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Next time you slip on one of the sumptuous designer dresses that hang in your closet, keep this in mind: that garment is likely the fruition of years of study and hands-on training at an educational institution like the State of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, also known as FIT.

Many of today's leading fashion designers are graduates of New York's Fashion Institute of Technology.

While your dress’ designer may not have attended FIT directly, graduates and educators at this world-renowned institute have had a heavy influence on the world of fashion since its opening in 1944. And FIT is continually attracting new talent; it currently ranks as one of the world’s top fashion schools, and its draw extends internationally. Just how influential have FIT alumni been? A quick look at just some of the school’s former students will give you a good idea:

• Reem Acra
• Carolina Herrera
• Calvin Klein
• Michael Kors
• Amsale Aberra
• Carolina Bucci
• Francisco Costa

And the success of FIT students is no surprise. Their campus is a veritable paean to the creative aspiration of fashion and design, replete with ample infrastructural elements like darkrooms, sculpture studios, printing facilities, and graphics labs. Students can learn hands-on at the school’s own tv-studio, or research the FIT library’s copious collection of fashion-related literature, primary sources, photos and periodicals. The school also puts on fashion shows of student work each spring.

Besides its wealth of creative and talented students, FIT also boasts an important on-campus museum, known as the Museum at FIT. Representing a stunning collection of textiles, clothing and accessories, the museum houses over 50,000 pieces, ranging from the fashion of the 18th century to some of today’s most influential, controversial or important fashion pieces. The museum aims to show pieces from its collection that are historically or culturally significant, and it often mounts special exhibitions for retrospectives of particular designers, or for explorations of how individual fashion items—shoes, lingerie, etc.—convey certain socio-cultural themes or dynamics.

Anyone interested in visiting New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology can find the massive campus in the heart of New York City, in Manhattan.