Empresses of Seventh Avenue by Nancy MacDonell

American fashion designers are so ubiquitous that it is hard to imagine a time when there was no such creature. But prior to WWII, the American fashion industry, concentrated on Seventh Avenue in New York City, merely copied Parisian styles. The designers who tailored and tweaked the latest frocks from Paris toiled in anonymity. The name on the garment label was that of the manufacturer, not the designer.

When Germany occupied Paris in 1940, the style pipeline to the USA was completely cut off. Many fashionistas, magazine editors, and garment manufacturers were in a panic, but a few bold women understood that there was sufficient talent in America and set about cultivating and promoting the “American Look”, which was sportier and more informal than its Parisian counterpart. By the end of the war, authentically American fashion was in ascendance.

Empresses of Seventh Avenue is the story of these fashion pioneers, Vogue editor Edna Chase, public relations genius Eleanor Lambert, designer Claire McCardell, and others. American department stores also played a huge role in changing the public perception of American design. Dorothy Shaver, the elegant and shrewd executive at fashion-forward Lord & Taylor, discovered dozens of American designers and her promotional skills were legendary. By the so called “Battle of Versailles”, a 1973 charity fashion show featuring Parisian couturiers and American designers, American fashion was firmly established as a global power.