The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) of the State University of New York (SUNY) has joined forces with influential partners and brands in the fashion and creative industries to help tackle the systemic issues that the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) community face in their respective spaces.

On Dec. 8, FIT launched the Social Justice Center (SJC), a first-of-its-kind higher education initiative for BIPOC pre-college youth, college students, and creative industry professionals, according to a press release provided to AfroTech.

Behind the SJC’s launch are its founding partners PVH Corp., Capri Holdings Limited, and Tapestry, Inc., which each have pledged $1 million for FIT’s mission to increase opportunity and accelerate social equity within the creative industries for the BIPOC community.

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Leading brands including Ralph Lauren, Prada, Saks, Target, and G-III Apparel Group have also committed to supporting the initiative.

“A powerful and much overdue dialogue was sparked last year around diversity and inclusion, which led to a sobering realization that there was much work to do within the creative industries and at FIT as well,” FIT President Joyce F. Brown shared in a statement. “Since then, we have been building a strong foundation for the Social Justice Center at FIT. I am grateful for the early support from PVH, Capri Holdings, Tapestry, G-III Apparel Group, and FIT’s other charter partners. They have demonstrated a formidable commitment to these efforts, and I am confident that the center is poised to effect meaningful change.”

SUNY

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