Colleagues and Collaborators

Ludwig Bemelmans (April 27, 1898 – October 1, 1962) was an Austro-Hungarian author and illustrator who may be best known for his children’s book series, Madeline. He was a successful artist whose work appeared in many publications and his whimsical murals still adorn the walls of Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City. Bemelmans designed textiles for Wesley Simpson and Ascher of London during the mid-1940s. Examples of his work are included in the permanent collections of the Museum at FIT and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Bianchini-Férier was a silk factory founded in 1888 in Lyon by designer Charles Bianchini, technician François Atuyer, and financier François Férier. The firm first achieved widespread recognition for a collection of silk velvets and brocades that were shown at the Paris Exposition of 1889. It has been associated with luxurious silks ever since. Bianchini and his partners opened a sales office in Paris, followed by others in London, New York, Los Angeles, and number of other international venues. In 1921, the firm opened a mill in Port Jervis, New York, where it replicated patterns and textiles that originated in Lyons. Vogue Patterns offered a collection of garments designed especially for a set of Bianchini’s custom silk-screened textiles in 1949. Partnerships such as this allowed the company to reach an audience beyond its couture clientele.

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marqués de Dalí de Púbol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989). Salvador Dalí was a Spanish painter born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain, who became an internationally renowned Surrealist. His expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media. He regularly contributed illustrations to fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and collaborated with designer Elsa Schiaparelli. During the 1940’s, Dali also worked with Wesley Simpson, Schiffer Prints, and Martha Mills Textile Co. to produce textile designs. A variety of garments and accessories featuring these fabrics were produced by a number of companies and designers, including J.C. Penny.

Thomas J. Dorsey (1920-1993), also known by his Native American name Tom Two Arrows, was a visual and performance artist. A member of the Delaware (Lenni-Lenape) tribe, he worked in a variety of media, all of which represented Native American arts, crafts, and customs. Dorsey also designed textiles, including two for Gilbert Adrian’s Spring 1948 Collection. His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and the Albany Institute of History and Art.

Woody Feurt was the Merchandise Manager at Bullock’s Wilshire in Los Angeles, California, before he became the Vice President of Adrian Ltd. When Gilbert Adrian left MGM to start his own label, he sought out Feurt, a longtime friend, to assist with the new venture. Feurt agreed and liquidated his garment factory. When Adrian Ltd. closed in 1952, Feurt went on to work for costume designer Earl Luick.

Eleanor Lemaire-Lauren (1897-1970), was an interior designer and graduate of the Parsons School of Design. She began her career in 1926 as a stylist in Bullock’s home furnishing department, and only three years later was asked to design the entire interior of the department store. Lemaire embraced the neo-classical style that pervaded architecture and interior design during the 1940s, and her work was highly lauded. She designed Adrian’s boutique at Gunther Jaeckel in New York City and his Beverly Hills Salon. The latter was a spacious environment with columns and niches that became the background in many publicity photos and advertisements for Adrian’s dramatic designs.

Pola Stout (born Josefine Pola Weinbach, January 8, 1902 – October 12, 1984) was an American textile designer. Born in the Ukraine, she studied at the Kunstgewerbe Schule in Vienna, and designed for the Wiener Werkstätte before immigrating to the United States in 1925. From 1940 to 1945, Stout was head of Pola Stout Fabrics, a division of Botany Worsted Mills. She was the first woman to hold a leadership position in the American woolen industry. Stout later created collections for J. P. Stevens & Company (1958–59) and was a designer-consultant for the Ames Textile Corporation. She is best known for designing woven woolens with contrasting colors and patterns. Pola Stout fabrics were sold by the yard in stores. In 1942, B. Altman and Company created a new department devoted exclusively to Stout’s line of Botany Perennials.

Marcel Vertès (August 10, 1895 – October 31, 1961) was a Hungarian-born illustrator, muralist, and costume designer. Beginning in the 1930s, Vertès produced illustrations for fashion magazines (including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar), advertisements (notably for Elsa Schiaparelli), and books for Ernest Hemingway. After he immigrated to the United States in the 1940’s due to the devastation of WW II, he found work designing textiles and scarves for Wesley Simpson, Inc. He produced over sixty patterns, some of which are included in the collection of the Museum at FIT. He won two Academy Awards for his costume designs and art direction in the 1952 film Moulin Rouge.

Wesley Simpson, Inc. (1935-1950), was a textile conversion company started by Wesley Simpson (1903- September 8, 1975), a fabric and textile designer. Wesley Simpson, Inc., was the first textile converter to work directly with artists. Textiles were designed in-house, then sent out to mills for weaving and printing. The company combined fine art and fashion in the post-war years through collaborations with Ludwig Bemelmans, Salvador Dali, and Marcel Vertès. It was also commercially successful – by 1947, Wesley Simpson, Inc. had a customer list of over 350 retail stores. The New York Public Library has a large collection of fabric swatches donated by Wesley Simpson and his wife, American fashion designer Adele Simpson.