{{Short description|American fashion businessman}} '''Ben Reig''' (d.1968) was an American fashion businessman who ran his eponymous New York company from 1929 to 1968. The company closed in 1973.
The Ben Reig company was founded in 1929.<ref name=crm>{{cite book |last1=Milbank |first1=Caroline Rennolds |title=New York Fashion: The Evolution of American Style |date=1989 |publisher=Abrams |isbn=978-0-8109-1388-2 |pages=163; 231 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2y1AAAAIAAJ |language=en}}</ref> Reig employed various designers to head it up, most notably being the Hollywood costume designer Omar Kiam from 1941 to 1954.<ref name=jw/> In 1946, Kiam won the Coty Award for his work at Ben Reig.<ref name=mcdowell>{{cite book| last = McDowell| first = Colin| title = McDowell's Directory of Twentieth Century Fashion| publisher = Frederick Muller| year = 1984| pages =299–301| isbn =0-584-11070-7}}</ref> In 1954, Kiam was succeeded by Edward Beckham until 1960.<ref name=jw>{{cite book |last1=Walford |first1=Jonathan |title=1950s American Fashion |date=10 October 2012 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-7478-1280-7 |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggvDCwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> From 1961 to 1968, Eva Rosencrans was head designer for the label.<ref name=jw/><ref name=crm/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lukas |first1=Paul |title=Permanent Record: How a Poor New York Girl Ended up Designing Mamie Eisenhower's Inaugural Gown |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/permanent_record/features/2011/permanent_record/permanent_record_how_a_poor_new_york_girl_ended_up_designing_mamie_eisenhower_s_inaugural_gown_.html?via=gdpr-consent |access-date=15 June 2022 |work=Slate |date=29 May 2012}}</ref> Liz Claiborne also worked for Reig in the early 1950s when she was Kiam's assistant.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Woo |first1=Elaine |title=Liz Claiborne, 78; clothes designer for career women built vast fashion empire |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jun-28-me-claiborne28-story.html |access-date=13 March 2015 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=28 June 2007}}</ref>
Reig died in 1968. His obituary in ''The New York Times'' credited him with helping make cotton popular as a fashion fabric.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ben Reig, Dress Designer, Dies; Made Cotton a Fashion Fabric |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/10/18/archives/ben-reig-dress-designer-dies-made-cotton-a-fashion-fabric.html |work=The New York Times |date=18 October 1968}}</ref>
The Ben Reig company closed in 1973.<ref name=jw/>
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:1968 deaths Category:1929 establishments in New York City Category:1973 disestablishments in New York (state) Category:American businesspeople in fashion Category:Year of birth missing