Sarah Phillips (fashion designer)

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Sarah Phillips
Born	New York City
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Fashion designer
Years active	1989 to present
Notable work	The 1993 Inaugural Ball gown for Hillary Rodham Clinton

Sarah Phillips is an American fashion designer. She founded Sarah Phillips New York in 1989 and was the designer for the 1992 Inaugural Ball gown for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Taking a break from designing from 1993 to 2012 in order to raise her children, she relaunched Sarah Phillips New York in 2013.

Early life[]

Phillips was born in New York City. She is an alumna of The The Parsons School of Design. She spent the early part of her design career working for the collections of Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren, and the women's collection of Christian Dior.^[1][2]

Sarah Phillips New York[]

Phillips first began designing her own pieces in 1989 while still working for Dior,^[3] developing a private line of twelve pieces that she sold to Henri Bendel. The store featured the entire collection , including a cutaway-sleeve jacket, in their window along Fifth Avenue. Phillips' has said of her first break that, "I put them in the back of a taxi and took it up to Henri Bendel, and they bought it ... Just like that: boom."^[4] Her first official line was produced in April 1991, where according to the New York Times, "She worked out of [a loft] in lower Manhattan and had the clothes produced in a factory on West 20th Street."^[5] According to the Los Angeles Times, her first collection consisted of "15 pieces, mostly suits and evening clothes". Her collections were sold by Saks Fifth Avenue amongst many other specialty stores throughout the US, Canada and Hong Kong.^[1]

Lisa Anderson of the Chicago Tribune said of her early designs that, "Phillips' clean, classic designs in suits and separates, her high-quality workmanship and her relatively affordable ($400 to $1,500) prices attracted store buyers."^[6] At the end of 1992 she had 25 accounts purchasing her designs,^[7] and eventually reached about fifty boutiques in the US, Canada, and Hong Kong. Her sales also doubled between her first and second year of business.^[4]

Phillips was newly married and pregnant with her first child, so decided to stop designing until her children were grown.^[3] At the end of 2012 Phillips announced she would be relaunching her line in 2013.^[8] The New York Times wrote of her new collection that, "Ms. Phillips is introducing 40 special-occasion pieces made of silk and cashmere (including a variation on the cutaway-sleeve jacket from the ’90s)." The Times also described her new business model, writing that, "This time around, her business strategy is considerably different. For one thing, she is selling only through trunk shows (with one planned for Manhattan in the fall) and her website," before she begins re-entering the retail fashion market.^[4]

1993 Inaugural Ball gown[]

Hillary Clinton, then the first lady of Arkansas, spotted a pale yellow silk Phillips-designed suit, and bought it to wear to the 1992 Democratic National Convention held at Madison Square Garden, where her husband was giving the acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.^[1][5]

After this she submitted a sketch for a gown for Clinton to wear to the 1993 Inaugural Ball. Clinton selected Phillips' sketch over those submitted from other designers, and Phillips went about creating Clinton's custom designed "shimmering" violet lace-and-mousseline gown.^[8] Phillips said of Clinton's choice that, "It's a fairy-tale sort of dress, very traditional, which really isn't typical of my style ... I thought it was a beautiful design, but I never thought it would be selected since there were a million other gorgeous gowns submitted by designers far more established than I."^[1] Nicole Fischelis, then-fashion director of Saks Fifth Avenue, said of the gown that, "I think Sarah Phillips is part of a new generation of young designers who are very contemporary and have a definite feel for quality clothes ... I think it's terrific that Mrs. Clinton would pick someone young and unknown to the public. It shows a certain kind of spirit and open-mindedness."^[6]

The gown appeared on several national television shows and magazines, such as Today, People Magazine, and in parody form on Saturday Night Live.^[1] It was later introduced into The Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution collection of first lady inaugural ball gowns.^[5] The New York Times said of the gown's reception by the public that it "won thumbs-up reviews from just about everyone who saw it" at the ball.^[9] Following the ball Phillips was asked to design gowns for several other women for that year's Academy Awards red carpet and ceremony.^[10] She also became a member of the CFDA.^[11]

References[]