Tanya Meléndez-Escalante wants you to know that fashion is an integral part of identity, expression, and culture. Winner of the 2026 Vilcek Prize in Fashion & Culture, Meléndez-Escalante designs meaningful exhibitions and programs that reveal the hidden diversity of fashion styles and talent from across Latin America. 

An arts administrator and fashion curator at The Museum at FIT (MFIT), Meléndez-Escalante cultivates international appreciation for fashion and encourages cross-cultural exchange.

“I see fashion as an embodied and lived practice—we can connect or disconnect with others through it,” says Meléndez-Escalante. “It is a very personal form of expression, but it is also a societal phenomenon.”

Meléndez-Escalante grew up in Mexico City, Mexico, where she developed a strong interest in fashion design early in life. After attending a lecture series at Mexico City’s Modern Art Museum, she came across artwork by Mexican conceptual artists. Through this experience, Meléndez-Escalante recognized that museums had the power to educate and transform public perceptions and decided to pursue a career in museum curation. 

After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from the Universidad de las Américas-Puebla in Mexico, Meléndez-Escalante moved to the United States in 2002 to earn a Master of Arts in Museum Studies: Costume and Textiles from the Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY. She has worked for the institution since, currently serving as the senior curator of education and programming at MFIT. 

Since her involvement with MFIT, Meléndez-Escalante has organized more than 100 programs, including the annual education workshop “Cross-Pollination,” which provides a space for multicultural exchange and dialogue between international institutions. 

The fashion curator’s primary focus at MFIT is to create initiatives and exhibitions focused on Latin American Fashion, such as ¡Moda Hoy!, which premiered in 2023 at MFIT and will open in Mexico City’s Museo Franz Mayer in December 2025. She says that it is important that she continues to curate exhibitions that feature “Mexican and Latin American culture because they are often underrepresented.”

“My role as a museum education professional is connecting visitors with our collections, exhibitions, and to make Latinx fashion more relevant and interesting to them,” says Meléndez-Escalante.

Awards and Accomplishments

Kell-Muñoz Fellowship (2003–04)
Fulbright Scholar (2002–04)
Miguel Covarrubias Award (2000)