Students in UNT’s fashion design program examine haute couture creations in the Texas Fashion Collection, considered one of the most important historic fashion collections in the country. The collection lives in a 4,500-square-foot climate-controlled room on campus.

In 2006, UNT opened a 500-square-foot exhibition space, Fashion on Main, to display gems of the collection in Dallas. The College of Visual Arts and Design has plans to eventually expand the gallery, bringing more items into public view.

A new support group, The Dress Circle at UNT, works to ensure the goal of caring for and preserving the collection. Providing funds for exhibitions and new acquisitions also is a goal of the group.

The collection began in 1938 when Stanley and Edward Marcus preserved examples of top designers’ works in honor of their aunt, Carrie Marcus Neiman, a co-founder of the Neiman Marcus store.

The Carrie Marcus Neiman Foundation maintained the collection after her death in 1953, and the Dallas Fashion Group took over in the 1960s. The collection came to campus in 1972. Under UNT’s care, it has grown to more than 15,000 historic items.