Texas Fashion Collection

Last updated
Texas Fashion Collection
Established1938
Location University of North Texas College of Visual Arts & Design, Denton, Texas, United States
Website tfc.cvad.unt.edu

The Texas Fashion Collection is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and documentation of historically significant fashion. It is operated by the University of North Texas through the College of Visual Arts and Design (CVAD) and housed on the UNT campus in Denton, Texas. The collection is an educational resource for students, researchers and the general public.

Contents

History

The origins of the Texas Fashion Collection began in 1938 when Stanley and Edward Marcus preserved examples of top designers' works in honor of Carrie Marcus Neiman, co-founder of Neiman Marcus and arbiter of taste for the store. In the 1960s following a fire at the flagship Neiman-Marcus location, nearly 200 pieces of apparel from this collection were added to the Dallas Museum of Fashion, a grassroots initiative created and maintained by the Dallas Fashion Group in the Dallas Apparel Mart . [1] When space at the Dallas Apparel Mart was at a premium and responding to the UNT Center for Design Research and new UNT fashion design program, the Dallas Museum of Fashion gifted its holdings to the University of North Texas in 1972, and in the 1980s this cache was renamed the Texas Fashion Collection. [2]

The TFC's facilities have varied and professionalized over time. Initially, these holdings were housed in ad hoc classroom spaces across campus. In 1993, UNT renovated Scoular Hall to consolidate the rare clothing objects into 3700 square foot climate-controlled space, which made it possible to inventory the collection as a whole for the first time. To support of this vital component of fashion history, a National Endowment for the Arts grant for history and documentation was awarded to the Collection in 1995. [3] In 2013, with the demolition of Scoular Hall, the Texas Fashion Collection and the other programs housed in that building were relocated to a new temporary structure on campus, Welch Street Complex 1. In 2019, the TFC opened the Gloria and Bruzzy Westheimer Research Gallery, a 1300 square foot space on the second floor of the UNT Art Building.

TFC leadership has been driven by fashion and higher education leadership. Its earliest caretakers were Stanley and Edward Marcus, along with Carrie Marcus Neiman. A cohort of fashion industry professionals maintained and grew the collection through the Dallas Museum of Fashion, and Edward and Betty Mattil facilitated its donation to the University of North Texas. UNT Fashion Design Professor Myra Walker served as the TFC director and curator from 1987-2017, and during her tenure the collection doubled in size and grew in stature. [4] In fall 2016, current TFC director Annette Becker was hired.

Since 2010, the Texas Fashion Collection has partnered with the UNT Libraries to create a digital catalog of the holdings of the collection. Accessible through the UNT Libraries' Digital Library, an increasing number of objects can be viewed via the internet. [5]

Though the TFC does not have its own dedicated exhibition space, it regularly partners with cultural institutions to make its holdings accessible. Previous exhibition partners include:

Collections

Early in its history, the Dallas Fashion Group was successful in generating donations of designer clothing from Dallas women. Under the direction of UNT since 1972, the collection has grown from 3,000 to more than 18,000 historic items. Designs from Cristóbal Balenciaga (340, believed to be the second largest inventory of original Balenciaga dresses after the house's own archives), Hubert de Givenchy (387), Oscar de la Renta (301), Christian Dior (151) [17] Todd Oldham, Hanae Mori, James Galanos, and Norman Norell make up robust portions of the collection, with the majority of the TFC's holdings representing Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex consumers' engagement with high style from the 1930s-1990s. [3]

Heard de Osborne donated most the Balenciaga prestigious dresses (she had pre-access to new collections), and Mercedes Bass donated most of the de la Renta prestigious dresses. [17]

The famed 1965 Emilio Pucci designed Gemini IV Hostess uniform Collection for Braniff International Airways is also housed in the Texas Fashion Collection. The Braniff Pucci Collection was donated to the museum in March 1969, and included several dresses owned by Braniff co-founder Thomas Elmer Braniff's wife Bess Braniff. [18]

1,150 dresses are tagged "designer unknown". [17]

Fashion on Main

Fashion on Main was the exhibition facility of the Texas Fashion Collection. It was located in the historic Titche-Goettinger Building in the Main Street District of downtown Dallas. Opened in 2006, it was renovated in 2013 and incorporated into the Galleries of the College of Visual Arts and Design of UNT. As of 2018, the space has been returned to the UNT System and no longer functions as a gallery.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of North Texas</span> Public university in Denton, Texas, US

The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. UNT's main campus is in Denton, Texas, and it also has a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas. It offers 114 bachelor's, 97 master's, and 39 doctoral degree programs. UNT is the flagship member of the University of North Texas System, which includes additional universities in Dallas and Fort Worth. Established in 1890, UNT is one of the largest universities in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braniff International Airways</span> Defunct airline of the United States (1928–1982)

Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was a major airline in the United States that flew air carrier operations from 1928 until 1982 and continues today as a retailer, hotelier, travel service and branding and licensing company, administering the former airline's employee pass program and other airline administrative duties. Braniff's routes were primarily in the midwestern and southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. In the late 1970s it expanded to Asia and Europe. The airline ceased air carrier operations in May 1982 because of high fuel prices, credit card interest rates and extreme competition from the large trunk carriers and the new airline startups created by the Airline Deregulation Act of December 1978. Two later airlines used the Braniff name: the Hyatt Hotels-backed Braniff, Inc. in 1983–89, and Braniff International Airlines, Inc. in 1991–92.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cristóbal Balenciaga</span> Spanish fashion designer (1895-1972)

Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre was a Spanish fashion designer, and the founder of the Balenciaga clothing brand. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior and as "the only couturier in the truest sense of the word" by Coco Chanel, who continued, "The others are simply fashion designers". On the day of his death, in 1972, Women's Wear Daily ran the headline "The King is Dead".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emilio Pucci</span> Italian fashion designer and politician

Don Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento was an Italian aristocrat, fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company are synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colors.

Balenciaga SA is a luxury fashion house founded in 1919 by the Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga in San Sebastián, Spain. Balenciaga produces ready-to-wear footwear, handbags, and accessories, and licenses its name and branding to Coty for fragrances. It is currently owned by the French corporation Kering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NorthPark Center</span> Shopping mall in Texas, United States

NorthPark Center, sometimes referred to as simply NorthPark, is a enclosed shopping mall in Dallas, Texas. It is at the intersection of Loop 12 (Northwest Highway) and US 75. Opened in 1965, it now has over 235 stores and restaurants and annual sales of over $1 billion. It is the 20th-largest shopping mall in the US. The mall features the traditional retailers Macy's, Dillard's, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus, in addition to AMC Theatres, and Eataly. The mall features prominent specialty retailers such as AllSaints, UpWest, Psycho Bunny, Vuori, Golden Goose, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, and Versace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Oldham</span> American fashion designer

Todd Oldham is an American-born designer and president of L-7 Designs Inc and Todd Oldham Studios. His approach to fashion and style has become known to millions through his fashion lines, interior designs, books and by appearing in television shows. Oldham is based in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bjørn Wiinblad</span> Danish painter (1918–2006)

Bjørn Wiinblad, was a Danish painter, designer and artist in ceramics, silver, bronze, textiles, and graphics. His work has been shown widely in Europe, in the United States of America first in 1954 and in Japan, Australia and Canada in 1968. Wiinblad was named Man of the Year in New York in 1985 and was awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Cultural Prize of 1995.

Harold Stanley Marcus was president (1950–1972) and later chairman of the board (1972–1976) of the luxury retailer Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas, which his father and aunt had founded in 1907. During his tenure at the company, he also became a published author, writing his memoir Minding the Store and also a regular column in The Dallas Morning News. After Neiman Marcus was sold to Carter Hawley Hale Stores, Marcus initially remained in an advisory capacity to that company, but later began his own consulting business, which continued until his death. He served his local community as an avid patron of the fine arts and as a civic leader. In a chapter titled "Mr. Stanley"—the name by which Marcus was known locally for decades—in his 1953 work Neiman-Marcus, Texas, Frank X. Tolbert called him "Dallas's most internationally famous citizen" and worthy of being called "the Southwest's No. 1 businessman-intellectual."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mila Schön</span> Dalmatian Italian fashion designer

Mila Schön was a Dalmatian Italian fashion designer. Her surname was also spelled as Schoen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vera Maxwell</span> American fashion designer (1901–1995)

Vera Huppe Maxwell was an American pioneering sportswear and fashion designer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neiman Marcus</span> American luxury department store chain

Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, Neiman Marcus Group has been owned by a group of investment companies led by Davidson Kempner Capital Management, Sixth Street Partners and Pacific Investment Management.

The University of North Texas Libraries is an American academic research library system that serves the constituent colleges and schools of University of North Texas in Denton. The phrase "University of North Texas Libraries" encompasses three aspects: The library collections as a whole and its organizational structure; The physical facilities and digital platform that house the collections; and certain self-contained collections of substantial size that warrant the name "Library"—the Music Library and the Digital Libraries (collections), for example, are housed in Willis Library.

Adele Simpson was an American fashion designer with a successful career that spanned nearly five decades, as well as a child performer in vaudeville who danced in productions with Milton Berle and other entertainers.

Herbert Marcus was one of the co-founders of Neiman Marcus, and later became its chief executive officer.

Carrie Marcus Neiman was an American businesswoman and one of the co-founders of Neiman Marcus, a luxury department store.

Joe Allen Hong was an American fashion designer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sareh Nouri</span> Persian-American fashion designer (born 1979)

Sareh Nouri is a Persian-American fashion designer known for her eponymous bridal line of wedding dresses and luxury robes.

Adolfo Faustino Sardiña, professionally known as Adolfo, was a Cuban-born American fashion designer who started out as a milliner in the 1950s. While chief designer for the wholesale milliners Emme, he won the Coty Award and the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award. In 1963 he set up his own salon in New York, firstly as a milliner, and then focusing on clothing. He retired from fashion design in 1993.

Ben Zuckerman was a Romanian-born, American fashion designer, known particularly for his high-quality tailored coats and suits. He made clothes for Jacqueline Kennedy while she was First Lady of the United States.

References

  1. ↑ DeMoss, Dorothy D. "TSHA | Neiman, Carrie Marcus (1883–1953)". www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  2. ↑ "UNT's Fashion on Main takes flight in downtown Dallas - University of North Texas News Service". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  3. 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2009-12-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ "Legacy | Texas Fashion Collection". Archived from the original on 2009-11-12. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  5. ↑ "Texas Fashion Collection - UNT Digital Library". Digital.library.unt.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  6. ↑ "Hot Cars, High Fashion, Cool Stuff: Designs of the 20th Century | Dallas Museum of Art". dma.org. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  7. ↑ Walker, Myra (2006). Balenciaga and His Legacy. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.
  8. ↑ "Yeohlee: Design for Now". Crow Collection. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  9. ↑ "Fashion Forward | Bullock Texas State History Museum". www.thestoryoftexas.com. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  10. ↑ "Fashion Nirvana: Runway to Everyday Opens at McNay Art Museum". San Antonio Magazine. 2020-01-29. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  11. ↑ "On Bodies: Highlights from The Goss-Michael Foundation and the UNT Texas Fashion Collection". artandseek.org. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  12. ↑ "Bloom Men: A Texas Fashion Collection Exhibition". northparkcenter.com. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  13. ↑ Haber, Holly (2018-04-20). "'West Dressed' Exhibit Opens in Dallas". WWD. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  14. ↑ "Reimagining the Kimono at NorthPark Center". wfaa.com. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  15. ↑ "NorthPark Center - Art Meets Fashion: 1965 - 2015 Reception". www.northparkcenter.com. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  16. ↑ Alexander Castro. "Salve Regina exhibit highlights purples prominance in fashion". The Newport Daily News. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  17. 1 2 3 Murphy, By S. Holland (2019-11-11). "How Dallas Saved Fashion History". D Magazine. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  18. ↑ Zahrt, Pat (March 1969). "Fashion Museum Bids for BI Pucci Uniforms". Braniff B Liner Employee Magazine. 20 (3): 8.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.