In September, 1949, three young ladies and the other 4 supporters opened the historical mansion and named the academy as FASHION ACADEMY. They fulfilled the dream of Betty Ting as the founder.
At the age of 9, Betty Ting loved to make a lot of dresses for her favorite doll without any concern or requirement of learning program. Where she could get the remnants is the fact that her mother had a good reputation of fashion designing and tailoring business at Manhattan, New York for her whole life. When Betty turned 15 years old, her mother died of breast cancer. She left Betty a 100 percent of her properties and assets as her only child.
Betty Ting was about to drop of school. One of her aunties promised to take care of the successful business by encouraging Betty to continue her school. Additionally, two of her childhood and very close friends, Mee Mee and Sally Kerns used to help the business after the school to give Betty a yoke.
They discussed their dream of founding an institution where students could learn trades through the skilful use of their hands. That was how Betty had a good opportunity to pursue the Master of Art studies and support Mee Mee's and Sally Kerns' studies as well at Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City. Meanwhile, Betty Ting's fortunes increased and she distinguished herself as a younger leading figure in Long Island, serving her community and the charities.
In January, 1949, during the vacation, Betty and her close friends found an historical mansion in East Avenue, Rochester, New York. They fall in love with the taste of the beautiful mansion. Once the paperwork was settled, they immediately hired the people to landscape the surrounding of the mansion and polished the interiors as the theatre had been vacated for years.
There are 10 first students who attended the academy in 1949. Their names are shown as below: