History

The Texas Fashion Collection in the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas is dedicated to preserving and presenting historic dress, with notable examples of haute couture, high fashion, and ready-to-wear by American and international designers. Its history reflects the historically robust fashion industry in North Texas, a commitment to research and education, and the generosity of designers, collectors and donors.
 
Neiman Marcus, the Dallas-based department store, opened in 1907. Upon taking leadership and celebrating the store's 30th anniversary, Stanley and Edward Marcus conceived of a contemporary fashion collection highlighting their institution's history. Emphasizing the emerging importance of American fashion designers, they created the Neiman Marcus Award in 1938. Known as “the Oscars of Fashion,” the award recognized both national and international talents in all areas of fashion and design, brought influential fashion figures to Dallas, and drove the development of the Neiman Marcus Collection.

In the 1960s, fashion industry professionals under the auspices of the new Dallas chapter of Fashion Group began collecting and exhibiting historic garments at the Dallas Apparel Mart. As their collecting expanded, they named their collection the Dallas Museum of Fashion and began to include significant contemporary designs in their holdings. In 1965, the Dallas Museum of Fashion combined with the original Neiman Marcus Collection, creating a robust cache of artifacts used by industry professionals for inspiration and research.

By 1972, the combined collections of the Dallas Museum of Fashion and the Neiman Marcus Collection grew to more than 3,000 items. The shared goals of preservation and education led to the move to the University of North Texas. Edward Mattil, then-chair of the UNT Art Department, helped transfer ownership and brought the collection to the UNT Denton campus, where it has been housed since 1972.

Renamed the Texas Fashion Collection in 1989, the TFC is one of the most significant fashion archives in the U.S. That same year, Myra Walker began as a fashion design faculty member and new TFC director. Under her leadership, the TFC professionalized, following museum standards and practices that improved the level of preservation for the collection. A National Endowment for the Arts grant for history and documentation was awarded to the Texas Fashion Collection in 1995, laying the groundwork for the retrospective digitization of the collection catalog, a project that continues today. In 1993, the university provided a newly renovated building that consolidated the collection into Scoular Hall, the first time the entire holdings were in one location.

In 2013, the Texas Fashion Collection relocated to Welch Street Complex 1, a facility with an open storage model and artifact viewing space for researchers. This permanent collection space is augmented by the Gloria and Bruzzy Westheimer Student Research Gallery in the UNT Art Building, Room 259. The Westheimer Gallery houses a smaller study collection and display area that relates to student learning and research on the University of North Texas campus.

Since 2016, the Texas Fashion Collection has been led by Annette Becker. Under her directorship, the TFC has expanded its audience and reach, serving an average of 4,500 people a year in over 160 research appointments, tours and lectures. Her advocacy has yielded strategic partnerships with academic units on UNT’s campus, regional organizations, and national cultural institutions. These efforts resulted in a robust exhibition schedule, philanthropic funding to support digitizing over half of the TFC’s holdings, and a broader awareness of the TFC as a world-class collection.

Image: Designer unknown, men's coat of velvet with embroidery (1760-1780), gift of the Estate of Scott Gentling, photo by Elizabeth Lanvin, D Magazine.