Eleanor Lambert
Eleanor Lambert Berkson | |
---|---|
Born |
Crawfordsville, Indiana | August 10, 1903
Died |
October 7, 2003 100) Manhattan, New York | (aged
Citizenship | United States of America |
Alma mater | John Herron School of Art and the Chicago Art Institute |
Organization | organized the Council of Fashion Designers of America |
Known for | American fashion and public relations industry |
Notable work |
helped with the founding of the Museum of Modern Art appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the National Council on the Arts of the National Endowment for the Arts |
Spouse(s) | Willis Conner (first spouse) and Seymour Berkson (second spouse) |
Children | Bill Berkson |
Awards | The Eleanor Lambert Award was named in her honor |
Eleanor Lambert Berkson (August 10, 1903 – October 7, 2003) was a central figure in the American fashion and public relations industries.[1][2][3][4]
Personal life
Lambert was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana.[2][5] She attended the John Herron School of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago to study fashion.[2][5] Lambart wanted to be a sculptor but went into advertising.[6] She started at an advertising agency in Manhattan, dealing mostly with artists and art galleries.[2][5]
She was married twice, firstly to Wills Conner, in the 1920s,[4] which ended in divorce and secondly to Seymour Berkson[2] in 1936, which ended with his death in 1959.[6] Eleanor and Seymour had one son together, the renowned poet Bill Berkson.[6] She died in Manhattan in New York City.[4]
Career
In the mid 1930s, Lambert was the first Press Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art and helped with the founding of the Museum of Modern Art.[1][2][5] Jackson Pollock, Jacob Epstein, and Isamu Noguchi were a few of the many artists she represented.[2][5]
In the 1940s, Lambert founded the International Best Dressed List, the Coty Fashion Critics’ Award (in 1943), and New York Fashion Week.[1][5][7][8] In 1959 and 1967, she was asked by the US Department of State to present American fashion for the first time in Russia, Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan, Britain, and Switzerland.[1][7]
In 1965, she was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the National Council on the Arts of the National Endowment for the Arts.[2] In 1962, she organized the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and stayed an honorary member until her death in 2003.[2]
In 2001, the CFDA created The Eleanor Lambert Award, that is presented for a “unique contribution to the world of fashion and/or deserves the industry’s special recognition.”[2] Months before she died, she had left her International Best Dressed List to four of Vanity Fair’s editors.[2] Shortly after her last public appearance at New York Fashion Week in September, Lambert died in 2003 at the age of 100.[2][9] Shortly after her death her grandson, Moses Berkson, completed a documentary film about her life.
Fashion historian John A. Tiffany was mentored by Lambert.[8][10] Lambert created the Council of Fashion Designers of America.[10]
One source credits Lambert as "she was a factor in the gross domestic product of the U.S., and even of the world" for her influence in the fashion industry.[11] Lambert's influence is described as exogenous event risk in mathematical modeling.[11]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Stahl Case Study: Eleanor Lambert Demand Creator". ValueWalk LLC. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Tiffany, John. "Eleanor Lambert believed in destiny". Council of Fashion Designers of America. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ↑ "Eleanor Lambert". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- 1 2 3 NEMY, ENID (October 8, 2003). "Eleanor Lambert, Empress of Fashion, Dies at 100". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Diliberto, Gioia (2009-09-09). "Eleanor Of Seventh Avenue: Where Fashion Week Came From". Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Eleanor Lambert Obituary". The Telegraph newspaper. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- 1 2 Skarda, Erin (April 2, 2012). "Eleanor Lambert". Time magazine. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- 1 2 "Author to Discuss Fashion Industry Impresario Eleanor Lambert, Feb. 2". Library of Congress. January 3, 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ↑ Moody, Ron (October 8, 2003). "Eleanor Lambert (1903-2003)". Find a Grave.com. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
- 1 2 DiNardo, Julia (December 6, 2011). "Eleanor Lambert: Still Here by John A. Tiffany". Fashion Pulse Daily. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- 1 2 "Eleanor Lambert, Demand Creator" (PDF). HORIZON RESEARCH GROUP. July 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
Bibliography
- Ultimate Style: The Best of the Best Dressed List by Eleanor Lambert and Bettina Zilkha (April 2004) ISBN 2843235138
- World of fashion: People, places, resources (1973) ISBN 0835206270
- John Loring, Eleanor Lambert, James Galanos: Tiffany in Fashion. Harry N. Abrams Inc., New York NY 2003, ISBN 0-8109-4637-8.