Emily Wilkens

Emily Wilkens
Emily Wilkens in her own designs, 1948
Born	Emily Wilkens 1917 Hartford, Connecticut
Died	2000 (aged 83) The Bronx
Nationality	American
Education	Pratt Institute
Occupation	Fashion designer
Awards	1945 Neiman Marcus Fashion Award, 1945 Coty Award

Emily Wilkens (1917-2000) was an American fashion designer specialising in childrenswear. She won both the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award and the Coty Award for her work, which was considered groundbreaking for properly taking note of the requirements of teenage dressing, and not simply offering miniature grown-up garments. She was also an author, writing a number of books on self care and style, and during the late 1960s and early 1970s, became a beauty journalist, writing an advice column. She died in 2000.

Born in 1917 in Hartford, Connecticut, Emily Wilkens graduated from the Pratt Institute in 1938. She put her studies of fashion illustration to use as a sketcher for newspaper advertisements.

In 1947 she married Irving L. Levey, a judge.

Wilkens was on holiday in Hollywood in the early 1940s when she was mistakenly declared to be a children's fashion designer at a party. This led to her receiving a commission to design film costumes for Ann E. Todd, and to create outfits for children including the offspring of stars such as Gracie Allen and Jack Benny.

Unlike other designers working in the field, Wilkens designed clothes particularly for young girls and teenagers, rather than making miniature versions of their mothers' garments. Realising that children grew quickly, she made garments that adjusted to accommodate changes in the adolescent figure, whilst maintaining an age-appropriate appearance. Among her signature designs were little black dresses for young girls, which, with bright accessories and details, allowed the wearer to have a "grown up" dress whilst avoiding an austere appearance. The fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert credited her with recognising an untapped market, and the fashion historian Richard Martin stated that Wilkens "invented the American teenager" long before rock and roll and James Dean consolidated the concept. By 1947, she was said to have served over eight million customers.