Brooklyn Eagle photo by Clark Adomaitis
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — CUNY’s The New York City College of Technology (City Tech) in Downtown Brooklyn has long been a beacon for college-level learning by instilling hands-on technical skills and practical business savvy in students.
City Tech’s hotel management and culinary arts schools are famous for high return on education by leading their students directly into employment. Now, the same can be said for its fashion program. City Tech’s fashion program teaches techniques and crafting skills as well as the practical business aspects of the industry.
City Tech started an undergraduate area of study called Business & Technology of Fashion seven years ago for students who desire careers in the fashion industry. The program provides a clear path into many employment opportunities, by coupling essential business skills with a sequence of required and elective liberal arts courses. The core curriculum provides insight into the sociological and psychological factors influencing fashion interest and demand in today’s global market.
The undergraduate program emphasizes hands-on learning through lab work. Classes and areas of specialization include fashion history, sewing, dyeing, visual merchandising, product development and luxury fashion.
Dr. Nazanin Hedayat Munroe is the director of textiles in the Business & Technology of Fashion program. She displayed her students’ tapestry work at a fashion show hosted by the department.
“These are all new weavers, and they did a beautiful job. We teach them about the end use of textiles. I teach spinning, weaving, knitting, printing and dyeing. We use natural dyes, so I teach them about sustainability. The students are having a good time. I taught them how to make their own patterns. They dyed their own fabric and made a new shirt,” said Munroe, adding, “Once you get past the intro class, there are no more exams, because we do project work. It’s very project-based; they spend a lot of time in the lab.”
Kelly Valladares teaches Product Development and Introduction to the Fashion Industry. She discussed the importance of CUNY’s undergraduate fashion program.
“A lot of students here want to get into the fashion industry, but they don’t necessarily have all of the skills needed to become designers. There are so many areas that they can work in. This program is helping them figure out where exactly they fit in the fashion industry,” said Valladares.
“It’s a lot different than going to well-known universities. We are CUNY. We have an advantage because of the students that we get. A lot of them are middle-income, or they have financial aid. They want to work up and get to where they need to. CUNY has a lot of opportunities for those students. They push through, competing in the same levels as students from FIT and Parsons,” said Valladares.
Julio Chavez is a student in the Business & Technology of Fashion program. He has his own clothing line, Con Tiempo, and says the program has helped him make connections to start his clothing brand.
“It is intense. The professors are great. More people are getting more recognition of this place and starting to transfer to City Tech,” said Chavez.
Student fashion show
The department hosted its third annual fashion show, featuring all student-designed clothing made in classes. The students’ classmates strutted down the runway modelling their clothing.
Student models wore sparkling dresses, a granny-patched jean jacket, modern streetwear and suits. Classmates, faculty and family members in the audience took photos and cheered them on.
Julio Chavez was excited to see his classmates’ designs at the fashion show.
“I want to see how something from your head comes into reality. That always fascinates me, because that’s hard to do. It inspires me,” said Chavez.
Many of the student models wore upcycled clothing pieces, a concept the students practice daily in their classes. Munroe explained that “upcycling is another way of trying to create a sustainable fashion industry. You repurpose clothes that are already made into something as good or even better than the original. I want them to all improve upon some of these industry practices that are causing climate change problems.”
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