Indiana-born fashion guru remembered by community

Eleanor Lambert, first lady and patron of the fashion industry, was known for her keen ability to turn any event into a fashionable affair. To this day, Lambert is credited for creating the New York Press Week in 1943, which was recently re-titled the Olympus Fashion Week and is formally known as New York Fashion Week. A fashion conniousser, Lambert launched American fashion to the forefront, and was coined for being generous and creative with her resources. A friend of Lambert's, Carolyn Howard-Johnson recalls a time when Lambert's kindness changed her life forever. \nFrantic to find a job, Johnson found herself arriving at Lambert's office.. She was told Lambert was not in, she could be found just a few blocks down the street at the very chic salon, Kenneth's. And there Lambert was -- describes Johnson -- sitting down, having her nails done, while chatting away with the stylist. It was at that moment, Johnson says, she knew it would be no ordinary job interview, nor would her future employer be like anyone she had ever met before.\nAfter the interview, Lambert hired Johnson on the spot and agreed to pay her significantly more than what Johnson had been previously offered.\nJohnson, now an award winning author of Harkening: A collection of Stories Remembered, thinks back to the short time she was employed by Lambert and describes her experience as something she will never forget.\n"Eleanor was quite a character," Johnson said. "She was someone with a lot of pizzazz and creativity. She didn't meet today's business standards," Johnson said. "Her business was based more on her creativity and contacts."\nIt was with this creativity Lambert changed the face of American fashion from unknown names to a power force in international haute couture. Arriving in New York City from the small town of Crawfordsville, Indiana in the 1920s, Lambert began working for a publishing industry promoter before stepping out to begin her own public relations firm. Lambert, initially representing artists in New York City, emerged into the world of fashion when a designer showed up on her doorstep, looking for publicity.\nThough Lambert died Oct. 7, 2003 at the age of 100, her legacy will not be forgotten. \nSome of Lambert's greatest achievements were turning names like Oscar de la Renta, Calvin Klein and Indiana's own, Bill Blass, into some of the most talked about designers in the business. Lambert's success in the fashion world gave a new edge to American designers against the elite European ones. Some speculate without Lambert, many American designers would not have become the head designers at many famous European houses, including Tom Ford for Gucci and Yves St. Laurent and Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton.\nProfessor Kathleen Rowold, who curates the Elizabeth Sage Costume Collection at IU, met Lambert five years ago when she began planning an exhibit for designer Bill Blass. She describes Lambert as being incredibly sharp even at 95.\n"She was always thinking, and always creating something," Rowold said.\nRowold worked exclusively with Lambert during the four year process of creating the exhibit, which made its showing in the fall of 2002. More recently, Rowold began planning another project with Lambert about Barbara Natoli Witt, a jewelry designer from California.\n"I met with Eleanor just this past September, which was quite sentimental because she died only three weeks later," Rowold said. "There, she was in her beautiful 5th Avenue apartment overlooking the park, dressed beautifully in a lavender tunic and turban. She was like a delicate butterfly, so fragile and frail."\nAlthough she was 100, her mind was still there, Rowold said. Rowold thinks Lambert made the largest impact in the fashion industry.\n As part of a group that founded the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Lambert's major contribution was the creation of the Coty Awards, which many regard as the fashion equivalent to the Oscars. Lambert is also responsible for creating the international "Best Dressed List," which began in the 1940s and highlighted the rich and the famous. Today it has inspired many other best dressed lists, focusing mainly on Hollywood's elite. \n Lambert also helped to establish the Costume Institute in New York City. In 1940, Lambert was chosen as a member of an advisory committee for the Institute which merged the Costume Institute with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1946. In 1948, Lambert threw the "Party of the Year," a fundraising event for the Institute that still continues to this day.\nTo many, Lambert was not only a pioneer for fashion, but also for women. Witt, described Lambert as the epitome of everything a woman could be. \n"She always declared that she wasn't a feminist," Witt said. " She was a living example of a mother, a wife, ran a business and was a great hostess."\nWitt met Lambert about twenty years ago through an editor at Town & Country Magazine. She said Lambert's greatest attribute was being genuine and not influenced by outside parties in forming her opinions.\n"I think that's why we really valued her opinion, she gave it honesty," Witt said. "She really had no set philosophy, and she always made people fit."\nWitt describes speaking with Lambert about the project with Kathleen Rowold. A project still in its very early stages, Witt describes Lambert as being very enthusiastic about it.\n"The first thing she said to me after I was done telling her about it was, 'need publicity?'"\nWitt described Lambert while reflecting on the woman she really was, made her feel very happy Lambert was there for her.\n"She had the right reasons for friendships and that is why she was so alive and so vibrant up to 100."\nThe sadness Witt felt for the passing of a good friend was shadowed by the wonderful memories she had of Lambert. \n"And," concluded Witt, "Someone really ought to hurry up and do a tribute for her"