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“Makers: Women Who Make America” is a groundbreaking documentary that tells the story of women’s advancement in America over the past 50 years. It is built on an extraordinary archive of interviews with women who challenged the status quo in fields from coal-mining to medicine. Watch “Makers: Women Who Make America” online.

THIRTEEN asked New York City “Makers” what woman has inspired them. Visit www.thirteen.org/makers for more programs on women who have made an impact.

Valerie Steele

Director and Chief Curator, The Museum at FIT

Inspired by Diana Vreeland

Diana Vreeland paved the way for me as a fashion curator. In her work as special consultant to the Costume Institute, Mrs. Vreeland transformed antiquarian “costume” exhibitions into dramatically exciting fashion exhibitions. Although visually compelling, her exhibitions were often historically inaccurate. However, most curators today understand that fashion exhibitions can—and should— be both beautiful and intelligent.

Read about the latest exhibition at The Museum at FIT, Shoe Obsession, and the upcoming exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, PUNK: Chaos to Couture.

Valerie Steele photo by Aaron Cobbett.