Syracuse University gets $1.2 million fashion archive from Claire B. Shaeffer

Syracuse University’s School of Design has gained a 2,500-piece archive of designer garments, patterns and books from Claire B. Shaeffer, a collection the university valued at $1.2 million and said could turn Syracuse into a destination for fashion researchers, haute couture designers and sewing enthusiasts.

The gift carries unusual weight in Onondaga County because the materials are not headed to a remote storage site. They are now part of the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection and Research Center in Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, where students already use historic garments as classroom tools. The archive adds designer pieces, accessories and printed materials to a collection that has long supported exhibition, research and instruction in downtown Syracuse.

Shaeffer chose Syracuse after connecting with professor Jeffrey Mayer, whose book Vintage Details: A Fashion Sourcebook reflected their shared interest in “reading garments” and in detailed construction photography. Mayer said Shaeffer was fascinated by how garments were made and wanted her own book to include the same close-up documentation. That focus on construction gives the archive immediate value for students studying the mechanics of design, not just the look of it.

The new acquisition lands in a collection with deep roots. The Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection was established in 1934 as the American Costume Collection, renamed in 1984 in honor of Sue Ann Genet, and now holds more than 5,000 women’s garments and accessories dating from 1820 to the present. Syracuse says the textiles are kept on the seventh floor of the Nancy Cantor Warehouse in cold environmental conditions to slow decay, underscoring how much care goes into preserving materials that still serve active teaching and research.

Faculty say that access matters as much as preservation. Kirsten Schoonmaker, an assistant teaching professor, said students should be able to hold, manage and manipulate objects because they are vital educational tools. That hands-on approach is built into Syracuse’s fashion design B.F.A., a Council of Fashion Designers of America-recognized program that includes garment construction, flat pattern, draping, textiles, fashion history and CAD. For students in Central New York hoping to build careers in design, merchandising, costume work or archival research, the Shaeffer collection adds another layer of training they can use without leaving Syracuse.

Shaeffer, who died on January 11, 2025, was remembered as an author, educator, Vogue Patterns designer and couture expert. The Vintage Fashion Guild said her collection included about 600 Chanel suits. Senior fashion design student Kieran Romano said the Shaeffer acquisition will inspire students, teachers and scholars for generations, a statement that now feels less like praise than a forecast for what Syracuse can build around the archive.