Stan M. Herman (born September 17, 1928) is an American fashion designer. He was President of the

Council of Fashion Designers of America The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessory d ...

(CFDA), a position he held until 2006 at which time Diane von Fürstenberg took over the position. He is also known worldwide for his leading edge corporate uniforms.

Early life

Stanley M. Herman was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, and grew up in a Jewish family in Passaic, New Jersey. His father owned a chain of

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

shops. He attended the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

, graduating in 1950. He continued his studies at the

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 ...

, graduating in 1952 in Costume Design. Herman then served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. After the War, Herman moved to

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 ...

. Fired from his first fashion design job, he worked in

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 ...

at night while designing part-time during the day. He left show business to pursue fashion full-time after launching his first collection, which ''

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides inf ...

'' declared an unqualified success. Herman then became head designer for

ready-to-wear Ready-to-wear (or ''prêt-à-porter''; abbreviated RTW; "off-the-rack" or "off-the-peg" in casual use) is the term for ready-made garments, sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothing ...

company Mr. Mort on Seventh Avenue.

Career

Herman first designed a uniform after a request from the president of the Avis car rental company. He has since designed uniforms for many well-known companies such as

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

, Federal Express,

JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...

, Avis, Loews Hotels & Resorts,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

, Trans World Airlines (TWA), U.S. Airways and

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

. He served as president of the

(CFDA) from 1991 to 2006. In 1993, Herman and CFDA executive director

Fern Mallis Fern Mallis (born March 26, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York) was the executive director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) from 1991–2001, and created 7th on Sixth productions or New York Fashion Week as it is known today. She was ...

consolidated the events known as

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

by staging them in white tents in

Bryant Park Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The e ...

, branding it as "7th on Sixth". Herman has designed a loungewear and

sleepwear Nightwear – also called sleepwear, or nightclothes – is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping. The style of nightwear worn may vary with the seasons, with warmer styles being worn in colder conditions and vice versa. Some style ...

collection for QVC since 1993.

Awards

Herman won three Coty Awards, between 1969 and 1974. In 2006, Herman was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award by the CFDA. He received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the University of Cincinnati in 2008.

Personal life

At 24, Stan Herman met Gene Horowitz, a teacher and writer, with whom he was in a relationship for 39 years, until Horowitz died in 1991.

References

External links

Stan Herman
at CFDA
Stan Herman interview, July 2017
at the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. ...

's Special Collections and College Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Herman, Stan 1920s births Living people American fashion designers Businesspeople from New York City Jewish fashion designers United States Army soldiers Jewish American philanthropists People from Bergen County, New Jersey University of Cincinnati alumni United States Army personnel of the Korean War Philanthropists from New York (state) Traphagen School of Fashion alumni 1928 births LGBT Jews LGBT fashion designers Gay men 21st-century American Jews 21st-century LGBT people 20th-century American philanthropists