News & Notices
In Memoriam: Kevin L. Seligman
Kevin L. Seligman, costume designer, author, and retired USITT volunteer, died unexpectedly at his home in London, United Kingdom in February.
Mr. Seligman designed costumes for over 100 productions at Northern Illinois University, where he taught as a full professor until his retirement in 1998, as well as other venues including San Diego’s Old Globe Theater.
He was the author of Cutting for All! (1996), the definitive guide to pattern-making history, and was instrumental in establishing the Commercial Pattern Archive, which originated as a project of the Costume Design & Technology Commission in the mid-1980s.
Mr. Seligman organized USITT’s first Costume Symposium in DeKalb, Illinois, in 1977, and went on to serve as a Vice-Commissioner and then Commissioner of the Costume Design & Technology Commission from 1988 to 1991. In the mid-’90s he organized an international costume symposium in London.
He served as an editor of the Cutter’s Research Journal and was an authority on early- to mid-20th century costume jewelry.
His extensive research collection forms the Kevin L. Seligman Library and Archive, housed at the Doris Stein Research Center for Costume and Textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
“Kevin had a gift for friendship for which so many of us are grateful,” said his friend Ron Gloekler, who corresponded with him daily across several decades. “Many of his former students remained in contact and often visited him.”
