The New School Archives And Special Collections

Herbert Sondheim (1895-1966), who lectured at Parsons School of Design in 1946, ran a dressmaking firm that produced affordable versions of Parisian high-end fashion. The collection consists of nineteen Herbert Sondheim, Inc. scrapbooks, most of which contain fashion sketches. Some books include sketches depicting work of other couture houses. Two books contain news clippings, photographs and correspondence from the mid-1940s.

Dora Mathieu (1909-1980) taught fashion drawing in the Parsons School of Design Fashion Illustration Department, 1964-1966. The Kellen Design Archives holds twenty-nine of Mathieu's sketches, depicting notable designers of the mid-twentieth century. Although the earliest dated portrait is from 1938, the bulk of the collection was created between 1965 and 1968.

Donald Brooks (1928-2005) was a prominent American fashion designer who, in addition to creating ready-to-wear collections and custom apparel, designed costumes for film, television, and theater. He taught at Parsons School of Design for approximately forty years. The collection includes photographs, publicity materials, and original fashion and costume design sketches.

Mildred Orrick (1906-1994) graduated from the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons School for Design) in 1928 and went on to a career as a fashion and costume designer and illustrator, and designed part of the Futurama exhibition at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Orrick was a visiting critic at Parsons from 1947 to 1962. The collection consists of Orrick's fashion and theater costume sketches, 1920s-1950s.

Norman Norell (1900-1972) was the first American fashion designer to compete successfully with French couture. In 1943, he received the first Coty American Fashion Critics Award, and was inducted into the Coty Hall of Fame in 1956. Norell served as a visiting critic at Parsons School of Design from 1943 to 1972. The collection includes biographical material, clippings, sketches, photographs, scrapbooks, and five examples of Norell's clothing.

Eighteen original fashion illustrations donated by the menswear fashion magazine, DNR (Daily News Record). Sketches in the collection are executed in colored pencil, marker, and watercolors. Designers represented include John Rocha, Tommy Hilfiger, Nina Ricci, Claude Montana, Jose Levy, Paco Rabanne, Gilles Rosier, Joseph Abboud, and Olivier Strelli.

A leading figure in the development of American ready-to-wear clothing, John Weitz (1923-2002) created one of the first American signature menswear lines. Weitz was a visiting lecturer at Parsons School of Design from 1975 to 1995. The collection includes design drawings, exhibition files, scrapbooks, clippings, photographs, and audiovisual recordings of promotional campaigns, fashion shows and television commercials.

In 1950, fashion designer James Galanos (1924- ) started Jimi Originals with Mary Scourby. The company only existed for a short time, but it was the first company to market Galanos' creations under his name. The collection consists of twelve Jimi Originals fashion sketches as well as invoices and notes. Galanos was a critic at Parsons School of Design from 1962 to 1968.

Mary Adrienne Steckling Coen (1934-2006) graduated from Parsons School of Design's Fashion Design Department in 1958. In 1966, "Adri" --her professional name-- created her own line, designing under her own labels for the rest of her career. The records document Adri's professional life, with items arranged by year and season. Includes clippings and tear sheets, photographs, press kits, sketches, swatches, and video recordings.

The two fashion sketches, rendered in colored marker, were created by Hubert de Givenchy for Anna-Maria Kellen during the 1980s.