Background
Bill Blas was born on June 22, 1922 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Son of Ralph Aldrich Blass (a traveling hardware salesman)and Ethyl Blass ( a dressmaker).
apparel and home furnishings designer
Bill Blas was born on June 22, 1922 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Son of Ralph Aldrich Blass (a traveling hardware salesman)and Ethyl Blass ( a dressmaker).
Blass wrote that the margins in his school books were filled with sketches of Hollywood-inspired fashions instead of notes. At fifteen, he began sewing and selling evening gowns for $25 each to a New York manufacturer. At seventeen, he had saved up enough money to move to Manhattan and study fashion, and, at eighteen, he was the first male to win Mademoiselle's Design for Living award. He spent his salary of $30 a week on clothing, shoes, and elegant meals.
Assistant designer for David Crystal, 1950-1951, Anna Miller & Company, 1951-1959; designer Maurice Rentner, Limited (now Bill Blass Limited), from 1959, vice president, 1963-1970; president Bill Blass Limited, from 1970.
Atheist
Democrat
In an interview in the September 1-8, 1999 issue of the San Francisco alternative newspaper, SF Weekly, Blass repeatedly resisted attempts by his interviewer to get him to admit to having religious beliefs. Blass said, "I have a firm belief in such things as, you know, the water, the Earth, the trees and sky. And I'm wondering, it is increasingly difficult to find those elements in nature, because it's nature I believe in rather than some spiritual thing."
Quotations:
"The beauty of being able to draw, or paint, from an early age is that you never feel trapped, least of all by your immediate circumstances."
"Style is a primarily a matter of instinct".
"Something about glamour interested me.Al me schoolbooks had drawings of women on terraces eith a cocktail and a sigarette".
Bill Blass is a very successful person with diverse preferences in fashion.
Over the next 30 years he expanded his line to include swimwear, furs, luggage, perfume, and chocolate. By 1998, his company had grown to a $700-million-a-year business.
Quotes from others about the person
"Bill Blass of one the most important personaliries in American fashion industry."( New York Times 26.04.1999).
"Bill Blass has created a unique trend in the fashion world."