Step in Time: Youthquake Footwear from the TFC

Resources

Texas Fashion Collection, Photography by Elizabeth Lavin

As part of the College of Visual Arts and Design at UNT, the Texas Fashion Collection is a unique repository documenting high fashion and style and one of the most acclaimed educational resources at the university. These artifacts of dress were collected by a variety of notable groups and individuals whose taste and connoisseurship continue to inspire students, researchers, and visitors. 

In the TFC, 1,400 pairs of shoes, 2,500 hats and 750 handbags are gathered within UNT’s nearly 20,000-piece collection. As D Magazine’s November 2019 cover story details, UNT is home to “a trove of designer labels including 387 designs by Hubert Givenchy, 301 by Oscar de la Renta, 151 from the House of Dior and an impressive 340 by Cristobal Balenciaga.” Originally started by the Dallas-based department store Neiman Marcus in the late 1930s, UNT became the custodian of a few thousand garments via a 1972-donation to support design research at UNT and today is a valuable historical resource for researchers and students. About 90 percent of the collection, which also was covered recently by Denton County Magazine, came from individual donors, most with connections to North Texas.