Bill Blass was born William Ralph Blass on June 22, 1922, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is best known for the innovative fashion combinations featured in his clothing line, Bill Blass Limited.
During his school years, he could be found in class sketching fashions that were Hollywood-inspired or at home learning to sew from his dressmaker mother.
Blass moved to Manhattan at the age of 17 to study fashion at the Parsons School of Design. At 18, after winning an award that paid a salary of $30 a week, he enlisted in the army and, with a battalion of creative professionals, fooled the German enemy with recordings, dummy tanks, and fake locations.
In 1946, Blass' dream began taking off. He joined the fashion house of Anna Miller and Co. and, in 1959, became the head designer of the company when it merged with Maurice Rentner, Ltd. Building on his popularity among women in high-society New York, Blass began influencing the American fashion scene to rival that of Europe.
Simple styles in luxurious materials and casual chic sensibility, as well as glamorized sportswear was born under his name. A fashion classic, and future favorite, was his signature style of a simple, sharply cut dress that featured feminine ruffles.
In 1970, Blass became the owner of Renter and renamed it Bill Blass Limited. Twenty years later you will find what he did in the 70s was the start of a domino effect in the fashion business - licensing one's designs and names to accessories, home furnishings, jeans, eye wear, and even luggage.
In his lifetime, Blass received seven Coty Awards and the Fashion Institute of Technology's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was a founder of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, where he served as its honorary president from 1979 to 1981. He was appointed to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities in 1987.
Once dressing prominent socialites like Katharine Graham and Nancy Reagan, Blass sold his company in 1999 and, after finishing his memoirs, passed away from throat cancer in 2002.
In 1997, Blass was approached by Mattel to design a doll for their Barbie collection in a style all of his own. It was known as the Bill Blass Barbie in a bright fuchsia gown and was a part of Barbie's 1997 Limited Edition Fashion Designers collection. From the fuchsia underskirt to the distinct style pattern, the finishing touch was added by the striking hairstyle, which is short and quite red.
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