Geoffrey Beene
(1924-2004)
Biography
Geoffrey Beene was born Samuel Albert Bozeman in 1924 in Haynesville, Louisiana. He was born into a rather economically stable family of doctors. At an early age, young Samuel first found an interest in clothes when he bought a beach pajamas pattern at a five-and-dime store. But with the economic depression close by, the family struggled and Beene found consolation in fashion as he saved the little money he had to buy a pair of wooden clogs.
After graduating high school, Bozeman, being the grandson of a doctor, enrolled in the premed program at Tulane University, but later dropped out and was sent of to study at the University of Southern California. The known rebel that he was, he instead decided to follow his passion and went off to study at New York's Traphagen School of Fashion. Within a few years, Beene also went off to study at the École de la Chambre Syndicale and at Académie Julian in Paris.
After his years as a dedicated and passionate fashion student, Beene returned to New York where he began his fashion career at the house of Harmay and later on went to work for Teal Traina. Working his way up the ladder in the fashion industry rapidly, Beene was awarded with the prestigious Coty Award in 1964, his first of 8 awards total. That same year, with the intention of providing women with both beauty and comfort, Mr.Beene presented the jumpsuit, one of his most significant designs.
After attaining the Coty Award, Beene had grown drastically as a designer. In 1967, he showed his famous sequined football-jersey gown. Just a year later, he designed Lynda Byrd Johnson's wedding gown and later designed pieces for both Pat Nixon as well as
Nancy Reagan. Ending the 60's in great success, Beene had a lot more to come for the 70's.
Though known for his bold and architectural silhouettes, Beene was also a great believer in the importance of comfort and the ease of clothing. He believed clothing should be wearable, thus creating one of his most successful diffusion lines, Beenebag, in the early 70's.
By the end of the 70's Beene had already become one of the most influential designers and became recognized frequently on publications such as Vogue and The New York Times. Success only continued to fall upon Geoffrey through the decades and in 1997 Beene won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
After nearly four decades of unbelievable success, the legend retired from showing his clothes on the runway in the year 2000 and only a short four years later Geoffrey Beene died from pneumonia, leaving more than 75 million dollars for fashion scholarships, foundations to aid cancer research, animal protection and Alzheimer's studies.
Critical Analysis
Geoffrey Beene was a great artist. Not only was he innovative and a great artist but he was a genius in the market as well. He knew very well what was wearable and what would sell. Beene was very well know for his geometric and structured silhouettes, but he was also a great believer in the comfort of a garment. Thus, in 1964, Beene introduced the jumpsuit. Naming it the nightgown of the decade.
The jumpsuit was a significant design for Beene's label because it was comfortable, feminine, and very much wearable for the modern women of the time. Of course, Beene was not the first person to create the jumpsuit, but he brought it forth in a new light and was able to turn it into a must have in every woman's closet in the 70's.
I feel that Beene's jumpsuit was the most genius of his designs because it is a timeless, classic piece which is still being worn today, and will probably still be worn 30 to 50 years from now.
Furthermore, Beene found great balance between designs. His designs included both staple pieces such as the jumpsuit to more funky and fun pieces such as his signature sports inspired, sequined jersey dress.
His designs ranged from being very structured, whimsical, and fun, to being looser fitting, classic and bold. I feel that this shows how great of a designer he was because he does not conform to a mold, he always continued moving forward and he took inspiration from anything rather then sticking to one idea which would make him appear repetitive. Because of this, I could surely say that Geoffrey Beene is one of the top American designers.
After graduating high school, Bozeman, being the grandson of a doctor, enrolled in the premed program at Tulane University, but later dropped out and was sent of to study at the University of Southern California. The known rebel that he was, he instead decided to follow his passion and went off to study at New York's Traphagen School of Fashion. Within a few years, Beene also went off to study at the École de la Chambre Syndicale and at Académie Julian in Paris.
After his years as a dedicated and passionate fashion student, Beene returned to New York where he began his fashion career at the house of Harmay and later on went to work for Teal Traina. Working his way up the ladder in the fashion industry rapidly, Beene was awarded with the prestigious Coty Award in 1964, his first of 8 awards total. That same year, with the intention of providing women with both beauty and comfort, Mr.Beene presented the jumpsuit, one of his most significant designs.
After attaining the Coty Award, Beene had grown drastically as a designer. In 1967, he showed his famous sequined football-jersey gown. Just a year later, he designed Lynda Byrd Johnson's wedding gown and later designed pieces for both Pat Nixon as well as
Nancy Reagan. Ending the 60's in great success, Beene had a lot more to come for the 70's.
Though known for his bold and architectural silhouettes, Beene was also a great believer in the importance of comfort and the ease of clothing. He believed clothing should be wearable, thus creating one of his most successful diffusion lines, Beenebag, in the early 70's.
By the end of the 70's Beene had already become one of the most influential designers and became recognized frequently on publications such as Vogue and The New York Times. Success only continued to fall upon Geoffrey through the decades and in 1997 Beene won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
After nearly four decades of unbelievable success, the legend retired from showing his clothes on the runway in the year 2000 and only a short four years later Geoffrey Beene died from pneumonia, leaving more than 75 million dollars for fashion scholarships, foundations to aid cancer research, animal protection and Alzheimer's studies.
Critical Analysis
Geoffrey Beene was a great artist. Not only was he innovative and a great artist but he was a genius in the market as well. He knew very well what was wearable and what would sell. Beene was very well know for his geometric and structured silhouettes, but he was also a great believer in the comfort of a garment. Thus, in 1964, Beene introduced the jumpsuit. Naming it the nightgown of the decade.
The jumpsuit was a significant design for Beene's label because it was comfortable, feminine, and very much wearable for the modern women of the time. Of course, Beene was not the first person to create the jumpsuit, but he brought it forth in a new light and was able to turn it into a must have in every woman's closet in the 70's.
I feel that Beene's jumpsuit was the most genius of his designs because it is a timeless, classic piece which is still being worn today, and will probably still be worn 30 to 50 years from now.
Furthermore, Beene found great balance between designs. His designs included both staple pieces such as the jumpsuit to more funky and fun pieces such as his signature sports inspired, sequined jersey dress.
His designs ranged from being very structured, whimsical, and fun, to being looser fitting, classic and bold. I feel that this shows how great of a designer he was because he does not conform to a mold, he always continued moving forward and he took inspiration from anything rather then sticking to one idea which would make him appear repetitive. Because of this, I could surely say that Geoffrey Beene is one of the top American designers.
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