Twentieth-Century Fashion Designers

Subject

Clothing and Dress

Title

Twentieth-Century Fashion Designers

Date

1900 - 1995

Description

Twentieth-Century Fashion Designers

The Historic Textile & Costume Collection (HTCC) houses numerous artifacts that represent the work of twentieth-century fashion designers. The research for the garments included here was conducted by students in a graduate-level class, TMD 570 - Topics in Historic Textiles or Costume, in the Spring 2021 semester. The course utilized a material culture approach to studying fashion history, looking at material culture models and then applying them to the work of fashion designers whose garments are represented in the HTCC. In the Fall 2021 semester, students of TMD 548 - Textile Conservation: Storage and Exhibition used this this research to develop and mount an exhibition on Twentieth-Century Fashion Designers in the Textile Gallery in Quinn Hall. 

Contributor

Linda Welters, PhD
Students of TMD 570 - Material Culture: 20th c. Fashion Designers, Spring 2021

Collection Items

Woman's Dress Suit by Guy LaRoche
This is a material culture analysis, using Fleming’s Artifact Study Model, of a shift dress with a matching jacket from the University of Rhode Island’s Historic Textile and Costume Collection. Dr. Beverly D. Cusack, dean of the College of Home…

Woman's Sweater Vest by Perry Ellis
This sweater vest is royal blue and features a narrow cable down the short center front. The vest is cropped to end at the natural waist. It has a fairly high and wide square neck opening. The tag at the back of the neck identifies the designer…

Woman's Sweater by Zandra Rhodes
Zandra Rhodes (b. 1940) is something of an icon. She has been a part of the fashion world for the past fifty-plus years and has transformed the way people view textile design and printing. Rhodes inspires those who dress a little differently and is…

Woman's Gown by Arnold Scaasi
Arnold Scaasi (1930-2015) donated this evening gown, used in his 1991 Autumn/Winter show, to the Historic Textile and Costume Collection in 1997. This was a remarkable year for the designer, in which he received the Council of Fashion Designers of…

Woman's Coat by Givenchy
According to a letter from the donor Rita Grossman, this Givenchy coat is one of several couture pieces she had custom-made in Paris between 1955 and 1974. Grossman cut out the labels to avoid paying a duty tax. The coat and the other designer…

Woman&#039;s Jacket from Yves Saint Laurent<br /><br /> The Russian Collection
Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008) launched his prêt-à-porter, or ready to wear collection he titled Rive Gauche in 1966, at the beginning of what was to become a standard practice for fashion designers. This coat is from Saint Laurent’s famous Russian…

Woman&#039;s Evening Gown by Balmain
Pierre Balmain (1914-1982) was one of the most revolutionary designers of his time. His architectural studies and subsequent work for Edward Molyneux and Lucien Lelong shaped him into the designer he became. Balmain created the ‘new French style’…

Woman&#039;s Hostess Dress, Malcolm Starr
This dress features a full-length skirt, bishop sleeves, and a V-shaped neckline. A hook and eye in the front allows the wearer to create a more modest closure if desired. The printed fabrics are a momie weave, a crepe-like fabric made from tightly…

Woman&#039;s &quot;Marii&quot; Gown by Mary McFadden
The dress is believed to have been made between the years 1975 and 1980. McFadden (b. 1938) launched her first collection in 1973 and patented her “Marii” pleating technique two years later. She began Mary McFadden Inc. in 1976, which focused on…

Woman&#039;s Shift Dress by Ungaro
This sleeveless, shift-style dress was made in Italy of brown wool gabardine by Emanuel Ungaro (1933-2019), probably within the first few years of Ungaro Paralléle, the label Ungaro launched in 1968 after establishing his company in 1965.The garment…
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