Bonnie Cashin

The daughter of an inventor and dressmaker, Bonnie Cashin was inspired to design clothes by the age of eight. By sixteen, she had her first paying job as a costume designer for the chorus line of a Los Angeles-based dance company. She received formal training in design at the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles, and, after moving to New York in 1933, at the Art Students League.

Having attained her qualifications she set out to work as full-time costume designer for the Roxy Theatre's 'Roxyettes', followed by six years employment (1937-43) with prestigious suit manufacturers Adler & Adler.

She returned to the West Coast in 1943 to sign a contract with 20th Century Fox where she stayed until 1949 as part of the team headed by Charles Le Maire.

During her tenure she received most acclaim for the costumes she designed for Gene Tierney in Laura (1944), and for Irene Dunne in Anna and the King of Siam (1946).

In 1949, Cashin resumed her work with Adler & Adler, eventually opening her own salon -- Bonnie Cashin Designs Inc.

-- in 1952. She established a singular reputation for elegant, innovative design in ready-to-wear clothes and sportswear, including canvas raincoats and jumpsuits for women. Moreover, she was among the first to introduce the 'layered look' by creating clothes which could be adapted to varying climatic conditions. She became notably affiliated with the leather manufacturer Sills & Co.

(1953-77), and with the Coach handbag company (1961-74).