Fashion Resource Center

Part of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's network of Special Collections, the Fashion Resource Center (FRC) maintains a unique hands-on study collection of late 20th- and 21st-century designer garments and accessories representing innovation in design, materials, construction and embellishment. Visitors can access an extensive visual, print and fabric reference library that supports and illuminates the FRC's collection of 2000 garments and accessories. These elements combine to provide students and researchers with a creative and educational environment in which to explore the most progressive achievements in the world of dress and fashion.

Housed in the FRC's non-circulating research setting are 3,200 fashion publications, scholarly texts, contemporary designer biographies and interviews. Rare books are shelved alongside up-to-the moment publications on dress and exhibition and more than 25 current fashion and lifestyle magazine subscriptions. Available for viewing is an expanding collection of 800 videos of ready-to-wear and couture runway presentations, technical instruction, interviews, fashion history, and SAIC student fashion shows. In addition, the FRC archives vintage magazines from the 1890s to the present, foundation garments, 19th century lingerie, uniforms and occupational dress, as well as dictionaries, encyclopedias, look books, articles and a fabric library.

Visitors can also explore the FRC's garment and accessories collection remotely at its regularly updated FRC Digital Collections. In addition, students and researchers can search the FRC's books and look books through SAIC's Flaxman Catalog by narrowing their search by location.