Geoffrey Beene

Geoffrey Beene was one of New York's most famous fashion designers, recognized for his artistic and technical skills and for creating simple, comfortable and dressy women's wear. A native of Louisiana, Beene spent three years in medical school in New Orleans before moving to California. There he worked in the display department of the Los Angeles I. Magnin retail store until 1947, when he moved to New York City. He studied fashion design in New York and Paris and spent the 1950s working in New York's garment industry. In 1963 he started Geoffrey Beene, Inc. and soon made a name for himself as an innovator in women's sportswear. In 1967 he was in the spotlight at the designer of the wedding dress for Lynda Bird Johnson, the daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson. His other clients included Richard Nixon's wife, Pat, and Ronald Reagan's wife, Nancy. Beene died in 2004 from complications after pneumonia, at the age of 77.