Ben Reig (d.1968) was an American fashion businessman who ran his eponymous New York company from 1929 to 1968. The company closed in 1973.
The Ben Reig company was founded in 1929.[1] Reig employed various designers to head it up, most notably being the Hollywood costume designer Omar Kiam from 1941 to 1954.[2] In 1946, Kiam won the Coty Award for his work at Ben Reig.[3] In 1954, Kiam was succeeded by Edward Beckham until 1960.[2] From 1961 to 1968, Eva Rosencrans was head designer for the label.[2][1][4] Liz Claiborne also worked for Reig in the early 1950s when she was Kiam's assistant.[5]
Reig died in 1968. His obituary in The New York Times credited him with helping make cotton popular as a fashion fabric.[6]
The Ben Reig company closed in 1973.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Milbank, Caroline Rennolds (1989). New York Fashion: The Evolution of American Style. Abrams. pp. 163, 231. ISBN 978-0-8109-1388-2.
- ^ a b c d Walford, Jonathan (10 October 2012). 1950s American Fashion. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-7478-1280-7.
- ^ McDowell, Colin (1984). McDowell's Directory of Twentieth Century Fashion. Frederick Muller. pp. 299–301. ISBN 0-584-11070-7.
- ^ Lukas, Paul (29 May 2012). "Permanent Record: How a Poor New York Girl Ended up Designing Mamie Eisenhower's Inaugural Gown". Slate. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ Woo, Elaine (28 June 2007). "Liz Claiborne, 78; clothes designer for career women built vast fashion empire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
- ^ "Ben Reig, Dress Designer, Dies; Made Cotton a Fashion Fabric". The New York Times. 18 October 1968.