Claire McCardell

Claire McCardell (1905-1958) pioneered a style of clothing both casual and chic. In 1990, Life magazine named her one of the 100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century. She attended Parsons, learning to construct clothing by taking apart Vionnet samples. As head designer of Townley Frocks, she was one of the first American designers to have name recognition, as the company began to sell its fashions branded as "Claire McCardell Clothes by Townley." Her work is in museums across the...See more

Claire McCardell (1905-1958) pioneered a style of clothing both casual and chic. In 1990, Life magazine named her one of the 100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century. She attended Parsons, learning to construct clothing by taking apart Vionnet samples. As head designer of Townley Frocks, she was one of the first American designers to have name recognition, as the company began to sell its fashions branded as "Claire McCardell Clothes by Townley." Her work is in museums across the country and has been the subject of retrospectives at the Smithsonian and the Fashion Institute of Technology. See less