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 Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...

(1971 to 1973) and

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

(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 A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

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 New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1977, according to his official website, although some sources state 1978. By 1996, suits, shirts,

eyewear Eyewear consists of items and accessories worn on or over the eyes, for fashion or adornment, protection against the environment, and to improve or enhance visual acuity. Common forms of eyewear include glasses (also called ''eyeglasses'' or ''s ...

and accessories from ''Jeffrey Banks Ltd.'' and ''Jeffrey Banks International'' were being sold worldwide with sales of about $20 million.

Author

As an author, Jeffrey Banks has co-authored three fashion books with Doria de la Chapelle for Rizzoli, including a 2007 book on

tartan Tartan ( gd, breacan ) is a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Sc ...

, a 2011 book on the

preppy Preppy (also spelled preppie) or prep (all abbreviations of the word ''preparatory'') is a subculture in the United States associated with the alumni of old private Northeastern college preparatory schools. The terms are used to denote a perso ...

style, and a 2015 book on the

milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...

Patricia Underwood. The second book led to Banks and de la Chapelle collaborating with Erica Lennard on ''Perry Ellis: an American original'', the first in-depth

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

on Banks's former friend and colleague, the designer

Perry Ellis Perry Edwin Ellis (March 3, 1940 – May 30, 1986) was an American fashion designer who founded his eponymous sportswear house in the mid-1970s. Ellis' influence on the fashion industry has been called "a huge turning point" because he int ...

, published in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Jeffrey 1955 births Living people African-American fashion designers American fashion designers Businesspeople from Washington, D.C. Menswear designers African-American writers American writers 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people