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Linda AllardAmerican fashion designer
Date of Birth: 27.05.1940
Country: ![]() |
Content:
- American Designer Linda Allard
- Early Life and Education
- Success with 'Ellen Tracy'
- Current Work and Achievements
- Personal Life and Legacy
American Designer Linda Allard
Linda Allard is an American fashion designer and the chief designer of the 'Ellen Tracy' brand, which she worked on with businessman Herbert Gallen, who later became her husband. Allard is the woman who made the 'Ellen Tracy' brand famous. There is no Ellen Tracy, and there never was. The company was founded in 1949 by Herbert Gallen, a 34-year-old producer of children's and teenage blouses, who came up with the sweet and sophisticated name 'Ellen Tracy' for his newly formed company. Gallen hired Allard as a design assistant in 1962, right after she graduated college and arrived in New York City from Ohio. She quickly expanded the assortment, adding jackets and pants, and within two years, she became the design director. Under Allard's artistic direction, the 'Ellen Tracy' brand became synonymous with high-quality fabrics, clean lines, and a complete wardrobe concept for working women.
Early Life and Education
Linda Allard was born on May 27, 1940, in Akron, Ohio, and grew up in Doylestown, Ohio, in a century-old farmhouse. She grew up with five siblings and learned to sew from her mother at a young age. Even before she learned to sew and started dressing her dolls, young Linda would invent and draw clothes for her paper dolls. She studied fine arts at Kent State University in Ohio from 1958 to 1962. After receiving her degree, she moved to New York City, where she met Herbert Gallen.
Success with 'Ellen Tracy'
Soon after Allard joined the company, 'Ellen Tracy' shifted its focus from children's clothing to stylish and professional collections for working women in the 1960s. By the mid-1970s, the 'Ellen Tracy' brand had achieved great success, tripling its production and bridging the gap between couture collections and mass-market brands. The production of clothing for working women became the fastest-growing segment of the market. To add more designer flair to the collections, Allard's name was placed on the 'Ellen Tracy' labels in 1984. Allard believes that high fashion has no relevance to the lives of most real women, as it is often written about in the press but only worn by a select few with deep pockets.
Current Work and Achievements
Currently, Linda Allard leads a team of 12 designers and releases three 'Ellen Tracy' collections per year. According to her, the design process starts with a focus on high-quality fabrics and colors. The fabrics make each collection unique. Each item in the collection is sold separately but can be perfectly coordinated with others. Under Allard's leadership, 'Ellen Tracy' has become one of the top ten women's clothing manufacturers in the United States, even after 50 years in the industry. Allard's team constantly studies their clients and evolves with them.
Personal Life and Legacy
Linda Allard lives and works in Manhattan and spends her weekends in her newly built country home in Connecticut, designed by her architect brother. She does not have children because she has always worked extensively, but she is happy to have many nieces and nephews, so family life and caring for children have not passed her by. In late 1999, Herbert Gallen, who had been widowed a year earlier, proposed to Linda, and she accepted. They married in 2000 and lived together for about seven years until Herbert passed away in September 2007 at the age of 92. Allard has received numerous prestigious professional awards, including the 'Dallas Fashion Award' in 1986, 1987, and 1994. She is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America and teaches at the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Chicago. She also serves on the board of directors of Kent State University, her alma mater.