New York fashion jobs fall as FIT trains students for AI era

New York City’s fashion economy has lost 50,000 jobs in just over a decade, a sharp slide that is forcing schools like the Fashion Institute of Technology to retrain students for work that looks very different from the old studio-floor model. The same period saw 30% fewer graduates from fashion degree and certificate programs, while the industry’s contribution to the city’s gross product fell 13.6%.

A September 2024 report from the Partnership for New York City, based on McKinsey & Co. analysis and interviews with more than 40 industry voices, tied the decline to e-commerce, direct-to-consumer sales and other structural shifts. It warned that without coordinated action from industry and government, New York risks weakening fashion’s role in the city’s economy, culture and brand. The report laid out six recommendations, including steps on real estate, workforce and talent development, mentorship and reviving New York Fashion Week.

At FIT, the response has been to push students toward AI rather than around it. The school, part of the State University of New York and long known as a career pipeline for design, fashion, business and technology, has spent more than 75 years building that reputation. Its DTech Lab, a public-private partnership with Infor focused on emerging technology in design, manufacturing and retail, has become a central testing ground for how fashion education changes when software can handle more routine work.

FIT first announced a collaboration with IBM in 2019 to use AI capabilities in fashion education and industry problem-solving. In March 2025, Impact Analytics said it would integrate its InventorySmart AI system into FIT’s Fashion Planning & Allocation course, giving students a direct look at how machine learning is reshaping inventory decisions. Those are precisely the kinds of tasks that once filled entry-level roles in merchandising and planning.

The next step comes in fall 2026, when FIT will launch an AI-Assisted Design minor for students beginning then. The program will focus on generative design, motion design, interactive media, human-centered design and the ethical use of technology. In the Venice program, eight students studied AI and fashion over two weeks on a curriculum created by FIT’s DTech Lab and H-FARM College, with five FIT students, all Social Justice Scholars, and three students from H-FARM College.

FIT faculty have framed the shift as augmentation rather than replacement, saying AI can automate repetitive tasks while expanding creativity. A 2024 review from North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles found AI already in use across fashion design, product descriptions, recommendations and 3D design. That leaves schools trying to prepare students for fewer routine tasks and more jobs that demand judgment, data fluency and ethical oversight.