-Appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the National Council on the Arts of the National Endowment for the Arts
-She was the First Press Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art
-She helped find MoMA
-Early supporter of the Costume Institute at the MET and I heard she started the famous Gala for the Costume Institute with Ms. Vreeland which is now run by Vogue
-Founded the CFDA(Council of Fashion Designers of America) and ran it for over 10 years, to which after her death an award was created in honor of the fashionable founder
-Trademark(as every icon has one, I have one...) turbans and over sized jewelry, as pictured above
-Helped push the careers of Oscar de la Renta, Halston and Anne Klein, to name a few
-Started Fashion Week, one event was hosting up to 200 people, from icons to editors, in her 5th ave apartment
Allow me to expand on the last fact. Yes designers were already showing their collections, however it was very unorganized and happened at any time throughout the year. Ms. Lambert introduced the idea of having all the shows together in one week twice a year which made it much easier for editors, domestically and internationally, to make more use of their time. She organized the events, creating back to back shows, parties and events. As I mentioned earlier she would host movie nights and luncheons at the start of Fashion Week in her apartment for fashion personalities, editors and friends such as the Dutchess of Windsor and Diana Vreeland. Are we kidding? I would kill to be invited! The woman was in PR for a reason, she did start her own marketing business in NYC. Let me put it this way, in 1973 she orgnized a fashion show for 5 American Designers at the Palace of Versailles which out shined the French Designers who were showing in Paris!
I am just touching on the life of this amazing woman and tribute to what fashion is today. If you have time please read more in her wonderfully written obituary from the NyTimes.
Photo from Blogspot, info from NyTimes
