A study into the care, storage and display of the Eden Hore fashion collection should be completed by the end of May.
The Central Otago District Council bought the 276-item collection in August 2013 for $40,000.
The garments, collected by Naseby farmer Eden Hore, are regarded as the country's largest private collection of 1970s and 1980s couture fashion.
The council has fielded criticism about the purchase and the collection not yet being on display.
Last year, it won a grant of $40,000 to fund a feasibility study into the long-term care and display of the collection.
The funding was through a Lotteries Commission World War One Commemorations, Environment and Heritage fund.
Tim Walker Associates was selected to carry out the feasibility study.
The council said in its latest quarterly activities report a team of experts from specialist fields were working on the study and it would be completed by the end of May.
The collection was originally displayed at Mr Hore's property, and when he died he left the garments to his nephew, John Steele.
Mr Steele retired from the property in 2013 and offered the collection to the council in the hope it would continue to be displayed in the Maniototo.
