The Cathedral of St. John the Divine was the setting Tuesday night for Fashion Institute of Technology’s annual gala honoring Gap Inc. president and chief executive officer Richard Dickson for a career of transformative leadership.
More than 650 guests turned out, including Calvin Klein, Karlie Kloss, Iman, Steven Kolb, LaQuan Smith, Bibhu Mohapatra, Ken Downing, Raul Lopez, Ronny Kobo, Brandice Daniel, Abbey Doneger, Aerin Lauder, Fern Mallis and Deirdre Quinn. Grammy Award-winner Ciara, dressed in a custom GapStudio gown, served as host, with welcoming remarks by FIT‘s new president Jason S. Schupbach.
Related Articles
The gala’s theme, Threads of Impact, underscored the shared vision of FIT and Gap Inc., and recognized Dickson’s legacy of brand reinvigoration, highlighting his career-long dedication to treating creativity as both a cultural force and a business imperative.
You May Also Like
During the cocktail party, WWD asked Dickson what skills young people need as they enter the fashion industry today.
“I think the most important skill set today is creative thinking and creative courage,” said Dickson. “Because ultimately, when you look at what’s happening today and when we forecast tomorrow, many of the jobs that we imagine don’t exist, and so it’s going to come from creativity and design-led thinking. Tonight is a real celebration of that as we nurture, invest and develop the next generation.”
Dickson said companies need to encourage young people to enter the business by exercising their mentorship.
“We have to develop more programs that give up-and-coming designers, merchandisers, marketers the opportunity to get their start. I think we have to open our doors wider and really accept more young and youth into our company to essentially push us and break our own rules, and show us the future. So I think tonight is a good example of that, but Gap Inc. is going to do a lot more than that,” said Dickson.
During the program, Dickson revealed the Doris Fisher Creators Program, a partnership between FIT and Gap Inc., designed to bridge the opportunity gap between college and career, as reported Wednesday in WWD. “It’s a masterclass in retail, fashion and humanity, and a tribute to Doris’s trailblazing life and commitment to opening doors and developing high performers. Participants won’t just study fashion — they’ll gain real-world experience, step into rooms they may never have had access to, build their professional networks, and importantly, the confidence to know they belong.”
“We’ve raised nearly $1.9 million for the FIT Foundation — helping fund scholarships, academic programs and a community of creative professionals. And we’re not stopping there,” said Dickson during his acceptance speech.
When Dickson was asked if there were any specific opportunities that really opened the door for him as he was coming up in his career, he said: “As I think back about all the chapters in my career, obviously you had to have a lot of grit, a lot of perseverance and passion for what you do. But there are always mentors along the way. I talk about Mike Gould, our [then] CEO of Bloomingdale’s. When I was just an executive trainee at Bloomingdale’s, looking and aspiring to think, ‘Wow, imagine being CEO of this company.’ He was such an incredible leader at the time.” Dickson also mentioned Mattel leader Bob Eckert, and Jane Scott, whom he worked with at Bloomingdale’s, who was the divisional merchandise manager of cosmetics, who saw something in him early on.
Zac Posen, executive vice president and creative director of Gap Inc., and chief creative officer of Old Navy, said he had several opportunities early on that opened doors for him. “Getting to work with legends like Kal Ruttenstein. People who really mentored. I didn’t come from this industry in any capacity,” he said.
What industry did he come from?
“From being a teenager,” Posen said. “I didn’t have family in the business or anything, my mother was an artist and a lawyer. I had great mentorship from the industry. I feel like I got a rare moment. I entered the industry before digital. It was a totally different model, and different lessons learned.”
He said he learned from the boutiques and the big retailers “to Neiman’s taking me on the road, to Julie Gilhart [formerly of Barneys New York] coming to visit me in the basement when I was a student [at Central St. Martins].
“Through my career, I’ve had the great fortune to mentor and tutor students. I did a final-year class at FIT. I’ve done judging at Parsons, I’ve done a final year at RISD, and done classes and mentored SCAD students,” said Posen.
When he hires young designers, Posen said: “I look for creative vision first and foremost, absolutely creative vision. And I think the openness to learning every day. That’s the key. If you keep open to learning every day, it keeps it interesting and you keep evolving. Richard [Dickson] is a rare leader. I feel very fortunate in my role as a partner, as a creative director to him and in that relationship, which is really a real partnership that it takes to grow an incredible portfolio. I’m having the time of my life. I feel very fortunate every day. I give it my all, and it’s nonstop and it’s just the beginning.”
Calvin Klein, who was walking the red carpet with Kelly Klein and Robin Burns-McNeill, cofounder and chairman of Batallure Beauty, was asked what brought him out that evening? “Robin Burns,” said Klein.
Klein, arguably one of the most famous FIT graduates, said his favorite memory from FIT “was working more with the classes. Long after I graduated, working with the students was maybe my favorite memory of the school. I’d like to do more of it,” said Klein, who supports the FIT graduation fashion show, with Calvin Klein Inc., through a multiyear $2 million gift.
Asked what he misses most about the industry, Klein said: “The people, the people whom I got to work with were the best. That I miss the most.”
Klein was asked whether he was watching “Love Story,” which depicts Carolyn Bessette Kennedy [who worked at Calvin Klein] and John F. Kennedy Jr. during the 1990s, and the designer said: “No. It never occurred to me to watch it. I’m not interested in his [Ryan Murphy’s] work. I know it’s a fantasy. Why give it credit?”
The show has fueled a lot of interest in ’90s fashion and Calvin Klein-era minimalism, which is having a moment now. “It doesn’t have the same moment in L.A. New York is New York. In L.A., I don’t hear anyone talking about it,” said Klein.
While Klein lives in L.A., he spends six months a year in New York City. “Which I love, because all the years when I was here, I was born here, I never spent summers in the city. We always went away. And the couple of years that I spent the summers here, I loved it,” he said.
Also on hand was Bob Fisher, a son of Gap founders Don and Doris Fisher, as well as managing director of the Fisher family’s investment firm, Pisces, and former chairman of Gap and currently a board member.
“What Richard has done is not just a turnaround story, through it is that,” Fisher said. “It is a clarity story. He looked at a company that had everything it needed and founded the thread. The original thread. He reconnected the brand to what made them worth caring about in the first place. Not by looking backward, but by making them feel current again. Confident. Part of the conversation.”
Jason S. Schupbach, the new president of FIT, told the guests that Dickson’s commitment and dedication to the creative industries “and all the talented people that fuel them, is truly an inspiration to the thousands of FIT students that we are here tonight to support.”
“FIT matters because it is the largest public investment in the creative industries’ talent pool in the world,” said Schupbach.
“It’s a disruptive time in the creative industries and the world. I come to you with an open hand, ready to partner. We want FIT to be the best partner it can be to the industries it serves — be it fashion, toy design, interiors, beauty and fragrance, advertising, merchandising, I can go on — we do so much. Together we will make FIT the laboratory for the creative industries in the 21st century,” said Schupbach.