Eileen Fisher, Inc.
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Eileen Fisher (June 6, 1951) is an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the women's clothing brand Eileen Fisher Inc.


Biography

Fisher grew up in
Des Plaines, Illinois Des Plaines () is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situat ...
, the second of the seven children. When Fisher decided to go to
college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
, her father explained that the family could not contribute to her tuition because they needed to save their money to send her younger brother to college as "he would need an education to support his family some day." Fisher explained in an interview to ''Inc.'' in 2013: "It didn't upset me — it was the times. I never expected a penny from my parents. I paid all my tuition fees from
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
by working as a waitress." She started as a math major before switching to
interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...
, graduating in 1972. Fisher then moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1973. She worked as an interior designer and as a graphic artist before establishing her own
fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...
business. She has two children, Zackary and Sasha, with her ex-husband David Zweibel, and lives in Irvington,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
.


Company

Eileen Fisher Inc. is an American
privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...
founded by Fisher in 1984 with $350 in startup money. Her first order at a New York clothing design show was for $3,000, which was followed three months later with $40,000 in additional sales. She opened her first
retail store The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services ar ...
in 1986, on East 9th Street in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. In 2002, the company earned $144 million in
revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...
, and $154 million in 2003. Estimated revenue in 2015 grew to over $300 million. As of 2003, 35 percent of the company's clothing was manufactured in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
while the rest was made in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in compliance with
Social Accountability International Social Accountability 8000 (SA 8000) is an international standard for social accountability management systems. It was developed in 1997 by Social Accountability International, formerly the Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency, by a ...
's
SA8000 Social Accountability 8000 (SA 8000) is an international standard for social accountability management systems. It was developed in 1997 by Social Accountability International, formerly the Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency, by a ...
. The company has over 1200 employees with over 56 retail stores in fifteen states. In 2011, the company expanded outside the U.S., opening its first Canadian store in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
and then more stores in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, in October 2012. Since its formation, the company has extended its distribution to over 1,000 wholesale doors and 68 retail stores. In order to reduce
fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...
and fiber waste, the company started a recycling program. Customers donate their "gently used" Eileen Fisher clothing in return for a $5 gift certificate per article. After
dry cleaning Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent (usually non-polar, as opposed to water which is a Solvent#Solvent classifications, polar ...
, the garments are resold—with the income funding business grants for women and leadership programs for young women.eileenfisher.co
Supporting_Women


See also

*
List of fashion designers This is a list of notable fashion designers sorted by nationality. It includes designers of ''haute couture'' and ready-to-wear. For ''haute couture'' only, see the list of grands couturiers. For footwear designers, see the list of footwear d ...
*
List of people from New York City Many notable people were either born in New York City or adopted it as their home. People from New York City 0–9 * 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson, born 1975) – businessman and rapper * 6ix9ine (Daniel Hernandez, born 1996) – rapper * 22G ...
* List of University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign people *
List of New York companies A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...


References


External links

* * (profile on the person)
How I Build This - Eileen Fisher: Eileen Fisher
(audio interview) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Eileen 1950 births 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesswomen American company founders American businesspeople in fashion American fashion designers American women fashion designers American women business executives American women company founders Businesspeople from New York City Living people People from Irvington, New York People from Des Plaines, Illinois Place of birth missing (living people) University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni 1984 establishments in the United States Clothing retailers of the United States Privately held companies based in New York (state) Retail companies established in 1984 Companies based in Westchester County, New York B Lab-certified corporations