Eileen Collard (1912-2002) was instrumental in founding the costume collection at the Joseph Brant Museum.  She was a couturier, costume collector and author.  Eileen and her husband, James Collard, came to Canada from England in 1948.  They first moved to Hamilton before settling in Burlington.  Mrs. Collard studied in the fashion houses of London, England and brought this experience to Burlington and Hamilton, where she opened the Collard School of Fashion Design (1960-68) and became involved with the Fashion Arts Group.  Mrs. Collard taught at Mohawk College and was instrumental in establishing the Costume Society of Ontario in 1970.  She developed the costume collection at Joseph Brant Museum where she was the guest curator from 1966-72.

The Edwardian era was a last fling for Society in Great Britain, a time of elegant clothes and lavish parties. After the long and subdued reign of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII brought an era of exuberance and frivolity. Influenced by the art and fashions of Continental Europe, it was a time of high fashion and sophistication set against a backdrop of new technology and inventions and definitely an “age of optimism”.