# Were Designer Jeans Designers Real Persons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220 "2010-03-04T00:54:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/1 "2010-03-04T00:54:19Z")
I’m talking about “designers” like: -Jordache (did he/she exist?) -Sergio Valente? -Ralph Lauren (yep, I know he is real) -Gloria Vanderbilt? Obviously, many “designers” were made up names. But more to the point, exactly what design work is involved with blue jeans-aren’tb they all pretty much alike? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/2 "2010-03-04T00:58:47Z")
Were Designer Jeans Designers Real Persons? This reminds me of the Saturday Night Live sketch with Rosanne Rosannadanna, where she’s commenting on Gloria Vanderbilt, she says something like: > [@](#): > > You know Gloria Vanderbilt, you know that fancy schmancy lady, who took her family’s good name and put it on every ass in America 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/3 "2010-03-04T00:59:33Z")
Gloria Vanderbilt was real enough to give birth to Anderson Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/4 "2010-03-04T01:12:08Z")
According to Wikipedia, Sergio Valente isn’t /wasn’t a real person. And thanks a lot, you’ve given me that damned jingle: “Uh oh, Sergio…” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/5 "2010-03-04T01:15:00Z")
Jeans are definitely not all a like. There’s all different cuts–high waisted, low, tighter in the legs, less so, etc. I can try on a hundred different pair of jeans and have them all fit differently. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/6 "2010-03-04T01:21:16Z")
Gloria Vanderbilt was not only smokin’ hot [back in the day](http://vanderbiltfamily.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/vanderbiltgloria.jpg), dating the likes of Frank Sinatra and such, but she’s still more attractive than most women [even now](http://www.janetcharltonshollywood.com/images/2009/07/daf039e0-8b76-40anders.jpeg) at the age of eighty-six. Still, her life hasn’t all been a bowl of cherries. She’s been married four times (her first husband beat her; her second was Leopold Stowkowski; her fourth died on the operating table of a heart condition) and had to suffer the devastating death of one of her sons (Anderson Cooper’s older brother). ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/7 "2010-03-04T01:28:14Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Ralph Lauren (yep, I know he is real) Well, sort of. 😉 He was born [Ralph Rueben Lifshitz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Lauren), which is why I always talk about my Lifshitz jeans. [Gloria Vanderbilt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Vanderbilt) was famous long before she ever designed jeans or gave birth to a news anchor. As a child she was the subject of a custody trial that made national headlines. There have also been a number of books and movies about her life. Jordache is just a company name, not a real person. And jeans can be very different both in fit and style, which is why I almost exclusively wear Lifshitz. They just look best on me. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/8 "2010-03-04T02:09:21Z")
I like calling him ole Ralph Lifshitz, too. **SpoilerVirgin** , you’re all right in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/9 "2010-03-04T02:20:15Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Gloria Vanderbilt was not only smokin’ hot [back in the day](http://vanderbiltfamily.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/vanderbiltgloria.jpg), dating the likes of Frank Sinatra and such, but she’s still more attractive than most women [even now](http://www.janetcharltonshollywood.com/images/2009/07/daf039e0-8b76-40anders.jpeg) at the age of eighty-six. > > Still, her life hasn’t all been a bowl of cherries. She’s been married four times (her first husband beat her; her second was Leopold Stowkowski; her fourth died on the operating table of a heart condition) and had to suffer the devastating death of one of her sons (Anderson Cooper’s older brother). Am I being whooshed, or is she really 86 in that picture? That’s a little hard to believe. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/10 "2010-03-04T02:21:01Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Gloria Vanderbilt was not only smokin’ hot [back in the day](http://vanderbiltfamily.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/vanderbiltgloria.jpg), dating the likes of Frank Sinatra and such, but she’s still more attractive than most women [even now](http://www.janetcharltonshollywood.com/images/2009/07/daf039e0-8b76-40anders.jpeg) at the age of eighty-six. > > Still, her life hasn’t all been a bowl of cherries. She’s been married four times (her first husband beat her; her second was Leopold Stowkowski; her fourth died on the operating table of a heart condition) and had to suffer the devastating death of one of her sons (Anderson Cooper’s older brother). _Eighty-six_? Good God, she looks younger than her son does. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/11 "2010-03-04T02:30:34Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Am I being whooshed, or is she really 86 in that picture? That’s a little hard to believe. Some good lighting in that picture. I think [this one](http://www.wowowow.com/entertainment/liz-smith-gloria-vanderbilt-obsessed-erotic-happy-last-340580) is a little more what she really looks like at 86. Still not bad, though. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/12 "2010-03-04T02:37:00Z")
Some of these people “designed” jeans like George Foreman designed a hamburger grill. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/13 "2010-03-04T03:33:39Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Am I being whooshed, or is she really 86 in that picture? That’s a little hard to believe. Well, she’s eighty-six and Anderson looks pretty much like he does now so I assumed it was a fairly recent picture and was a pretty good representation of how she looks now, even if the photo may technically been a couple of years or so old. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/14 "2010-03-04T15:32:16Z")
Jordache was not a real person. The name is a sort of agglomeration of the names of several brothers who started the company. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/15 "2010-03-04T17:45:55Z")
I cannot believe this thread has gone this far with no mention of Calvin Klein, who as far I as understand it, virtually invented the idea of designer jeans. Who is, evidently, a real person in addition to being a Seinfeld character. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/16 "2010-03-04T19:09:19Z")
Tommy Hilfiger is a real person too. He and Klein both use their real names. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/17 "2010-03-05T01:39:32Z")
Designer jeans are generally credited to Jordache. Of the major designer jeans brands of the '70s, only Sasson, Calvin Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt were actual people who actually designed things (Vanderbilt was really more of a name in home furnishings, but I believe she did have something to do with the jeans jeans). None of these people has anything to do with the jeans any more. Lauren and Armani were major designers at the time, but I don’t recall that their jeans had much of a presence during the craze. Does anyone know if the Sasson behind Sasson Jeans was Kedem Sasson, who is now famous for his plus-size lines? Both are Israeli, but I can’t find much personal information about either one. ---
**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/18 "2010-03-05T02:09:10Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I cannot believe this thread has gone this far with no mention of Calvin Klein, who as far I as understand it, virtually invented the idea of designer jeans. As Nametage said, Jordache was first but Calvin Klein is the iconic figure thanks to Brooke Shields in ads like these: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YK2VZgJ4AoM/hqdefault.jpg "Brooke Shields in the Calvin Klein Jeans commercial 1981") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK2VZgJ4AoM) [QUOTE=Nametag] Of the major designer jeans brands of the '70s, only Sasson, Calvin Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt were actual people who actually designed things (Vanderbilt was really more of a name in home furnishings, but I believe she did have something to do with the jeans jeans). [/QUOTE] She licensed her name to the line/did publicity but didn’t actually have anything to do with manufacturing/design/production. [Quote=Nametag] Does anyone know if the Sasson behind Sasson Jeans was Kedem Sasson, who is now famous for his plus-size lines? Both are Israeli, but I can’t find much personal information about either one. [/QUOTE] I don’t think so. I think the Sasson behind the jeans was Maurice Sasson and then somehow he got kicked out/lost control of his company. Later on, IIRC, Jordache bought the remains of Sasson. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/19 "2010-03-05T05:13:20Z")
And if you want to go all the way back, Levi Strauss was a real person. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220/20 "2010-03-05T08:27:33Z")
\*\*\*Holy tap-dancing Christ on a stick! \* Anderson Cooper is her son?!! \*\* [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-designer-jeans-designers-real-persons/531220.md?page=2)