Bonnie Cashin Collection, 1943-2000 (Bulk 1950-1976)
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Bonnie Cashin collection, 1943-2000 (bulk 1950-1976) Finding aid prepared by Celia Hartmann This finding aid was generated using Archivists' Toolkit on March 26, 2018 The Costume Institute's Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue New York, NY, 10028 [email protected] Bonnie Cashin collection, 1943-2000 (bulk 1950-1976) Table of Contents Summary Information .......................................................................................................3 Biographical note.................................................................................................................4 Scope and Contents note.....................................................................................................4 Arrangement note................................................................................................................ 5 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 5 Related Materials .............................................................................................................. 5 Controlled Access Headings............................................................................................... 6 Collection Inventory............................................................................................................7 Series I. Correspondence...............................................................................................7 Series II. Designs.......................................................................................................... 7 Series III. Promotion and Publicity.............................................................................. 7 - Page 2 - Bonnie Cashin collection, 1943-2000 (bulk 1950-1976) Summary Information Repository The Costume Institute's Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library Title Bonnie Cashin collection, 1943-2000 (bulk 1950-1976) Dates 1943-2000 Extent 1.04 Linear feet : 2 full-size document cases, one half-size document case Language English Abstract Among the best-known post-war American designers, Bonnie Cashin specialized in interchangeable ready-to-wear wardrobes that incorporated leather, suede, cashmere, and tweed. She also designed distinctive accessories for the Coach Leatherware company and other manufacturers. The collection includes correspondence, original designs for gloves, together with photoreproductions of Hollywood costume designs, clippings, ephemera, publicity photographs, and press releases. Preferred Citation note [Title of item], [date of item], Box [number], Folder [number], Bonnie Cashin collection, The Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library at The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. - Page 3 - Bonnie Cashin collection, 1943-2000 (bulk 1950-1976) Biographical note Among the best-known post-war American designers, Bonnie Cashin (1908-2000) specialized in interchangeable ready-to-wear wardrobes for her ideal customer, whom she described as “the woman with something to do”. Her timeless designs, incorporating leather, suede, cashmere, and tweed, were influenced by the variety of cultures she was exposed to growing up in California, especially those of Asia. Her versions of kimonos, ponchos, and tunics provided ease and variety through effortless layering. After apprenticing in her mother’s dressmaking shops, Cashin moved to New York to design for the Roxy Theater’s dance line. Through Harper’s Bazaar editor Carmel Snow, Cashin joined coat and suit manufacturing concern Adler and Adler as chief ready-to- wear designer in 1937. During World War II, together with Vera Maxwell and Claire McCardell, she designed civil defense uniforms for women. She returned to Hollywood in 1943, designing more than 60 film costumes for Twentieth Century Fox in 6 years. Her favorites included Laura, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Anna and the King of Siam. During this period, she first designed a poncho from a woolen car blanket, as well as a so-called purse pocket jacket that held art supplies while keeping her hands free to sketch and paint. She returned to 7th Avenue in 1948, after a European trip, to design modern layered looks for Adler and Adler. In 1950, she won both the American Fashion Critic’s (so- called Coty) Award and the Neiman Marcus Award. The next year she established Bonnie Cashin Designs Inc., working with a variety of manufacturers to produce clothing each season at a variety of price points. In 1953 she began a 24 year partnership with sportswear manufacturer Philip Sills, during which her use of leather for clothing as well as accessories was unprecedented. In 1962 she became the first designer for Coach Leatherware, for which she initiated the use of brass hardware, including their now-signature toggle. Her Cashin Carry bags incorporated exterior coin purses, and could be layered similarly to her clothing. Her work in leather also included designs for gloves by Crescendoe Superba starting in the early 1970s. She was inducted into the Coty Hall of Fame in 1972, and that year created a consortium of mills in the UK linked to hand knitters producing one-of-a-kind sweaters. Scope and Contents note - Page 4 - Bonnie Cashin collection, 1943-2000 (bulk 1950-1976) The collection includes correspondence, original designs for gloves together with photoreproductions of Hollywood costume designs, clippings, ephemera, publicity photographs, and press releases. Arrangement note The collection is arranged in three series: Series I. Correspondence, Series II. Designs, and Series III. Promotion and Publicity. Administrative Information Conditions Governing Access note The collection is open for research; materials are stored offsite and advance notice of 48 hours is required. Collection contains photographs that should be handled with gloves. Conditions Governing Use note Copyright restrictions apply. Consult Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library staff regarding permission to quote or reproduce. Related Materials Related Archival Materials in Other Collections The Charles E. Young Library of the University of California, Los Angeles, holds Cashin’s personal archive of her design career. Related Materials in the Costume Institute Collection The Costume Institute Collection includes more than 250 examples of Bonnie Cashin designs, including more than 100 acquired in 1979 from the Helen and Philip Sills - Page 5 - Bonnie Cashin collection, 1943-2000 (bulk 1950-1976) Collection of Bonnie Cashin Clothes and more than 50 examples of gloves designed in the 1970s. Indexing Terms Subjects - Corporate Bodies • Bonnie Cashin. Genres and Forms of Materials • Correspondence. • Photographs • Sketches Occupation(s) • Fashion designers -- Press coverage • Fashion designers -- United States -- History -- 20th century Subjects - People • Cashin, Bonnie, 1916-2000 Subjects - Topics • Fashion -- History -- 20th century • Fashion design -- History -- 20th century - Page 6 - Bonnie Cashin collection, 1943-2000 (bulk 1950-1976) Series I. Correspondence Collection Inventory Series I. Correspondence 1983, 1985 Box Folder 1 1 Brooklyn Museum. October 1985 1 2 Innovative Design Fund. 1983, 1985 Series II. Designs 1943-1974 Box Folder 1 3 Notes. Gloves. 1970-1974 1 4 Sketches. Gloves. Fall 1970 1 5 Sketches. Gloves. Spring 1971 1 6 Sketches. Gloves. Fall 1971 1 7 Sketches. Gloves. Spring 1972 1 8 Sketches. Gloves. Fall 1972 1 9 Sketches. Gloves. Spring 1973 1 10 Sketches. Gloves. Fall 1973 1 11 Sketches. Gloves. Spring 1974 1 12 Sketches. Gloves. Fall 1974 1 13 Sketches. Hollywood films. Photoreproductions. 1943-1946 1 14 Sketches. Hollywood films. Photoreproductions. 1945-1947 1 15 Sketches. Hollywood films. Photoreproductions. 1940s, undated 2 1 Sketches. Various. Photoreproductions, photostats. 1962-1975 Series III. Promotion and Publicity 1951-2000 Box Folder 2 2 Clippings. 1951-2000 2 3 Ephemera. Philip Sills and Co. openings. Fall 1959-Fall 1968 2 4 Ephemera. Philip Sills and Co. openings. Spring 1971-Fall 1977 2 5 Photographs. 1968, 1976 Note: Some include attached press releases. 2 6 Photographs. Undated Note: Oversized material has been removed to box 3, folder 1. 3 1 Photographs. Oversized Undated - Page 7 - Bonnie Cashin collection, 1943-2000 (bulk 1950-1976) Series III. Promotion and Publicity Note: Oversized material removed from box 2, folder 6. 2 7 Press releases. 1950, 1951 2 8 Press releases. Philip Sills and Co. 1953, 1954, undated - Page 8 -.