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Finding Aid for the Bonnie Cashin Collection of Fashion, Theater and Film Costume Design, 1913-2000
440
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Title: Bonnie Cashin Collection of Fashion, Theater and Film Costume Design
Date (inclusive): 1913-2000
Collection number: 440
Creator:
Cashin, Bonnie.
Extent:
318 boxes (159.0 linear ft.)
4 garment racks.
Abstract: The collection contains Bonnie Cashin's personal archive documenting her design career. The collection includes Cashin's design
illustrations, writings on design, contractual paperwork, photographs of her clothing designs, and press materials including
press releases and editorial coverage of her work. Personal photographs and letters to Cashin are also included.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Selected digitized images from this collection.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including
copyright to all original drawings, are retained by The Bonnie Cashin Foundation. It is the responsibility of the researcher
to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The
UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of the Bonnie Cashin estate, July 2003.
[Identification of item], Bonnie Cashin Collection of Fashion, Theater and Film Costume Design (Collection Number 440). Department
of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Bonnie Cashin was born September 28, 1908 in Fresno, Calif. In her teens she worked as a fashion illustrator and dance costume
designer for Los Angeles dance troupe, Fanchon and Marco. She briefly studied drawing at the Chouinard School of Art in Los
Angeles. In 1933 she moved to New York to design costumes for the Roxyette danceline at the Roxy Theater. In 1933, and again
in 1935, Cashin studied drawing at the Art Students' League. From 1937 until 1942, she designed for the coat and suit manufacturer
Adler & Adler. Cashin resigned from the Roxy to design film costumes for Twentieth Century-Fox (1942-1949). During her tenure
at the studio, Cashin designed costumes for more than sixty films including
Laura (1944),
Anna and the King of Siam (1946), and
A tree grows in Brooklyn (1946). From 1949 to 1985 she designed ready-to-wear clothing and accessories, gaining fame as one of the most innovative
American designers and a pioneer of twentieth-century sportswear. In her designs and writings, Cashin championed creative
independence and efficient use of technology within the fashion industry. Cashin returned to ready-to-wear design for Adler
& Adler (1949-1951) before beginning her long association with manufacturer Philip Sills of Sills and Co. in 1953, which lasted
until 1977. In 1961, Cashin accepted the offer to launch the Coach handbag company, for whom she designed accessories until
1974. Her designs for that firm remain in production under the title of "Legacy". Cashin followed her Coach years by designing
handbags for Meyers (1975-1979). Cashin also designed cashmere separates for Ballantyne of Peebles (1964-1968) as well as
for her own company, The Knittery (1970-1980). After the termination of her partnership with Sills and Co., Cashin designed
ready-to-wear for manufacturer Russell Taylor (1978-1985) under the labels "Cashin Country" and "Weatherwear". Partnerships
with other manufacturers included glove, fur coat, rainwear, loungewear, tote bag, and umbrella designs. Cashin did not employ
any design assistants nor did she license her name. Among many industry awards, she received the Coty award five times, and
entered their Hall of Fame in 1972. By 1980, Cashin had established the Innovative Design Fund, a non-profit organization
to provide funding for design prototypes. She enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the California Institute of Technology,
establishing the James Michelin Lecture Series in 1978 as well as the Bonnie Cashin Most Creative Application Essay Award.
Cashin died from complications during heart surgery on February 3, 2000 in New York, New York.
The collection contains Cashin's personal archive documenting her design career. The collection includes Cashin's design illustrations,
writings on design, contractual paperwork, photographs of her clothing designs, and press materials including press releases
and editorial coverage of her work. Personal photographs and letters to Cashin are also included. Examples of Cashin's fashion
and accessory designs in the library's collection are not from the Cashin estate, but were given to the library anonymously
in 2005.
Arranged in the following series:
- Early design work and related documents
- Chorus girl costumes
- Early ready-to-wear designs
- Hollywood film costume and fashion designs
- Return to ready-to-wear
- Sills and Co. ready-to-wear
- Writings and musings by Bonnie Cashin
- Fur coat designs
- Loungewear designs
- Accessory designs
- Alex Gropper: Gropper leather wear
- Russell Taylor ready-to-wear
- Designs for events / Non-commercial collections
- Professional photographs of Bonnie Cashin
- Personal photographs
- Bonnie Cashin notebooks
- Personal papers
- Rainwear designs
- Ford Foundation trip to India
- Journalistic coverage of Bonnie Cashin
- Publicity materials and citations
- Cashin Men ready-to-wear
- Knitwear designs
- Non-fashion illustrations / Art by Bonnie Cashin
- Legal documents and related papers.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Cashin, Bonnie--Archives.
Women fashion designers--United States--Archival resources.
Women costume designers--United States--Archival resources.
Costume.