Maggie Norris Couture
Encyclopedia
Education
Maggie Norris was born in New Orleans, and attended the School of the New Orleans Museum of ArtNew Orleans Museum of Art
The New Orleans Museum of Art is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the "Canal Street - City Park" streetcar line...
in New Orleans, Louisiana. She then moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to attend Parsons
Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School For Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is the art and design college of The New School university. It is located in New York City's Greenwich Village, and has produced artists and designers such as Marc Jacobs, Dean and Dan Caten, Norman Rockwell, Donna Karan, Jane...
School of Design and the Art Students League.
After her graduation, she was recruited by Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive; best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...
as Creative Designer, and she quickly ascended the corporate ladder to become Senior Design Director, in charge of the Women's Collection. There, she oversaw all the Women's ready-to-wear and accessory collections and was in charge of seeking out inspiration for the overall direction of the line.
In 1998, Norris left Ralph Lauren and moved to Europe to work as Chief Designer for Mondi womenswear.
In 2000, Norris returned to the United States and founded Maggie Norris Couture in New York City. In 2003, she joined the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
Reputation
Maggie Norris Couture creations have been featured in publications such as VogueVogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, W
W (magazine)
W is a monthly American fashion magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, who purchased original owner Fairchild Publications in 1999. It was created in 1971 by the publisher of sister magazine Woman's Wear Daily, James Brady. The magazine is an oversize format – ten inches wide and...
, Elle
Elle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
, and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, among many others.
Maggie Norris's custom-made creations have been worn by various celebrities and socialites, among whom are Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
, Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts
Naomi Ellen Watts is a British actress. Watts began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! , Brides of Christ , and Home and Away . Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone...
, Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
, Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
, Halle Berry
Halle Berry
Halle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming...
, Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
, Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
, Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
, Anna Getty, Somers Farkas and Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
.
Exhibitions
In 2006, Norris's work was featured in the "Love and War" Exhibition at the Fashion Institute of TechnologyFashion Institute of Technology
The Fashion Institute of Technology, generally known as FIT, is a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology connected to the fashion industry, with an urban campus located on West 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of...
Museum. That same year, Maggie Norris appeared in the "New York Society" Exhibition of the Museum of the City of New York
Museum of the City of New York
The Museum of the City of New York is an art gallery and history museum founded in 1923 to present the history of New York City, USA and its people...
.
In 2007, her work was included in the Victoria & Albert Museum's "New York Fashion Now" Exhibition and corresponding book entitled "New York Fashion" by Sonnet Stanfill.
In 2008, Norris co-organized the "Tableaux" Exhibition at the New York Plaza Hotel
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
, in collaboration with Aman & Carson Interiors.
In February 2010, Maggie Norris Couture co-presented the exhibition "An Evening of New York Couture" at the Verdura Salon, in collaboration with Verdura
Verdura
Verdura is a river of southern Sicily. Its source is in Lake Favara, and flows into the Sicily Channel at Torre Verdura, between Sciacca and Ribera.-Course:...
and Aman & Carson Interiors. Maggie Norris Couture dressed Sarah Bradford and Princess Keisha Omilana of Nigeria for this occasion.
Events
In addition to hosting fashion shows, Norris also acts as an event organizer.In 2006, Maggie Norris Couture hosted the event called "1950s New York" at the Café Carlyle
Carlyle Hotel
The Carlyle Hotel, known formally as The Carlyle, is a combination luxury and residential hotel located at 35 East 76th Street on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue, in the Upper East Side area of New York City...
, in collaboration with Boucheron
Boucheron
Boucheron is a French jewellery house.-History:The House of Boucheron is a French family dynasty founded by Frederic Boucheron in 1858....
Bijoux and Grace Hightower De Niro
Grace Hightower
Grace Hightower De Niro is an American philanthropist, actress and singer.-Career:Hightower began a career in modeling after being spotted while working as a flight attendant for TWA....
, to benefit "Operation Smile". This event was an homage to legendary pianist Bobby Short
Bobby Short
Robert Waltrip "Bobby" Short was an American cabaret singer and pianist, best known for his interpretations of songs by popular composers of the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Noel Coward and George and Ira Gershwin.He...
.
In 2008, Maggie Norris Couture has also been celebrated by esteemed American painter Nelson Shanks
Nelson Shanks
Nelson Shanks, a portrait painter, was born in Rochester, New York in 1937 and lived in Wilmington, Delaware for most of his childhood. He studied at The Kansas City Art Institute and in New York at the National Academy of Design, and the Art Students League. His most famous work is likely his...
in a portrait of Keira Chaplin wearing the "Katarina" Corset, a portrait soon to be hung at the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, DC.
Publications (books and TV)
In 2006, the Norris's "Caron" Gown was featured in Valerie Steele's book entitled "The Black Dress".Sonnet Stanfill's book, "New York Fashion" describes Norris as being part of a new generation of "talented, young New York-based designers [who] have earned considerable commercial and critical success."
That same year, Norris was featured in CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
Sunday Morning in connection with the "Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century" Exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 2008, Lauren Ezersky covered the Maggie Norris Couture event "The Night They Invented Champagne", directed by Andrew Le Pera for the program "Behind the Velvet Ropes".
In 2010, Maggie Norris Couture was also the subject of a program covered by Lauren Ezersky on Better TV.