1/27/2024 0 Comments Timeless movieWhen she guaranteed you a time, it was your time her work was respected. Before you introduced your line, you consulted with Finley for an available time slot and then she would make recommendations about available event venues in the city. She was the behind-the-scenes guru of data. New designers would come to her for a time slot established designers confirmed their information. She was right.Īt first weekly and then biweekly, it was the must-have bible. Pink, she reasoned, would stand out among the morass of white papers on a desk. She then produced and mimeographed her listing, always on bright pink paper, mailing it out to her subscribers. Working from her own “excel-type” grid, rearranging times, dates, and locations as they were given to her she was alert to conflicts that needed to be rescheduled, informing the necessary parties and negotiating resolutions. Designers began coming to her to consult on the best times to show and find out what else was going on. Starting on a shoe string, Finley gathered all the information and became a clearing house, publishing the who, what, and where of all events in the city. There was no centralized listing of who was showing where and when, so Lambert essentially controlled who was seen and when. When Finley began her career, Lambert dominated access to showings and could control who was seen (those who paid her) and who was not (those who didn’t). She ruled her field with an iron hand and Finley learned much about the politics of fashion from her. It was the beginning of World War II the Nazis had shut down the French fashion industry and Lambert saw an opening for pushing forward American designers. But “Calendar Girl” directed by Christian Bruun and written by Natalie Nudell will enlighten you, emphasis on the light.įor 65 years, Ruth Finley ran a journal called the “Fashion Calendar.” Talk about a niche! “Fashion Calendar,” created in 1945 by Finley, was, literally, a paper that listed the times and locations of every fashion event in New York City.įinley who had started her career after college working for Eleanor Lambert who was the primary and most powerful moving force in promoting American Fashion when the French and Italians thoroughly dominated the field. If you aren’t into fashion with a capital F, and you’re not a New Yorker, and maybe even if you are, you will have never heard of Ruth Finley. Ruth Finley in the Fashion Calendar office, just before it closed in 2014.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |