Whereas vogue slowly began evolving within the ’40s, Eleanor’s occasion solely upped the ante.
So, what sparked the famed publicist’s blueprint for New York Vogue Week within the first place? Put merely: A designer who was fed up along with her work going unnoticed.
“Adele Simpson got here to [Eleanor] and stated, ‘American vogue is actually unusual as a result of the garment producers do not promote the designers,'” John recalled of the history-altering dialog. “‘They do not even know their names, and we should be promoted, too. The French designers get lots of consideration, however we do not.’ It gave [Eleanor] an concept.”
Because the story goes, Eleanor went into work mode and contacted publishers from newspapers throughout America and invited them to New York to put in writing about U.S. designers and their new collections. But it surely was no small feat. “The publishers kind of pushed again a bit of,” John recalled, “and stated, ‘We do not even have vogue writers.'”
Eleanor’s resolution? She advised editors to ship their feminine writers, who had beforehand been relegated to cowl family matters resembling cooking and cleansing.
After rounding up the journalists, Eleanor then used her affect as a vogue powerhouse to highlight American designers resembling Lilly Daché, Hattie Carnegie, Norman Norell and Nettie Rosenstein (to call a number of).
With writers in tow and designers able to debut their collections, Vogue Press Week commenced.
