Last year, when we were sorting through possible subjects for our show, the subject of the Garment District was discussed. We were interested in the history of this district that ran down Seventh Avenue and its role in developing American ready-to-wear. What could we say about this dwindling neighborhood in New York City that was being replaced by hotels? There were so many stories, some of which were about the groups and unions that formed around the turn of the century, the local politicians who helped promote it, and their use of media and marketing. After looking into the various groups, guilds, and unions that developed through the twentieth century, we discovered a central figure who kept popping up: Eleanor Lambert.
By the beginning of our fall semester of 2019, we decided to focus on Lambert as a champion for American fashion. Our research uncovered countless initiatives that Lambert spearheaded in New York City and later across the country and the globe. We realized this woman was central in promoting American designers, bringing them out of the back rooms of department stores and branding New York City as a style capital that eventually rivaled Paris. We worked with primary sources from FIT’s Special Collections, which hold sixty linear feet of documents, photos, letters, telegrams, and biographies from Lambert’s personal files and from the books she wrote. Some of our secondary sources were from the work of authors who had personal relationships with Lambert, such as Amy Fine Collins’ The International Best-Dressed List: The Official Guide, John Tiffany’s Eleanor Lambert: Still Here, and Bettina Zilkha’s Ultimate Style: The Best of the Best-Dressed List. We also spoke to some of the models and designers Lambert hired for some of her ambitious projects like the American National Exhibition in Moscow and the Battle of Versailles. Our goal was to capture Lambert’s voice and vision, putting a woman who was always behind the scenes front and forward and showing how fashion public relations and fashion have evolved since the 1930s.
– Faith Cooper and Carol McLennan