Fashion is an expression of our identity. Be a part of the only program aimed at shaping culture while developing fashion industry leaders and agents of positive change.
Master of Fine Arts in Fashion Collection + Communication
If you are interested in learning more about this program, please contact the Fashion Department at fashiondesign@pratt.edu.
The Master of Fine Arts in Fashion Collection + Communication offers a dynamic trans-disciplinary pedagogical approach that spans design, theoretical analysis, and critical examination. The program provides a holistic redefining of advanced fashion design education with the core making studios buttressed by non-studio courses in research practices, critical theory, and the study of global fashion systems and their impacts and implications.
The Fashion Department’s mission and learning outcomes speak to current global fashion inquiries, emphasizing experimentation and exploration as well as theoretical analyses framed by issues such as materiality, sustainability, social justice, gender, race, and others. With that in mind, a strong emphasis on conceptual development and making creates continuity between the BFA in Fashion Design and the MFA in Fashion Collection + Communication; this confluence is the hallmark of both undergraduate and graduate study programs in Pratt Fashion.
For application questions and information, please visit Graduate Admissions.
Mission/Purpose
The MFA Fashion Collection + Communication program shapes fashion as an impactful means of communicating with and about the world. The pedagogy strengthens and fortifies students’ creative visions and design languages, highlighting both traditional methods of making and emerging design techniques. The MFA inspires students to form a conceptually purposeful practice that is in meaningful dialogue with critical inquiry in fashion and through trans-disciplinary engagement across Pratt Institute. Graduates of the program will redefine fashion practice as both craft and social critique.
Dress rehearsal for 2023 Pratt Fashion Show “ASSEMBLAGE” held at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Culture & Community
The design studio is at the core of your educational experience at Pratt. We consider the design studio a mindful and creative space where we form a collaborative learning community. The two-year, 60-credit MFA program will critically examine the concept of the fashion collection and explore how fashion communicates ideas and drives the cultural narrative. This trans-disciplinary program is built around dynamic elective opportunities, an innovative new model that will empower participants to tailor their graduate education to their own areas of focus, through research, studio-based work, and self-directed study.
Dapper Dan presents the annual Pratt Fashion Visionary Award at the 2019 Pratt Fashion Show.
The Studios + Labs
Sustainability and material exploration drive our passion for making. To prepare students to become leaders within the creative community, Pratt Fashion offers a wide variety of resources including access to Shima Seiki 3D knitting machines and Framis NOSO technology, as well as a dedicated Textile Research Library within the department and a Textile Dye Garden on campus. Explore facilities.
Black Dress exhibit at Pratt Manhattan Gallery in New York City in February, 2014.
The Faculty
Pratt’s distinguished faculty of outstanding creative professionals and scholars share a common desire to fully develop each student’s individual potential and creativity. The faculty come from diverse educational and professional backgrounds representing the breadth of Fashion Design’s complexity, including Adrienne Jones (Black Dress), Byron Lars, Susan Cianciolo, Shane Gabier. Faculty connections have fostered partnerships with Downtown Brooklyn Alliance and Navy Yard/Research Yard. See all Fashion Design faculty and administrators.
This seminar will run concurrently with thesis development and culminate in the production of a compilation of the cohort’s MFA work. Through the building of The Book, the course will offer opportunities to explore styling and editorial storytelling, curation, examination of fashion theory through research and writing, among other 2D and 3D expressions. The Book will serve as a platform for the collective voice of the MFA student body, a place to contextualize and document individual perspectives while defining the community ethos of the program. All components of The Book are student-led, directed and produced by the class with faculty and cross-disciplinary support, offering an opportunity for collaboration through a dynamic multi-media presentation.
This course is the third of a three-part series designed to engage students in critical and reflective thinking on the practice of fashion design and the workings of the global fashion industry. Unlike parts one and two of the series, part three is underpinned by a student-written syllabus. Here, each student directs one week of class discussion, choosing a class topic based on their own research interests and focuses. This course connects to students’ thesis work, as it serves as the critical and contextual foundation for their year-long, design-based thesis project.
Engaging the World investigates global fashion systems to understand diverse cultures and communities in an effort to support social enterprise and responsible design practices. The course encourages students to learn beyond the boundaries of a physical classroom environment through community engagement, collaborative practice and exploration of international possibilities. The experience enables graduate students the chance to research political, social and economic factors needed to develop long-term relationships, and possibly reimagine fashion to generate change within local and global fashion systems. This course is offered in both a travel and local format
Student nominations are underway for Pratt Institute’s 2025 Distinguished Teacher Award via emails with a unique link for each student. Voting closes on Friday, February 21st.
✨We are excited to share the work of our MFA students, who recently participated in a Zombie Workshop led by British artist Jeremy Hutchison. The students learned to identify specific details from research, develop that research into a theme, and manifest it as a visual spectacle: “a dazzling textile zombie.”
The workshop, based on Hutchison’s work Dead White Man, aims to subvert the ideology of fast fashion by hijacking its aesthetics. Students concluded the workshop by packaging their zombies as toxic commodities, creating lookbooks, styling, video, and photography.
A huge thanks to Jeremy Hutchison (@jeremyhutchison) for generously sharing his time and work with our students and photographing their work!
#StudentWork #FashionDesign #Pratt #CriticalFashion #MFAStudents #Fashion
✨We are excited to share the work of our BFA students, who recently participated in an Effigies Workshop led by British artist Jeremy Hutchison. The workshop blended theory with practice and industry analysis with performance art, offering students immediate visual output as they created an effigy of the Dead White Man: a miniature figure fabricated from textile waste.
These effigies function as surrogates for the consumer, allowing the students to engage creatively with the second-hand clothing industry. The core purpose of the workshop was to give students a creative vehicle to process and materialize their responses to the fashion industry, using the skills they are developing as fashion designers.
Thanks to Jeremy Hutchison (@jeremyhutchison) for generously sharing his time and work with our students and photographing their work!
#StudentWork #FashionDesign #Pratt #Fashion
✨“Black Dress II: Homage” Celebrates A History Of Black Fashion In America✨
An extraordinary exhibition at Pratt Manhattan Gallery is shining a spotlight on Black excellence in American fashion! 'Black Dress II: Homage' celebrates the pioneering Black designers and creatives who have shaped the industry, showcasing works from legendary names like Jeffrey Banks (@jefferybanksdesign), Patrick Kelly (@patrickkellylovelist), and Telfar Clemens (@telfarclemens) —including a piece from the 2024 Olympics! 🏅
This powerful show, curated by Pratt professor Adrienne Jones and Pratt Fashion Design alumnae Rachelle Etienne-Robinson, marks the 10th anniversary of the original 'Black Dress' exhibit. It goes beyond fashion to include beauty, styling, and celebrity culture, featuring sections like Black Book (fashion journalism), Black Gold (jewelry), and Black Face (models).
Among the treasures on display are costumes from The Temptations by two-time Oscar nominee Paul Tazewell (@paultazewell), pieces from Byron Lars (@byronlarsbm) and Sammy B (@sammybdesignsny), and a historic ironing board honoring Sarah Boone, a formerly enslaved woman who revolutionized the modern ironing board design.
Currently on view at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery until March 22, 2025.
For more details, read the full Vogue article — link in our bio.
#BlackDressIIHomage #BlackDressExhibit #BlackDressII #PrattFashion #PrattFaculty #PrattAlumni #PrattExhibitions #BlackDress #Fashion
Photo credit: Dahlia Dandashi, pratt.edu/pcomm
New Graduate Program Takes a Critical Approach to Fashion
✨ Fashion Collection + Communication program, launched this fall at Pratt Institute, challenges students to rethink the fashion industry with a critical eye.
According to Lisa Z. Morgan, Chair of the Fashion Department, the program encourages students to take a "radical" approach to fashion—one that not only embraces creativity but also addresses urgent issues like climate change, social justice, and ethical supply chains. 🌍✨
Students will learn traditional fashion-making skills—like draping, fabric manipulation, and research—while also specializing in areas such as knitwear, textile creation, dyeing, and reinventing vintage garments
For more details, read the full New York Times article in the link in our bio
#FashionWithPurpose #CriticalFashion #SustainableFashion #PrattInstitute #FashionInnovation #FashionEducation #RadicalDesign #SocialJustice #ClimateAction
Today, our Shoe Design students presented their final projects, and we couldn’t be more proud! 💡🖤
Swipe to see some of the standout pieces and join us in celebrating their amazing achievements!
#ShoeDesign #FashionDesign #StudentWork #FinalProjects
✨ Black Dress Talks: Celebrating Black Excellence in Beauty ✨
This recent event was an inspiring celebration of the Black men and women shaping the beauty industry. Moderated by Pratt Fashion Professor and founder of Black Dress, Adrienne Jones, we were joined by a powerhouse panel of award-winning beauty experts:
@dtbeauty71 (D’angelo Thompson)
@skinbymamie (Mamie McDonald)
@ursulastephen (Ursula Stephen)
@fornayalfred (Alfred Fornay)
@karendupiche (Karen Dupiche)
They shared powerful stories of creativity, resilience, and triumph, diving deep into the challenges they've overcome and the groundbreaking work they continue to do. ✨
Photography by @artphotofilms 📸
#BlackDress #BlackBeauty #FashionAndBeauty #BlackDressTalks #BeautyIndustry
✨ We are excited to showcase the incredible work of our MFA students, who have been inspired by the hands-on workshop and fabric donation from @internationalpleating ✂️🧵
A huge thank you to Tom's Sons International Pleating, a family-owned business that's been perfecting the art of pleating since 1931. Located in the heart of NYC’s Garment District, their unmatched craftsmanship and dedication to quality continue to set the standard in the textile world. 🌟
We can't wait to see where these explorations take them! ✨
#MFAStudents #TextileArt #Pleating #FashionDesign #InternationalPleating #Craftsmanship #NYCGarmentDistrict #StudentWork
💥Inside the Studio with the Design Duo Behind SC103💥
We are proud to spotlight Pratt Fashion Design BFA alumni '15, Claire McKinney and Sophie Andes-Gascon, the innovative founders of SC103. Since launching their fashion label in 2019, they have distinguished themselves by resisting dominant trends and maintaining a fresh perspective in the industry.
In 2021, Claire and Sophie dedicated themselves to SC103 full-time, leading to remarkable recognition in publications such as Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. They have hosted successful pop-up shops from their studio in Manhattan and have recently transitioned to a new space in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where they continue to produce and design all of their garments.
To learn more about their journey and experiences at Pratt, please read the full interview linked in our bio 🔎.
#SC103 #PrattAlumni #FashionDesign #BrooklynFashion
