Chester Weinberg publicity scrapbook and sketch
Online Access
Available digital items: https://digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/collections/KA004601
Abstract
Chester Weinberg (1931-1985) graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1951 and served as visiting lecturer on fashion design there from 1955 to 1985. Weinberg established his own label in 1966. He later became a consultant and was named design director of Calvin Klein jeans in 1981. The collection contains a scrapbook of news clippings, fashion print ads, and photographs mainly chronicling Weinberg’s work from 1966 to 1975.
Dates
- 1953 - 1975
- Majority of material found within 1966 - 1975
Creator
- Weinberg, Chester (Person)
Extent
1.8 Linear Feet (1 scrapbook)
0.7 Cubic Feet (1 scrapbook)
Language of Materials
English
Scope and Contents of Collection
The scrapbook contents, predominantly newspaper and magazine articles and advertisements, cover Chester Weinberg's career through 1975, and primarily document the period when he was designing under the Chester Weinberg Ltd. label (1966-1975). It does not document Weinberg's years of affiliation with the Jones Apparel Group or Calvin Klein, nor does it cover his education at Parsons School of Design, with the exception of one photograph.
Tear sheets are predominantly from Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and Cue magazines, and feature photographs by Richard Avedon, Hiro, and other notable editorial photographers of the 1960s and 1970s. Additional scrapbook materials include Weinberg's 1954 buyer's card for the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne as a representative of Leonard Arkin; an invitation to Weinberg's Fall 1966 collection showing; 1968 National Cotton Council of America fashion show ephemera; and a small amount of correspondence.
The scrapbook has been dismantled, and newsprint articles are housed separately from other materials to prevent discoloration. A preservation photocopy of the complete scrapbook was created by the Kellen Design Archives prior to the dismantling, showing the original page order and layout. All non-newsprint materials have been retained, as have newsprint materials featuring color printing.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research use. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment.
Use Restrictions
To publish images of material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from the New School Archives. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.
Biographical note
Chester Weinberg was born in New York City in 1930. He attended the Brooklyn High School for Music and Art and later attended Parsons School of Design, where he graduated with honors in 1951. At the time he was alleged to be the youngest Parsons fashion graduate. Weinberg also received a B.S. in art education from New York University.
After graduation, Weinberg went on to work anonymously as an assistant designer for several manufacturers. From 1951 until 1954, he served as assisant designer to the designer and manufacturer Leonard Arkin, a company "specializ[ing] in interpretations of Paris originals for the moderate to bridge market" (Vintage Fashion Guild website). Weinberg then designed for Copeland-Patullo Modes and Harvey Berin. In the early 1960s, Weinberg designed for Herbert Sondheim and Teal Traina.
In 1966, Weinberg partnered with manufacturers Paul and Edward Parnes to open his own firm. The collaboration proved successful and Weinberg received great notoriety for his designs, appealing to the young social elite in New York, including Mrs. Samuel Peabody (Judith Anne Walker), Mrs. Henry Fonda (Shirlee Mae Adams), and Mrs. Carter Burden (Amanda Jay Mortimer). Two years after opening his own company, Weinberg earned the Cotton Council Fashion Award, followed by the Gold Coast Award in 1968. In 1970, he received the Coty American Fashion Critics award, followed by the Maison Blanche "Rex" award in 1972.
After Weinberg's company folded in 1975, he designed for the Jones Apparel Group until 1978, when he began designing for Calvin Klein, first as a consultant and later as Calvin Klein Jeans design director.
Chester Weinberg frequently taught at the Art Institute of Chicago, and for the duration of his career served as a visiting critic and lecturer at Parsons School of Design. He also served on the Parsons Board of Overseers. Among the many students who worked under Weinberg's guidance are Marc Jacobs, Isaac Mizrahi, Charlotte Neuville, and Peter Speliopoulos. The Chester A. Weinberg Memorial Scholarship Fund at Parsons School of Design was established after his death, in 1985.
Selected Sources:
Bender, Marylin. "Designers About Town." The New York Times, May 24, 1966.
Editorial, "S.A. Newest Entry." Women's Wear Daily, May 17, 1966.
"Leonard Arkin," on Vintage Fashion Guild website. Accessed October 13, 2011. http://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/arkin-leonard/.
O'Neill, Dorothy. "Fashions: Young Designers Wind Early Acclaim." The New York Times, November 15, 1953.
Reisman, Jessica. Contemporary Fashion. Ed. Taylor Benbow-Pfalzgraf (Farmington Hills, MI: St. James Press, 2002).
Organization and Arrangement
The photocopied pages are arranged in the order of the original scrapbook. Scrapbook contents are arranged in the order in which they appeared in the scrapbook.
- Clippings (information artifacts) (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Clothing and dress -- United States (Subject) (Places) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Fashion design (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Fashion designers (Occupation) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Scrapbooks (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Women's clothing (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the Chester Weinberg publicity scrapbook and sketch
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- New School Archives and Special Collections Staff
- Date
- December 19, 2011
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English