Geoffrey Beene; Independent obit
Hyfler/Rosner
Godfather of minimalism in modern American fashion design
30 September 2004
Geoffrey Beene, designer: born Haynesville, Louisiana
30 August 1927; died New York 28 September 2004.
The Godfather of modern American minimalism, the fashion
designer Geoffrey Beene was a lateral thinker, equal parts
chemist and artist, who once said, "The more you learn about
clothes, the more you realise what has to be left off.
Simplification becomes a very complicated procedure."
Beene - or Mr Beene as he preferred to be called - was of a
rare breed in the American fashion industry. A quietly
spoken Southern gentleman with a rotund physique and a
penchant for owlish glasses, he was a nonconformist, always
more comfortable tending his collection of 2,000 orchids at
his home in Oyster Bay rather than pressing the flesh on the
New York fashion circuit.
Born in Haynesville, Louisiana, in 1927, "under the natal
sign of Virgo", Beene was an asthmatic child who was a mere
eight years old when he bought his first beach-pyjama
pattern at the local five-and-dime store. With the help of
his aunt, he made it into an Oriental floral of Bristol blue
and orange. Despite this early foray into fashion, in 1943
Beene followed Southern middle-class convention and won a
scholarship to Tulane University in New Orleans to study
Medicine.
Three years later, bored by the uncreative nature of the
studies, he was caught sketching in his anatomy sketchbook a
collection of glamorous gowns the Hollywood costume designer
Adrian had created for Joan Crawford in the film Humoresque.
He consequently dropped out of Tulane, saying, "Cadavers
were the moment of truth." He headed straight to the
University of Southern California in Los Angeles, then
deciding to forgo USC to work in the display department of
the Los Angeles store I. Magnin.
By 1947, Beene had relocated to New York to study design at
the Traphagen School of Fashion. The following year he moved
to Paris, enrolling at the Académie Julian. Blown away by
the elegance of Parisian fashion, he attended his first
French couture show, discovered the iconoclastic colours of
Elsa Schiaparelli and decided to became an apprentice to a
tailor who had worked for the respected couturier Captain
Edward Molyneux.
In 1951, Beene returned to New York. He began work with
Mildred O'Quinn, who had a small salon in the Sherry
Netherland Hotel, but was fired for dripping mayonnaise from
a sandwich on the green satin seat of a Louis XIV chair. He
decided to switch his allegiance to the studios of Seventh
Avenue, "where there were fewer Louis XIV chairs". In 1954
he became a designer for Teal Traina before launching his
first label, Geoffrey Beene Inc, in a champagne-coloured
showroom on Seventh Avenue in 1963.
Beene's distinctive signature style, which never wavered - a
sophisticated blend of comfort, innovation and clever
seamlines - drew instant press attention. The following year
he was given the first of eight Coty awards.
This was the beginning of a journey in experimental, easy
and aesthetically pleasing dressing which was to continue
for 40 years. In the same way that Coco Chanel pushed the
boundaries of acceptability, Beene became known for
continually defying convention. In 1966 he brought grey
flannel and wool jersey to the ballroom. Two years later, he
designed a sequinned football gown. In 1970 he used
sweatshirt fabric for an evening gown, the following year
introducing his Beenebag Sportswear Collection. In 1976
Beene became the first American designer to show in Milan,
prompting the top Italian glossy L'Uomo Vogue to declare,
"Look out Italian designers. This is the future."
Despite the steady flow of awards and plaudits, Beene's
career was not without its blips. He famously became
embroiled in a long-running feud with the highly influential
New York fashion paper Women's Wear Daily when he refused to
give them insider information on the wedding dress he had
designed in 1967 for Lynda Bird Johnson, later explaining,
"I felt my allegiance was to the President." The ensuing
lack of Beene collection coverage did not affect his
reputation.
By then a favourite with the American and European élite, he
showed at the American embassies in Rome, Paris, Brussels
and Vienna. A decade later, he won the coveted Council of
Fashion Designers of America Award. As if to underline his
fame, Beene was proud to note his name had been
institutionalised twice - in the New York Times and Newsday
crossword puzzles.
Unusually for an American designer, Beene always put art
before commerce. However, he kept pace with the trend for
designer scent, launching his men's fragrance Bowling Green
in 1987. It was not a success. The following year, he
celebrated 25 years in the business with a fashion show, "25
Years of Discovery", to benefit an Aids project in Los
Angeles, followed by an exhibition at the National Academy
of Design in New York.
The exhibition charted Beene's extraordinary rise to
international critical acclaim, showing 150 of his original
garments and photographs of Beene originals by Horst, Irving
Penn, Hiro, Richard Avedon, Bruce Weber and Guzman. Beene's
legions of hard-core clients were also in attendance,
including Fran Lebowitz, Lee Radziwill, Kathleen Hearst,
Sigourney Weaver, Claudette Colbert, Raquel Welch, Isabella
Rossellini, Diana Ross, Nancy Reagan, Gloria Steinem and
Glenn Close. Beene summed up this eclectic band of
high-profile personalities by saying, "They all put into
society rather than take away from it."
Beene never tired of designing - he regularly rose at
3.30am, pencil in hand, ready to sketch - but in his later
years he had applied his talents to a range of products and
artistic projects. In 1999 he was invited by Twyla Tharp to
work on the costumes for her new dance work Diabelli. In the
same year he produced a book, Beauty and the Beene, an
illustrated celebration of his most innovative designs.
By then Beene had changed the occupation on his passport
from "fashion designer" to simply "designer". He was
designing furniture, shirts for Van Heusen, shoes and
accessories, and was an active presence on the board of the
American Ballet Theatre. At the turn of the 21st century,
Beene had become an elder statesman and probably the most
internationally revered American designer of all time. Alber
Elbaz and Issey Miyake were just two of his protégés, and
Tom Ford among the many established designers who admired
his talent.
Outspoken and opinionated, Beene foresaw the rise of the
status handbag and decline of the amazingly executed dress.
"Corporisation is responsible for the homogenisation of
fashion," he said in 1999, despairing of the diluted nature
of designer fashion. Beene's passion for experimentation,
coupled with his incredible wealth of experience, made him
the ultimate fashion visionary. "The ballgown is obsolete",
"Most fashion books are boring", "Clothes must move", "The
zipper is on its way to extinction" and "Dressing for
success is something unsuccessful women do" were just some
of the Beene bons mots which kept him at the forefront of
the American fashion industry.
Beene believed fervently in the power of the individual,
summing himself up in 1999 as "stubborn, rebel, autocrat,
curmudgeon. I get called a crank, but I don't mind that."
Linda Watson