Alexander "Omar" Kiam (1894 – 1954) was an American fashion designer and costume designer.
Early life
Born Alexander Kiam in
Monterrey, Mexico, to Texan parents. Kiam picked up the nickname "Omar" at Riverview Preparatory School in
Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
.
He later went to the Poughkeepsie Military Academy in New York.
His first job as a designer was producing caps for babies for a department store in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
.
[ Kiam chose to retain his nickname professionally, as he appreciated the link to Omar Khayyám.
]
Costume design
Following a stint in Paris as a student, Kiam returned to the United States and opened his studio in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, where he produced work for Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
.[ Among the theatre productions he costumed were '' Dinner at Eight'', the ]Robert E. Sherwood
Robert Emmet Sherwood (April 4, 1896 – November 14, 1955) was an American playwright and screenwriter.
He is the author of '' Waterloo Bridge, Idiot's Delight, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Rebecca, There Shall Be No Night, The Best Years of Our ...
play '' Reunion in Vienna'', and the Edward Sheldon
Edward Brewster Sheldon (Chicago, Illinois, February 4, 1886 – April 1, 1946, New York City) was an American dramatist. His plays include ''Salvation Nell'' (1908) and ''Romance'' (1913), which was made into a motion picture with Greta Garbo.
...
and Margaret Ayer Barnes play ''Dishonored Lady
''Dishonored Lady'' (also known as ''Sins of Madeleine'') is a 1947 American crime film directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Hedy Lamarr, Dennis O'Keefe and John Loder. It is based on the 1930 play ''Dishonored Lady'' by Edward Sheldon and ...
''. In 1933 he moved to Hollywood, where he headed the film costume design departments for Sam Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor a ...
Productions and United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
.[ Before leaving Hollywood in 1939, Kiam also worked for David O. Selznick and ]Hal Roach
Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, and screenwriter, ...
.[
One of Kiam's most notable films was the 1937 film '' A Star is Born'', for which he dressed Janet Gaynor.][ He collaborated with Irene on '' Algiers''.][
]
Filmography
Omar Kiam costumed the following films:[
* '' A Star is Born''
* '']The Adventures of Marco Polo
''The Adventures of Marco Polo'' is a 1938 adventure film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Gary Cooper, Sigrid Gurie, and Basil Rathbone. It was one of the most elaborate and costly of Samuel Goldwyn's productions.
Plot
Nicolo Polo shows t ...
''
* '' Algiers''
* '' Barbary Coast''
* ''Beloved Enemy
''Beloved Enemy'' is a 1936 American drama film directed by H.C. Potter and starring Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, and David Niven. It was loosely based on the life of Michael Collins.
Plot
During the Irish War of Independence in 1921, Irish ...
''
* ''The Call of the Wild
''The Call of the Wild'' is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named ...
''
* '' Cardinal Richelieu''
* '' Come and Get It''
* '' The Cowboy and the Lady''
* '' The Dark Angel''
* ''Dead End
Dead End or dead end may refer to:
* Dead end (street), a street connected only at one end with other streets, called by many other official names, including ''cul-de-sac''.
Film and television
* ''The Dead End'' (1914 film), directed by Davi ...
''
* '' Dodsworth''
* ''Folies Bergère de Paris
''Folies Bergère de Paris'' is a 1935 American musical comedy film produced by Darryl Zanuck for 20th Century Films, directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Maurice Chevalier, Merle Oberon and Ann Southern. At the 8th Academy Awards, the “Str ...
''
* '' The Gay Desperado''
* ''The Goldwyn Follies
''The Goldwyn Follies'' is a 1938 Technicolor film written by Ben Hecht, Sid Kuller, Sam Perrin and Arthur Phillips, with music by George Gershwin, Vernon Duke, and Ray Golden, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Sid Kuller. Some sources credit Kurt ...
''
* '' The Hurricane''
* ''Kid Millions
''Kid Millions'' (1934) is an American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth, produced by Samuel Goldwyn Productions, and starring Eddie Cantor. Its elaborate "Ice Cream Fantasy Finale" production number was filmed in three-strip Technicolor, one ...
''
* ''Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...
''
* ''The Mighty Barnum
''The Mighty Barnum'' is a 1934 film starring Wallace Beery as P.T. Barnum. The movie was written by Gene Fowler and Bess Meredyth, adapted from their play of the same name, and directed by Walter Lang. Beery had played Barnum four years earlie ...
''
* ''One Rainy Afternoon
''One Rainy Afternoon'' is a 1936 American romantic comedy film directed by Rowland V. Lee, starring Francis Lederer and Ida Lupino, and featuring Hugh Herbert, Roland Young and Erik Rhodes. It also marked the last film appearance by actress ...
''
* '' Pick a Star''
* '' Splendor''
* '' Stella Dallas''
* '' Strike Me Pink''
* '' These Three''
* ''Topper Takes a Trip
''Topper Takes a Trip'' is a 1938Some sources, such as Turner Classic Movies, say 1939. According to the Internet Movie Database, the film was released in New York City on 29 December 1938, and in the United States in January 1939. The exact year ...
''
* ''We Live Again
''We Live Again'' is a 1934 film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Anna Sten and Fredric March. The film is an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1899 novel ''Resurrection'' (''Voskraeseniye''). The screenplay was written by Maxwell Anderson with ...
''
* ''The Wedding Night
''The Wedding Night'' is a 1935 American romantic drama film directed by King Vidor and starring Gary Cooper and Anna Sten. Written by Edith Fitzgerald and based on a story by Edwin H. Knopf, the film is about a financially strapped novelist who r ...
''
* ''Woman Chases Man
''Woman Chases Man'' is a 1937 romantic comedy film directed by John G. Blystone and starring Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea.
Plot
B.J. Nolan tries to get his millionaire son Kenneth to invest $100,000 in a housing development called Nolan Heig ...
''
* ''Wuthering Heights
''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...
''
* ''The Young in Heart
''The Young in Heart'' is a 1938 American comedy film produced by David O. Selznick, directed by Richard Wallace, and starring Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Paulette Goddard. The supporting cast features Roland Young and Billie Bu ...
''
* ''Zenobia
Septimia Zenobia ( Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city ...
''
Fashion design
Although primarily known as a costume designer Kiam had also run a wholesale
Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
fashion design business supplying clothing to shops across the United States before he moved to Hollywood.
After leaving Hollywood, in 1941 Kiam became head designer for the Ben Reig fashion label, a company founded in 1929. Also designing costume jewelry for them from 1948, he worked there until his death in 1954.
Kiam won the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award The Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion was a yearly award created in 1938 by Carrie Marcus Neiman and Stanley Marcus. Unlike the Coty Award, it was not limited to American-based fashion designers. Recipients of th ...
in 1941, and in 1946, won the Coty Award jointly with Vincent Monte-Sano and Clare Potter
Clare Potter was a fashion designer who was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1903. In the 1930s she was one of the first American fashion designers to be promoted as an individual design talent. Working under her elided name Clarepotter, she h ...
.[ During the early 1950s ]Liz Claiborne
Anne Elisabeth Jane Claiborne (March 31, 1929 – June 26, 2007) was an American fashion designer and businesswoman. Her success was built upon stylish yet affordable apparel for career women featuring colorfully tailored separates that co ...
worked for Kiam.
Kiam died 28 March 1954 at the Ritz Tower
The Ritz Tower is a luxury residential building at 465 Park Avenue on the corner of East 57th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It was built from 1925 to 1926 as an apartment hotel and was designed by Emery Roth an ...
Hotel in New York City, after struggling with a sickness that lasted seven months.
See also
*List of fashion designers
This is a list of notable fashion designers sorted by nationality. It includes designers of ''haute couture'' and ready-to-wear.
For ''haute couture'' only, see the list of grands couturiers. For footwear designers, see the list of footwear desi ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiam, Omar
1894 births
1954 deaths
American fashion designers
American costume designers
People from Monterrey
American jewelry designers
American expatriates in Mexico