The Theatrical Design Research Collection serves as a resource for set and costume
designers, directors, students, and scholars in the fields of opera, dance, theater, and film. It contains more than 25,000 books, periodicals, fashion plates, hand-colored engravings, set and costume designs, and volumes of postcards documenting centuries of theatrical costumes, theater architecture, set and costume design, masks, military uniforms, fashion and clothing.

 The Theatrical Design Research Collection features individual designs, production designs, or the personal papers of the following designers:

Boris Aronson
Cecil Beaton
Eugene Berman
Stewart Chaney
Elizabeth Dalton
Iris de Luce
Judith Dolan
Julian Dove
Raul Du Bois
Roger Furse
Howard Greer
Russell Hartley
Jesse Hollis
Eiko Ishioka
Romaine Johnston
Willa Kim
Peter Larkin
Oliver Messe
Beni Montresor
William Pitkin
Peter Rice
Douglas Russell
Irene Sharaff
Antonio Sotomayor
Jose Varona
Tony Walton
 Walter Watson,