Here is a great article from the 1952 Summer issue of American Fabrics. Tags are not the only good way of dating an article of clothing. The fabric it is made of is also a good indication. I have owned in my past shirts with some of these prints. Through out history, fashion has been influenced by many things including art. Many artists including Salvador Dali painted ties for men in the 40's. During the 60's many of the pop artists added their flavor to the mod fashions of the time. I hope you enjoy this addition to the collection of articles.

Since the war era, textile designing by outstanding artists has constituted an important phase in the continuing vitality of the American textile scene.

At the Fifth Avenue galleries of Associated American Artists, one of the new creative projects of the textile industry was recently shown... a notable collection of fabric designs assembled by a group of fine arts painters allied with Reeves Lewenthal, who is responsible for the project.

Associated American Artists, a cooperative organization which includes many of America's best-know painters, has thus taken a fresh step forward in bringing fine arts into the lives and homes of millions of Americans. The course this group pioneered evolved naturally through a series of stages, the most recent of which was fine drapery fabric designs and coordinated ceramics executed by its member artists and successfully promoted early this year.

A Fresh Approach

It is a significant collaboration in which Associated American Artists has now joined with M. Lowenstein and Sons. A group from among the distinguished members are designing, and Lowenstein is marketing, a group of cotton fabrics. The participating artists are all painters of wide repute whose works hang in public and private collections throughout the States. To textile design these artists bring a completely new and fresh approach, a fine arts feeling and the inherent qualities of the easel painter's genius. The beauty of their designs is diverse and their use of color rich and varied. The style of each artist has been indelibly transferred to fabric. The artists whose designs are included in the initial presentation are Arnold Blanch, Doris Lee, Anton Refregier, Laura Jean Allen, John Hull, Richard Munsell, Thomas Vroman, William Ward Beecher, Ilonka Karasz, Louise Phillips, Mable Pickett, Brian Connelly, William Kasso. Exclusivity of the designs of these artists will be protected under the scheme by copyright.

Each Signed by Artist

Since each design carries the signature of the artist who created it, these vibrant new fabrics will be marketed under the name Signature Fabrics. They are for ready-to-wear in the better priced and quality lines ... for women's and children's wear trades. Simultaneously with fashion promotion, Lowenstein's plans to broaden the base of its original promotional activities into other segments of the ready-to-wear markets and the home furnishings field are now in various stages of progression.