Adel Rootstein

Adel Rootstein (1930 – 20 September 1992) was a British mannequin designer responsible for premium designs that are sold worldwide.

Early life

Rootstein was born in Warmbaths, South Africa in 1930. She married the industrial designer Richard Hopkins.[1] Rootstein started by making window displays, which gave her an understanding of "the void that had existed between fashion coverage in the international media & what actually happened in windows."[2]

Mannequins

Rootstein started making mannequins in the kitchen of her basement flat in Earls Court in 1956.[2] She first hired sculptor John Taylor and model Imogen for her first mannequin, placed in a reclining position.[2] This was the start of her first collection, called "GoGo".[2] Her sources of inspiration expanded to music and clubs.[3] Rootstein has been called the "Rolls-Royce" of mannequin makers, and later used well-known singers and actresses as models for her mannequins; Cher, Joan Collins and Twiggy among them.[4]

Rootstein Hopkins Foundation

In 1990, Rootstein and her husband Rick Hopkins set up the Rootstein Hopkins Foundation to assist young artists and designers.[5] The mannequin business was sold in 1991 to Japanese mannequin manufacturer, Yoshichu who had been a long time collaborator of Adel's[6].They continued to grow the business and release collections that stayed true to Adel's founding principles. Rootstein died in London on 20 September 1992.

References
  1. Obituary: Adel Rootstein, 24 September 1992 Archived 18 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Independent. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  2. "Rootstein - the World's Leading Mannequin Designer". Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  3. "Rootstein: Adel Rootstein's early days - History / About / Early Days". www.rootstein.com. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  4. Carol McKinley (30 December 2019). "Sculptors at a Lafayette mannequin factory are shaping more realistic body types for stores worldwide". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved 30 December 2019. 'If Talaric is the Henry Ford [of mannequin makers], Rootstein is the Rolls-Royce,' Townsend says. 'Her older mannequins are collector's items … she's the one who started designing mannequins after celebrity models. Like Joan Collins, Cher and Twiggy.'
  5. Rootstein Hopkins Foundation, British Museum website. Archived 20 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  6. "Rootstein: Adel Rootstein's early days - History / About / Early Days". www.rootstein.com. Retrieved 2 August 2023.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.