Search “Renée Firestone” on the internet and you will find a plethora of entries about a remarkable woman, one of the earliest Holocaust survivors dedicated to bearing witness to the horrors of the Nazi genocide, determined to deter such atrocities from happening again. In this literature you may see a passing reference to the fact that after Renée was liberated from Auschwitz at the end of World War II she came to the United States with her husband and new baby, ultimately locating in Los Angeles in1949 where she became a fashion designer. “I started a business and was very successful” is the extent of how she mentions it in one interview; “I had a glamorous life” is all she says about her career in her Shoah Foundation testimony.
What Renée does not say is that she was one of the leading designers of mid-twentieth century California fashion. Working on her own and with others, including friend Rudi Gernreich in the 1950’s and then starting her own line in 1961, Renée brought a new sensibility to women’s wear that emphasized sophisticated, yet functional style with an eye to vivid colors, new fabrics and personal expression that was heralded as the “new wave in fashion”.
Her designs were part of the 1960s fashion movement considered radical for rejecting the structured, restrictive silhouettes of the past, freeing women from traditional societal dictates regarding what was appropriate and attractive women’s wear. The new look was more comfortable, versatile, and personally expressive. Colors, forms, and patterns could be bold, skirts could be mini, and pants could be …worn in public! Women’s fashion choices during this period became statements of individuality and independence, reflecting the period’s changing social mores.
Renée’s designs reflected this cultural shift and helped spur the transformation. Described as “fashion bravura” by one commentator, her garments were immediately popular: they were carried in major stores and stylish boutiques across the country, used to advertise popular cosmetics, and featured in television sit-coms about young, hip women in the modern age. The look was high fashion, a bit avant-garde, but at the same time practical, comfortable, and still relatively affordable.
Regularly referred to as one of the top California designers of the day, Renée won accolades, was covered in major publications, and taught fashion design at UCLA. She was a woman who ran her own business in a business world dominated by men. It is not surprising that among her best customers and closest friends was another pioneering woman of Los Angeles contemporary design - Rita Lawrence, the founder of Architectural Pottery. Known for her own sense of personal style and contributions to modern design, Rita’s wardrobe was full of Renée Firestone pieces, many of which she kept and wore throughout her life.
Renée was teaching at UCLA In 1977 when she was asked to speak publically about her concentration camp experience. She soon found this to be her new calling and by the early 1980s she had effectively left the fashion industry to become a full time advocate for Holocaust remembrance and social justice. As one of the first to embark on this mission, her work in this area has created an important legacy. For more than 30 years she has traveled the world as a speaker and educator, she has testified before Congress, been featured in movies, television and publications, met heads of state, presented honors at the Kennedy Center, been integrally involved at the Museum of Tolerance, the Shoah Foundation and the national Holocaust Museum. To this day, at age 91, Renée continues this work, her “new career”, as strong, vivacious and charming as ever.
Renée’s reputation as a Holocaust survivor and advocate has now eclipsed her renown as a fashion designer however, befitting a person whose very name means rebirth, there is now a renewed interest in Renée’s earlier work as a designer.
In 2014, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) was introduced to Renée’s work through Rita’s collection and in June 2015, LACMA officially acquired seven of these garments which now reside in its permanent Costume and Textiles Collection. The addition of these pieces expands the museum’s representation of California modern fashion, recognizing Renée’s contribution along side other esteemed designers of the period including Rudi Gernreich, Margit Fellegi for Cole of California, and Addie Masters.
The LACMA acquisition follows the inclusion of Renee’s design work in a 2012 exhibition at the Autry Museum entitled California’s Designing Women 1896- 1986. Curated by the Museum of California Design, the show featured Renée among the artists selected as “female designers who made major contributions to Californian and American design by incorporating into their work the newest styles, materials, and technologies of their time—often influenced by California’s unique confluence of cultures…”. One of her dresses from Rita Lawrence’s collection was on display.
The recognition of Renée’s role as an important California designer and inclusion of her work as noteworthy examples of midcentury fashion in these institutions saves her work from becoming lost to history and allows Renée’s creative talents to be appreciated in her lifetime. It validates her friend Rita Lawrence’s belief in “the truly innovative quality of her designs and …the rather strong influence she has in the field and the very real way these influences have sifted down to the mass market.”
Renée calls it a miracle that her fashion career is now being acknowledged in museums, but it is really only right to honor her in this way. It is truly remarkable that from such a horrific experience in her early life, Renée not only survived but went on to create beautiful, elegant, carefree, exuberant garments for the modern woman. It was, in fact, her expression of personal freedom, innovation, and confidence in the future that so captured the spirit of the times.
