Bill Blass, the American designer who built a multimillion-dollar business on understated clothes and a keen perception of the taste of upper-income American woman, died Wednesday night at his home in New Preston, Conn. He was 79.
The cause was cancer, said Helen O’Hagan, a longtime friend.
Mr. Blass was the first to say that he was the kind of designer who was rediscovered every few years, but although his star burned more brightly in some seasons than in others, he remained at the forefront of fashion for more than three decades. His designs, blending classic and current fashions, were conservative but not dull.
Ellin Saltzman, a former senior vice president and fashion director of Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman, said: “He made sportswear couture. He took American sportswear to its highest level and combined it with sexy menswear touches, giving it new, clean, modern, impeccable style. He, probably better than any other designer, knew his customer and understood her.
“He was generous in spirit and action–a loving, loyal friend and a fantastic companion.”
Bill Blass clothes had a jazzy sportswear look, blending masculine elements such as pinstripes and gray flannel with ultra-feminine sequins and fur. He loved the racy elegance of the 1930s–the era of Carole Lombard and of Cole Porter, who, like Blass, hailed from Indiana–and it often showed in his fashion.
William Ralph Blass was born in Ft. Wayne, Ind., on June 22, 1922. As a youngster, breathing in the glamour of Marlene Dietrich and Lombard at Saturday movie matinees, he had no doubt that he was destined for a bigger landscape than his home state.
“Those women inspired me, and I had to get out,” he said years later.
The opportunity to leave Indiana came after graduation from South Side High School, when he won second prize in a design contest sponsored by the Chicago Tribune. He came to New York in the summer of 1940, studied for a short time at the McDowell School of Fashion, and went to work as a $35-a-week sketch artist for David Crystal, a manufacturer of moderate-priced clothes on Seventh Avenue.
In 1943, he enlisted in the Army, landing in France about a month after D-Day. While in the Army, Mr. Blass acquired the polish of a slight British accent.
He returned to New York after the war and joined Anne Klein as an assistant. But he was soon dismissed.
“She said I had good manners but no talent,” Mr. Blass once recalled, gleefully. He then landed a job as a low man on the totem pole at a manufacturer named Anna Miller.
When Miller retired in 1959, her business was merged with that of her brother, Maurice Rentner, then a well-regarded fashion house.
As Mr. Blass’ designs gradually became recognized, he became an influence in the business, and when Rentner died, in 1960, he got his name on the label. In 1970, he bought out the Rentner firm and changed the name to Bill Blass Ltd.
