There are not many people in one’s professional life that can be counted as both friend and
colleague for extended periods of time but that is not the case when it comes to
this gentleman and I stress gentleman!
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My first
encounter with him was some 40 years when, I’m guessing we were both sort of
kids starting out in the business of fashion. Sometimes there are those who are
never forgotten not because of anything other than their demeanor, kindness and
talents; such is the case with one Jeffrey Banks.
Skip a few
decades and we became friendly again through the magic of social media after
both of us had taken somewhat divergent paths, he became an author and
continued his journey in the menswear business while I was off and running trying
my hand at anything from being a buyer to designing Miriam Haskell to designing
table clocks for Timex.
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Long story
short, here we are on the precipice of the release of one the great books of
2018... NORELL: Master of American Fashion
which drops in stores within the next few days and followed by an exhibit at
the FIT museum. What better time for he and I to speak a bit of what was and
more to the point of what is quite literally days away.
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Here in his own
words is my friend Jeffrey Banks…..
Jeffrey Felner: For those who might not be familiar with your many
talents, would you give us a brief resume of your accomplishments up to this
point?
Jeffrey Banks: I have designed menswear, womenswear, children's, and
now, home decor for HSN. I have won numerous awards including 2 Coty Awards and
I have just finished my 5th Book. The others being, TARTAN: Romancing the Plaid,
PREPPY: Cultivating Ivy Style, PERRY ELLIS: An American Original, and PATRICIA
UNDERWOOD: The Way You Wear Your Hat.
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JB:To date this is your 5th book (Norell: Master of
American Fashion) … what prompted you to choose one of the great pioneers
of American fashion?
JB: Norman Norell was one of the reasons I wanted to become a
designer as a child. His pure classicism and elegant lines really spoke to me,
and I was shocked that outside of his inclusion in a couple of anthologies on
fashion, there had never been a book written solely about him. He simply
changed the way American fashion was viewed on the world stage! And he raised
the bar for quality in American ready to wear manufacturing.
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JF: If you could invite any 5 people to
dinner who would they be and why
JB: Obviously Norman Norell ( I'd love his take
on fashion today ), Cary Grant ( I'd think he'd be so interesting to chat with
) Irene Mayer Selznick ( she grew up in Hollywood when the streets were still
not all paved ), Hubert de Givenchy ( a Master of his métier ) and of
course, Audrey Hepburn ( do you even need to ask ?. If I could just have one more, I’d have the brilliant George
Gershwin (who doesn't love a Gershwin song!) while dining.
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JF: As if the book release isn’t exciting enough, you are also
curating an exhibit at F.I.T. featuring Norell’s body of work. (February
9th thru April 14th). Can you tell us about the show and
how you amassed these pieces and what made the grade and didn’t?
JB: Working with the
amazing team at FIT headed by Patricia Mears has been a real joy and they have
given me tremendous freedom. The hardest part is that because of Norell's
5 decade career, many of the earlier items are not available or are just too
fragile to exhibit , That said, the biggest focus in the show is on his
clothing from 1960 to 1972. I firmly believe he was at the top of his game
during those years and at his most creative. I think this is because
at the age of 60 he finally had total financial control of Norman Norell
New York, and it just gave him copious amounts of creative energy. FIT has
amassed a beautiful collection of close to 300 Norells, and I had the great
fortune of meeting designer Kenneth Pool, who is even a more rabid Norell fan
than me. He has over 100 top rate Norell pieces in his collection and has
generously loaned us many for the show. Although Norell did many
beautiful little black dresses, they are very difficult to light properly so we
have tried where possible to focus on color, which fortunately he loved very
much too!
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JF: Addressing both book and exhibit … Can you speak to the high
points and the disappointments of both and why?
JB: As far as the book is concerned, I regret that I was unable
to interview Bill Cunningham, Bernadine Morris, Yvonne Presser and Gillis
McGill. They all knew Norell well, and it would have been wonderful to get
their thoughts on him. Also, as you know, securing the rights to certain photographer’s
pictures is a very expensive thing, and, as it is I have put thousands of my
own money into this book. I wished that I had even more money to spend. As far
as the exhibition is concerned, if I had my druthers, the exhibition would have
500 pieces! But as a curator one has to learn to edit (not unlike a good designer)
to the distillation and essence of the great Norell's work. I was also very
fortunate that FIT was very eager to revisit the subject of Norell with
this exhibit. Valerie Steele at FIT had done a very small show. (Consisting of
one client's Norell’s) as it turned out, it was Valerie's very first show and
obviously, she and the Museum have learned a lot in the ensuing years.
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Known for his sleek,
sophisticated American glamour, Norman Norell will be the subject of an
upcoming exhibition, “Norell: Dean of American Fashion” at The Museum at the
Fashion Institute of Technology from Feb. 9 though April 14.
The designer died in
1972 at the age of 72.
Approximately 100
Norell ensembles and accessories from the Museum of FIT’s permanent
collection, as well as objects borrowed from the private collection of Kenneth
Pool, will be displayed. The exhibition is organized by Patricia Mears, the
Museum of FIT’s deputy director, and designer Jeffrey
Banks, guest curator.
The centerpiece of the
exhibition features Norell’s eveningwear, which was known for its clean lines
and comfort. Some of his designs had dramatically plunging necklines and were
embellished with sable trim or jeweled buttons. His work is best exemplified by
his glittering “mermaid” gowns frosted with thousands of hand-sewn sequins. The
base of these form-fitting evening gowns was knitted jersey.
His designs attracted
an A-list clientele that included Lauren Bacall, Babe Paley, Jacqueline
Kennedy, Lena Horne, Dinah Shore, Marilyn Monroe and Lady Bird Johnson.
Norell was born Norman
David Levinson in Noblesville, Ind., on April 20, 1900. hroughout his career,
Norell won numerous industry accolades including the Neiman Marcus Award for
Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion in 1942; Coty American Fashion
Critics’ awards in 1943, 1951, 1956, 1958 and 1966, and Parsons medal for
distinguished achievement in 1956. In 1965, he was elected the second president
of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Norell was the subject
of a retrospective organized at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1972, but was
unable to attend the gala dinner in his honor because he had suffered a stroke
the day before, and died 10 days after the opening.
The Museum at FIT
exhibition is accompanied by a book entitled, “Norell: Master of American
Fashion,” written by Banks and Doria de La Chapelle. It is published by
Rizzoli.
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