Stan Herman is 95 years young and a remarkable openly gay man who’s lived a fascinating life. Born in Brooklyn, he grew up in New Jersey, he was also in the Army and stationed in Europe during the Korean.
Stan has long been involved as an activist, fashion designer and fashion leader. For his first fully produced first fashion show, he presented a fashion-first collection featuring ‘faux fur’ on the open-air runway in the Central Park Zoo, rather than real fur.
Stan has had an extensive and varied career at the center of American Fashion on Seventh Avenue, including 16 years as president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) for 16 years, as well as his years of accessible, casual and “street wear” designs.
Stan has shared his life in a 40-year relationship with his partner and novelist Gene Horowitz. Their lives intertwined in 1953 and continued through the AIDS epidemic that impacted their personal and professional lives. When Gene died suddenly in 1992 – Stan determined how to continue and move ahead with a life on his own over the next 30 plus years of his engaged and engaging life.
Since 1980, Stan has designed corporate uniforms TWA, United, Jet Blue, FedEx, McDonalds, Amtrak, Acela, Central Park Conservancy, and Sandals Resorts. In addition, he’s enjoyed a successful, 30-year stint on-air with QVC – with his ever-popular women’s leisure and comfort-wear designs.
Just when he thought life would slow down, he released his new book Uncross Your Legs A Life in Fashion and become an author at age 93.