Geoffrey Beene

Geoffrey Beene was an American fashion designer. Beene was one of New Yorks most famous fashion designers, recognized for his artistic and technical skills and for creating simple, comfortable and dressy womens wear.

Beene was born on August 30, 1927 in the small rural town of Haynesville, Louisiana located just south of the Arkansas state line. He was born into a family of doctors and was encouraged to follow in their footsteps. He studied medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans but dropped out in 1946, after three years of study. Beene moved to Los Angeles, where he studied fashion design at the University of Southern California and worked in the display department of the I. Magnin retail store until 1947. Later that year, he moved to New York City to attend the Traphagen School of Fashion. He, then, moved to Paris, where he attended the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne and the couture house of Molyneux. In 1949, he returned to New York, where he became Assistant Designer at the Seventh Avenue house of Harmay. In 1958, he left Harmay to design with Teal Traina, before founding his eponymous design house.

Source: Wikipedia