9 SEPTEMBER 2020 for Vogue.co.uk

For the second season of “Creative Conversations With Suzy Menkes”, the first four episodes are dedicated to the fashion capitals – New York, London, Milan and Paris. For Episode 1, we meet the indomitable Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at FIT

To launch this season, I’m joined by Dr. Valerie Steele, the Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York, where she has presented more than 25 blockbuster exhibitions since joining the organisation in 1997.  

Steele has been a leading figure in raising international awareness of the cultural significance of fashion, and is a noted academic in the field of fashion studies, sharing her extensive knowledge of the fashion industry and the history of fashion in her more than 25 books. 

Suzy and Dr Valerie Steele at FIT in New York

This intelligent and engaging educator, recognised by fashion fans in the streets from Guatemala to Japan, has a wide and fascinating reach, her audience eager to hear her about what we wear and why.

Her scholarly vision and understanding of clothes through the centuries is second to none, and she is admired equally by her contemporaries and students alike.

As the world changes – and with it attitudes to women, the LGBTQIA+ community, and fashion itself – Valerie brings us crystal clarity and a glimpse of what our new post-Covid world might be.

To stay connected with and learn more about DrValerie Steele, follow The Museum at FIT on Instagram @museumatfit, Twitter, YouTubeand Facebook.

To join our conversation, tune in here or on iTunes; Google; Spotify; Stitcherand YouTube.