Berley Studios sketches
Scope and Contents
Over 100,000 sketches of women's wear, including coats, dresses, furs. Many drawings are on tracing paper.
Dates
- Creation: 1920-1928
Creator
- Rabin, Ethel Berley (Person)
- Berley Studios (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Access is open to researchers by appointment at the Fashion Institute of Technology Library, Department of Special Collections and FIT Archive. If you have any questions, or wish to schedule an appointment contact us at [email protected] or call (212) 217-4385.
Conditions Governing Use
The Department of Special Collections and FIT Archive does not own copyright for all material held in its physical custody. It is the researcher's obligation to abide by and satisfy copyright law (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#108) when copying or using materials (including digital materials) found in or made available from the department. When possible, the department will inform a researcher about the copyright status of material, the researcher's obligations with regard to such material, and, wherever possible, the owner or owners of the copyrights. Any and all reproduction of originals is at the archivist's discretion.
Biographical / Historical
Artist Ethel Berley Rabin was the founder and owner of Berley Studios (the first subscription service of its kind in the U.S., circa 1919), later expanding the business worldwide. For 20 years she supplied sketches of dresses, coats, suits, furs to numerous retailers, manufacturers, model makers, dressmakers, movie companies, wherever design inspiration was required. She employed a staff of 38 artists and designers providing her subscribers with weekly collections of sketches including such designers as Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Lanvin, Lelong, Molyneux, Patou, Schiaparelli, Vionnet, Worth, and specialty shops/ department stores including Bergdorf's, Bonwit's, Hickson, Jay Thorpe, Lord & Taylor, Russeks, Tailored Woman, Saks, B. Altman. She gained inspiration from visits to Paris, fashionable resorts, museums, and works from her own library. She was trained in fashion design sketching at several schools of fine arts. The company was located at 9 East 48th Street in New York City and was dissolved in 1940.
"Ethel Berley Rabin (1892-1981) was a painter and sculptor in New York City, New York. Rabin began her career working as a fashion designer and owned Berley Studios, a subscription service which provided copies of sketches to the fashion industry. Studio artists created original designs and also copied the Paris fashion shows, and Berley Studios was one of the leading forerunners of today's fashion forecasting and reporting businesses."
Biographical / Historical
Berley Studios, owned by Ethel Rabin, was a subscription service which provided copies of sketches to the fashion industry. It was one of the leading forerunners of today's fashion forecasting and reporting businesses and was subscribed to by all major American manufacturing firms and design rooms. Studio artists created original designs and also copied the Paris fashion shows. The collection includes studies made after viewing the Paris collections of such famous designers as Balenciaga, Balmain, Chanel, Dior, Lanvin, Paquin, Schiaparelli, Vionnet, and Worth.
Full Extent
1 placeholder
Language of Materials
Undetermined
Immediate Source of Acquisition
* 1964 June 6: Donation by Ethel Rabin
* 1966 March 6: Accrual donated by Herbert Sondheim
Existence and Location of Originals
The Library of the Fashion Institute of Technology, Department of Special Collections and FIT Archive, 27th St. at 7th Ave., NY, NY , USA, 10003
General
Artist Ethel Berley Rabin was the founder and owner of Berley Studios (the first subscription service of its kind in the U.S., circa 1919), later expanding the business worldwide. For 20 years she supplied sketches of dresses, coats, suits, furs to numerous retailers, manufacturers, model makers, dressmakers, movie companies, wherever design inspiration was required. She employed a staff of 38 artists and designers providing her subscribers with weekly collections of sketches including such designers as Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Lanvin, Lelong, Molyneux, Patou, Schiaparelli, Vionnet, Worth, and specialty shops/ department stores including Bergdorf's, Bonwit's, Hickson, Jay Thorpe, Lord & Taylor, Russeks, Tailored Woman, Saks, B. Altman. She gained inspiration from visits to Paris, fashionable resorts, museums, and works from her own library. She was trained in fashion design sketching at several schools of fine arts. The company was located at 9 East 48th Street in New York City and was dissolved in 1940.
"Ethel Berley Rabin (1892-1981) was a painter and sculptor in New York City, New York. Rabin began her career working as a fashion designer and owned Berley Studios, a subscription service which provided copies of sketches to the fashion industry. Studio artists created original designs and also copied the Paris fashion shows, and Berley Studios was one of the leading forerunners of today's fashion forecasting and reporting businesses."
General
Berley Studios, owned by Ethel Rabin, was a subscription service which provided copies of sketches to the fashion industry. It was one of the leading forerunners of today's fashion forecasting and reporting businesses and was subscribed to by all major American manufacturing firms and design rooms. Studio artists created original designs and also copied the Paris fashion shows. The collection includes studies made after viewing the Paris collections of such famous designers as Balenciaga, Balmain, Chanel, Dior, Lanvin, Paquin, Schiaparelli, Vionnet, and Worth.
General
Published
General
Minimal
General
Shell record
- Title
- Berley Studios sketches
- Date
- 2025-05-11
- Description rules
- Dacs; Isad(g); Lo C
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections and FIT Archive Repository