Eta Hentz
Eta Valer Hentz (1895–1986) was a Hungarian-American fashion designer active in the US from the 1920s to the 1940s. Mainly known as Madame Eta, she was particularly known for flattering ready-to-wear clothing inspired by Ancient Greece and the Middle Ages.
Born in Budapest, Hentz studied at the Hungarian Royal State Academy of Industrial Arts.[1] In 1923 she launched her career in New York, when she joined the high-end ready-to-wear wholesaler Maurice Rentner. Their label Ren-Eta, ran until the late 1940s.[2] In the late 1930s, Hentz and Ann Sadowsky launched their own company, for which Hentz produced her best-known work.[1] She was particularly known for a 1943 collection which used ancient Greek classical themes,[2] and other inspirations included Cape Cod and the Middle Ages for a Winter 1945 collection.[1]
She worked in the ready-to-wear industry, creating clothes that were inventive, chic and refined, and flattering, especially for more mature women.[1] Her work stood out from that of other American women designers for being more structured and decorative, more comparable to the work of American men designers.[2] She was known as the "museum designer" due to her work regularly drawing influence and inspiration from historical sources and museum objects.[2][3] She celebrated her 25th anniversary as a designer in July 1948, with an Autumn collection in shades of grey showing Victorian and Edwardian influences.[4]
Hentz had an ongoing association with Stephens College. In 1957, as a "leader of the fashion industry" she helped found a costume library and reference collection at the college,[3] and was part of the college's Fashion Advisory Board in 1967 along with Mary Brooks Picken, Adele Simpson, Vera Maxwell, Jo Copeland, Pauline Trigère, Sally Victor, and Helen Lee.[5] In April 1970, she was part of the judging panel for the college's student fashion show.[6]
She died in 1986. Her archives, covering the years 1933-1967 are held by the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Staff writer. "Dress by Mme. Eta Hentz, spring/summer 1944". www.metmuseum.org. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d Glier Reeder, Jan (2010). High style : masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 117–118, 126–127. ISBN 978-1588393623.
- ^ a b Staff writer (17 Dec 1957). "Costume Library Established at Stephens College". Santa Fe New Mexican. newspaperarchive.com. p. 7. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ Staff writer. "Celebrates 25th Anniversary". San Antonio Express. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ Staff writer (31 March 1963). "Clovis Student makes Stephen's Trip to New York City". Clovis News Journal. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ Novak, Linda (25 April 1970). "Susies Design, Model Clothes for 'Ups, Downs of Fashion.'". newspaperarchive.com. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ "Hentz, Eta, 1895-1986 - SPARC Connect". atom-sparc.fitnyc.edu. Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
