Specializing in fashion, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology (BIFT) is a university with profound history and distinctive characteristics. It was founded in February 1959 as Beijing Textile Engineering Institute and renamed as Beijing Institute of Chemical Fiber Technology in July 1961. It was a key university of higher education and academic research in chemical fiber and established by the then Ministry of Textile Industry. In February 1987, it was rebuilt and expanded into Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, the first government-sponsored fashion design and garment engineering university in China. The institute adheres to the school motto: In Pursuit of Beauty to Beautify the World, which connotes that centering on the studies of clothing and accessory design, the institute has gradually formed the characteristics of integration of art, science and engineering with art as its pillar and fashion design as its propeller. It has gained a unique advantage in the theoretical research and industrialized application in a variety of fields, including innovative fashion design based on clothing and accessory cultural heritages, development of new clothing materials and design of high-performance clothing, product design and digital media design, etc. Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology (BIFT) comprises the College of Fashion Art and Engineering, the College of Accessory Art and Engineering, the College of Material Design and Engineering, the College of Art Design, the College of Fashion Communications, the College of Business Administration, the College of Fine Arts and the School of Language and Culture Studies. The institute’s academic programs and curricula cover the whole industry chain of textile and clothing, occupying the leading position in China in paradigm development and discipline construction in the areas of clothing and accessory design and industry. BIFT has 7,345 full-time undergraduates, master candidates and Ph.D students, among which there are 6,081 undergraduates and 1,264 advanced degree students. It has formed a characteristic modern education and research system in fashion design, which features, not limited to, combining art studies with engineering studies and management education, combining traditional Chinese costume culture with modern design concepts, and combining theoretical studies with practical teaching". The institute owns nearly 300 national-level and Beijing municipal-level off-campus professionals training bases. BIFT also possesses one of “the National Top Ten Special Museums” -- the Ethnic Costume Museum, which collects more than 10,000 pieces of Chinese ethnic costumes, accessories and ornaments, fabrics, batiks, embroideries, etc., integrating the multi functions of collection, display, restoration, scientific research and teaching. For the past six decades and more since its establishment, the institute has trained tens of thousands of graduates with solid professional foundation, outstanding innovation ability and strong sense of social responsibility. They have held senior academic or management positions in many well-known enterprises and research institutes in textile and fashion industry, and many of them have become the industry backbone and leaders. Many of our teachers are granted special government subsidies by the State Council, and quite a number of them have been selected as national-level teaching team leaders, Beijing Scholars, Beijing Strategic Science and Technology Professionals; others are listed in government-supported programs such as Beijing Municipal Hundred Talents Project, Great Scholars Program of China, New Century Excellent Talents Program of the Ministry of Education; still others receive the honors of Beijing Prestigious Teachers, and Beijing Outstanding Teachers. The institute brings together many leading professionals and scholars in the fields of textile and clothing materials, clothing and accessory design, and fashion communication, including "China's Top Ten Fashion Designers", "China's Top Ten Outstanding Youths in Design Industry" and "China's Jewelry Design Masters". Furthermore, Professor Jane Replay (former Vice-Chancellor of University of the Arts London and former President of Central Saint Martins) and Professor Frances Corner (former Vice-Chancellor of University of the Arts London and former Dean of London College of Fashion) are invited to BIFT as guest professors; Wu Xiaoli, Vice Director of Phoenix Satellite TV’s information channel and famous TV news hostess, is employed as the dean of the Fashion Communications College. All these nominations and cooperation make the institute a galaxy of high-level talents in the field of fashion design and clothing engineering. The institute has established 1 R&D Center sponsored by the Ministry of Education, 3 Key Laboratories of Beijing Municipality, 2 Engineering Technology Research Centers of Beijing Municipality, 1 Technology Transfer Center of Beijing Municipality, 1 Philosophy and Social Science Research Base of Beijing Municipality, 1 Capital Scientific Resources Platform, which contributes to the increasingly complete high-level scientific research facilities in BIFT. Under the guidance of China General Administration of Sports’ winter sports management center, China Disabled Persons' Federation, Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games as well as other government departments and agencies, BIFT has respectively set up the national winter sports clothing and equipment R&D center, the disabled people-friendly clothing R&D center, Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics uniforms and equipment R&D laboratory, actively playing a role of service provider as well as a think-tank. Footing on the forefront of disciplines’ development, BIFT has set up research institutions specializing in the studies of costume culture, costume science and technology, fashion evolution and lifestyles, etc., where a large number of original scientific research fruits have been produced. The academic journal Art & Design Research sponsored by BIFT has been successively selected as source journal of Chinese Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI) since 2017. The Journal of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology (the Natural Sciences Edition) has been listed in the Guide to the Core Journals of China (the Peking University Edition). Over the years, BIFT has actively served the major needs of the country and contributed a lot to the fulfillment of Beijing’s "Four Centers Construction Plan" (namely the centers of politics, culture, international communications and scientific innovation). It has successfully accomplished the tasks of costume and uniform design for a variety of significant events and occasions, including but not limited to 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, the citizens’ parade for the 60th anniversary of People's Republic of China in 2009, the Shenzhen Universiade in 2011, the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games in 2014, the 2014 APEC Summit in Beijing, the 2016 Rio Olympic Games (Chinese delegation’s uniforms), the grand exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up in 2018, the "Presentation of Beijing in 8 Minutes” as an important part of the closing ceremony of Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, the 7th Military World Games in 2019, and athletes parade in the opening ceremony of 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games (Chinese delegation’s uniforms). In addition, the institute has also undertaken the clothing design services for certain high-end industries with special requirements, such as the design of aerospace clothing, spacesuits, and cabin shoes for Shenzhou Space Missions VII, IX, X, and XI, along with the equipment design and development for the Arctic and Antarctic scientific expedition team, including watches, as well as other important innovative design programs. BIFT actively promotes international cooperation in education and research, bringing itself in par with first-class fashion institutes around the world and having established cooperative relations with nearly 60 prestigious international colleges and universities. Many of the institute’s international programs have been approved, such as the "International Exchange Program for Excellent Undergraduates" by China Scholarship Council, the “Special Program for Cultivating Art and Design Talents" and the "Government-Sponsored Overseas Study for Advanced Academic Degrees for Construction of High-level International University", through which BIFT has promoted the cooperation of internationally joint teaching teams and enhanced the cultivation of internationalized students through multiple channels. The institute enthusiastically participates in the activities of the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI) and the International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media (CUMULUS). It has hosted the annual conference of IFFTI, initiated the International Association of Jewelry Design Colleges and Universities, and organized a series of high-end exhibitions and competitions, such as the International Youth Design Competition (IYDC), Beijing International Jewelry Biennale and other high-level international events, exhibitions and forums to enhance the institute’s international influence in an all-round way. BIFT’s art and design programs are awarded B+ in the fourth round of subject evaluation by the Ministry of Education. It is the only municipal higher education institution that has achieved B+ or above in the area of art and design and ranked the sixth in the 2019 "China's Best Soft Subjects Ranking Chart". It also ranked the first of China in the 2020 Best Fashion Schools Chart published by the world-famous business magazine CEOWORLD.