The Texas Fashion Collection (TFC), housed within the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas, stands as a distinguished repository of high fashion and style. This acclaimed educational resource showcases an unparalleled fashion collection, drawing admiration from students, researchers, and fashion enthusiasts alike. The curated dress artifacts within this fashion collection represent the discerning taste and connoisseurship of notable groups and individuals, continuing to inspire and educate.
Within the TFC’s impressive holdings, fashion aficionados can explore a vast and diverse fashion collection. This includes approximately 1,400 pairs of shoes, 2,500 hats, and 750 handbags, all meticulously preserved within UNT’s extensive 20,000-piece fashion collection sourced from five continents. As highlighted in D Magazine’s November 2019 cover story, this remarkable fashion collection features a treasure trove of designer labels. Among the highlights are 387 designs by Hubert Givenchy, 301 by Oscar de la Renta, 151 pieces from the House of Dior, and an astounding 340 creations by Cristobal Balenciaga.
Originally initiated by the Dallas-based department store Neiman Marcus in the late 1930s, the fashion collection found its academic home at UNT through a significant donation in 1972. This pivotal contribution was intended to bolster design research at UNT, and today, the fashion collection serves as an invaluable historical resource for both researchers and students delving into the world of fashion history and design. Approximately 90 percent of this extensive fashion collection, recently featured in Denton County magazine, Page 38, originates from individual donors, many with strong ties to the North Texas region, further enriching its unique narrative.
To delve deeper into this extraordinary fashion collection, we encourage you to attend our on-campus events and off-site exhibitions, details of which can be found on our exhibitions page. For those seeking remote access, over 10,000 records and more than 66,000 images from the TFC holdings are readily available through the Texas Fashion Collection section of the UNT Digital Library. This digital access ensures that the fashion collection remains a globally accessible resource for study and appreciation.
Stay informed about the latest additions, events, and news related to this premier fashion collection by subscribing to the Friends of CVAD Newsletter: Subscribe: Friends of CVAD Newsletter.
TFC News & Events
Feb. 27, 6–7 p.m. Seminar“All that Glitters: A History of Sparkle in Fashion”Denton Maker Center728 N Elm St, Denton, Texas
News Archive: 2023–2019
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