Graduate Students Research the Changing Beauty Landscape


IMG_6180As we come closer to the launch of our innovation center, I am reminded of the kind of innovative work that comes out of our pioneering MPS program in Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management. This comes to mind now because the Class of 2015 has been invited to present at the Luxury Interactive conference—both in New York and in London this coming October. These are very prestigious gatherings of over 300 executives representing top global brands, so it is quite a coup for them and for FIT.

I had the pleasure of attending the Class of 2015’s Capstone presentation in June. The MPS program has been in operation for 14 years and I try never to miss these events because they are always so outstanding. Indeed, the program is becoming known as the beauty industry’s “think tank,” and for good reason. This year, the Capstone theme was “The Future of Luxury”—a critical topic driving every consumer-focused business today, including the beauty business. With LVMH as a sponsor and in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, our students conducted original research examining the values of new luxury consumers, new epicenters of luxury and new luxury platforms and offered a plethora of important and compelling new information.

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» Read the 2015 Capstone White Papers

Indeed, the MPS program now has developed a rich enough archive of research from past Capstone projects that for the first time, students were able to cite previous Capstone data in their presentations. Going forward, I am sure our students will build on that archive and offer an important, continuing resource of evolving information for industry.

I couldn’t help thinking about FIT’s founders as I listened to the presentations that evening in June. When they opened the doors to FIT in 1944, they wanted it to become an “MIT for the fashion industry.” Imagine how proud and amazed they would be to see the kind of advanced research that this program produces—and to know that FIT students are now being invited to share their research with industry internationally.