Avery Trufelman

Like, they kind of went to Paris as World War II was breaking out.

Everyone was taking World War II very lightly.

An attache at the French embassy speculated, the Germans will attack this spring and be stopped.

Then the Hitler machine will collapse.

And a number of society ladies and designers and editors from American fashion magazines were like, we have to go to Europe and support the couture this season anyway.

Claire's parents were understandably also worried that their daughter was walking into World War II.

Claire wrote, So, la-di-da, Claire went to France and ended up spending 24 hours without water, food, or sleep.

There were gas masks in the coat room at Maxim's.

She wrote, there are no bombs, no actual fighting at the front, but there is a sickness that is much worse than the war.

It's the change, the end of something, and not knowing what it will be after.

The center of global fashion disappeared.

Among all the many more immediate and dire concerns of war,

All the New York fashion designers had no idea where they were going to get next season's designs.

Where's the pipeline of ideas going to come?

You can hear Claire's brain start to churn with new ideas.

Can you read that top one?

As World War II would go on, Claire would design civil defense uniforms.

There was no way Claire would stay working for the society lady, Hattie Carnegie.

At the age of 35.

Claire McArdle was the first designer to get her name on a 7th Avenue manufacturer's label.