CR Muse: Hattie Carnegie, Upper East Side Fashion Maven

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This is CR Muse, a series dedicated to the remembrance of important artists and idea-makers from our past who have shaped culture as we know it today. From traditional creators to those of conceptual thought, we celebrate these women known not only for their work but their confident, eccentric style as well.

There is a good chance the name Hattie Carnegie doesn’t ring a bell. This is likely because her business didn’t last very long after she passed away. But in the early 20th century, Carnegie was the lone American designer who held sartorial authority at the same level as European designers. Her keen eye and fashion savvy made her an arbiter of chic at the time. Curiously, she didn’t even know how to sew.

Carnegie rose to prominence as a tastemaker. Even her obituary reads: “She never made a dress herself. But she knew how to tell those who could how to make clothes that would appeal to the wealthy and fashionable.” To a certain extent, Carnegie’s role guiding young creatives to a common goal resembles what creative directors do today. By hiring designers to shape her vision, she was able to blend her eye for fashion with the technical know-how of a new generation. And Carnegie certainly had an eye for talent—Claire McCardell and Norman Norell both worked for her early in their careers.

The “Little Carnegie Suit” was her brand’s calling card. A simple fitted skirt and jacket with a fitted waist wasn’t the most original idea, but she did it well. Through buying trips in Europe, she took direct inspiration from couturiers and translated them to appeal to American women. These weren’t cheap knockoffs, rather they were luxurious versions of modern fashion that filled an aesthetic hole for her consumer group. Americans wanted to be fashionable, but they didn’t want to look like the French or English. They wanted a style of their own.

What is perhaps most interesting about Carnegie is how she rose from humble beginnings to build a high-class personality and business. She was born Henrietta Kanengeiser in Vienna in 1886. She immigrated to the United States sometime before the turn of the century, landing in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. She later changed her name to “Hattie Carnegie” in an effort to appear wealthier and aristocratic. By 1909, she teamed up with a seamstress, Rose Ross, to start a fashion business. Carnegie made hats at the time. The duo didn’t last, and by the end of WWI, Carnegie bought Ross out.

Owning her business outright was the dawn of a new era for Carnegie. Her dresses became more expensive, more luxurious. She eventually set up shop on East 49th street and launched a wholesale business. Carnegie passed away in 1956. At the time of her death, the business was estimated to be worth million (or million today). Her shop on East 49th street remained open for a few years, but eventually closed in 1964. With it, Carnegie’s name fell into obscurity, but her lasting imprint in the fashion world remains.

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