Sylvia Pedlar

Sylvia Pedlar (1900–1972) was an American fashion designer specialising in lingerie.[1] She is the only designer to have won the Special Coty Award more than once, in 1951 and 1964.[1]

Born Sylvia Schlang in 1900 in New York, she was an art student at Cooper Union and the Art Students League of New York before marrying William A. Pedlar.[1] In 1929 she launched her own business, Iris Lingerie, which she headed through to its closure in 1970.[1]

For her success Pedlar relied on the high quality of her product rather than employing salesmen or purchasing advertising.[2] She is credited with creating super-short babydoll nighties in the early 1940s as a response to fabric shortages during World War II, although she hated the term "baby doll" and refused to use it.[3] One of her most famous innovations was the easily removable toga-inspired négligée specially designed for women who slept in the nude.[3] She used the toga theme throughout her career,[4] with one négligée prominently featured in 1962 by both Life and Harper's Bazaar.[3][5] She also reworked Victorian styles such as the traditional modest flannel Mother Hubbard nightgown, which she produced in sheer flowing cotton,[3] and reproduced nineteenth-century whitework embroidery by machine to such a high standard that her work rivalled luxurious handmade French lingerie.[6] Examples of Pedlar lingerie are held by the Costume Institute,[4][5][6] and archival material dating from 1946-1967 is held by the Fashion Institute of Technology.[1]

Pedlar died in New York on the February 26, 1972.[1]