Emeric Partos
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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.
Emeric Imre Partos was born in Budapest on 18 May 1905, where he studied art.[1] He then went to the Sorbonne, Paris, to further study art, before moving to Switzerland to study jewelry design.[1] He then returned to Paris, where in 1939 he joined the French Army, and then became involved in the French Resistance.[2][3] While in Paris, Partos met the theatre costume designer and couturier Alex Maguy (born Sender Glahs).[2][4][5] 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.[4] Maguy's great-niece, Hadley Freeman, has suggested that Partos, who was openly gay, may have been in a relationship with her great-uncle.[4] After the war, Partos joined Dior at his fashion house when it opened in 1947.[2] He was credited with helping develop the crinoline under-structures strong enough to support Dior's immensely full 'New Look' skirts.[2] 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.[2]
