FIT Talks: Linda Tain Interview

Alex Joseph, Managing Editor of FIT's Hue Magazine interviews Linda Tain, a long-time professor in FIT's department of Fashion Design. Linda Tain talks first about her childhood, and how her life led towards the fashion industry and FIT. Tain reminisces about some of the students she studied with in the 1950s at FIT, including Antonio Lopez, Randy Fenoli, and others who have influenced her throughout her life, as well as the different teaching techniques from then to now. She then recounts her first jobs as an illustrator at Ingenue Magazine, Glamour, and Macy's with Esther Larson, and continues to talk about the development of her career as a fashion illustrator throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She then talks about her becoming a full-time professor at FIT in 1983, how Lou Stollar convinced her to become involved in the union, and how her time as the union's Grievance Officer was very active in the 2000s. She also goes into detail about the uniqueness of FIT's union contract initially created by Lou Stollar and Marvin Feldman. She speaks a bit about her book Portfolio Presentation for Fashion Designers, and then delves into how FIT and the fashion industry have changed from 1963 to 2019.BIOGRAPHY: "Linda Tain is a professor of fashion art, design, and history of clothing and has been teaching at the Fashion Institute of Technology for over 30 years. In 1999, she received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. She has conducted numerous seminars on historical costume as well as design and product development and has worked in the fashion industry as an illustrator, designer, and consultant, specializing in the designer sportswear, knitwear, and intimate apparel markets.