Babs Simpson (born Beatrice Crosby de Menocal; – ) was an American magazine editor. She is best known for her 25-year tenure at ''Vogue'' as a

fashion editor A fashion editor is a person that supervises the process of creating, developing and presenting content for the fashion department of a magazine, Web site, newspaper or television program. The work of a fashion editor can be quite varied and may h ...

Biography

The oldest of four children, Simpson was born in 1913 in Beijing (then called Peking), China, to Daniel Ammen de Menocal, a banker from an aristocratic Cuban family, and Beatrice (Crosby) de Menocal, a New York City socialite. The family lived in South America before settling in Boston, Massachusetts. Simpson married William Simpson in 1935 and moved to Locust Valley, New York; they divorced seven years later. In 1944, two years after moving to Manhattan, Simpson obtained (through a friend) a position at ''Harper's Bazaa''r, working in a photographer's studio. She was then hired to work for the magazine itself, under editor

Carmel Snow Carmel Snow (born Carmel White; 21 August 1887 – 7 May 1961) was the editor-in-chief of the American edition of ''Harper's Bazaar'' from 1934 to 1958; and the chair of the magazine's editorial board. She was famously quoted as saying, "Ele ...

. In 1947, she left ''Harper's Bazaar'' to work at ''Vogue'', where she would remain until 1972. As a fashion editor, Simpson covered fashion shows and produced photo shoots. She collaborated with the photographer

Irving Penn Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clie ...

on many of his iconic images. She styled what would become

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

's final photo shoot, photographed by Bert Stern a month before her death. After leaving Vogue, Simpson worked at ''House & Garden'' magazine from 1972 until it was shuttered in 1993. In 2006, at the age of 93, Simpson became the oldest person to be featured in ''Vogue'', when she appeared in its annual Age Issue. In 2012, at age 99, she was featured in ''In Vogue: The Editor's Eye'', an HBO documentary about the fashion editors at ''Vogue''. Simpson was in a 35-year relationship with art dealer Paul Magriel; they lived in separate apartments in the same Manhattan apartment building throughout their relationship and did not marry. Simpson owned a Paul Lester Weiner-designed modernist home in

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, New York, built for her in 1963. She spent her later years in a retirement community in

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

, New York. She died on January 7, 2019, at the age of 105, in Rye.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Babs 1913 births 2019 deaths Vogue (magazine) people Fashion editors American women centenarians American women editors American magazine editors American women magazine editors People from Beijing American writers of Cuban descent 21st-century American people 21st-century American women American expatriates in China