Joan Vass

Joan Vass was born in New York, USA, in 1925. She studied at Vassar College and then philosophy and aesthetics at the University of Wisconsin, graduating in 1942. Although she learned to knit when she was 5 years old, she did not transform the skill into designing until she was in her early 50's.

Her earlier career was as a curator for Christies and she worked in New York as an editor, before joining the Museum of Modern Art as an assistant curator.

Art in New York. At the same time she edited art books for Harry N. Abrams and wrote columns about art auctions for Art in America. Vass began a cottage industry in the early 1970s when she brought her personal interest in hand-knits and crochet to women who needed an outlet for their marketable skills.

In 1974, she began a non-profit making company helping knitters market their skills. She created designs for hats and sweaters, which she supplied to these women.

Vass created designs for hats and mufflers which these women crocheted. Marketed at Henri Bendel, New York, they quickly sold out. She went on to create designs for sweaters for both men and women, having them produced under the label Joan Vass New York. Vass provided the designs, the yarns and buttons if necessary. The production for this line was limited, selective, and not accessible to everyone. The Joan Vass New York line was still popular in the late 1990s and into the 21st century. Craftspeople still create the designs provided by Vass and it remains a small-volume, selective design business which now includes woven materials. All of the designs from the past are still available to be produced.

Joan realized that she had the talent and ability to design products that appeal to a broad spectrum of today's modern women. In 1976 she started designing woven garments, adding coats and daywear to her collections. She is now known mostly for her sweaters knitted from chenille, alpaca, angora and other fine quality wools.

She established her own company in 1977. In the 1980s, a mid-priced licensed line was first produced on a large scale by the Signal Knitting Mills in South Carolina. Working with Vass designs, these clothes carried the label Joan Vass USA and were made of beautiful fine-gauged, natural fiber, knitted and woven fabrics.

In 1978, Joan Vass was honoured by the Smithsonian Institute as An Extraordinary Woman of Fashion. In 1979 she received the Prix de Cachet as well as the Coty Fashion Award.

In 1980 she introduced 3 new lines, including a menswear line.

Vass has also established a reputation for her clothing lines, which are distinguished by their lack of both shoulder pads and applied decoration. Her most popular line is Joan Vass USA.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Vass designs were perennial favorites, enough so that she opened stores across the U.S., including shops in New Orleans, Chicago, Dallas, and New York. Her designs could also be found in high-end specialty shops and better department stores as well, including newer Vass labels for plus sizes and sportswear. In addition, Vass had segued into jewelry and footwear, known for her distinctive designs.

In 2001 she was the recipient of the US Cotton Champion Award for her innovative and successful use of cotton in her designs.