THE CREATIVE SPARC
FIT’s collections are a trusted resource for filmmakers
By Steven A. Bibb
When Catherine Martin, the four-time Academy Award–winning costume designer, was researching fashions of the ’20s for Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, she turned to FIT’s Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC).
SPARC, housed within the Gladys Marcus Library, holds more than 10,000 rare books and periodicals and 375 unique manuscript collections, which include original fashion sketches and designs. This gem within the SUNY system underwent a $3.6 million renovation in 2018 that nearly doubled its size to 6,100 square feet.
One of the treasures within the climate-controlled storage shelves is Le Goût du Jour (1920), a small book of fashion plates that exists in only 13 libraries worldwide, according to WorldCat, a global database of library materials. Plate 20 is a sketch of a young woman wearing a gold metallic dress with a large silver bow hanging below the dropped waist.
This sketch inspired a costume worn by Carey Mulligan portraying Daisy Buchanan, the film’s female protagonist. Martin, who worked with Prada to adapt much of the design house’s 2011 summer collection for the film, told House Beautiful magazine that her team did extensive research at the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art—and at FIT.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.
When Emmy-nominated costume designers Lisa Padovani and John Dunn were conducting research for the HBO crime drama series Boardwalk Empire (2010–14), set during Prohibition, they consulted SPARC’s A. Beller & Company sketch collection, circa 1914–29. Beller, a noted cloak-and-suit firm, manufactured original fashions and licensed European styles for upscale department stores. Max Meyer, a buyer for Beller who commissioned these sketches, was the first chairman of FIT’s Board of Trustees and president of FIT until his death in 1953.
While reviewing the entire 9,000-piece Beller archive, the HBO team found a sketch for a 1917 Callot Soeurs ensemble and hat, which they recreated for actress Gretchen Mol. This is one of numerous costumes from the series inspired by SPARC discoveries.
SPARC also owns an archive of the exceedingly rare French publication Les modes: revue mensuelle illustrée des arts décoratifs appliqués à la femme. Page 38 of the January 1912 issue features a photo of a white with black pinstripe afternoon suit—which looks precisely like Kate Winslet’s costume in Titanic’s (1997) opening scene. Did the costume team find that reference at FIT? We don’t know. But it serves as another well-known example of the treasures that exist only a call-slip away.
More Movie Research at The Museum at FIT
The Museum at FIT’s permanent collection also has been a vital resource for films. Daniel Day-Lewis visited this archive to study gowns by Charles James and Balenciaga when preparing for his role as a mid-century British fashion designer in Phantom Thread (2017). A renowned method actor, Day-Lewis spent a year learning dressmaking until he could recreate a Balenciaga dress.
When making The Incredibles (2004) and Up (2009), art directors from Pixar pored over The Museum at FIT’s textile collection for fabrics and patterns to adapt into character and set designs.