The Hollywood Reporter Remembers Irene Lentz

Fashion Designer Irene Lentz is featured this week in The Hollywood Reporter

If you are a regular reader of  The Recessionista,  then you know that I think fashion designer Irene Lentz was very special.  Not just because of the quality of her work  but for her achievement in starting her own fashion line during the 1930s. She carried on her work in fashion until her death in the early 1960s.   Irene costumed some of the biggest stars in Hollywood like  Vivien Leigh Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard and Doris Day. Known simply as “Irene”, Irene Lentz was MGM’s studios head of costume design in the 1940s.  After leaving MGM, she founded her own fashion line and sold that line in 20 of the biggest department stores in America in the 1950s.  Unfortunately, despite her achievements  Irene is not a name remembered in fashion like Chanel or Christian Dior.  That’s why it’s so exciting to see a feature article on Irene Lentz in this week’s issue of  The Hollywood Reporter.  Run, don’t walk, to pick up this great story on Irene.  As far as I’m concerned she was not only a fashion genius, but a marketing genius. I am so glad to be featured in this piece by Elizabeth Snead along with designer Greg LaVoi who is revitalizing the Irene fashion line.   Irene is gone, but not forgotten.   Anna Wintour & Grace Coddington, you’ve been scooped! Pick up The Hollywood Reporter to find out how Irene Lentz’s California Couture is coming back in vogue.