The HistoryMakers video oral history with Alvin Bell.

Chicago, Illinois : The HistoryMakers, [2016]

1 online resource (8 video files (3 hr., 58 min., 19 sec.)) : sound, color.

Access is available to the Yale community.

Videographer, Neculai Burghelea.

Access restricted by licensing agreement.

Fashion designer Alvin Bell was born on December 27, 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a child, Bell had a fondness for drawing and fashion. He purchased fashion magazines like Harper's Bazaar and Vogue and realized that he wanted to be a fashion designer at an early age. He befriended Willi Smith and was mentored by Margaret Caravera during an advanced course at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art. Bell first worked as an illustrator and photojournalist. He attended fashion shows, taking photos of the designs and creating his own sketches, which he successfully sold. Bell later created suits for the P.S.I. fashion label. Bell went on to work for Halston and Anne Klein. He also published his own fashion industry trade newsletter called Designer Report. In February of 1997, Sears Roebuck & Company hired Bell to design and launch a casual and career wear clothing line for women called Mosaic.

Images / Online / Video & Film

English

February 04, 2021

Videographer, Neculai Burghelea.

Shawn Wilson, interviewer.