A leading figure in the development of American ready-to-wear clothing, John Weitz (1923-2002) created one of the first American signature menswear lines. Weitz was a visiting lecturer at Parsons School of Design from 1975 to 1995. The collection includes design drawings, exhibition files, scrapbooks, clippings, photographs, and audiovisual recordings of promotional campaigns, fashion shows and television commercials.

French-born Joset Walker (1902-1999) graduated from the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons School of Design) in 1928, and became a leading designer of ready-to-wear clothing for Saks Fifth Avenue's Theatrical Department. In 1932, Walker served briefly as head costume designer for RKO Pictures. After returning to New York and designing for manufacturer David M. Goodstein, Walker left to found Joset Walker Designs. Often incorporating Mexican and Guatemalan textiles, colors and styles into her designs for the American market, Walker reached the pinnacle of her career in the 1940s and '50s as a designer of casual, feminine clothing for women. The Joset Walker collection includes pages from Walker's scrapbooks, largely comprised of clippings of advertisements for her designs, but also including publicity, photographs of department store window displays, and ephemera documenting Walker's career.

After graduating from the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons School of Design) in 1934, Tom Brigance (1913-1990) became a fashion designer specializing in women's swimwear and sportswear. The collection includes scrapbooks of clippings and photographs of Brigance's designs, sketches, publicity materials, and four original fashion illustrations of Brigance swimwear by Dorothy Hood, produced for Lord & Taylor.