Fred Hayman
| Fred Hayman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Fred Jules Pollag May 29, 1925 St. Gallen, Switzerland |
| Died | April 14, 2016 (aged 90) Malibu, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | Swiss American |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | Giorgio Beverly Hills |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Richard Pollag Irma Levy |
| Relatives | Julius Haymann (stepfather) |
Fred Jules Pollag (May 29, 1925 – April 14, 2016), known professionally as Fred Hayman, was a Swiss-born American fashion retailer and entrepreneur, founder in 1961 of Giorgio Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills, California. He was also known as "Mr. Beverly Hills" and "Mr. Rodeo Drive".
Hayman was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland in 1925, the son of Richard Pollag and Irma Levy. His sister Yvette is four years older than him. After his father died, his mother married Julius Haymann (two n's), who already had a son, Eugene. His family emigrated to New York during World War II, where Hayman found work as an apprentice chef at the Waldorf-Astoria.
In 1943, Hayman joined the United States Navy, but stayed in the US training with the Navy to become a dentist until 1946, when he went to Paris and Mexico City, before returning to work at the Waldorf-Astoria.
By the 1960s, Hayman was the manager of the Beverly Hilton hotel. This was where he met Gale, who was working there as a cocktail waitress, and was also a divorcee. She was arrested for working underage; Hayman provided bail and they married a year later. He was sixteen years older than she.
Giorgio Beverly Hills was the first luxury boutique to be founded on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills.
It was founded by Hayman and George Grant, who opened their women's fashion boutique in 1961 at 273 Rodeo Drive (at the junction with Dayton Way), which was then a very ordinary street. Gucci, Tiffany, and others established Rodeo Drive stores appeared in the mid-1970s. The name was derived from Grant's first name. Hayman recognised the potential of the site, as it was close to The Beverly Hilton hotel, where he had been working. The store used a signature yellow-and-white striped awning, which came to symbolise a Beverly Hills lifestyle. Hayman bought out Grant in 1962. The store had a reading room, pool table and oak bar, so that men could amuse themselves while the women shopped.
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