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Geoffrey Beene

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Geoffrey Beene
Born
Samuel Albert Bozeman Jr.

August 30, 1924 (1924-08-30)
Haynesville, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedSeptember 28, 2004 (2004-09-29) (aged 80)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationFashion designer
Geoffrey Beene, LLC
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryClothing, Eyewear, and Formal wear
Founded1963
HeadquartersNew York City, New York, U.S.
Key people
Geoffrey Beene and G. Thompson Hutton
ProductsClothes, perfume, formal wear, sunglasses, eyewear, jewelry, luggage
ParentAuthentic Brands Group (licensed to Versa Group)
WebsiteGeoffreyBeene.com

Geoffrey Beene (born Samuel Albert Bozeman Jr.; August 30, 1924 – September 28, 2004) was an American fashion designer. Beene was one of New York's most famous fashion designers, recognized for his artistic and technical skills and for creating simple, comfortable and dressy women's wear.

In 2018, the Geoffrey Beene brand was acquired by PVH who previously produced the brand under license.

On June 23, 2021, it was announced that the Geoffrey Beene brand would be sold to Authentic Brands Group alongside Van Heusen, Izod, and Arrow.[1] The sale closed on August 2, 2021, with United Legwear & Apparel Company named as its licensee alongside the Van Heusen and Arrow brands.[2] However, in April 2023 it was announced that Versa Group would be the new licensee for the Geoffrey Beene brand.[3]

Early life and education

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Beene was born on August 30, 1924, as Samuel Albert Bozeman Jr.[4] in the small rural town of Haynesville, Louisiana, located just south of the Arkansas state line.[5] He was born into a family of doctors and was encouraged to follow in their footsteps. He studied medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans but dropped out in 1946, after three years of study. Beene moved to Los Angeles, where he studied fashion design at the University of Southern California and worked in the display department of the I. Magnin retail store until 1947.[6]

Later that year, he moved to New York City to attend the Traphagen School of Fashion.[7] He then moved to Paris, where he attended the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne (ECSCP) and the couture house of Molyneux. In 1949, he returned to New York, where he became Assistant Designer at the Seventh Avenue house of Harmay. In 1958, he left Harmay to design with Teal Traina, before founding his eponymous design house.[8]

Career

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Embroidered lace evening minidress by Beene, 1968-69 (PMA)[9]
Lamé velvet "Mercury" evening dress by Beene, Fall-Winter 1994-5 (PMA)[10]

Beene founded his firm, Geoffrey Beene, Inc., in New York City in 1963, in partnership with Teal Traina's Leo Orlandi in a Seventh Avenue showroom.

A year later, he was awarded the Coty American Fashion Critics' Award, one of the most prestigious awards in fashion. His first collection was featured on the cover of Vogue Magazine.

In his 1970 collection, Beene applied the use of inexpensive fabrics such as sweatshirt and denim fabric for evening dresses. Introduced in 1971, the Beene Bag line of women’s wear used the same silhouettes as his couture line. By the mid-1970s, Beene had a number of licensing agreements for products such as eyeglasses and bed sheets, and also his most famously known cologne called Grey Flannel, launched in 1975. It contains notes of orange, lemon, rose, geranium, sandalwood and cedar wood, and is considered a classic men's fragrance winning a FIFI Award in 1976. In 1976, Beene became the first American designer to show a collection in Milan, Italy.[11] This success led to his sixth Coty Award in 1977, for giving impetus to American fashion abroad. In 1982, Beene received his eighth Coty Award; the most awarded to any one designer.[12]

In 1986, Beene was named The Council of Fashion Designers of America's Designer of the Year. Two years later, the Council of Fashion Designers of America awarded Beene the Special Award for Fashion as Art. In 1989, he opened the first Geoffrey Beene retail boutique on Fifth Avenue.

Beene's clients included Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Nancy Reagan, Faye Dunaway and Glenn Close.[13] Beene was known as both an innovator and a teacher. Several of his former apprentices, Kay Unger, Alber Elbaz and Maria Pinto are now successful fashion designers.

Death

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On September 28, 2004, Beene died from pneumonia, as a complication of squamous-cell carcinoma, at his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.[14][15]

Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award

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In honor of Beene's fashion legacy, the Council of Fashion Designers of America created the annual Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement award in 1984.

Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients[16][17]
Year Recipient
1984 James Galanos
1985 Katharine Hepburn
1986 Bill Blass
1987 Giorgio Armani
1988 Nancy Reagan
1989 Oscar De La Renta
1990 Martha Graham
1991 Ralph Lauren
1997 Geoffrey Beene
1999 Yves Saint Laurent
2000 Valentino Garavani
2001 Calvin Klein
2002 Karl Lagerfeld
2003 Anna Wintour
2004 Donna Karan
2005 Diane von Furstenberg
2006 Stan Herman
2007 Robert Lee Morris
2008 Carolina Herrera
2009 Anna Sui
2010 Michael Kors
2011 Marc Jacobs
2012 Tommy Hilfiger
2013 Vera Wang
2014 Tom Ford
2015 Betsey Johnson
2016 Norma Kamali
2017 Rick Owens
2018 Narciso Rodriguez
2019 Bob Mackie
2020 n/a
2021 Dapper Dan
2022 Laurie Lynn and Richard Stark
2023 Maria Cornejo

Charitable activities

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All net profits from Geoffrey Beene products are donated to philanthropic causes, such as cancer research, Alzheimer's research, domestic violence prevention and response, Save the Children, and educational programs, including scholarships for students majoring in fashion and related disciplines.[18]

In 2007, The Geoffrey Beene Foundation formed a strategic alliance with the FSF YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund to further the mutual goal of expanding support for students seeking careers in the Fashion Industry. The foundation has donated to the FSF in excess of $5 million committed through 2016.

References

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  1. ^ "PVH to sell Izod, Van Heusen and other labels to Authentic Brands in $220 million deal". MarketWatch. June 23, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  2. ^ "PVH Corp. Completes Sale of Heritage Brands to Authentic Brands Group". August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  3. ^ "Authentic Brands, Versa Group partner as Geoffrey Beene licensee". Fashion Network. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  4. ^ ""American Beauty: The World of Geoffrey Beene", by Patricia Morrisoe, New York magazine, May 30, 1988, p.32 ("WWD takes great delight in needling him with references to 'Sammy Bosman Jr. (According to Beene, his real name is Samuel Albert Bozeman Jr.)"
  5. ^ "Coming Home: Geoffrey Beene". Louisiana State University. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  6. ^ "Geoffrey Beene Biography". Infoplease.com.
  7. ^ "The Traphagen School: Fostering American Fashion". Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  8. ^ "Geoffrey Beene fashion designer". Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  9. ^ "Woman's Evening Dress". philamuseum.org. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  10. ^ "Woman's "Mercury" Evening Dress". philamuseum.org. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "Geoffrey Beene Goes to Milan". The New York Times. September 12, 1976. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  12. ^ "Designer Geoffrey Beene dead at 77". NBC's Today show. September 28, 2004.
  13. ^ "Geoffrey Beene: 1927–2004 – Death, Fashion Designers and Stylists". People Magazine.
  14. ^ Schiro, Anne-Marie (September 29, 2004). "Geoffrey Beene, Couturier Who Approached Design With an Artist's Eye, Dies at 77 [sic]". The New York Times. p. A23. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  15. ^ Lockwood, Lisa (July 10, 2015). "Geoffrey Beene's Cancer Research Project". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  16. ^ "Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award". Geoffrey Beene. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  17. ^ "CFDA Fashion Awards". cfda.com. November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  18. ^ "Geoffrey Beene website". Archived from the original on July 14, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
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