Bill Blass was also from Indiana… making his way to New York from Fort Wayne.
Bill Blass was known for his tailoring and his innovative combinations of fabric texures and patterns. He is the recipient of many fashion awards, including seven Coty Awards and the Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT) Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.
Blass began his New York career in 1946 working for Baron de Gunzburg, who was a client of Eleanor Lambert. It was not too long before Miss Lambert added Bill Blass to her roster of clients and was promoting his work. At the beginning of his career he was an in-house designer working for clothing manufacturers. He eventually bought Maurice Rentner which he had joined in 1959, and renamed it Bill Blass Limited. Over the next 30 years he expanded his line to include swimwear, furs, luggage, perfume, and chocolate.
The thing I personally remember was how impressive a Bill Blass fashion show was. The Bill Blass shows I attended were in the tents in Bryant Park and I will never forget the crowd... editors and ALL the society ladies arriving - one after the other - creating complete towncar gridlock outside the tents and the presentations themselves being incredible season after season.
"Bill Blass took American sportswear to its highest level…giving it a clean modern, impeccable style… He, probably more than any designer knew his customer and understood her.”
- Ellin Saltzman, The New York Times
