FLEUR COWLES ON ELEANOR LAMBERT...

Fleur Cowles

On Eleanor Lambert, from the Fleur's book She Made Friends and Kept Them:

I've been her friend since the late 1940s, when her husband and mine were both publishing chiefs (he was the head of Universal and International News Services and later the New York Journal). I know that if I ever needed her, this unique woman would want to be there.

Indeed, Miss Lambert was there to help her friend once again. Shortly after She Made Friends and Kept Them was published in 1996, Fleur Cowles published The Best of Flair and Eleanor Lambert did publicity for it.

THEY CAME FROM INDIANA... PART 3 LAMBERT

Eleanor Lambert at her desk

Last week I wrote that there are lots of successful people in the fashion business from all over the world, but it seems that there has been an inordinate amount of fashion talent from Indiana.

First I talked about Halston who made his way to New York from Evansville via Chicago. Then we showed some highlights of Bill Blass who came from Fort Wayne... and of course the Empress of Fashion herself, Eleanor Lambert was from Indiana as well!

Born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Miss Lambert attended John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis and the Chicago Art Institute studying sculpture and doing fashion sketches and fashion reporting to earn her way to a professional career in New York.

SHE MADE FRIENDS & KEPT THEM

Fleur Cowles, Editor of Flair Magazine, 1950

The Best of Flair, 1996

Fleur Cowles in Vanity Fair Magazine

Fleur Cowles was the legendary creator and editor of Flair Magazine in 1950-51.

One of the best books and best titles of a book is Fleur Cowles’ memoir, She Made Friends and Kept Them published in 1996.

In that book Fleur Cowles recounts…

Two very, very different women lit up the New York scene when I lived there; one was writer Anita Loos; the other, who happily is still alive, aged over ninety, is Eleanor Lambert.

She goes on…

Eleanor Lambert, high priestess of fashion publicity, was affectionately and glamorously feted by New York City when she reached her ninetieth birthday in 1993. Her hundreds of celebrated friends came from all strata of the fashion world, the press and politics, from everywhere in fact. Her age is of no consequence; she doesn’t look or even begin to act it. Although she has a New York office and staff, I sometimes think her real office must be on a plane jetting from country to country. If a boast can be made I would like to make it: she is the fashion industry. She brought it to prominence in the 1930s. Most big names in the industry owe their fame to her, and charities benefit from her ideas and support.

THEY CAME FROM INDIANA... PART 2 BLASS

Bill Blass

Cover Girl Ad featuring Bill Blass, early 1970s

Marissa Berenson in Bill Blass 1966, Vogue

Bill Blass and model, Vogue, early 1960s

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

LIVING HISTORY

photo of Eleanor Lambert by Cecil Beaton

When I worked for Miss Lambert, she used to encourage us all to go through the files. Well actually she used to say, "Does anyone around here ever go through those files?" I know I did.

There were many "unspoken rules" at Eleanor Lambert Limited. One of the rules was you could make or take a copy of whatever you wanted -- just don't take the last one. Growing up, I was obsessed with photographer Cecil Beaton who also wrote The Glass of Fashion. Imagine my reaction when I came across several incredible photos taken by Cecil Beaton of Miss Lambert. Even though there were still a few copies in the files, I approached Miss Lambert and asked if I could have a copy. She agreed and we had an interesting conversation about Cecil Beaton, who was not only a client, but her great friend.

Every single day was an adventure working for Miss Lambert. There was always something surprising, someone famous or something completely over the top happening each day (or all of the above). Mariam Docrat who was the most senior person working for Miss Lambert at that time said to me on several occasions, "John Tiffany, we are living history." And we knew it.

SCANDAL IN VENEZIA... PART THREE

photography courtesy of Karen L. Marshall

photography courtesy of Karen L. Marshall

photography courtesy of Karen L. Marshall

Count Volpi di Misurata, Exhibition President of the Venice Biennale ruled that the Whitney could not remove any paintings from the American Pavilion. The painting of Marion Davies remained. There was nothing Miss Lambert or the Whitney could legally do before the Biennale ended.

In the middle of the scandal, Eleanor Lambert and Seymour Berkson fell madly in love, even though both were married to other people at the time. Two years later in 1936, they were married.

In November 1966, a rare combination of abnormally high tides, rain-swollen rivers and a fierce Sirocco wind filled the Venice Lagoon and sent floodwaters thundering through the canals to nearly 6 1/2 feet high. It was the worst flood in the city's history. Thousands of residents were trapped in their homes for days and $6 billion worth of art was destroyed.

Save Venice was founded in 1967 by the late John and Betty McAndrew and Sydney J. Freedberg in response to the terrible damage caused by the flood of November 1966. In 1967 more than 30 international committees were formed under the umbrella of UNESCO to restore and protect Venice's threatened masterpieces. The American committee, Save Venice, has always numbered among the most important. Eleanor Lambert was a big supporter of Save Venice and did publicity for the organization and a city that held a very special place in her heart.

A very special thank you to Karen L. Marshall, from the non-profit organization Save Venice for allowing the EMPRESS OF FASHION blog use of her photography. As you can see, her work is truly amazing. Miss Lambert thought so too and was a avid collector of Karen L. Marshall's photography during her life.

SCANDAL IN VENEZIA... PART TWO

photography courtesy of Karen L. Marshall

THE SCANDAL REACHES THE AMERICAN MEDIA

July 02, 1934 Time Magazine

Nobody in Venice last week seemed to know how the trouble started but there it was—a glittering portrait of Cinemactress Marion Davies by Tade Styka, hanging, slambang, in the vestibule of the American Pavilion at the 10th Biennial Art Exhibition. Mrs. Juliana R. Force, the Whitney Museum's energetic director, thought it was so strange that she threatened to withdraw, crate and ship back to the US the entire Whitney exhibit (101 pictures) unless the unauthorized Davies portrait was removed.

photography courtesy of Karen L. Marshall

In Venice nobody knew what to do or say. Count Volpi di Misurata, Exhibition President, was in Brussels and said nothing. Exhibition officials, nervous as tomcats, awaited the return of Count Volpi to settle what threatened to become an international incident. Professor Maraini (Exhibition Secretary) did not help things along much when he remarked of the Davies portrait: "It's no worse than some of the other American exhibits..."

photography courtesy of Karen L. Marshall

US newshawks in Rome put odds & ends together and came to this conclusion: William Randolph Hearst, anxious to have Miss Davies' portrait exhibited, offered to pay the shipping costs of the entire Whitney collection if the picture were included. Mrs. Force declined his offer. Thereupon Mr. Hearst sent the picture alone to Italy where a Hearstling approached US Ambassador Breckinridge Long to see what could be done about having it exhibited in Venice. When Ambassador Long decided not to use his good offices in Mr. Hearst's behalf, the Hearst man went directly to Count Volpi, finally got permission to hang the portrait in the pavilion vestibule where it would presumably not interfere with the authorized US exhibit.

photography courtesy of Karen L. Marshall

In the meantime last week Mr. Hearst, son John, Miss Davies, William Collier Jr. and Dorothy Mackaiil arrived in London after a leisurely trip through Spain. Correspondents flocked about Miss Davies, quizzed her about her portrait. Said she: "I cannot understand what it all means. So far as I know the people running the show asked that my portrait be sent."

photography courtesy of Karen L. Marshall

Read the full article: Time Magazine Article

A very special thank you to Karen L. Marshall, from the non-profit organization Save Venice for allowing the EMPRESS OF FASHION blog use of her photography. As you can see, her work is truly amazing. Miss Lambert thought so too and was a avid collector of Karen L. Marshall's photography during her life.