Eleanor Lambert | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1903-08-10)August 10, 1903 Crawfordsville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | October 7, 2003(2003-10-07) (aged 100) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Fashion publicist |
| Years active | 1925–2003 |
| Spouses |
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| Children | Bill Berkson |
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 ofNew York Fashion Week, theCouncil of Fashion Designers of America, theMet Gala, and theInternational Best Dressed List.[4]
Lambert was born to aPresbyterian family[5] inCrawfordsville, Indiana.[1][6] She attended theJohn Herron School of Art and theArt Institute of Chicago to study fashion.[1][6] Lambert wanted to be a sculptor, but instead went into advertising.[7] She started at anadvertising 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 toSeymour Berkson[1] in 1936, which ended with his death in 1959.[7] Lambert and Berkson had one son together, the renowned poetBill Berkson.[7] She died in Manhattan in New York City.[3]
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 theWhitney Museum of American Art and helped with the founding of theMuseum of Modern Art and theArt Dealers Association of America.[4][6]Jackson Pollock,Jacob Epstein, andIsamu 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 theC.F.D.A. Awards), andNew York Fashion Week.[4][6][9][10] In 1959 and 1967, she was asked by theUS Department of State to present American fashion for the first time in Russia, Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan, Britain, and Switzerland.[4][9]
In 1962, she organized theCouncil of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and stayed an honorary member until her death in 2003.[1] In 1965, she was appointed by PresidentLyndon Johnson to the National Council on the Arts of theNational Endowment for the Arts.[1]In 2001, the CFDA createdThe 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 herInternational Best Dressed List to four ofVanity 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 adocumentary film about her life.
Fashion historian John A. Tiffany was mentored by Lambert.[10][11]
One source described Lambert as "a factor in thegross domestic product of the U.S., and even of the world" for her influence in the fashion industry.[12][dubious –discuss] Lambert's influence is described asexogenous event risk in mathematical modeling.[12][dubious –discuss]
In the 2021 Netflix miniseriesHalston, Lambert was portrayed byKelly Bishop.[13]
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