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Arthur McGee
Arthur Lee McGee (March 25, 1933 – July 1, 2019) was an American fashion designer. In 1957, he was the first African American designer hired to run a design studio on Seventh Avenue in the Garment District in New York City. Early life and education Arthur Lee McGee was born on March 25, 1933 in Detroit, Michigan. His mother Rose was a dressmaker, she created her own clothing designs and taught he to him about fashion early in his childhood. His mother liked hats, so as a child he was determined to learn to make hats so he could make her one. He attended Traphagen School of Fashion in New York City because he had won a scholarship. He graduated from Traphagen in 1951 in Costume Design. He continued his studies in millinery and apparel design at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) to refine his skills. At the same time he was in school, he studied with fashion designer, Charles James. He dropped out of FIT in 1956 before graduating after he was told there were no jobs f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traphagen School Of Fashion
Traphagen School of Fashion was an art and design school in operation from 1923 to 1991, and was located at 1680 Broadway in New York City. The school was founded and directed by Ethel Traphagen Leigh (1883–1963) with a focus on the foundational concepts of the American design movement. This was one of the earliest fashion schools and played a role in the development of American fashion by educating over 28,000 students in 68 years of operation. History Traphagen School of Fashion was founded in 1923 by Ethel Traphagen Leigh (1883–1963) with a focus on the foundational concepts of the American design movement. Traphagen School encouraged student experimentation with materials and construction techniques. One of the educational tenets of the Traphagen School of Fashion was a "design-by-adaptation" method, which included historical research. The school had a large collection of books and historic fashion plates, which was a source of inspiration for student work. The "design ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping district of Washington, D.C. in 1867. Saks expanded into Manhattan with its Herald Square store in 1902 and Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store, flagship store on Fifth Avenue in 1924. The chain was acquired by Tennessee-based Proffitt's, Inc. (renamed Saks, Inc.) in 1998, and Saks, Inc. was acquired by the Canadian-founded Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 2013. Subsidiary Saks Off 5th, originally a clearance store for Saks Fifth Avenue, is now a large off-price retailer in its own right managed independently from Saks Fifth Avenue under HBC. History Early history Andrew Saks was born to a German Jewish family, in Baltimore. He worked as a peddler and paper boy before moving to Washington, D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeffrey Banks
Jeffrey Banks (born November 3, 1955) is an American fashion designer and author, who has been described as a major black fashion maker. Early life Banks worked as a design assistant to Ralph Lauren (1971 to 1973) and Calvin Klein (1973 to 1976). He has claimed credit for Klein's logo garments, stating that he had the logo from a press folder silkscreened onto the sleeve of a brown T-shirt as a present for Klein. The gift was assumed by Barry K. Schwartz to be part of the upcoming line, and similar shirts formed the uniform for the front-of-house staff at Klein's next catwalk show, leading to the buyers asking to purchase them. Career After leaving Calvin Klein, Banks launched his own-name label in New York City in 1977, according to his official website, although some sources state 1978. By 1996, suits, shirts, eyewear and accessories from ''Jeffrey Banks Ltd.'' and ''Jeffrey Banks International'' were being sold worldwide with sales of about $20 million. Author As an autho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Burrows (designer)
Stephen Burrows (born September 15, 1943) is an American fashion designer based in New York City. Burrows studied at Fashion Institute of Technology, then began work in the New York City's Garment Center, alternately managing his own businesses and working closely with luxury department store Henri Bendel. He is known for being one of the first African-American fashion designers to sell internationally and develop a mainstream, high-fashion clientele. His garments, known for their bright colors and "lettuce hem" curly-edges, became an integral part of the "Fun City" New York City disco-dancing scene of the 1970s. Early life Burrows was born in Newark, New Jersey on September 15, 1943. Born to parents Octavia Pennington and Gerald Burrows, he was raised by his mother, and his maternal grandmother, Beatrice Pennington Banks Simmons. Fascinated with his grandmother's zigzag sewing machine, he learned to sew early. He made his first garment for a friend's doll when he was eight ye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willi Smith
Willi Donnell Smith (February 29, 1948 – April 17, 1987) was an American fashion designer. At the time of his death, Smith was regarded as one of the most successful African-American designers in the fashion industry. His company, WilliWear Limited, launched in 1976 and by 1986 grossed over $25 million in sales. After Smith's death, his business partner, Laurie Mallet, continued the line with various designers creating collections. Without Smith, the company foundered and due to financial problems and poor sales, WilliWear Limited ceased production in 1990. WilliWear was the first clothing company to create womenswear and menswear under the same label. The accessibility and affordability of Smith's clothing helped to democratize fashion. Early years Smith was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Willie Lee Smith, an iron worker, and June Eileen Smith, a homemaker, both of whom were extremely clothes-conscious. Smith's grandmother was the housekeeper for a family that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Round Midnight (film)
''Round Midnight'' is a 1986 musical drama film directed by Bertrand Tavernier and written by Tavernier and David Rayfiel. It stars Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet and Herbie Hancock, the latter of whom also composed the film's soundtrack. Martin Scorsese, Philippe Noiret and Wayne Shorter appear in cameos. The protagonist jazzman, Dale Turner, was based on a composite of real-life jazz legends Lester Young (tenor sax) and Bud Powell (piano). While the film is fictionalized, it is drawn directly from the memoir/biography ''Dance of the Infidels'' written by French author Francis Paudras, who had befriended Powell during his Paris expatriate days and on whom the character Francis was based. The film is a wistful and tragic portrait that captures the Paris jazz scene of the 1950s. Gordon was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won a Grammy for the film's soundtrack entitled ''The Other Side of Round Midnight'' in the category for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide. Given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the awards are an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette as a trophy, officially called the "Academy Award of Merit", although more commonly referred to by its nickname, the "Oscar". The statuette, depicting a knight rendered in the Art Deco style, was originally sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley from a design sketch by art director Cedric Gibbons. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929 at a private dinner hosted by Douglas Fairbanks in The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The Academy Awards cerem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" and "Sophisticated Giant". His studio and performance career spanned more than 40 years. Gordon's sound was commonly characterized as being "large" and spacious and he had a tendency to play behind the beat. He was known for inserting musical quotes into his solos, with sources as diverse as " Happy Birthday" and well known melodies from the operas of Wagner. This is not unusual in jazz improvization, but Gordon did it frequently enough to make it a hallmark of his style. One of his major influences was Lester Young. Gordon, in turn, was an early influence on John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. Rollins and Coltrane then influenced Gordon's playing as h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, Gospel music, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of Contemporary R&B, R&B. He also helped drive such genres into the album era, crafting his LP record, LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Visual impairment, Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder. Wonder's single "Fingertips" was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1963, at the age of 13, making him the List o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Louise Tyson (December 19, 1924January 28, 2021) was an American actress. In a career which spanned more than seven decades in film, television and theatre, she became known for her portrayal of strong African-American women. Tyson received various awards including three Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Tony Award, an Honorary Academy Award, and a Peabody Award. Having appeared in minor film and television roles early in her career, Tyson garnered widespread attention and critical acclaim for her performance as Rebecca Morgan in '' Sounder'' (1972); she was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her work in the film. Tyson's portrayal of the title role in the 1974 television film ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,'' based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Ernest J. Gaines, won her further praise; among other accolades, the role won her two Emmy Awards and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sybil Christopher
Sybil Christopher (née Williams; 27 March 1929 – 7 March 2013), formerly known as Sybil Burton, was a Welsh actress, theatre director, and founder of popular celebrity New York nightclub "Arthur".Paul Vitello"Sybil Christopher, Actress and Nightclub Founder, Dies at 83" ''New York Times'', 12 March 2013. She came into the public eye as the first wife of Richard Burton. Biography Sybil Williams was born on 27 March 1929, in Tylorstown, Mid Glamorgan. She attended the London Academy of Dramatic Arts (now LAMDA), meeting Richard Burton during the filming of ''The Last Days of Dolwyn'' (1949). After their marriage, she retired from acting, performing only a few times, and generally on stage rather than on film. The marriage ended famously in 1963, when Burton began a liaison with Elizabeth Taylor. She divorced Burton in 1963 on grounds of "abandonment and cruel and inhumane treatment",Michael Coveney"Sybil Christopher Obituary" ''London Guardian'', 11 March 2013. receiving a $1 m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood. Horne advocated for human rights and took part in the March on Washington in August 1963. Later she returned to her roots as a nightclub performer and continued to work on television while releasing well-received record albums. She announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one-woman show, '' Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music'', which ran for more than 300 performances on Broadway. She then toured the country in the show, earning numerous awards and accolades. Horne continued recording and performing sporadically into the 1990s, retreating from the public eye in 2000. Early life Lena Horne was born in Bedford–S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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