Michael Katz - FIT Student Scholarship

Our beloved Michael Katz (January 31, 1953 - April 13, 2019) was an extraordinary artist, fashion designer, and human being. 

After graduating from the School of Visual Arts, Michael translated his talent for painting on canvas to painting clothing.  All of Michael's designs were one of a kind; he hand painted silk and silk screened all of the fabrics he used to make his collections.  His home and studio of 40+ years was a loft flooded with natural light, lush trees, and giant tables, on which he would create hundreds of yards of original silk fabrics for his collection each spring and fall. 

Michael was a native New Yorker and a Renaissance man who delighted in and cared deeply about the arts.  He absolutely adored children and spent many summers at his family's arts camp upstate, where he was head counselor and taught art classes to young fine artists. He was very involved in the fashion world and, as part of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, was an avid supporter of all branches of the fashion industry.  He loved running around to the museums in New York and attending the opera.  And above all, he was a devoted friend, brother, uncle, and godparent. 


While Michael lives on in the hearts and minds of all of the people whose lives he touched, we strive for his creative legacy to continue on as well.  We hope to endow a student scholarship at the Fashion Institute of Technology, giving an aspiring designer a chance to flourish creatively and in Michael's name. 

Anything you can give to help achieve our goal of $10,000 towards a Michael Katz Student Scholarship at FIT, and to help Michael's legacy live on, is deeply appreciated.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!