Bonnie Cashin American Sportswear Collection Rehousing Project

FAIN: PG-263554-19

Ohio State University (Columbus, OH 43210-1349)
Gayle Strege (Project Director: May 2018 to December 2021)

The rehousing of a collection of 400 apparel materials that document the contribution of Bonnie Cashin to the fashion industry from the 1950s through the 1970s.  Cashin’s career ranged widely from costume design on Broadway and for Hollywood movies to design of women’s uniforms in World War II, as well as for major fashion houses, including Coach and Hermès.  The Historic Costume and Textile Collection, and the Bonnie Cashin collection in particular, is used regularly in major exhibits and in humanities courses at the university, including art history, women and gender, aesthetics, literature, and the history of industry.

The project is to rehouse an archive collection of 400 apparel textile materials that document the partnership between American Sportswear designer Bonnie Cashin and manufacturer Philip Sills from 1952-1977. The collection is currently stored in at-risk conditions. The artifacts represent the years when Cashin’s design significance emerged in the history of American fashion, capitalizing on the influence of the baby boomers in post WWII American History and an emergence of global cultural awareness on design. Cashin is one of a handful of American women fashion designers whose focus on practical and functional clothing design along with a minimalist aesthetic appeal led to the development of a uniquely American contribution to the history of the garment industry, namely Sportswear. The grant would support purchase of archival hangers, boxes, tissue and other materials needed to properly store and preserve these artifacts.

Associated Products

Cashin Copycats Blogpost (Blog Post)
Title: Cashin Copycats Blogpost
Author: Bonnie Thibault
Abstract: Bonnie Cashin, one of the "Mothers of American Sportswear," had a 40-year long career in which she created some of the most unique and original designs for women that played a certain role, not just followed fashion trends. As often happens in the world of fashion, successful designs are copied without credit going to the originators of those designs. Designers such as Raf Simons for Calvin Klein in 2018 have been singled out in Stephanie Lake's Instagram account, Cashincopy, to show the blatant line for line copying of Cashin's designs without proper credit being given to the woman with the design originality.
Date: 09/26/2019
Primary URL: http://u.osu.edu/clotheslines/2019/09/26/cashin-copycats/
Primary URL Description: Blog post for The Ohio State University Historic Costume & Textiles Collection
Blog Title: Cashin Copycats
Website: Clothes Lines (Blog of the Historic Costume & Textiles Collection)

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