Norman Norell

Norman Norell was born Norman Levinson in Noblesville, Indiana, in 1900. In 1918, he entered the Parsons School of Design in New York, but returned home after a year to open a dress fabric shop. He returned to New York in 1920 to study design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. In 1922, he started work at the New York studio of Paramount Pictures, designing clothes for silent movie stars; he later designed clothing for Broadway.

Norman Norell worked for a variety of dress manufacturers, including Brooks Costume Company, Charles Armour, and Hattie Carnegie. In 1941, Anthony Traina invited him to form Traina-Norell, with Traina as the businessman and Norell as the designer. In 1960, Norman Norell opened his own company. He was considered one of the foremost American designers, on a par with the French couturiers. He is best remembered for his sequin-covered sheath dresses. Norman Norell died in 1972.