Suzanne McMillan Andruskevich and Thomas A. Andruskevich have donated their collection of 685 unique vintage gelatin silver print photographs by photographer, designer, and Tiffany & Co. artistic director Gene Moore to FIT’s Special Collections and FIT Archive. The collection of mid-to-late 20th-century photographs created and collected by the style influencer has an estimated value of $332,500.
Tiffany Nixon, head of the Special Collections and FIT Archive, recalled how the college received the collection: “I met with Tom and Suzanne and explained that this extraordinary collection would serve as an incredible resource and source of inspiration for our students. They want the collection to be widely used and visible, which FIT is thrilled to offer.”
The photographs are a rare historical record of the evolution and rise of American fashion and style in the postwar era. They document seasonal fashion collection launches along Fifth Avenue and 57th Street through Moore’s eyes—as well as other subjects, such as enchanting, staged “woodland fantasies”; studio poses; formal studio portraits; cinematic poses; Bonwit Teller, Bergdorf Goodman, and Tiffany & Co.; ballet dancers, opera performers, and actors; celebrity portraits; and general 1940s–1980s fashion.
Moore was the artistic director and vice president at Tiffany & Co. for nearly four decades (1955–1994). He was also responsible for more than 5,000 iconic and whimsical “Tiffany Windows” in the street-level window boxes of the Fifth Avenue flagship store. Moore’s window displays reached iconic status when Audrey Hepburn gazed into them in the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Moore’s vision was vital to the Tiffany & Co. brand, attracting a loyal following to the ever-changing, eye-level exhibits. His surreal, diorama-style installations were renowned for juxtaposing exquisite, rare, and fine jewelry with mundane objects, using repeated shapes, forms, and textures set within unusual still-life compositions. Moving beyond simple illumination, he used dramatic, innovative lighting as a core element of the display.