Eleanor Lambert

Eleanor Lambert (August 10, 1903 – October 7, 2003) was an American fashion publicist. She was instrumental in increasing the international prominence of the American fashion industry and in the emergence of New York City as a major fashion capital.[1][2][3] Lambert was the founder of New York Fashion Week, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the Met Gala, and the International Best Dressed List.[4]

For the cricketer, see Eleanor Lambert (cricketer).
Eleanor Lambert
Born(1903-08-10)August 10, 1903
Crawfordsville, Indiana, U.S.
DiedOctober 7, 2003(2003-10-07) (aged 100)
New York City, U.S.
Alma mater
OccupationFashion publicist
Years active1925–2003
Spouses
  • Willis Conner
    (m. 1920; divorced 1935)
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1936; died 1959)​
ChildrenBill Berkson

Personal life

Lambert was born to a Presbyterian family[5] in Crawfordsville, Indiana.[1][6] She attended the John Herron School of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago to study fashion.[1][6] Lambert wanted to be a sculptor, but instead went into advertising.[7] She started at an advertising agency in Manhattan, dealing mostly with artists and art galleries.[1][6]

She was married twice, firstly to Wills Conner, in the 1920s,[3] which ended in divorce in 1935,[8] and secondly to Seymour Berkson[1] in 1936, which ended with his death in 1959.[7] Lambert and Berkson had one son together, the renowned poet Bill Berkson.[7] She died in Manhattan in New York City.[3]

Career
Photograph of movie stars posing with President Harry Truman and his family at the White House: (front row, left to right) Van Johnson; Ilene Woods; Diana Lynn; Margaret Truman; Margaret O'Brien; the President; Mrs. Truman; Constance Moore; (back row, left to right) Jo Stafford; Eleanor Lambert; Angela Lansbury; Helen Sioussat; Eddie Bracken; Paul Henreid; Zachary Scott; Alexis Smith; Cesar Romero; and Lucy Munroe.

Lambert moved to New York in 1925 and briefly worked for a Manhattan advertising agency. 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 and the Art Dealers Association of America.[4][6] Jackson Pollock, Jacob Epstein, and Isamu Noguchi were a few of the many artists she represented.[1][6]

In the 1940s, Lambert founded the International Best Dressed List, the Coty Fashion Critics’ Award (which later became the C.F.D.A. Awards), and New York Fashion Week.[4][6][9][10] 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.[4][9]

In 1965, she was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the National Council on the Arts of the National Endowment for the Arts.[1] In 1962, she organized the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and stayed an honorary member until her death in 2003.[1]

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.”[1] Months before she died, she had left her International Best Dressed List to four of Vanity Fair’s editors.[1] Shortly after her last public appearance at New York Fashion Week in September, Lambert died in 2003 at the age of 100.[1] Shortly after her death her grandson, Moses Berkson, completed a documentary film about her life.

Fashion historian John A. Tiffany was mentored by Lambert.[10][11]

One source credited Lambert as "a factor in the gross domestic product of the U.S., and even of the world" for her influence in the fashion industry.[12] Lambert's influence is described as exogenous event risk in mathematical modeling.[12]

In the 2021 Netflix miniseries, Halston, Lambert was portrayed by Kelly Bishop.

References
  1. Tiffany, John. "Eleanor Lambert believed in destiny". Council of Fashion Designers of America. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  2. "Eleanor Lambert". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  3. NEMY, ENID (October 8, 2003). "Eleanor Lambert, Empress of Fashion, Dies at 100". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  4. "Stahl Case Study: Eleanor Lambert Demand Creator". ValueWalk LLC. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  5. "Oral history interview with Bill Berkson, 2015 September 29-October 2". Smithsonian. September 29, 2015.
  6. Diliberto, Gioia (2009-09-09). "Eleanor Of Seventh Avenue: Where Fashion Week Came From". Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  7. "Eleanor Lambert Obituary". The Telegraph newspaper. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  8. "Eleanor Lambert - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  9. Skarda, Erin (April 2, 2012). "Eleanor Lambert". Time. Time magazine. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  10. "Author to Discuss Fashion Industry Impresario Eleanor Lambert, Feb. 2". Library of Congress. January 3, 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  11. DiNardo, Julia (December 6, 2011). "Eleanor Lambert: Still Here by John A. Tiffany". Fashion Pulse Daily. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  12. "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.
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