Vera Huppe Maxwell (April 22, 1901 – January 15, 1995) was an American pioneering sportswear and fashion designer.
Born Vera Huppe in The Bronx, [1] Maxwell spent part of her childhood in Austria. [2] She attended Leonia High School in Leonia, New Jersey. [3]
She studied ballet in New York and joined the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in 1919, dancing until her marriage to financier Raymond J. Maxwell in 1924. [2] Vera and Raymond J. Maxwell had one child and divorced in 1937. [3]
Maxwell married architect Carlisle H. Johnson in 1938 and divorced him in 1945. [3]
In the late 1920s, Maxwell began modelling at B. Altman and other New York City stores. [1] As she explained, "When the opera season ended in May, the fashion houses on Seventh Avenue were just opening their collections. I would just walk across the street and hire on as a model." [4] Around 1929, Maxwell began sketching for the fashion houses she modeled for. [4]
After years of designing for other manufacturers, she founded her own company, Vera Maxwell Originals, in 1947. Her first collection was sporty, featuring after-ski clothes, tennis outfits, and riding apparel. [2]
Maxwell was part of a pioneering group of American designers creating more relaxed and quintessentially American clothing. [1] Her contemporaries included Claire McCardell, Clare Potter, Carolyn Schnurer, and Tina Leser. [3] Maxwell gave her clothing distinctively American names like "Daniel Boone" for Western wear. By the 1950s, she also was designing evening wear. [2]
Maxwell was the first American designer to make clothes of Ultrasuede and the synthetic fabric Arnel. [3] [5] One of her earliest best-sellers was a wrap blouse over a permanently pleated skirt made of Arnel meant for travelers. [6]
In 1935, Maxwell released a "weekend wardrobe" of two jackets, two skirts and a pair of trousers. [3] Inspired by Albert Einstein, [6] the jacket was collarless with four patch pockets in tweed and gray flannel. [3] The jacket could be mixed and matched with all three accompanying pieces: a short pleated flannel tennis skirt, a longer tweed skirt, and a pair of flannel cuffed trousers. In 1999, the New York Times wrote that the "weekend wardrobe" was "so classic they could still be worn today." [3]
In the 1940s, she designed a cotton coverall uniform for war workers at the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation. [3] Known as the "Rosie the Riveter" jumpsuit or coveralls, [5] [6] [7] they received an "E" for excellence rating from the United States government. [4] They were a forerunner of the modern jump suit. [3]
Maxwell always created her designs in a range of sizes, generally going up to a size 18 or 20 at a time when it was unusual for a designer to design clothes above a size 8. [8] Her use of wrap-and-tie closures and supple fabrics suited a range of body types and allowed for weight fluctuations. [1] According to Maxwell, "The most fashionable women will always be the ones who know themselves." [2]
Maxwell won the Coty Award in 1953. [2] Maxwell met Grace Kelly in 1955 when they were both received Neiman Marcus Fashion Awards and she frequently visited the Royal Family in Monaco. [3]
Maxwell designed for First Ladies Rosalynn Carter and Pat Nixon, [2] as well as performers such as Martha Graham and Lillian Gish. [3]
By 1960, Maxwell's clothes were being sold in 700 stores around the country. But in the 1960s, her star waned as fashion's attention shifted to swinging London designers like Mary Quant. [3]
After the debut of an unsuccessful collection in 1964, Maxwell withdrew from the industry. She resurfaced in 1970 with a collection that was introduced at B. Altman. [3] She was honored in 1970 with a retrospective at the Smithsonian Institution [2] and in 1980 with an exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. [4]
In 1975, Maxwell introduced a pull-on dress with a stretch top and no zippers, buttons, snaps or ties. [3] Called a speed suit, it was a dress a woman could slip it on in 17 seconds. It was inspired by the West German Olympic uniform and the dresses were initially priced at $99 to $199. [9]
Maxwell retired in 1985 and closed her company. She returned in 1986 with one final collection designed for Peter Lynne before permanently retiring. [5]
Maxwell spent her final years with her son and daughter-in-law. She split her time between Gilgo Beach, Long Island and Rincon, Puerto Rico. Maxwell died on January 15, 1995, at age 93. [1]
She lived in Manhattan until three years before her death. [3]
Vera Maxwell's designs are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, [10] the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Cooper Hewitt, [11] and the Museum of the City of New York. [12] [13]