User:Slbutler3/Florence Eiseman

Florence Eiseman was a designer of high end children's clothing based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was born Florence Feinberg, in Minneapolis, Minnesota around the turn of the century. She was the youngest of seven siblings.

At 21 she moved to Chicago to work for her brother, where she met her husband to be, Laurence. They married in 1927 and had two sons - Laurence Jr. and Robert, who both work in the family business.

She was instructed to start sewing in her 30s as therapy, to help calm her nerves, so she began making little girl's dresses as gifts for friends and family. Then in 1945 her husbands business closed, so he took some examples of her dresses to Marshall Fields in Chicago. They placed an order worth $3000. Her dresses would also be sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and high end children's boutiques across the country.

In 1955 she became the first children's clothing designer to win the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award - an award that has also gone to Coco Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Oscar de la Renta and Christian Dior. In 1964, the Denver Art Museum featured her work as a retrospective, another first for a children's designer. The following year she was featured at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

She was widowed in 1967, and then continued to manage the company with her two sons. She died on January 8, 1988 at 88 years old. Her company, Florence Eiseman Inc., is still in business and based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.