"It's Bill Blass" Fall 2003 advertising campaign
Photo features Lady Eloise Anson, shot by Richard Avedon
(Photo courtesy of Bill Blass)
Address:
BILL BLASS
550 7th Avenue
New York, NY 10018
Press Contact:
Tammie Rosen
DEBORAH HUGHES, INC.
Tel: 212-727-2220
Bill Blass: An American Designer
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Michael Vollbracht: "A True Renaissance Man"
NEW YORK, Jul 21, 2003/ FW/ --- Last week, when Bill Blass unveiled its Fall 2003 advertising
campaign, a new name surfaced on the list of credits - Michael Vollbracht, Artistic Director
for Bill Blass.
For Bill Blass fans across the country, Michael Vollbracht is known for the work he did
with Mr. Bill Blass from 1999 - 2002, the retrospective exhibition of Blass' career at
Indiana University's art museum in Bloomfield, Indiana, which opened in October 2002, and
the book "
Bill Blass: An American Designer."
To the fashion flock, he is known as the 1980 Designer of the Year Awardee of the
Coty American Fashion Critics Award and designer of the Michael V swimwear.
Considered a true Renaissance man, the multi-talented Mr. Vollbracht is a fashion designer,
a painter, an author and an illustrator.
Born in 1947 in Quincy, Illinois, Michael Vollbracht studied for three years at
the Parsons School of Design in New York, where his drawings and sketches quickly gained
notice.
In 1969, Geoffrey Beene selected him to become a member of his design team, where he became
an integral part of the house, and in 1970 was chosen to design Beene Bazaar.
In 1971, his talents were recognized by Donald Brooks, who hired him to work under his label
as the designer for Boutique Donald Brooks for two years.
Vollbracht joined Henri Bendel in 1973 as their in-house illustrator for the New York Times.
In 1975, he began working for Bloomingdale's where he illustrated the store's ads featured
in The New York Times and Vogue.
Vollbracht's modernistic works became internationally known, but it was his signature
illustration for a Bloomingdale's bag that caused the biggest sensation.
In 1979 Vollbracht launched the Michael Vollbracht collection. The collection, known for
its bold shapes and graphic prints, was sold across the country at boutiques and major
department stores, such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus.
In 1980, after just one year of business, Vollbracht received the prestigious Coty
American Fashion Critics Award, Designer of the Year.
Over the next five years, Vollbracht also designed Michael V swimwear for Sofere, Mike
Vollbracht Sports and Vollbracht Too for Manhattan Industries, as well as bed linens for
Burlington.
In 1985, Vollbracht wrote, illustrated and published, Nothing Sacred, now a collector's
item, a visual diary of his 25 years in New York City and the glamorous personalities he
interacted with from the worlds of fashion, stage and screen.
In that same year he closed the doors of his business to concentrate on his fashion
illustrations and art.
Vollbracht was selected in 1989 by The New Yorker as one of their top illustrators, producing
collages and drawings for them for over half a decade.
Michael Vollbracht is a true Renaissance man: a fashion designer, a painter, an author and
an illustrator.
His illustrations are internationally known and his artwork is included in many private
collections, among them former President Gerald Ford, Diane von Furstenberg and Elizabeth Taylor.
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