Remembering the Fashion Figures We Lost in 2018

Whether they worked in or out of the spotlight, each of these members of the fashion community strengthened the industry’s fabric. We mourn their passing and take time to remember them as the pages of the calendar turn.

Carlo Benetton and Gilberto Benetton

Carlo (74) and Gilberto (77) Benetton, brothers and cofounders, with their other brother and sister, of United Colors of Benetton in 1965, died within months of each other. Billionaire businessmen both, their company rose to fame as much for its colorful, accessible clothes—smash hits in the 1980s—as it did for its provocative and controversial ad campaigns, which were lensed by Oliviero Toscani and focused on sociopolitical hot topics like the AIDS crisis and race relations.

Lucy Birley

“A watercolor beauty,” Lucy Birley arrived in London circa 1977 and fell in with the art scene. A model and stylist, she made a cameo on the cover of Roxy Music’s Avalon album and later assumed a leading role in the life of lead singer Bryan Ferry, with whom she had four sons. She remarried in 2006, to Robin Birley. “Quality in all things whether adornments or friendships,” noted Hamish Bowles, “were what mattered to her.”

Judy Blame

When Chris Barnes left Leatherhead, England, for London in 1977, he assumed a new name and carved an important role for himself in the New Romantic scene. As Judy Blame, he was also part of the influential Buffalo Boys collective whose celebration of different subcultures’ takes on fashion in independent magazines eventually went mainstream. Blame took a DIY approach to his personal style that was reflected in his magpie-like jewelry, which was featured in a 2016 solo exhibition, “Never Again,” in London.

Wanda Ferragamo

Family was all to Wanda Ferragamo. Widowed in 1960, she stepped in (despite having six children and no business training) to steer and expand the company founded by her late husband, Salvatore, “shoemaker to the stars.” Always referred to as “Signora,” the heel-wearing matriarch remained successfully at the helm for five decades, picking up honors and establishing a museum dedicated to Salvatore’s work and a foundation to support young talent, while insisting that the company remained family run.

Ruth Finley

For seven decades, Ruth Finley’s pink-sheeted Fashion Calendar kept the New York industry in line. Conceived of in the 1940s when the New Englander was a coed at Simmons College, the calendar was indispensable to designers, editors, and buyers alike, and Finley had the stories to prove it. She was honored with the CFDA’s Board of Directors’ Tribute Award in 2014.

Rick Genest

Known as “Zombie Boy,” Rick Genest was a 32-year-old Canadian performer and model noted for his full-face skull tattoo. He joined the fashion circus around 2010, having been scouted online by Nicola Formichetti. Genest also appeared in Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” music video.

Christopher Gibbs

Hamish Bowles remembers Christopher Gibbs as a “quintessential dandy and tastemaker to generations.” An antiquarian and Renaissance man, Gibbs had a knack for being at the center of things, whether he was in his beloved Tangier or hanging with Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull. Gibbs applied his unerring taste to numerous homes as well as to his wardrobe. Writes Bowles: Gibbs “is credited as the wearer of the first flared pants for men (in 1961), of flowering patterned shirts and Regency revival jackets and Moroccan caftans, and was the poster boy for his friends’ menswear fashion brands (including Michael Rainey’s Hung on You, Rupert Lycett Green’s Blades, and Nigel Waymouth, Sheila Cohen, and John Pearse’s Granny Takes a Trip).”

Hubert de Givenchy

This dashing designer will always be associated with Audrey Hepburn, whom he dressed so beautifully. Yet Hubert de Givenchy leaves behind a sweeping legacy that encompasses couture, licensing, interior decoration, gardening, and philanthropy. Having gained experience in the industry, Givenchy struck out on his own in 1952 with a novel collection of haute separates. Soon after being taken under wing by the couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga, Givenchy’s focus shifted from the youthful mix-and-match concept to purity of line and shape. As Hepburn put it, Givenchy “creates quality clothes which combine simplicity and beauty.”
See Givenchy’s best looks in Vogue.

Anna Harvey

For 40 years, Anna Harvey’s discerning eye and stalwart character shaped Vogue abroad. In addition to creating eye-catching editorials for the British edition, the multitasking Harvey was also dressing the Princess of Wales, overseeing her transition from “Shy Di” to a fashion force to be reckoned with. “Harvey’s quiet gift for personal relationships, her fashion eye, and the standards of professionalism and etiquette she lived by were the qualities that made her the ideal hands-on ambassador when Vogue went into international expansion,” writes Sarah Mower.

Michael Howells

Michael Howells, writes his friend and collaborator Hamish Bowles, “brought his unique vision and unparalleled élan to the worlds of stage, screen, runway, image-making, museums, and the glorious ephemera of party design.” Howells’s movie and television credits included the big-screen Emma and the miniseries Victoria. In fashion, he will be remembered as the go-to set designer for John Galliano and for his frequent collaborations with the photographers Nick Knight and Tim Walker.

Judith Leiber

“My mania is to do a bag that looks as good empty as it does stuffed,” said Judith Leiber. The first handbag designer to win a Coty Award and the recipient of the CFDA’s Lifetime Achievement Prize in 1993, Leiber was a sort of Fabergé of handbags, best known for jeweled minaudières in whimsical shapes like a bunch of asparagus or a Hello Kitty head. Highly collectible, their steep price tags were testament to the intricate handwork required of their make. A Holocaust survivor, Leiber was married to the abstract painter Gerson Leiber for 72 years. The couple died within hours of each other.

Annabelle Neilson

Annabelle Neilson was one of an elite cadre of women, alongside the likes of Amanda Harlech and Isabella Blow, who played muse to John Galliano and Alexander McQueen. An adventuress and avid equestrian who suffered a disfiguring attack and overcame a heroin addiction, Neilson wrote children’s books and was on the cast of Ladies of London, a short-lived British take on the Real Housewives franchise, on which she showed her mettle by staying above the fray with finesse.

Nabile Quenum

The big-hearted street style photographer and J’ai Perdu Ma Veste blogger Nabile Quenum was a fixture on the fashion show circuit. Born in Paris, Quenum spent the better part of his childhood in West Africa and “that rich, transcultural upbringing,” observed Chioma Nnadi, “no doubt honed his point of view.” Quenum, she adds, “stood out in the crowd outside the shows, where his colorful, dapper ensembles and his signature circular glasses were always accompanied by a warm smile.”

Phyllis Rifield

Phyllis Rifield, who spent 50 years at Condé Nast, was a quintessential New Yorker: opinionated, honest, and fiercely independent. A bookworm and graduate of Hunter College, Rifield segued into publishing from advertising. Starting at Mademoiselle, she stayed with the magazine when it was acquired by Condé Nast and, working her way up the ladder, joined Vogue in 1982 as its Research Editor, later she’d become responsible for reader information. Rifield was an unofficial historian of the Vogue brand, as well as a keeper of its institutional memory.

Kate Spade

Thanks to her namesake line of boxy nylon bags, Kate Spade became one of America’s most beloved, vibrant designers in the 1990s. Her collection, which she launched as an editor at Mademoiselle, was distinguished by its whimsical glamour, spiffy practicality, and saturated color. In 2007, after 14 years at the helm of her company, Spade stepped away. Then, in 2016, she launched a new collection, Frances Valentine, of footwear and accessories. “Fashion should be enjoyed,” said Spade, “it shouldn’t be looked at from a jaded, been-there-done-that point of view.”
Read Elizabeth Kiester’s remembrance of Kate Spade.
Read Gabriel Asfour’s remembrance of Kate Spade.

Michael Vollbracht

Born in Illinois in 1948, Michael Vollbracht’s world was shaped by the movies. A talented illustrator and painter, he designed shopping totes for Bloomingdale’s and published Nothing Sacred, a collection and portraits and anecdotes, in addition to designing clothes. He worked as easily in two dimensions as in three. In 1980, Vollbracht picked up a Coty Award for the work he designed under the name Michaele Vollbracht. He went on to design for Geoffrey Beene’s Beene Bag and was named creative director of Bill Blass (who had been his mentor) in 2002.