{{Short description|Hungarian-American fashion designer and furrier (1905–1975)}} '''Emeric Imre Partos''' (1905–1975) was a Hungarian-born fashion designer who worked in Paris and New York. He was mainly known for his work with fur for Bergdorf Goodman.

==Early life== '''Emeric Imre Partos''' was born in Budapest on 18 May 1905, where he studied art.<ref name=elbook>{{cite book |last1=Lambert |first1=Eleanor |author1-link=Eleanor Lambert |title=World of Fashion: People, Places, Resources |date=1976 |publisher=R. R. Bowker Company |isbn=978-0-8352-0627-3 |page=242 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q-jbAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref> He then went to the Sorbonne, Paris, to further study art, before moving to Switzerland to study jewelry design.<ref name=elbook/> He then returned to Paris, where in 1939 he joined the French Army, and then became involved in the French Resistance.<ref name=nyobit>{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Angela |title=Emeric Partos, 70, Fur Designer Noted for Innovative Flair, Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/03/archives/emeric-partos-70-fur-designer-noted-for-innovative-flair-dead.html |access-date=26 June 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=3 December 1975}}</ref><ref name=el/> While in Paris, Partos met the theatre costume designer and couturier Alex Maguy (born Sender Glahs).<ref name=nyobit/><ref name=hf/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Klein |first1=Julia M. |title=After the Holocaust, incalculable losses and jaw-dropping discoveries |url=https://forward.com/culture/444340/after-the-holocaust-incalculable-losses-and-jaw-dropping-discoveries/ |website=The Forward |access-date=27 June 2022 |language=en |date=23 April 2020}}</ref> Introduced by their mutual friend Christian Dior, Maguy and Partos became close friends, and for a while during World War II, as two Eastern European Jews and members of the French underground, they hid from the Nazis in the attic of a farmhouse in Saint-Gervais-d'Auvergne.<ref name=hf>{{cite book |last1=Freeman |first1=Hadley |author1-link=Hadley Freeman |title=House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family |date=24 March 2020 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-5011-9915-8 |pages=210–212 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O6zSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA210 |language=en}}</ref> Maguy's great-niece, Hadley Freeman, has suggested that Partos, who was openly gay, may have been in a relationship with her great-uncle.<ref name=hf/> After the war, Partos joined Dior at his fashion house when it opened in 1947.<ref name=nyobit/> He was credited with helping develop the crinoline under-structures strong enough to support Dior's immensely full 'New Look' skirts.<ref name=nyobit/> He stayed with Dior until 1950, when he was invited to be a guest designer for the New York furriers Maximilian and subsequently chose not to return to Paris, terminating his Dior contract.<ref name=nyobit/>

==Fur design career== Partos worked with Maximilian unil 1955, when he was employed by Bergdorf Goodman and rapidly became known for his innovative, original and unexpected work with expensive pelts for that department store.<ref name=nyobit/><ref name=el/> Sally Kirkland commented that Partos "took the awe out of furs" and that while it appeared as if he treated fur like cheap burlap, his expertise and knowledge of the material allowed him to produce outstanding work.<ref name=nyobit/> Among his designs were a towelling bathrobe lined in mink fur, white mink jackets inlaid with coloured flowers in an intarsia technique, hand-painted furs and unexpected garments such as jumpsuits, knee breeches and even a man's kilt in mink colored and pieced to resemble plaid.<ref name=nyobit/> One of his most widely copied ideas was to make a separate raincoat shell to be worn over mink coats.<ref name=nyobit/> He also designed clothing and accessories to accompany the furs.<ref name=nyobit/>

He was particularly noted for his work for Barbra Streisand, who he supplied with furs for her first television appearance in 1965 which was partially filmed on-site at Bergdorf's.<ref name=nyobit/> Streisand, previously known for wearing second-hand clothing, immediately added the furs to her wardrobe including white mink knickers and a white riding habit made from broadtail.<ref name=nyobit/> Other regular clients included Babe Paley, Gloria Vanderbilt and Jane Engelhard.<ref name=nyobit/>

Partos won a Special Coty Award in 1957, alongside his colleague, Leslie Morris who won a main award for her couture work in Bergdorf's made-to-order department.<ref name=el>{{cite news |last1=Lambert |first1=Eleanor |title=Coty 'Winnie' Awards go to Three Top Designers |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-oct-04-1957-3287067/ |access-date=26 June 2022 |work=Corpus Christi Times |date=4 October 1957}}</ref> Eleanor Lambert wrote of Partos's show at the awards ceremony as being "a testimonial of his mastery of furrier's technique expressed in couturier terms," noting coats combining two furs or materials (such as nutria and badger fur; or ranch-farmed mink with velvet) and an informal middy top made from ermine designed for apres-ski or at-home wear.<ref name=el/>

==Death== Partos died of a cerebral haemorrhage at Mount Sinai Hospital on 2 December 1975.<ref name=nyobit/> He was 70 years old and living in New York on East 65th Street.<ref name=nyobit/> The executive vice president of Bergdorf's told ''The New York Times'' that Partos was a "small man of great stature", referring to his height of 5'3 inches.<ref name=nyobit/> Unusually for Alex Maguy, he and Partos had remained friends all their lives despite having drifted apart, and Partos's death brought Maguy "great sadness."<ref name=hf/>

==References== {{reflist}} {{Bergdorf Goodman|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Partos, Emeric}} Category:1905 births Category:1975 deaths Category:American fashion designers Category:Hungarian fashion designers Category:Furriers Category:French tailors Category:20th-century tailors Category:LGBTQ fashion designers Category:Jewish fashion designers Category:Sorbonne Paris North University alumni Category:People from Budapest Category:French Resistance members Category:Hungarian LGBTQ artists Category:20th-century Hungarian LGBTQ people Category:20th-century French artisans Category:20th-century American designers