onnie Cashin (1908-2000) was
one of the foremost American fashion designers in the second half of the
twentieth century. At the vanguard of her field for nearly forty years,
she had an enormous influence on twentieth-century design. Her oft-stated
credo "Chic is where you find it," sums up her belief that designers
should possess a habit of wonder and an ability to connect the fashion
world with objects and ideas not usually associated with it.
In
the summer of 2003, the Department of Special Collections in the UCLA
Charles E. Young Research Library acquired the Bonnie Cashin Archive as a
gift from the Cashin Estate. In addition to Cashin's personal papers, the
Estate provided an endowment to establish the Bonnie Cashin Lecture
Series. The series brings to UCLA gifted individuals from a variety of
disciplines to celebrate the creative process, and to preserve the legacy
of Cashin's remarkable life and work