Tommy Hilfiger, Nina Garcia and Extra Honor FIT President Dr. Joyce Brown for 27 Years of Service

FIT alumni got here collectively to ship off the establishment’s longest-running president, Dr. Joyce F. Brown.

On Tuesday, April 1, the Trend Institute of Know-how (FIT) hosted a gala celebrating Dr. Brown at The Glasshouse in New York Metropolis. Dr. Brown has held the place for 27 years and was additionally FIT’s first African American president.

Hosted by Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, each FIT alumni, the occasion was attended by 500 visitors and opened with a video tribute from New York State Governor Kathy Hochul. It additionally included a particular salute from college students and star-studded tributes celebrating Dr. Brown’s extraordinary achievements throughout three pillars: Innovation, Sustainability, and Social Impression.

Garcia, who serves as editor-in-chief of Elle and a decide on Undertaking Runway, spoke to PEOPLE about Dr. Brown’s legacy throughout the gala.

“Tonight is bittersweet for me as a result of Dr. Brown is a really particular girl, a powerhouse,” she mirrored. ” … I’m so proud to be an alumnus and she or he has at all times supported, championed the scholars. Her imaginative and prescient and her legacy actually will go away a mark in trend, within the inventive industries and past.”

The night’s presenters included Tommy Hilfiger, Deborah Roberts and FIT alumnus and designer Francisco Costa, who introduced the sustainability tribute on behalf of Amber Valletta, supermodel and FIT Sustainability Ambassador.

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In her speech addressing visitors, Dr. Brown spoke to to the “transformative energy of schooling.”

“With out my very own schooling, there’s actually restricted probability that a lot of you on this room would ever have met me,” she shared. “It was my ticket to a greater life.”

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She additionally mirrored on the influence FIT has had on the style trade.

“I’ve lengthy admired the historical past of this establishment,” stated Dr. Brown. “It was born within the needle trades within the coronary heart of New York Metropolis. The trade leaders at the moment who envisioned the college to coach employees for his or her trade, they acknowledged that they wanted to infuse conventional work with new talent units and expertise so as to invigorate the companies from the within and to draw new expertise. I haven’t got to remind you that it labored, the brand new period for trend was created.”

Mixed, the gala and the newly established Dr. Joyce F. Brown Legacy Fund raised over $2.4 million. Per a press launch, “These funds will go towards nurturing the following era of FIT college students by facilitating groundbreaking packages that push the boundaries of creativity, creating new initiatives, and offering scholarships.”