Florence Eiseman designs became a signature look in children's clothing

Jumpers with flower appliques for girls. Sailor suits for little boys. Florence Eiseman's clean, bright and whimsical clothing became a signature look of childhood.

The story of her fashion brand is a valiant one of an untrained seamstress building a high-end children's clothing line in a manufacturing city.  

"Florence Eiseman: Designing Childhood for the American Century" is on view through Sept. 17 at the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend.  The garments on exhibit are drawn from the company's archive, Mount Mary University's trove and private collectors. The exhibition catalog is available for free download online.  

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Operating far from fashion hubs on the coasts, Eiseman built a brand that became a status symbol. The line of children's clothing, with special occasion outfits topping $100, is sold at high-end department stores Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys. Children of the rich and famous including the Kennedys, Grace Kelly and Debbie Reynolds all dressed in Florence Eiseman.

"It used to be a status symbol that it was a higher-end (line)," said Erika Petterson, one of the exhibit's curators. "It was an East Coast thing. People were surprised to know it was created and designed in the Midwest."

The company named after its founder started in Eiseman's Shorewood home when the middle-aged housewife started to sell her fashions. She was an untrained seamstress who became a star in the fashion industry. The Marshall Field & Company store in Chicago placed a large order for Eiseman's pinafores in 1945. The empire began. 

Eiseman wanted to dress children like children. Her dresses and shirt patterns came in basic, geometric shapes. She didn't believe children have waistlines or bellies. Each outfit came in bright, vivid colors. The garments moved and were comfortable enough for play. A Florence Eiseman made a child look like a child. 

"It came to define the look of an ideal childhood," said Sarah Carter, a Chipstone Foundation curator who worked on the exhibit. 

A Florence Eiseman was a well-crafted, quality garment meant to be passed down from big to little sister. She designed coordinating outfits for brother and sister, reflecting society's turn toward family life during the baby boom era after World War II.

Children were seen as precious objects. Eiseman even designed some dresses that made little girls look like presents wrapped up with a red bow. But she disliked clothing from other high-end lines that made children look like miniature adults.  

Current designer Teri Shapiro Larson joined Florence Eiseman in 1972. 

Fresh out of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Shapiro Larson showed Eiseman her portfolio of designs during an interview. Eiseman told her the designs just didn't look like the brand. Florence Eiseman made dresses in European styles with appliques. Shapiro Larson had designed sportswear.

Eiseman encouraged Shapiro Larson to return the following week with a new portfolio. Shapiro Larson got the job. 

Eiseman and Shapiro Larson started designing the line together. There were no computers or drawing programs. The pair would sit side by side in the office, cut out fabric and start draping the strips onto mannequins. "The designing all originates from the fabric," Shapiro Larson said. "How does the fabric drape? What can you do with it?" 

The duo shared a vision for what clothing for children should be. Shapiro Larson cherished those hours spent bouncing ideas off each other and learning from Eiseman's quiet leadership. "She was just a powerhouse," Shapiro Larson said.

As Eiseman aged and suffered from emphysema, she slowly backed away from the business. Eiseman stopped coming into the office and Shapiro Larson would take fabrics, designs and patterns to her apartment at the Shorecrest Hotel. Eiseman died in 1988 at age 88. 

"I looked at her as my mentor, but I don’t know if she realized that’s what she was doing for me," Shapiro Larson said. 

The fashion company peaked in the mid-1980s when sales reached about $7 million a year. The company employed about 130 people then. Considered an heirloom brand, Florence Eiseman prided itself on American production and individual attention paid to each garment. The brand struggled to maintain its quality and meet market demands. It went in and out of bankruptcy and through several owners.

Now, about 20 people work in the Milwaukee office on S. 4th St. The clothes are designed and patterns are made here and then sent to a factory in El Salvador to make the garments. 

Shapiro Larson, who joined the fashion line when she was 21, said the job opened the world to her. She traveled to Europe, Asia and South America to select fabrics for Florence Eiseman. She had two boys herself, now grown, whom she dressed in Florence Eiseman, of course.

Shapiro Larson said the biggest honor and thrill of her career has been making gifts for President Barack Obama to give children. Each little suit for boys and dress for girls was adorned with a presidential seal. Shapiro Larson has personally hand-embroidered about 90 children's names onto garments for the Obamas.

Eiseman's original vision for children's clothing continues to resonate.

"The idea of creating wondrous experiences for children is an enduring notion," said Carter, who studies the history of childhood. "We want childhood as a culture to be stable, separate from adulthood, unchanging." 

Seersucker and corduroy remain Florence Eiseman's signature fabrics. Some hemlines and silhouettes have gone out of fashion. Velvet dresses are no longer popular. Dresses for little girls with a five-petal flower applique continue to be a mainstay in the nearly 100 new designs each season. 

"Whenever you design something you hope that other people will like it and wear it," Shapiro Larson said. "It’s the best thing to see our clothing on kids."