Hawes, Elizabeth (1903–1971)
Hawes, Elizabeth (1903–1971)
American fashion designer, writer and union organizer. Born Elizabeth Hawes, Dec 16, 1903, in Ridgewood, NJ; died Sept 6, 1971, in New York, NY; dau. of John Hawes and Henrietta (Houston) Hawes; m. Ralph Jester (sculptor), Dec 12, 1930 (div. 1935); m. Joseph Losey (film and theater director), July 24, 1937 (div. 1944); children: (1st m.) 1 son (b. 1938).
Designed clothes for Paris couturier Nicole Groult and wrote articles on fashion (1928); with Rosemary Harden, ran own fashion business in NYC, Hawes-Harden (1928–30), renamed Hawes Inc., after Harden withdrew (1930); was 1st American designer to show fashion collection in Paris (1931) and 1st American woman to display collection in USSR since 1917 (1935); wrote Fashion is Spinach (1938), Why Women Cry (1943), and Anything But Love (1948); closed business, certain that custom-made clothing had no future (1940); was columnist for newspaper, PM (1940–42); during WWII, worked at Wright Aeronautical Plant in Paterson, NJ, and joined United Auto Workers (UAW, 1943); moved to Detroit and worked at education department of UAW (1944); ran fashion business, Elizabeth Hawes Inc., in NYC (1948–49); unsuccessfully attempted return to fashion designing (1952); had retrospective show of her designs held by Fashion Institute of Technology (1967). Favored pants for women, skirts for men, and child-care centers for working women.