Dead Celebrity Alert

1919 - September 4, 2008

“I notice only the ugliness in something,” the Milanese couturier Mila Schön said. “Take that away and it becomes beautiful.” Elegance and sobriety were perhaps better descriptions of her pared-down tailoring, which nonetheless for 50 years flattered with its graceful lines clients such as Jacqueline Kennedy and Farah Diba, the wife of the Shah of Iran.

Schön never became a star of the first rank in the fashion firmament, for her skills were perhaps better appreciated by cognoscenti than by the public. Yet she was the first Italian designer to brave the Japanese market, and among the earliest to show in America, where she was much esteemed. … Read full obituary

Yves Saint Laurent, one of the top French designers of the 20th century, has died in Paris, aged 71.

The death was announced this morning by the Pierre-Berg-Saint Laurent Foundation.

The reclusive French maestro, who had retired from haute couture in 2002 after four decades at the top of his trade, had been ill for some time. He died on Sunday. …

After taking over the Christian Dior fashion house following the death of its founder in 1957, Saint Laurent founded his own company in the early 1960s.

He made his own name on the back of the rise of the youth market and pop culture, fuelled by the economic boom of that decade, when women suddenly had more economic freedom. …Read full obituary

PARIS (AP) — Paris judicial police say the body of former top model Katoucha Niane has been found in the River Seine.

Police say the body was found Thursday and that a subsequent autopsy confirmed it as the model’s.

Police say the body showed no signs of foul play, pointing to the possibility that she may have fallen accidentally in the river.

The former model went missing in January. … Read full obituary

PALM SPRINGS, California (AP) — Costume designer Bill Belew, who created Elvis Presley’s jumpsuits and the tight black leather outfit he wore on his 1968 television special, has died. He was 76.

Belew died January 7 at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs after battling diabetes, his longtime companion, Paul Dafelmair, told the Los Angeles Times.

In his nearly 50-year career, Belew designed costumes for many stars of stage, screen and television, ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to Gloria Estefan.

But it is his work with Presley for which Belew will be best remembered. … Read full obituary

Liz Claiborne, the designer of indefatigable career clothes for professional women entering the workforce en masse beginning in the 1970s, died Tuesday in Manhattan. She was 78.

Her death, at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, was caused by complications of cancer, said Arthur Ortenberg, her husband. Ms. Claiborne learned in 1997 that she had a rare form of cancer that affects the lining of the abdomen. …

Before she became the most successful women’s apparel designer in America, Ms. Claiborne had worked for 20 years in the backrooms of Seventh Avenue sportswear houses like Youth Guild and Juniorite, making peppy dresses.

A strong-willed designer with an acute sense for business, she defied the male-dominated ranks of the fashion industry by starting her own company in 1976 with Mr. Ortenberg, a textiles executive. In an apt reversal of roles, she gave him the corporate title of secretary. … Read full obituary

Obit to come.

Gianfranco Ferre, the Italian designer known as the “architect of fashion” for his structured, sculpted shapes and for his groundbreaking tenure at Christian Dior, has died. He was 62.

Ferre was taken to the San Raffaele hospital in Milan on Friday after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage. The hospital, in a statement authorised by Ferre’s family, said he died at 9pm last night. …

He started his company in the mid-1970s, but his major leap came in 1989, when he was tapped by Bernard Arnault to be the top designer for Christian Dior. At the time, it was almost unheard of for a non-French designer to take the reins of the venerable Parisian house. … Read full obituary

Oleg Cassini, 92, the dapper descendant of Russian aristocrats who married a movie star, designed clothes for a first lady and was the first to license his name to products from perfume to luggage, died March 17 at a hospital on New York’s Long Island. His third wife, Marianne, said the designer suffered a broken blood vessel in his head.

Mr. Cassini was best known as Jacqueline Kennedy’s couturier, creating 300 elegant outfits from simple A-line dresses to her iconic pillbox hats. Her Inauguration Day outfit, a pillbox hat and a fawn-colored wool coat with a sable collar over a matching wool dress, dazzled women around the globe, who rushed to find copies. …

Mr. Cassini designed with the panache of Hollywood, where he worked in his early years outfitting such stars as Betty Grable, Lana Turner and Ava Gardner. The small, debonair playboy, whose Old World manners, pencil-thin mustache and athletic prowess charmed the ladies, had many romances with famous actresses — Anita Ekberg, Linda Evans, Jill St. John — and dozens of models. Others he simply named “Monday” or “Tuesday,” referring to the days of the week when he wooed them.

He was married four times, first to cough-syrup heiress Merry Fahrney and twice to Hollywood star Gene Tierney, with whom he had two children. After his third divorce, he was engaged to Grace Kelly, until she dumped him to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. … Read full obituary

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) — German investigators opened a murder hunt after fashion designer Rudolph Moshammer, who created clothes for celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, was found dead at his home here.

“Everything indicates that he was murdered,” said Munich prosecutor Peter Boie. “He had neck injuries.”

An autopsy later showed that a telephone cable found around his head had been the murder weapon.

The prosecutor said there was no apparent motive for the attack, but said police were conducting investigations in Munich’s gay scene, and in his circle of friends.

Munich-based Moshammer was a well-known figure on the German celebrity circuit known for his extravagant hairstyle and flamboyant dress. He was always accompanied by his Yorkshire terrier, Daisy. … Read full story

ROME, June 11 (AP) — Egon von Furstenberg, a Swiss-born aristocrat who started his fashion career as a buyer for a New York department store and went on to be known as the “prince of high fashion,” died here on Friday. He was 57.

His fashion house said he had died in a hospital in Rome but declined to give the cause of death. A brief company statement spoke of the “premature death of our dear and most beloved Egon.”

He was considered both eccentric and elegant. During Rome’s High Fashion week, a glittering event that draws stars like Sophia Loren, his designs were worn by models whose “runway” was the Spanish Steps.

His creations included gowns or shorter dresses in bright hues like purples, yellows or reds, often with plunging necklines, slits or daring rear views. His signature symbol spoke of his noble blood and love for high society — a curvy crown with a star. … Read full obituary

Bill Blass, a major designer in the world of fashion for more than 50 years who also helped raise funds and consciousness in the fight against AIDS, died from cancer on Wednesday at his home in New Preston, Conn. He was 79 years old.

During his long fashion career, Blass’ creations were favored by Gloria Vanderbilt, Nancy Reagan, Jessye Norman and Brook Astor. His designs were rarely considered cutting-edge, but they were praised for their crisp elegance, quality and simplicity. …

In New York, Blass is also remembered as a generous and influential supporter of AIDS treatment services since the late 1980s. … Read full obituary

Catya Sassoon, 33, the model-turned-actress daughter of celebrity hair stylist Vidal Sassoon, died in her sleep Tuesday morning at her home in the Hollywood Hills.

Ms. Sassoon’s manager, Hilly Elkins, said Ms. Sassoon complained of feeling “woozy” at a party at a friend’s house and went home. When Ms. Sassoon’s husband, Joe Myers, tried to awaken her a few hours later, she failed to respond, Elkins said. Results of an autopsy are pending.

Born in New York City, Ms. Sassoon was the first of Beverly and Vidal Sassoon’s four children. Growing up in Los Angeles, she lived a fast life.

At 14, she dropped out of Beverly Hills High School in her freshman year and left home to work as a model in Manhattan. … Read full obituary

Mary Kay Ash, who built a billion-dollar beauty empire from a $5,000 investment in 1963, and who motivated hundreds of thousands of consultants around the world with a combination of rewards, recognition and religion, died yesterday at her home in Dallas. She was 83.

She died of natural causes, said Jim Lawrence, a spokesman for Mary Kay Inc. in Dallas. Mrs. Ash had been in frail health since she suffered a stroke in 1996.

Mrs. Ash, who preferred to be called Mary Kay, was 45 when she started her company, which sells its products through home and office demonstrations by sales representatives. Within two years, the company’s wholesale sales had reached almost $1 million. … Read full obituary

The death of Mary Kay Ash, she of the cosmetics empire whose reps drove those ubiquitous trademark pink cars, was just announced on the local news. No obit on the ‘Net yet.

Carrie Donovan, a fashion editor who could easily have rested on her laurels and leopard skins but came out of semiretirement to find a new and even more enthusiastic audience as ”the lady from Old Navy,” died yesterday in Manhattan. She was 73.

She had been ailing for several months, said George O’Brien, a friend, and died at New York Weill Cornell Center.

From the beginning, Ms. Donovan’s career had a screwball quality worthy of Hollywood. Though she studied dressmaking at the Parsons School of Design, she could never master a needle and thread. She lacked a similar command of automobiles and typewriters, and as a reporter for The New York Times, then as an editor for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and The New York Times Magazine, she wrote all her copy by hand. … Read full obituary