Mears is named deputy director of Museum at FIT

Volume Number 1 Issue Number 11 / Devember 6 - 12, 2006

Patricia E. Mears, former assistant curator of costumes and textiles at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, has been named deputy director of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She joined the museum staff in 2005 as research curator.

Mears is responsible for assisting Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of the museum, with the management of museum operations, including supervising personnel in the departments of conservation, costume, exhibitions, textiles and the registrar. In addition, she assists Steele with fundraising initiatives, fiscal planning and implementation. She also continues curatorial work, including organizing exhibitions and writing for museum-related projects.

Steele and Mears will collaborate to develop a range of programs to broaden accessibility and use of the collections by students, industry professionals, scholars and the public.

Mears has produced more than a dozen exhibitions in the United States, Europe and Japan and wrote the accompanying publications for many of them. In addition to her institutional experience, she has worked as a freelance curator and fashion historian for 15 years.

“Patricia Mears has outstanding leadership skills, impressive educational credentials and extensive museum experience working with both historic and contemporary fashion. She is able to address artistic, financial and managerial issues with equal facility, and I am confident that with her help, The Museum at FIT is well positioned to fulfill its strategic plan,” Steele said.

Mears is the author of numerous publications, including “Cut and Construction: The Foundations of Fashion” (Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, 2005); “Manuel: Star Spangled Couture” (Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, 2003); and “Halston: Modern Is the Only Way to Live” (Phaidon, London, 2001). She co-authored “Skin and Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture” (Thames and Hudson, New York, 2006).

Mears holds a B.A. in art history and an M.B.A. in international marketing from George Washington University and an M.A. in fashion and textiles (history, theory, museum practice) from FIT.

Founded in 1967, The Museum at FIT is one of the world’s foremost fashion museums and is best known for its innovative and award-winning exhibitions. In addition, it houses an impressive permanent collection, consisting of 50,000 garments and accessories, dating from the 18th century to the present, and 30,000 textiles from the sixth century to the present, as well as more than 300,000 textile swatches and 1,500 sample books.