collection SC.40 - Sophie of Saks Fifth Avenue sketches

Sophie Gimbel, more well-known as Sophie of Saks, was born Sophie Hass in 1898 in Houston, Texas. She attended Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. In the late 1920s she moved to New York and was hired as a stylist at Saks Fifth Avenue. Shortly thereafter she was asked to re-vamp their foundering custom-order Salon Moderne. She was successful in this endeavor, as well as with her line of ready-to-wear, Sophie Originals. In 1931 she married Adam Gimbel who was president of Saks Fifth Avenue from 1926 to 1969. Sophie did not sketch her designs, rather, she used sketchers to assist with visualizing her ideas, or purchased designs from other designers and modified them. She enjoyed significant success, particularly in the 1940s, and her designs were noted for their elegance. Her clientele included Claudette Colbert, Rose Kennedy, and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson who wore a red coat and dress designed by Sophie Gimbel to her husband's inauguration in 1965. Sophie Gimbel retired in 1969 and passed away in 1981.