| Published
with permission by the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
THE MUSEUM AT FIT REVEALS TREASURES FROM FIT'S LIBRARY
The Artful Line: Drawings and Prints from FIT's Special Collections,
an exhibition on view June 19 through
July 31, 2004 at The Museum at FIT, highlights the Special
Collections of the Gladys Marcus Library at the Fashion Institute
of Technology.
The Special Collections house a significant number of original
high-quality fashion illustrations, as well as an outstanding trove
of rare and old books, periodicals, photographs, fashion-related
archives, sketches, scrapbooks, and oral histories from notable
fashion designers and others connected with the fashion industry.
Topics covered by Special Collections material range from apparel,
fashion and regional costume, textile design and the textile industry
to art, architecture, and interior design.
“We are delighted to offer visitors the opportunity to view
the amazing holdings, rarely seen by the general public, of the
Special Collections at FIT,” said Tamsen Schwartzman, exhibition
curator and coordinator of special programs at The Museum at FIT.
Access to the Special Collections is limited to FIT students, faculty,
and staff, and by appointment only, to qualified visiting researchers.
The holdings of the Special Collections span the years from 1680
to the present. The oldest item is a book, Vestitus Sacerdotum Hebraeorum,
by Johanne Braunio, published in 1680. Written in Latin, with text
references in Arabic, Greek, and Hebrew, it speculates on what types
of clothing might have been worn by Biblical characters.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is the Frances Neady Collection
of Original Illustrations, a unique compilation of approximately
300 drawings by prominent 20th- century fashion artists. Works date
from the 1920s to the present and include examples by such creators
as former FIT student Antonio Lopez, as well as Eric, René
Bouché, and Mats Gustafson. The collection was established
in 1983 as a memorial to Frances Neady, an inspiring and dedicated
teacher of fashion illustration, who served on the faculties of
FIT and the Parsons School of Design for a total of 40 years.
Periodicals, journals, and catalogues from past centuries are also
featured in this unusual exhibition. Magazines date from 1800 to
1950, and include the first issue of Harper's Bazar, published in
1867, as well as rare French periodicals such as the Gazette du
Bon Ton and Femina. Also of note are the Whittingham & Humphreys
catalogues in which each garment is presented with a hand-rendered
drawing.
By viewing the scrapbooks kept by designers such as Mainbocher
and Claire McCardell, exhibition visitors can envision a picture
of 20th- century fashion and society. The unpublished interviews
of figures like Eleanor Lambert, Andrew Goodman, and Edith Head
afford insight into their lives.
Original fashion sketches of such designers and fashion houses
as Bonnie Cashin, Tina Leser, Lucile, Muriel King, and Bergdorf
Goodman are another element of the Special Collections. It opened
in its present room in 1982 to support research by FIT students
and faculty, as well as designers and researchers from the apparel
and textile fields, other industry professionals, and scholars.
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