“It was risky because I didn’t know if that customer was there but I felt that somebody would appreciate its value. “Our target was to be a designer line in the contemporary department,” he explained in an interview with Mary Lynn Richmond in WWD. by Allen Schwartz” and began designing and making women’s apparel to fill what he saw as an underserved niche in the market. Four years later, he sold his share of the company to his partners, and by 1982, he was living back in California, this time in the Los Angeles area. After leaving the company he returned to New York City, and with two business partners in 1977 he launched the East Side Clothing Company, a junior-apparel maker. Schwartz had moved to San Francisco to work at Esprit. In 1968, he joined the company that became juniors-apparel manufacturer Esprit de Corp as a sales executive, and he left nine years later after selling his 20 percent stake in order to strike out on his own.

Early on, Schwartz began looking for a job in the field on his own, and he started off in the mailroom of a lingerie company before moving on to Russ Togs, an apparel manufacturer, where he spent four years in sales. His parents were involved in the fashion business-his father, Daniel, was a dress sales executive, while his mother, Sue, had a clothing boutique in Long Beach, New York.

Schwartz was born in the mid1940s and grew up in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. I’m doing nothing different than Calvin, except he’s probably at La Grenouille for lunch for three hours, shaking hands with the editors. The founder is impervious to his critics, once telling Forbes journalist Nina Munk that “when something costs $1,400 they call it an original at $400 it’s a knockoff. Based in Los Angeles, Schwartz’s company has been scorned by the fashion establishment, but it consistently racks up impressive sales figures year after year. SidelightsĪ llen Schwartz is design director of A.B.S byAllen Schwartz, a clothing company that surgedto fame in the 1990s with its clever copies of designer originals. 1964-68 sales executive, Esprit de Corp, 1968-77 East Side Clothing Company, New York City, co-founder, 1977, and executive, 1977-81 founded A.B.S by Allen Schwartz, 1982 launched “Oscar Watch” line, 1996 company acquired by Warnaco, Inc., 2000, and Schwartz became design director. W orked in the mailroom of a lingerie company,early 1960s sales associate, Russ Togs, c. Corporate, 1231 Long Beach Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90021. 1945, in NY son ofDaniel (a garment salesperson) and Sue (a boutique owner) Schwartz married Pam (a homemaker) children: Danielle, John.Īddresses: Office-A.B.S. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Motion Picture & Television Fund in Woodland Hills.B orn Allen Bruce Schwartz, c. He earlier was married to former NBC programming executive Ruth Slawson.Ī private memorial will take place May 28 in Chapel Hill. Survivors include his wife Deena children Rachel, Jennifer and Jonathan stepson James granddaughter Isabella and brothers Robert and Terry. Schwartz moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., to produce educational videos for the Sinclair Institute, then returned to Los Angeles to serve as executive vp entertainment for Johnson/Burnett. Later, he worked at Fox as a vice president for movies of the week an executive producer at Columbia and Multimedia Entertainment a programming vp at Fries and an executive vp at Playboy Television. Mankiewicz’s Sleuth, starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine, and Elaine May’s The Heartbreak Kid, with Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd. Schwartz also was a production executive at Edgar Scherick Productions on projects including two 1972 films: Joseph L.

Allen schwartz