Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the historic opening of the State University of New York (SUNY) Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT) new $188.5 million Joyce F. Brown Academic Building. FIT is part of SUNY and a global leader in creative education. The new building is located on West 28th Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues, and will be a destination to advance creativity, innovation, and opportunity while also providing students with the resources to excel in art and design, fashion, business, and technology.
“FIT’s new Joyce F. Brown Academic Building cements its place at the crossroads of creativity, innovation, and opportunity,” Governor Hochul said. “There’s no more fitting place for this milestone than the fashion capital of the world — New York City — where top-tier talent and the global fashion industry merge to set trends, spark ideas, and build the future. This space will inspire the next generation of designers, artists, and entrepreneurs shaping what’s next in fashion and design.”
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The building features include 26 energy-efficient classrooms and studios, administrative offices as well as the largest campus knitting and weaving lab in the U.S. The space also houses FIT’s first interior space designed specifically for connection outside the classroom – a full-floor, double-height, 20-foot-high student commons, accessible via an express escalator. Notably, FIT’s commitment to environmental stewardship is reflected in the design and construction of the building, which is projected to attain LEED Gold certification. New York State supported this project with over $94 million in capital appropriations and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) managed the project from design through substantial completion in August 2025.
Designed by SHoP Architects, the 10-story, 100,000-plus-square-foot building brings FIT President Dr. Joyce Brown’s vision to life. A striking glass façade creates a new kind of campus destination—one where the energy of FIT is visible to the outside, reflecting the college’s vital role at the heart of the city’s creative community.
The Fashion Industry in New York State
New York State’s fashion industry is responsible for approximately $24 billion in wages and is home to 312,000 fashion jobs, with almost 70 per cent based in New York City. Fashion contributed $43 billion to New York City’s economy in 2024 representing 3.4 percent of the city’s GDP.
In 2022, Governor Hochul announced $10 million in state funding for the New York Fashion Innovation Center to promote a collaborative approach to utilizing New York State-produced smart and sustainable textiles. The Fashion Innovation Center funded through Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation (NYSTAR) also includes a Sustainable Fashion Innovation Center Accelerator, focused on the creation of smart and sustainable alternatives that solve large scale industry problems, create green jobs, promote state-sourced textiles, and support sustainable fashion.
In 2023, the Governor announced that a consortium of six universities, businesses, farmers, fashion industry leaders, and non-profit organizations, led by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been selected to manage New York’s Fashion Innovation Center. The consortium, headquartered in the Capital Region and comprised of RPI, the Fashion Institute of Technology, Hudson Valley Textile Project, Field to Fiber, SUNY Morrisville, and Made X Hudson, will conduct research to bolster the Center’s mission of building a smarter, more sustainable fashion industry.
Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, over $160,000 has been awarded to sixteen start-ups, small businesses, farmers and researchers from the New York State Fashion Innovation Center to develop fiber related technologies.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, “New York City is the fashion capital of the world, and so it is fitting that the Fashion Institute of Technology is expanding even further to widen its footprint in the five boroughs. We are thrilled to celebrate with FIT as this world-class institution opens up its doors to its new academic building thanks to joint investments by the city, state, and our partners. We cannot wait to see how this facility will benefit the bright, creative minds that will come from it.”
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York President Robert J. Rodriguez said, “DASNY is proud to have partnered with FIT to deliver this transformative project. From concept to completion, this 23-year journey reflects the kind of sustained commitment public education deserves. Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, New York continues to invest in SUNY infrastructure, and this building will provide world-class learning space for the next generation of designers, entrepreneurs, and innovators shaping our state’s creative economy.”
SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said, “The Fashion Institute of Technology is a gem within the SUNY system, focused on academic excellence through its innovative, dynamic, and inspiring programs. Having a state-of-the-art environment to learn and gather is an important part of ensuring student success, and I am thrilled students at FIT will be able to utilize the new classrooms, studios, and labs to advance their education.”
The SUNY Board of Trustees said, “We are pleased to extend our congratulations to President Brown and the entire FIT community on the opening of this new academic building, the first in nearly 50 years. The building will transform FIT’s campus, supporting current students with flexible learning spaces to pursue their academic goals, and giving prospective students yet another reason to choose SUNY for their higher education.”
FIT President Joyce F. Brown said, “This building was designed to bring students, faculty and the industry together. It is a symbol of opportunity to transform lives, and the remarkable outcome of the partnership between the City and State to invest in public higher education. My hope is that future generations of leaders will use this space to foster a creative community and to explore, innovate, and make a lasting impact on the global economy and the world.”
FIT Board of Trustees Chair Robin Burns-McNeill said, “Dr. Brown truly transformed FIT. This new building will be a lasting tribute to her vision, dedication, and decades of leadership that have established FIT as a global leader in creative education.”
Bill Sharples, a founding principal of SHoP Architects, said, “From the outset of the project we wanted to highlight what was happening at FIT and make it visible for the first time to the broader fashion district. We’re very proud to have had a hand in presenting the creative presence of FIT to the city.”
