Charles Le Maire (1897-1985) began his costume design career in vaudeville shows of the 1920s. He later served as executive designer at Twentieth Century-Fox. In the 1950s, Le Maire formed his own business from private commissions and film work, earning thirteen Oscar nominations and three Oscars for Best Costume Design. The collection contains seventeen Le Maire sketches, including work for the Earl Carroll Vanities (1924-1930).

Donald Brooks (1928-2005) was a prominent American fashion designer who, in addition to creating ready-to-wear collections and custom apparel, designed costumes for film, television, and theater. He taught at Parsons School of Design for approximately forty years. The collection includes photographs, publicity materials, and original fashion and costume design sketches.

Robert Mackintosh (1925-1998) was a costume and fashion designer whose design career spanned forty years and twenty Broadway productions. He made his Broadway debut designing costumes for the 1952 musical Wish You Were Here. In the 1960s, Mackintosh branched out into womenswear design with Musette, a juniors label, which was sold at Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue. He went on to design various other womens and menswear lines in the 1970s. The bulk of the collection consists of costume sketches, technical sheets, and swatches from theatrical productions, including The Last Minstrel Show, and Mame. Also included are clippings, fashion publicity, and promotional photographs, as well as approximately 150 women's fashion sketches, and nine menswear sketches.