Henri Willis Bendel American businessman, designer and philanthropist Date of Birth: 22.01.1868 Country: USA

Biography of Henry Willis Bendel

Henry Willis Bendel was an American businessman, designer, and philanthropist. He was born on January 22, 1868, in Vermillionville, Louisiana. In 1884, Vermillionville was renamed Lafayette, Louisiana, in honor of the French national hero, General Gilbert de Lafayette, who participated in the American War of Independence. Henry's mother, Mary Plonsky Bendel, took on the responsibility of providing for the family after his father's death when he was six years old. She owned and managed a furniture store, a pharmacy, and a funeral bureau. Later, she remarried Benjamin Falk, one of the most successful businessmen of his time in Lafayette. The couple owned a fabric and sundries store, and above it was Falk's Opera House, where various entertainment performances were held.

In 1894, at the age of 26, Henry Bendel married Blanche Lehman, the daughter of wealthy entrepreneur Aaron Lehman. They lived in Louisiana for a while, but after a fire destroyed Henry's hat shop in Morgan City, Louisiana, he and his wife moved to New York. Unfortunately, Blanche died shortly after, and Henry never remarried. He stayed in New York and used his skills as a designer to open a hat shop on Ninth Street in Greenwich Village. The shop catered to a wealthy clientele, and its prices were quite extravagant.

Over time, Bendel realized that the era of custom-made clothing was coming to an end and ready-to-wear garments were becoming popular. He imported women's dresses from Paris, as he had a good command of French due to his Louisiana roots. Bendel's store quickly became an exclusive establishment, as Parisian dresses were considered the epitome of fashion among American women. In 1913, Henry built an eight-story clothing and accessories store on 10 West 57th Street, designed by architect Henry Otis Chapman. Other fashionable stores soon appeared in the vicinity, and West 57th Street became known as the "Rue de la Paix of New York". Rue de la Paix is one of the most luxurious and expensive shopping streets in the world, home to boutiques of renowned fashion houses.

In 1916, Henry Bendel constructed a grand mansion on King's Point in Long Island, New York. The project was also designed by Henry Otis Chapman, with landscape work done by architect Charles Wellford Leavitt. Bendel sold the mansion to automobile magnate Walter Chrysler in 1923, and it is now known as Wiley Hall, serving as an administrative building for the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

In 1927, Bendel purchased a large plot of land, a former plantation, along the Vermilion River in his native Louisiana. He built a beautiful house called Camellia Lodge but eventually sold it. Today, it is a residential building called Bendel Gardens. Additionally, in the late 1920s, Bendel constructed another mansion overlooking Laurel Lake in Stamford, Connecticut. The project was designed by architect Perry Barker.

Henry Bendel passed away on March 22, 1936, in his Manhattan home. In Lafayette, Louisiana, a street was named Bendel Road in his honor.