collection SC.40 - Sophie of Saks Fifth Avenue sketches

Identity area

Reference code

US NNFIT SC.40

Title

Sophie of Saks Fifth Avenue sketches

Date(s)

  • 1940-1969 (Creation)

Level of description

collection

Extent and medium

2.63 linear feet in 7 boxes and one large format folio

Context area

Name of creator

(1898-1981)

Biographical history

Sophie Gimbel, more well-known as Sophie of Saks, was born Sophie Hass in 1898 in Houston, Texas. She attended Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. In the late 1920s she moved to New York and was hired as a stylist at Saks Fifth Avenue. Shortly thereafter she was asked to re-vamp their foundering custom-order Salon Moderne. She was successful in this endeavor, as well as with her line of ready-to-wear, Sophie Originals. In 1931 she married Adam Gimbel who was president of Saks Fifth Avenue from 1926 to 1969. Sophie did not sketch her designs, rather, she used sketchers to assist with visualizing her ideas, or purchased designs from other designers and modified them. She enjoyed significant success, particularly in the 1940s, and her designs were noted for their elegance. Her clientele included Claudette Colbert, Rose Kennedy, and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson who wore a red coat and dress designed by Sophie Gimbel to her husband's inauguration in 1965. Sophie Gimbel retired in 1969 and passed away in 1981.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Access is open to researchers by appointment at the Fashion Institute of Technology Library, Department of Special Collections and College Archives. If you have any questions, or wish to schedule an appointment contact us at fitlibsparc@fitnyc.edu or call (212) 217-4385.

Conditions governing reproduction

The Department of Special Collections and FIT Archives does not own copyright for all material held in its physical custody. It is the researcher's obligation to abide by and satisfy copyright law (Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 108) when copying or using materials (including digital materials) found in or made available from the department. When possible, the department will inform a researcher about the copyright status of material, the researcher's obligations with regard to such material, and, wherever possible, the owner or owners of the copyrights. Any and all reproduction of originals is at the archivist's discretion.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

The Library of the Fashion Institute of Technology, Department of Special Collections and College Archives, 27th St. at 7th Ave., NY, NY , USA, 10001

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

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Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

US

Institution identifier

NNFIT

Rules and/or conventions used

AAT; ANSI; DACS; DCMI; ISAD(G); ISO; LoC; NISO; etc

Status

Draft

Level of detail

Partial

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

  • Latin

Sources

Accession area