Loading...
Creator
Haggins, Jon
Call number
Sc MG 765
Physical description
4.25 linear feet (16 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Jon Haggins Fashion archive, Sc MG 765, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Jon Haggins was a fashion designer, singer, and travel writer. The Jon Haggins Fashion archive primarily contains professional papers from Haggins' career as a fashion designer.

Biographical/historical information

Fashion designer, singer, and travel writer, Jon Haggins was born in Florida in 1943. He opened his own studio shortly after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, and by 1966, only two years out of college, Haggins caused a sensation with his first collection by introducing styles that were radically different from the tailored, constructed clothes fashionable at the time. His career took off; his clothes were carried by the major department stores and featured in prominent fashion magazines. He also designed special collections for textile manufacturing companies. Haggins received several awards for his fashions, however, by 1972, he closed his studio due to lack of funds. He used the opportunity to launch his singing career and formed the group "Hot Stuff." Still designing in 1975, Haggins created Teeze, Inc., a novelty tee shirt company, and in 1980, he returned full-time to fashion.

Haggins is currently a travel writer, and produces a half-hour weekly cable television program Globetrotter. He is the author of The African American Travel Guide to Hot, Exotic, and Fun-Filled Places (2002), and he has conducted Black heritage tours around the world.

Scope and arrangement

The Jon Haggins Fashion archive primarily contains professional papers from Haggins's career as a fashion designer. The bulk of the collection is printed material (articles, advertisements, magazines, press releases, and invitations). There is also material pertaining to his singing career and his work in the travel industry.

Biographical information can be found in the publicity sketches, press releases, and documents concerning awards and other distinctions he received. Material related to Haggins's fashion career consists primarily of print advertisements featuring clothing he designed. There are also announcements and programs, invitations, business correspondence, and a few sketches of his designs. Haggins's entertainment career is documented by promotional material, reviews of his performances, and his entertainment resume. Information about his travel career includes advertisements for tours he conducted and articles he wrote for various magazines.

The Jon Haggins Fashion archive is arranged in four series:

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Purchase from Willie Mae Haggins, March 2007.

Revision History

Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark. (2020 October 9)

Processing information

Processed by Theresa Walker and Janice Quinter, 2007-2008.

Separated material

Transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division: audio and moving image materials. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.

Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor