Jeffrey Banks

This article is about the American fashion designer. For the Welsh fashion designer, see Jeff Banks.

Jeffrey Banks
Born (1955-11-03) 3 November 1955 (age 69)[1]
Washington D.C.
NationalityAmerican

Jeffrey Banks (born November 3, 1955) is an American fashion designer and author, who has been described as a major black fashion maker.[2][3]

Early life

Banks worked as a design assistant to Ralph Lauren (1971 to 1973) and Calvin Klein (1973 to 1976).[2] He has claimed credit for Klein's logo garments, stating that he had the logo from a press folder silkscreened onto the sleeve of a brown T-shirt as a present for Klein.[4] The gift was assumed by Barry K. Schwartz to be part of the upcoming line, and similar shirts formed the uniform for the front-of-house staff at Klein's next catwalk show, leading to the buyers asking to purchase them.[4]

Career

After leaving Calvin Klein, Banks launched his own-name label in New York City in 1977, according to his official website,[5] although some sources state 1978.[2] By 1996, suits, shirts, eyewear and accessories from Jeffrey Banks Ltd. and Jeffrey Banks International were being sold worldwide with sales of about $20 million.[6]

Author

As an author, Jeffrey Banks has co-authored three fashion books with Doria de La Chapelle for Rizzoli, including a 2007 book on tartan,[7] a 2011 book on the preppy style,[8] and a 2015 book on the milliner Patricia Underwood.[9] The second book led to Banks and de La Chapelle collaborating with Erica Lennard on Perry Ellis: An American Original, the first in-depth monograph on Banks's former friend and colleague, the designer Perry Ellis, published in 2013.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ Martin, Richard; Diana Idzelis. "Jeffrey Banks - Fashion Designer Encyclopedia". Fashion Encyclopaedia. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Carney Smith, Jessie (2006). Encyclopedia of African American Business, Volume 1, A - J. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press. pp. 293–294. ISBN 0313331103. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  3. ^ Deleon, Jian (February 28, 2020). "The Influential Black Fashion Designers You Should Know". Complex. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  4. ^ a b Manlow, Veronica (2009). Designing clothes : culture and organization of the fashion industry (1st pbk. ed.). New Brunswick, [N.J.]: Transaction Pub. p. 99. ISBN 9781412810555.
  5. ^ "About Jeffrey Banks". Jeffrey Banks. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  6. ^ Gites, Lloyd (June 1997). "Breaking into the Fashion Biz". Black Enterprise: 277.
  7. ^ Banks, Jeffrey; de la Chapelle, Doria (2007). Tartan: Romancing The Plaid. Rizzoli. ISBN 978-0847829828.
  8. ^ Banks, Jeffrey; Chapelle, Doria de la (2011). Preppy : cultivating Ivy style. New York: Rizzoli. ISBN 978-0847836611.
  9. ^ "Patricia Underwood: The Way You Wear Your Hat". Rizzoli New York. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  10. ^ McDermott, Emily (21 October 2013). "Perry Ellis and American Prep". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  11. ^ Banks, Jeffrey; Lennard, Erica; de la Chapelle, Doria (2013). Perry Ellis : an American original. Rizzoli. ISBN 978-0847840700.