Parnis, Mollie

"Male designers don't know how it feels to wear the clothes. I do. I have never made a dress I wouldn't want to wear if I had the figure or were younger." Mollie Parnis - Life magazine, June 1966. 

Born to a poor immigrant family around 1900 in New York City Mollie Parnis had no formal education, but ended up building an empire of fashion. She designed dresses for First Ladies from Mamie Eisenhower to Betty Ford. Lady Bird Johnson became a a close friend and one year, one of Miss Parnis's designs was bought by four Kennedys in four separate cities.