Herbert Gallen, Founded Ellen Tracy Line, 92

[DGH]

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Herbert Gallen, Who Founded Ellen Tracy Line, Dies at 92

By ALISON J. PETERSON [New York Times]

Herbert Gallen, the founder and owner of the women's clothing label
Ellen Tracy, which began as a blouse company and evolved into a
sophisticated line for professional women, died Saturday [September
22, 2007] at his home in Demarest, New Jersey. He was 92.

His death was confirmed by Robert Schoem's Menorah Chapel in Paramus,
New Jersey.

Mr. Gallen started Ellen Tracy in 1949 selling blouses for as little
as $28.50 a dozen wholesale. As women began entering the work force in
greater numbers, the company introduced a line of more stylish
clothing for the workplace that sold in hundreds of department stores
nationwide.

"Ellen Tracy has changed with the times," Mr. Gallen said in 1991 in
an interview in The New York Times. "In the '60s we did junior
sportswear - fairly casual. Then through the '80s, we became career-
oriented and became the mainstay of department stores for career
clothes. We were still making some casual clothes, but the stores were
looking to us for career."

After its humble beginning, Ellen Tracy found its niche as what is
called a bridge label - not quite a luxury designer like Armani or
Oscar de la Renta but a tier or two above less expensive brands like
Jones New York.

"There's very little in Ellen Tracy today that Herb Gallen didn't
build," Paul R. Charron, former chairman and chief executive of Liz
Claiborne Inc., said in an interview on Monday. Mr. Gallen sold his
company to Liz Claiborne in 2002 for $170 million.

While Mr. Gallen was the visionary behind the business, it was the
company's chief designer, Linda Allard, who created the high-end
sportswear and career wear that expanded the company's fashion
boundaries.

"The story of Herbert Gallen is inextricably tied to Linda Allard,"
Mr. Charron said.

Ms. Allard, who came to New York after graduating from Kent State
University [Ohio], joined Ellen Tracy in 1962.

By 1964, she was director of design, a title she held until 2003. Her
name was added to the label in 1984, as Linda Allard for Ellen Tracy,
and in 1991 she started Company Ellen Tracy, a lower-price and more
casual line aimed at younger buyers.

Mr. Gallen's first wife, Betty Barr, died in 1998; Mr. Gallen and Ms.
Allard were married in 2000.

In addition to Ms. Allard, Mr. Gallen is survived by a brother,
Robert; a sister, Ruth Halperin; two daughters from his first
marriage, Joan Megibow and Nancy Scheriff; 7 grandchildren; and 11
great-grandchildren.

Herbert Gallen was born on September 15, 1915, in Paterson, New
Jersey, to Abraham and Bessie Gallen. After he graduated from high
school, he worked for his uncle in the auto-supply business.

After Mr. Gallen sold his clothing company to Liz Claiborne, Ms.
Allard arranged for the new owner to donate Ellen Tracy's archives to
the Kent State University Museum in Kent, Ohio. Mr. Gallen was given
an honorary doctorate from the university in recognition of a $1
million endowment he established for its fashion school and a $300,000
donation for the creation of a New York studio for the school.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/business/27gallen.html?ref=obituaries