Avery Trufelman

France has its elegant couture from its established ateliers, and Italy has its craftsmanship in its storied houses.

But America has brands.

Brands that make mass-produced, casual, sporty, comfortable clothing for everyone.

And we're a young country, but when you think about it, our fashion design history is even younger.

Like, who are the titans of American fashion design?

It's Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren.

These designers who are all still alive.

But if you want to look at where these great fashion designers got it all from, there was a great American fashion designer who many of them were looking to.

This is journalist Elizabeth Evitz-Dickinson.

We were speaking live on stage at the New York Historical for this interview, hence the little stagey echo.

And we were talking about this designer who made so many of the classics of the American wardrobe.

Her name was Claire McArdle, and Elizabeth wrote a brilliant book about her called Claire McArdle, The Designer Who Set Women Free.

Claire McArdle was doing what many of those designers were doing decades earlier.

All of her clothes you could wear today.

Claire made halter tops and wrap dresses and leotards and pants with big practical pockets.

Generally very cute, totally modern clothes that women would love to wear now.

But they were designed at a very different time.

Like, this is a designer who was born in 1905.

Claire grew up in an era when clothes were worn completely differently.

And sure, by the time Claire was studying at Parsons, it was the 1920s.