“I drew my first sketch of a corporate logo in 1944
while lying on a bunk in Luxembourg. It would
be another fifteen years before I would have a
product to put it on, and another ten after that
before I had my own name on the door. Patience
is something I know a lot about.”
Bill Blass won many design awards, including seven Coty Awards. He also won the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award in 1986, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1999.
Blass is best known for being one of the premier American designers of the 20th century. He produced signature simple yet striking designs that were distinctly American and clearly tied to his upbringing in the relaxed and conservative Midwest. He helped refine the “American Look” that other designers’ empires were built upon. Blass never wandered from his roots, producing elegant garments coveted by some of America’s leading ladies, including Gloria Vanderbilt, Liza Minnelli, and Jackie Kennedy.
As part of his legacy, Bill Blass bequeathed numerous designs as well as a substantial financial gift to the Sage Collection at Indiana University.
Fashion can be bought by anybody;
BILL BLASS
style takes discernment, it has to do with individuality.
Life in Fashion
Designs
