FIT Students Reimagine Eveningwear in Upcycled Collection with The RealReal
Emerging designers from the Fashion Institute of Technology brought sustainability to the red carpet through a new upcycled eveningwear collection created in partnership with luxury resale platform The RealReal. The project, now in its second edition, challenged ten FIT students to rework unsellable luxury garments into one-of-a-kind Spring 2025 eventwear looks.
Selected from the collaboration, the winning design by student Sara Khadirsharbayani was worn by model and sustainability advocate Marina Testino at this year’s FIT Gala, serving as a visual statement on the potential of circular fashion. Each student was provided with pre-owned garments from The RealReal’s inventory and tasked with transforming them into original pieces that combined creativity, wearability, and sustainability.
All ten designs are now available for purchase online at The RealReal and at the brand’s Soho Boutique, with prices ranging from $445 to $925. Each look is a limited-edition piece available in sizes 0–8.
The project was guided by FIT faculty and judged by a panel that included Testino, The RealReal CEO Rati Sahi Levesque, and designer Ian Allen Greer, an FIT alumnus. As the students navigated real-world design challenges—such as working around garment flaws and maximizing the reuse of materials—they were also encouraged to think deeply about the environmental impact of their creative process.
This collaboration extends The RealReal’s mission to promote circularity in luxury fashion while offering students tangible experience in sustainable design. It also reinforces the potential for secondhand materials to become part of high-end, event-ready fashion—pushing the boundaries of what the future of luxury can look like.
