Tere Tereba
Encyclopedia
Tere Tereba is an American
fashion design
er, writer
, and actress. She is well known as one of the pioneers of women's "contemporary" clothing design and for playing "Ingrid Joyner" in Andy Warhol's Bad
(1977).
to see musicians like Jimi Hendrix
, Michael Bloomfield
and Jim Morrison
perform.
girlfriend, Pamela Courson
, discovered Tere and recruited her to design for her La Cienega Boulevard
boutique, Themis
. Simultaneously, Tere was hired as an apprentice by Young Edwardian, then the most important junior fashion label in the country, to sketch designs in the back room. Six months later, she proved herself by designing a collection which sold tens of millions of dollars at retail stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue
, Bloomingdale's
, and Neiman-Marcus. Before reaching voting age, Tere herself had become a force in the fashion
industry.
Tere caught the attention of Andy Warhol
and Paul Morrissey
in Los Angeles. They invited her to visit the Factory
, then at 33 Union Square West, when she came to New York. Soon she was writing for and being written about in Andy Warhol's
Interview Magazine
. Warhol once described Tere as "looking like Hedy Lamarr
and acting like Lucille Ball
." Her passion for rock music segued into film, which resulted in her interviewing many prominent filmmakers for the magazine, such as Steven Spielberg
and Martin Scorsese
.
Next, she was cast in the black comedy
, Andy Warhol's Bad
(1977). She played the mother of an autistic child, which was a ground-breaking subject for film at the time.
Tere continued creating fashion trends (her designs garnered 24 covers of Women's Wear Daily
) and setting trends in her personal life with her idiosyncratic apartment, which was featured in Architectural Digest
and as an early collector of artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat
. Golden Age of Hollywood photographer, George Hurrell
, was brought out of retirement to photograph her.
She emerged from a hiatus to design cutting-edge fashions for the twenty-somethings of the 21st Century. Paris Hilton
was soon seen wearing Tere Tereba's latest designs for bebe stores
.
Tereba has written a biography of the notorious Hollywood ganglord, Mickey Cohen
, and the Los Angeles underworld, entitled Mickey Cohen: The Life and Crimes of L.A.'s Notorious Mobster, to be released May 1, 2012.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fashion design
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....
er, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and actress. She is well known as one of the pioneers of women's "contemporary" clothing design and for playing "Ingrid Joyner" in Andy Warhol's Bad
Andy Warhol's Bad
Andy Warhol's Bad is a 1977 comedy film, directed by Jed Johnson, starring Carroll Baker, Perry King and Susan Tyrrell. It was written by Pat Hackett and George Abagnalo, and produced by Andy Warhol....
(1977).
Beginnings
Tere was raised in Los Angeles, California, where her perspective was shaped and influenced by the city itself, along with the music, imagery and pop culture of the late 1960s. She spent her teen years going to clubs on the Sunset StripSunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
to see musicians like Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Michael Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70...
and Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
perform.
Career
Rocker Jim Morrison'sJim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
girlfriend, Pamela Courson
Pamela Courson
Pamela Susan Courson was the long-term companion of Jim Morrison, vocalist of The Doors. After the deaths of Morrison and Courson, her parents petitioned an out-of-state court to declare that the couple had a common-law marriage.-Early life and involvement with Morrison:Courson was born in Weed,...
, discovered Tere and recruited her to design for her La Cienega Boulevard
La Cienega Boulevard
La Cienega Boulevard is a major, well-known north–south arterial road that runs between El Segundo Boulevard in El Segundo, California on the south and the Sunset Strip/Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood....
boutique, Themis
Themis
Themis is an ancient Greek Titaness. She is described as "of good counsel", and is the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom. Themis means "divine law" rather than human ordinance, literally "that which is put in place", from the verb τίθημι, títhēmi, "to put"...
. Simultaneously, Tere was hired as an apprentice by Young Edwardian, then the most important junior fashion label in the country, to sketch designs in the back room. Six months later, she proved herself by designing a collection which sold tens of millions of dollars at retail stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
, Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's is an American department store owned by Macy's, Inc. .Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side...
, and Neiman-Marcus. Before reaching voting age, Tere herself had become a force in the fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
industry.
Tere caught the attention of Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
and Paul Morrissey
Paul Morrissey
Paul Morrissey is an American film director, best-known for his association with Andy Warhol.Morrissey attended Ampleforth College, a private Roman Catholic boarding school and Fordham University, both Roman Catholic schools, and later served in the United States Army...
in Los Angeles. They invited her to visit the Factory
The Factory
The Factory was Andy Warhol's original New York City studio from 1962 to 1968, although his later studios were known as The Factory as well. The Factory was located on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan. The rent was "only about one hundred dollars a year"...
, then at 33 Union Square West, when she came to New York. Soon she was writing for and being written about in Andy Warhol's
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
Interview Magazine
Interview (magazine)
Interview is an American magazine which has the nickname The Crystal Ball Of Pop. It was founded in late 1969 by artist Andy Warhol. The magazine features intimate conversations between some of the world's biggest celebrities, artists, musicians, and creative thinkers...
. Warhol once described Tere as "looking like Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress celebrated for her great beauty who was a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age".Lamarr also co-invented – with composer George Antheil – an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, necessary to wireless...
and acting like Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
." Her passion for rock music segued into film, which resulted in her interviewing many prominent filmmakers for the magazine, such as Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
and Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
.
Next, she was cast in the black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
, Andy Warhol's Bad
Andy Warhol's Bad
Andy Warhol's Bad is a 1977 comedy film, directed by Jed Johnson, starring Carroll Baker, Perry King and Susan Tyrrell. It was written by Pat Hackett and George Abagnalo, and produced by Andy Warhol....
(1977). She played the mother of an autistic child, which was a ground-breaking subject for film at the time.
Tere continued creating fashion trends (her designs garnered 24 covers of Women's Wear Daily
Women's Wear Daily
Women's Wear Daily is a fashion-industry trade journal sometimes called "the bible of fashion." WWD delivers information and intelligence on changing trends and breaking news in the fashion, beauty and retail industries with a readership composed largely of retailers, designers, manufacturers,...
) and setting trends in her personal life with her idiosyncratic apartment, which was featured in Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
and as an early collector of artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...
. Golden Age of Hollywood photographer, George Hurrell
George Hurrell
George Hurrell was a photographer who made a significant contribution to the image of glamour presented by Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
, was brought out of retirement to photograph her.
She emerged from a hiatus to design cutting-edge fashions for the twenty-somethings of the 21st Century. Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
was soon seen wearing Tere Tereba's latest designs for bebe stores
Bebe stores
bebe stores are an American clothing retailer founded in 1976. The name was inspired by, and is pronounced as in, the phrase "to be or not to be" from the play Hamlet. Manny Mashouf, who emigrated to the United States in the early 1970s, opened the first bebe store in San Francisco during a time...
.
Tereba has written a biography of the notorious Hollywood ganglord, Mickey Cohen
Mickey Cohen
Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen was a gangster based in Los Angeles and part of the Jewish Mafia, and also had strong ties to the American Mafia from the 1930s through 1960s.-Early life:...
, and the Los Angeles underworld, entitled Mickey Cohen: The Life and Crimes of L.A.'s Notorious Mobster, to be released May 1, 2012.