In the late 1950s, several prominent Oklahoma City women in fashion-related businesses initiated contacts with The Fashion Group International, Inc. headquartered in New York. As a result, a new regional “Fashion Group, Inc. of Oklahoma City (OKC Fashion Group)” was established in the fall of 1958. One of the goals of the OKC Fashion Group was to collect garments in order to establish a “designer costume collection” covering several decades and representing significant changes in fashion design. They collected garments and accessories from prominent women in Oklahoma. The collection was to be used by fashion marketing, costume design, drama, art, and history students. The items in the collection range from the late 1800s to the 1970s. In 1989, the OKC Fashion Group disbanded and donated the entire collection to Central State University, which is now called the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO).