Herbert Levine (April 19, 1916 – August 8, 1991) was an American fashion executive active from the 1940s through the 1970s. Together with his
fashion designer
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
wife,
Beth Levine Beth Levine may refer to:
*Beth Levine (fashion designer) (1914–2006), American fashion designer
*Beth Levine (physician), medical doctor and researcher
{{Hndis, Levine, Beth ...
, he led the
fashion accessory
In fashion, an accessory is an item used to contribute, in a secondary manner, to an individual's outfit. Accessories are often chosen to complete an outfit and complement the wearer's look. They have the capacity to further express an individual ...
Herbert Levine label bearing his name until 1975.
Life
Herbert Levine graduated from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
in 1937 and worked as a journalist for Gannett newspapers and various fashion trade publications before taking a job as sales and advertising manager for Andrew Geller, a shoe company. He was never himself a designer, but attained success when he married
Elizabeth "Beth" Katz, a shoe model turned designer. They met when he interviewed her for a design position.
He focused principally on running the business of the
Herbert Levine label, while she served as head designer for the company. Mr. Levine and his wife, Beth, were hired in 1965, along with famed Couturier Emilio Pucci, and designer Alexander Girard to help overhaul a new look and style for
Braniff International Airways
Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...
. The Campaign, developed by Jack Tinker and Partner's Mary Wells Lawrence, was dubbed The End Of The Plain Plane, and was a revolutionary airline overhaul that had never been attempted. The Campaign was considered one of the most successful advertising and image reworks in history.
Death
Herbert Levine died aged 75 in 1991 at his summer home in
Westhampton Beach
Westhampton Beach is an incorporated village in the Town of Southampton, in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,721.
History
The village of Westhampto ...
,
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
; he was survived by his wife and a daughter, Anna Thomson, of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
References
NY Times obit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Herbert
1916 births
1991 deaths
20th-century American Jews
Dartmouth College alumni
American fashion businesspeople
Businesspeople from New York City
20th-century American businesspeople