{{short description|American fashion designer}} {{Infobox fashion designer |name = Omar Kiam |image = Fashion designer Omar Kiam, 1944.jpg |image_size = |caption = Omar Kiam in 1944 |birth_name = Alexander Kiam |birth_date = {{birth date|1894|07|19|mf=y}} |birth_place = Monterrey, Mexico. |death_date = {{death date and age|1954|03|28|1894|07|19|mf=y}} |death_place = New York City, U.S. |death_cause = |resting_place = |other_names = |education = |label_name = |awards = Neiman Marcus Fashion Award, 1941; Coty Award, 1946 |known_for = |occupation = Costume designer; fashion designer |spouse = }}
'''Alexander "Omar" Kiam''' (1894 – 1954) was an American fashion designer and costume designer.
==Early life== Born '''Alexander Kiam''' in Monterrey, Mexico, to Texan parents.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1978388/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/|title=Clipped From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|date=1946-07-19|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=2020-03-28|pages=9}}</ref> Kiam picked up the nickname "Omar" at Riverview Preparatory School in Poughkeepsie, New York.<ref name=mara>{{cite news |last1=Mara |first1=Margaret |title=Omar Kiam, Former MGM Designer, gets Fashion Award |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1978388/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=13 March 2015 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |date=19 July 1946 |page=9}}</ref> He later went to the Poughkeepsie Military Academy in New York.<ref name=bailey>{{cite book |last1=Bailey |first1=Margaret J. |title=Those glorious glamour years : Classic Hollywood costume design of the 1930s |date=1988 |publisher=Columbus |location=London |isbn=9780862878832 |oclc=18071243}}</ref> His first job as a designer was producing caps for babies for a department store in Houston.<ref name=bailey/> Kiam chose to retain his nickname professionally, as he appreciated the link to Omar Khayyám.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Room |first1=Adrian |title=Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins. |date=2010 |publisher=McFarland & Co., Publishers |location=Jefferson |isbn=9780786457632 |page=261 |edition=5th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSIhzKnNUf4C&pg=PA261}}</ref>
==Costume design== [[File:Janet Gaynor in A Star is Born.jpg|thumb|150px|Janet Gaynor, costumed by Kiam, in ''A Star is Born'']] Following a stint in Paris as a student, Kiam returned to the United States and opened his studio in New York City, where he produced work for Broadway theatre.<ref name=bailey/> Among the theatre productions he costumed were ''Dinner at Eight'', the Robert E. Sherwood play ''Reunion in Vienna'', and the Edward Sheldon and Margaret Ayer Barnes play ''Dishonored Lady''.<ref name=leese>{{cite book |last1=Leese |first1=Elizabeth |title=Costume design in the movies an illustrated guide to the work of 157 great designers |date=1991 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York |isbn=9780486134291 |page=66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bZ_DAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA66}}</ref> In 1933 he moved to Hollywood, where he headed the film costume design departments for Sam Goldwyn Productions and United Artists.<ref name=bailey/><ref name=leese/> Before leaving Hollywood in 1939, Kiam also worked for independent producers David O. Selznick and Hal Roach.<ref name=bailey/> He also worked with 20th Century Pictures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Omar Kiam - Biography |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0452081/bio/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref>
One of Kiam's most notable films was the 1937 film ''A Star is Born'', for which he dressed Janet Gaynor.<ref name=mara/> He collaborated with Irene on ''Algiers''.<ref name=leese/>
===Filmography=== Omar Kiam costumed the following films:<ref name=leese/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Staff writer|title=Omar Kiam Filmography |url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2ba8bc1b7c |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715163236/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2ba8bc1b7c |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 July 2012 |website=BFI |publisher=British Film Institute |accessdate=13 March 2015}}</ref> {{Div col|colwidth=22em}} * ''A Star is Born'' * ''The Adventures of Marco Polo'' * ''Algiers'' * ''Barbary Coast'' * ''Beloved Enemy'' * ''The Call of the Wild'' * ''Cardinal Richelieu'' * ''Come and Get It'' * ''The Cowboy and the Lady'' * ''The Dark Angel'' * ''Dead End'' * ''Dodsworth'' * ''Folies Bergère de Paris'' * ''The Gay Desperado'' * ''The Goldwyn Follies'' * ''The Hurricane'' * ''Kid Millions'' * ''Les Misérables'' * ''The Mighty Barnum'' * ''One Rainy Afternoon'' * ''Pick a Star'' * ''Splendor'' * ''Stella Dallas'' * ''Strike Me Pink'' * ''These Three'' * ''Topper Takes a Trip'' * ''We Live Again'' * ''The Wedding Night'' * ''Woman Chases Man'' * ''Wuthering Heights'' * ''The Young in Heart'' * ''Zenobia'' {{div col end}}
==Fashion design== Although primarily known as a costume designer Kiam had also run a wholesale fashion design business supplying clothing to shops across the United States before he moved to Hollywood.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Staff writer |title=Omar Kiam to Design Garbs for Film Stars |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1978697/the_waco_newstribune/ |accessdate=13 March 2015 |work=The Waco News-Tribune |agency=Associated Press |via=Newspapers.com |date=31 March 1934}}</ref>
After leaving Hollywood, in 1941 Kiam became head designer for the Ben Reig fashion label, a company founded in 1929. Also designing costume jewelry for them from 1948, he worked there until his death in 1954.<ref name=vfg>{{cite web|last1=Staff writer |title=Ben Reig |url=http://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/reig-ben/ |website=Vintage Fashion Guild Label Resource |accessdate=13 March 2015}}</ref>
Kiam won the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award in 1941, and in 1946, won the Coty Award jointly with Vincent Monte-Sano and Clare Potter.<ref name=mara/> During the early 1950s Liz Claiborne worked for Kiam.<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>
Kiam died 28 March 1954 at the Ritz Tower Hotel in New York City, after struggling with a sickness that lasted seven months.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Staff writer|title=Dress Designer Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1978741/the_evening_independent/ |accessdate=13 March 2015|work=The Evening Independent| agency=Associated Press |via=Newspapers.com|date=30 March 1954}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/03/30/83326368.html|title=OMAR KIAM: NOTED FOR DRESS DESIGNS; Fashion Creator Is Dead at 60--Had Made Clothes for Many Hollywood Stars|last=|first=|date=March 30, 1954|website=The New York Times|page=27|language=en|access-date=2020-03-28}}</ref>
==See also== *List of fashion designers
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiam, Omar}} Category:1894 births Category:1954 deaths Category:American costume designers Category:People from Monterrey Category:American jewelry designers Category:American expatriates in Mexico Category:20th-century American designers