The Museum at FIT, founded in 1969 as the Design Laboratory, includes collections of clothing, textiles, and accessories. It began presenting exhibitions in the 1970s, utilizing a collection on long-term loan from the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and then over time acquiring its own collection as well as thousands of textiles and other fashion-related material. In 1993, the Board of Trustees of FIT, noting the significance of the Design Laboratory’s collections and exhibitions, changed the institution's name to The Museum at FIT. In 2012, the Museum was awarded accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums.