Claire McCardell (May 24, 1905 – March 22, 1958) was an American fashion designer of ready-to-wear clothing in the twentieth century. She is credited with the creation of American sportswear. BiographyClaire McCardell was the eldest of four children born to Eleanor and Adrian McCardell in Frederick, Maryland. Adrian was a Maryland state senator and president of the Frederick County National Bank. As a child, McCardell earned the nickname "Kick" for her ability to keep the boys from pushing her around. Fascinated by fashion from a young age, McCardell wanted to move to New York City to study fashion design at age 16. Unwilling to send a teenager so far away, McCardell's father convinced her to enroll in the home economics program at Hood College instead. After two years of study in Maryland, McCardell moved to New York and enrolled in Parsons (then known as the New York School of Fine and Applied Art). In 1927, McCardell went to Paris, continuing her studies at the Parsons branch school at the Place des Vosges. In Paris, McCardell and her classmates were able to purchases samples by couturiers such as Madeleine Vionnet that they took apart in order to study their structure. McCardell graduated from Parsons with a certificate in costume design in 1923. After graduation, she worked odd jobs sketching at a fashionable dress shop, painting flowers on paper lamp shades, and acting as a fit model for B. Altman. Then she met designer Robert Turk. Late in 1930, McCardell began working as an assistant designer for Robert Turk. Soon afterward, Turk moved to a larger company, Townley Frocks, and brought McCardell with him. In 1932, Robert Turk drowned in a boating accident and Claire was asked to finish his fall line. The 27-year-old Claire McCardell, now chief designer of Townley Frocks, soon traveled to Paris for inspiration, as did most American designers. Not interested in copying European high fashion, McCardell searched for inspiration in art and street fashion. During the 1930s, she began to show innovations such as sashes, spaghetti string ties, and the use of menswear details that would become part of her design signature. In 1938, she modernized the dirndl. She also pioneered matching separates. After the closure of Townley Frocks, Hattie Carnegie hired McCardell to work for her famed dressmaking firm, but her designs were not successful with Carnegie's clients, who were in search of more elaborate merchandise. While working for Hattie Carnegie, McCardell met Diana Vreeland (then at Harper's Bazaar). She would become McCardell's lifelong friend and champion. In 1940, just before leaving Carnegie, McCardell attended her last Parisian fashion show, preferring from then on to avoid any French influence on her clothing. Townley Frocks reopened in 1940 under new management and McCardell returned to the brand. The company's labels then read, "Claire McCardell Clothes by Townley", making her one of the first American designers to have name recognition. World War II cut American designers off from European inspiration and limited the availability of some materials. McCardell flourished under these restrictions. Although many designers considered them too basic, McCardell already worked with fabrics such as denim, calico, and wool jersey that were easily available during the war. In 1941, McCardell produced a line of separates that made nine outfits from five pieces. The pieces included a taffeta skirt, a jersey top, and a jersey jacket. That same year, she showed her first "Kitchen Dinner Dress". Made of cotton, the "Kitchen Dinner Dress" had a full skirt with an attached apron. In 1938, Claire McCardell introduced the Monastic Dress, a bias-cut tentlike dress. It had no seamed waist and hung loosely, but with a versatile belt it could be adapted to hug a woman's curves gracefully. Best & Co. exclusively sold the dress for $29.95 and it sold out in a day. The "Monastic Dress" was widely copied and the cost of trying to stop knock-offs drove Townley Frocks out of business. In 1942, McCardell created her famed "Popover Dress". It was a response to a Harper's Bazaar challenge to create something fashionable one could wear to clean the house and then, wear to a cocktail party. The simple grey dress came with a matching potholder that fit into the dress pocket. The "Popover Dress" sold for $6.95 and more than 75,000 were sold in the first season alone. These dresses became a staple of McCardell collections and over time, she made versions in different lengths and fabrics. The "Popover Dress" received a citation from the American Fashion Critics Association and in 1943, McCardell won a Coty Award. In 1943, Claire McCardell married the Texas-born architect, Irving Drought Harris, who had two children by an earlier marriage, and established a home base in Manhattan. In 1944, McCardell popularized the ballet flat when, responding to the shortage of leather, McCardell commissioned Capezio Ballet Makers Inc., an American manufacturer of dance shoes, apparel and accessories to produce a range of ballet flats to match her designs. When the government announced a surplus of weather balloon cotton materials in 1944, McCardell quickly bought them up, using them to design clothes that patriotic American women wore with pride. Beginning in 1945, McCardell was featured as an "American Look" designer by Lord & Taylor's department store. In 1946, McCardell won the Best Sportswear Designer Award and in 1948 she won the Neiman-Marcus Award. As McCardell's fame grew, her influence within Townley Frocks also rose. In 1952, she became a partner in the company. After the war, McCardell worked as a volunteer critic in the fashion design department at Parsons. In 1950, President Harry S. Truman, the first lady Bess Truman, and their daughter Margaret Truman presented McCardell with a Woman of the Year Award from the Women's National Press Club. This was the award McCardell cherished most. In April 1953, the Frank Perls Gallery in Beverly Hills launched a retrospective exhibition of twenty years of McCardell's garments. The exhibit included the "Monastic Dress", the "Diaper Bathing Suit", Capezio ballet flats, and work-wear-inspired pieces with rivets. In his introduction to the exhibit, retailer Stanley Marcus wrote, "...she is one of the truly creative designers this country has produced... She is to America what Vionnet was to France." In 1954, she worked on an advisory panel formed by Time Inc. to create a new magazine that would become Sports Illustrated. A book entitled What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion was published in 1957 under McCardell's name. McCardell’s life and work were cut short by a diagnosis of terminal colon cancer in 1957. With the help of long-time friend and classmate, Mildred Orrick, McCardell completed her final collection from her hospital bed. She checked out of the hospital in order to make the introductions for her final runway show. McCardell died on March 22, 1958 at the age of 52. She is buried in the family plot at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Frederick, Maryland. After her death, McCardell's family decided to close the label. Her brother explained, "It wasn't that difficult [to close the label]. Claire's ideas were always her own." In 1981, Lord & Taylor re-issued the "Popover Dress" as part of a McCardell retrospective at their Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan. Versions of the "Popover Dress" are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Museum at F.I.T. Versions of the "Monastic Dress" are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and LACMA. In 1990, Life named McCardell one of the 100 most important Americans of the twentieth century. A year later, she was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame. In 1998, forty years after her death, three separate retrospectives of Claire McCardell's work were staged at Metropolitan Museum of Art, F.I.T., and the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore. Fashion designers such as Isaac Mizrahi, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Norma Kamali, and Cynthia Rowley all have been influenced by McCardell. Anna Sui's line of spring-summer 1999 was directly inspired by her work. Of McCardell's work Anna Sui said, "What I truly appreciate was her fabric sensibility, even with more constructed fabrics like denim. She made them all look so soft and drapy. The halters she did were so modern. The thing is, you look at some of the things she did, and you can't believe it was the 40s.'' In 2019, the Frederick Art Club launched the Claire McCardell Project to underwrite the creation and installation of a larger-than-life bronze statue of McCardell in her hometown of Frederick, Maryland. The club commissioned award-winning sculptor Sarah Hempel Irani for this monumental task and, thanks to community support, reached its fundraising goal in less than two years. In October 2021, the statue will be placed on a granite pedestal in an elegant garden setting in Frederick’s Carroll Creek Park. Further interestArticles in English: Audios in English:
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ProfileYon González Luna (born 20 May 1986) is a Spanish actor. He is probably best known for his performance as Iván Noiret León in the Antena 3 series The Boarding School (El internado), as well as for his role of Julio Olmedo/Espinosa in the television series Gran Hotel and for that of Francisco Gómez in the Netflix series Cable Girls. Yon González Luna (Vergara, Guipúzcoa, 20 de mayo de 1986) es un actor español, hermano del también actor Aitor Luna. Después de su paso por SMS (La Sexta) en el personaje de Andrés, Yon González saltó a la fama por su aparición en El internado como Iván Noiret. BiographyGonzález was born in Bergara, Gipuzkoa, and is fluent in Spanish and Basque. González cites Juan Diego, Jordi Mollà and Luis Tosar as his role models. Yon González began his acting career in the LaSexta series SMS in 2006. He then went on to star in the Antena 3 series The Boarding School (El internado) from 2007 to 2010 which brought him wider popularity. González's performance as Iván Noiret León earned him an ACE Award for Best New Actor in 2010, as well as a Golden Nymph for Best Actor – Drama nomination at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival 2009. In 2010, González portrayed Constantine II of Greece in Sofía, a television miniseries based on the life of Queen Sofía of Spain. In 2011, González worked primarily in television, appearing in Gran Reserva, which stars his older brother Aitor González Luna, who is also an actor, probably best known for his role in Paco's Men (Los hombres de Paco) and Enemigo Intimo. And again in 2011, González starred in Gran Hotel (Gran hotel). Gran Hotel (Gran hotel), in which he starred opposite his SMS fellow actress Amaia Salamanca, won him the Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Television Actor. That same year he was also ranked sixth in 20 minutos' list of sexiest Spanish actors. During the 2015-2016 he starred in two seasons drama series, Bajo Sospecha as the main protagonist, Victor. In that year, he also starred in a thriller movie together with his brother, Aitor Luna in Killing Time (Matar El Tiempo) with the role as Boris. In 2017-2020 he played the role as Francisco Gómez on Netflix original series, Cable Girls (Las Chicas del Cable). He is also the main protagonist on Los Herederos de la Tierra as Hugo Llor. The series - based on a historical fiction written by Ildefonso Falcones, is planned to be aired on Netflix late in 2021. Besides being actor, González is also a model. In 2007, González modeled for David Delfín at the Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week. He also covered numerous magazines, such as Vanity Fair, Glamour, Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan, either alone or with his The Boarding School fellows. In 2020, he worked on promoting Dolce & Gabbana's latest perfume, K and campaigned it on his Instagram account. He is also involved in charity. In 2007, along with Martiño Rivas and Marta Torné, González supported the ONG Childhood Without Limits Foundation. BiografíaMientras aún estaba estudiando el bachillerato en la localidad de Mondragón decidió trasladarse a Madrid para trabajar en televisión.Su debut interpretativo tuvo lugar en la serie juvenil diaria SMS, en 2006.
Finalizada la serie, se incorporó al elenco de El internado para dar vida a Iván Noiret durante las siete temporadas que duró la ficción. Su papel le llevó a ser nominado en el Festival de Televisión de Montecarlo en su 49º edición en la categoría de mejor actor de drama y a ser galardonado por la Asociación de Cronistas de Espectáculos de Nueva York como mejor actor revelación.3 En 2009 debutó en la gran pantalla participando en las películas Rabia y Mentiras y gordas. En 2011 retomó su carrera televisiva, pues Manuel Hernández en la serie Gran Reserva, donde compartió reparto con su hermano Aitor Luna. También fue Julio Olmedo en Gran Hotel, serie que se prolongó durante tres temporadas hasta concluir en el primer trimestre del año 2013. En 2015, estrenó Bajo sospecha, una serie donde interpreta el papel de un policía infiltrado. Además, también estrenó dos películas: la comedia Perdiendo el norte junto a Blanca Suárez; y Matar el tiempo, una película de suspenso junto a su hermano Aitor Luna. En 2017-2020 fue el protagonista Francisco Gómez de Las chicas del cable, compartiendo reparto con Ana Fernández, Maggie Civantos, Ana Polvorosa y Blanca Suárez. Tamara Rojo CBE (born 17 May 1974) is a Spanish ballet dancer. She is English National Ballet's artistic director and a lead principal dancer with the company. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. Tamara Rojo CBE (Montreal, Canadá, 17 de mayo de 1974) es una bailarina y directora de ballet española. En la actualidad es directora artística del English National Ballet en Londres. Anteriormente fue bailarina principal de The Royal Ballet. En enero de 2016 Tamara Rojo se doctoró ‘cum laude’ en la URJC. BiographyTamara Rojo was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Spanish parents who returned with her to Spain when she was 4 months old. At the age of 5 she began dance classes in Madrid and became a full-time student age 11 at Madrid's Royal Professional Conservatory of Dance. Though her parents were pleased at her developing balletic talent, they insisted Rojo also complete an academic education through evening classes she could attend after studio rehearsals. Having graduated from the Conservatory at 16, she completed her secondary studies over the next two years. She went on to complete further degrees including a bachelor of dance, master of scenic arts and a PhD in performing arts, becoming DA magna cum laude in 2016 from King Juan Carlos University. Tamara Rojo began her professional career in 1991 with the Ballet de la Comunidad de Madrid, under the direction of Víctor Ullate. In 1994, she won Gold Medal at the Paris International Dance competition, together with a Special Jury Award from a panel including Natalia Makarova, Galina Samsova and Vladimir Vasiliev, three outstanding figures in the ballet world at that time. In 1996 Galina Samsova, artistic director of Scottish Ballet, invited Rojo to join the company. There she performed principal roles in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, La Sylphide and Cranko's Romeo and Juliet. Derek Deane, then English National Ballet artistic director, asked her to join ENB the following year. For her he created the roles of Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" and Clara in "The Nutcracker" for which The Times named Rojo "Dance Revelation of the Year" in 1997. She also danced principal roles in Swan Lake, Paquita, Coppelia and Glen Tetley's The Sphinx. Rojo approached Royal Ballet director Anthony Dowell in 2000 with a view to joining the company. Over the next 12 years, she performed major roles in most of the company's repertoire including ballets choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan and Frederick Ashton, Dowell's Swan Lake, Makarova's La Bayadere, Rudolph Nureyev's Don Quixote, and Peter Wright 's The Nutcracker. She danced in the world premiere of Snow White, created for her by choreographer Ricardo Cué. The title role in Isadora was recreated for her by MacMillan's widow, the artist and set designer Deborah MacMillan, custodian of the late choreographer's ballets. In 2000, Rojo was asked at short notice to replace the injured Royal Ballet principal Darcey Bussell in the title role in Giselle. Ignoring her own sprained ankle, Rojo learned the role in a fortnight and went on to receive rave reviews. In 2002, while dancing Clara in Nutcracker, Rojo began to tremble on stage. Sent to a private hospital after the performance, she learned her appendix had burst and was told to take six weeks off. However, she resumed dancing after only two, relapsed and returned to hospital. Rojo admitted some years later it was "completely wrong and I do not feel that anyone should do this. It really is not worth it." In 2003, while preparing for the Royal Ballet's Australian tour, Rojo suffered an infected bunion so serious that her foot swelled to the size of a tennis ball. Doctors recommended surgery on her foot, a potentially career-ending operation. Months later, after countless hours of rehabilitation, she resumed dancing and said the injury changed her perspective on life, her body and dance. She felt that she valued each and every day more and learned that nothing in life should be taken for granted. After this experience, she and her father developed a device to stretch pointe shoes in order to reduce pressure on bunions, and formed a company in 2017 to market it. In April 2012 it was announced that Rojo would become the artistic director of English National Ballet. Under her direction the English National Ballet, for the first time in history, was invited to dance from 21 to 25 June 2016 at the Paris Opera Palais Garnier, the most famous ballets in its repertoire: Marius Petipa and Konstantin Sergeyev's version of Le Corsaire in a revival by Anna-Marie Holmes. In 2014, she presented a documentary entitled Good Swan, Bad Swan: Dancing Swan Lake for the BBC and she followed up with Giselle: Belle of the Ballet in 2017, which included the history of the both the original production and the new ballet created for the ENB by Akram Khan. She had commissioned Khan to re-imagine the story: Khan went on to win the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards 2017 for Best Classical Choreography and Alina Cojocaru won Outstanding Female Performance (Classical) as Giselle, and the company as a whole won an Olivier Award for Outstanding achievement in dance. Rojo is set to make her choreographic debut with a Florence Nightingale-inspired version of Raymonda, set during the Crimean War. It is scheduled to premiere in January 2021, but the pandemic has postponed it. BiografiaNació en la ciudad canadiense de Montreal donde residían sus padres, ambos de nacionalidad española. Cuando Tamara cumplió cuatro meses se trasladaron a España. Se inició en el Centro de Danza Víctor Ullate (1983-1991), completando su formación con David Howard y Renatto Paroni. Tras formar parte de la Compañía de Ullate (1991-1996), Galina Samsova la invitó a bailar en el Scottish Ballet (1996-1997). Con esta compañía interpretó, entre otras obras, El lago de los cisnes, El Cascanueces, Romeo y Julieta y La sylphide. Doctora con sobresaliente ‘cum laude’ en el Instituto Superior de Danza Alicia Alonso de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos con la tesis: Perfil Psicológico de un Bailarín de alto nivel. Rasgos vocacionales del bailarín profesional. Anteriormente obtuvo el Máster en Artes Escénicas por la URJC.
Con 25 años fue bailarina principal en el English National Ballet (Ballet Nacional de Inglaterra) (1997-2000), categoría con la que se incorporó al The Royal Ballet de Londres, invitada por Anthony Dowell en julio de 2000. Ha actuado, como artista invitada, entre otras compañías de ballet, con: el Ballet Mariinski, el ballet del Teatro de La Scala de Milán, el Tokyo Ballet, el ballet del Teatro Mijáilovski de San Petersbugo, el Ballet de la Ópera de Niza, el Arena de Verona, el Ballet Nacional de Cuba y el Ballet de la Ópera de Berlín y ha participado en numerosas galas de ámbito internacional. Directora del English National Ballet a partir de septiembre de 2012, se comprometió a mantener los clásicos relevantes y renovados, lo que le encaminó a ofrecer al galardonado coreógrafo Akram Khan el desafío creativo de crear una nueva versión del ballet clásico Giselle. Bajo la dirección de Tamara Rojo, el English National Ballet fue invitado, por primera vez en la historia, a bailar del 21 al 25 de junio de 2016 en la Ópera de París Palais Garnier: Le Corsaire, de Marius Petipa y Konstantín Serguéiev, en la renovada versión de Anna-Marie Holmes. En 2016 Rojo invitó al coreógrafo Akram Khan a recrear una nueva versión del icónico ballet romántico Giselle resultando un destacado éxito. La pandemia de la COVID-19 retrasó el estreno de una renovada versión coreografiada por Tamara Rojo del ballet clásico Raymonda, inspirado en el espíritu revolucionario de la enfermera Florence Nighting para situar la escena en la Guerra de Crimea en 1854. |
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