Robert & Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection

Starting in 1898, Drexel University founder A.J. Drexel made it a point to start collecting historic textiles for the purposes of education and preservation. Created first in 2008, the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection (FHCC) had been relocated to the renovated URBN center in a dedicated, but not properly climate controlled, storage space. Almost as soon as it moved to this new space, it was quickly realized the collection far exceeded the space provided. Housing over 20,000 articles of fashion, textiles, shoes, and related materials the collection is unique in that it is accessible to students and scholars in design, history, and culture.

Lacking in both properly conditioned collection space and gallery space to exhibit materials, AOS was engaged for a renovation project to expand and create needed spaces. Through coordination with the collection curator, the renovation was designed to include a dedicated gallery complete with humidity controlled display cases, installation of new mechanical systems with temperature and humidity control, new UV controlled lighting, expansion of the collection space with new compacting storage units, and the reorganization of the existing workroom and offices for more efficiency as well as increased visibility for the program and interaction with students and scholars.