1900-1972
Popularized the Culotte: American Pacesetter in the World of High Fashion

Clothes-Conscious Mother.

Born Norman Levinson in Noblesville, Indiana, Norell learned about high fashion at an early age from his mother, who subscribed to French fashion magazines and dressed in avantgarde styles. He studied at the Parsons School of Design in New York City and later became a costume designer for Paramount. In 1928 Norell went to work for the legendary Hattie Carnegie, with whom he stayed until 1940, when he went out on his own.

High Fashion.

Norell was one of the few American dress designers considered to be an equal by many Parisian couturiers in the 1940s and 1950s, when Paris still ruled the fashion world. Considered the father of American high fashion (Hattie Carnegie was the mother), Norell created designs that were sophisticated, dramatic, and of the highest workmanship. He was the first to...