Edith Flagg (née Faierstein, also known as Feuerstein; November 1, 1919 – August 13, 2014) was an Austrian-born

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fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

, fashion industry executive, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. She was the first designer to import polyester as a fashion textile to America. In her later life, Flagg became known for her re-occurring role on the

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television program '' Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles'' with her grandson Josh Flagg.

Early life

Edith Flagg was born Edith Faierstein to a Jewish family on November 1, 1919 in Vienna, Austria. She was raised in Galați, Romania, where her father worked as a photographer. At the age of 15 she returned to Vienna to study fashion and lived in Austria through her teenage years. When Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, she fled to the Netherlands with her boyfriend Hans Stein. She married Hans Stein after they moved to the Netherlands in 1938. Instead of leaving the Netherlands after the German invasion, Flagg took the identity of the deceased Lydia Voskuilen. When she became pregnant with her son Michael, she hid the child in a sanitarium and posed as a nurse in order to visit him. Hans Stein was captured by Germans and sent to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

where he was murdered in 1944. After Stein's death, Flagg worked within the Dutch underground resistance where she met her second husband Erich Simon Flegenheimer (later known as Eric Flagg), and after the war they married. Together they were responsible for saving several lives. She acted as a spy, swimming with Nazi soldiers and relaying what she overheard. Flagg reportedly killed two Nazis. Eric then moved to the United States and Edith and Michael lived on a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

in Palestine, what would soon become Israel. Edith and Michael followed Eric to the United States and while Eric worked in New York, Edith and Michael moved to San Francisco and lived with Hans' parents. Edith, Eric and Michael then moved to Los Angeles in 1949.

Career

Flagg started her career after arriving in New York in 1948 as a seamstress, progressing to design, then later in Los Angeles, California working in the Garment District. She began her first line of dresses in 1956 with a $2,000 investment of her own savings. Her clothing-line "Edith Flagg, Inc." (1956–2000) manufactured in the United States from the 1950s until her retirement from the fashion industry in 2000. The brand was characterized by its wrinkle-resistant knitwear. As of 2012, the company reportedly afforded her a net worth of $100 million. Flagg was the first person to import polyester to the United States and popularize it. She discovered a type of

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...

called Crimplene which was being produced by

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...

out of Leeds, England. The material was used for parachutes and military uniforms during World War II, resulting in a post-war surplus. Flagg found the new fabric while vacationing in Switzerland in the 1960s. She signed an exclusive advertising contract with

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

to import Crimplene from England and popularize under the name polyester. She also imported the synthetic fabric Dacron. Edith Flagg, Inc. expanded from a successful dress manufacturing company in Los Angeles to an international design house with offices and showrooms in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Charlotte and London, as well as a factory in Hong Kong. She was an active contributor to ''California Apparel News'' and '' Women's Wear Daily'' in a weekly column titled "By the Way." Later, she often appeared on the television show '' Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles'' to offer business advice to her grandson, Josh Flagg. When Josh was fourteen, he wrote ''A Simple Girl: Stories My Grandmother Told Me'', a book about her survival during World War II and her career. The book was published in 2009, prior to the show.

Philanthropy

She was a donor to the United Jewish Welfare Fund, a Jewish non-profit organization, and the City of Hope, a private hospital in California.Victoria Talbot, 'Edith Flagg, Fashion Pioneer and Philanthropist, Dead at 94', '' The Beverly Hills Courier'', August 22, 2014, Volume XXXXVIIII, Number 34, pp. 4;1

/ref> Flagg retired in 2000 to concentrate on her philanthropy, focusing on Jewish and medical causes. She was a donor to the United Jewish Welfare Fund, a Jewish non-profit organization, and the City of Hope, a private hospital in California of which she and her husband were also board members. Proceeds from her biography ''A Simple Girl: Stories My Grandmother Told Me'' were donated to the Jewish Federation. Flagg and her husband were the recipients of multiple awards from the National Conference of Christians and Jews and The United Jewish Welfare Fund.

Personal life

Flagg spoke Yiddish, Hebrew, Romanian, English, French, German and Dutch. She resided in a penthouse in

The Century Towers The Century Towers is the first residential project constructed in Century City, Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California. The buildings were developed under the aegis of Alcoa Properties, and they are located along the southern boundary of C ...

on the

Avenue of the Stars, Century City The Avenue of the Stars is the main thoroughfare in Century City, Los Angeles, in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of California. Location The avenue is one of the main roads in Century City, a neighborhood of West Los Angeles. It runs fro ...

in Los Angeles, which she and her husband purchased from Jack Benny in 1976 for the highest price recorded for a condominium in Los Angeles up to that date.Erin Weinger
Edith Flagg, 'Million Dollar Listing' Grandma, Dies at 94
'' The Hollywood Reporter'', August 13, 2014

Death

She died on August 13, 2014 in her penthouse in Century City of natural causes. She was ninety-four years old. She was buried at the

Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery The Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary is a Jewish cemetery located at 6001 West Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California. Many Jews from the entertainment industry are buried here. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (design ...

, a

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

, and the reception took place at the Hillcrest Country Club.

''Note: listed in chronological order'' *"Edith Flagg's Reason-Why: To Design Clothes for the Average Customer's Budget" Virginia Scallon, ''California Apparel News'', Friday Jan 3 1969 page 26. *"Flagg-Waiving" ''Women's Wear Daily'', Monday October 23, 1967. *''Women's Wear Daily'', Tues Feb 13 1968 p 21. *Harry & Sidney Arkin Buying Office April 18, 1968 Edith Flagg: Never Forgets the Customer, First to Introduce Polyester Knits *California Apparel News Fri Jan 3 1969 *''Women's Wear Daily'' sec 2 wed jan 6 1971 "Edith Flagg—First American Woman to Use Polyester". *''City of Hope Pilot Magazine'' 1972—"Flagg elected to board of directors for City of Hope". *''Fashionweek'' p 17 March 27, 1972—Flagg Merchant's Club president for 3 years. *''California Apparel News'', December 20, 1974. *"DIALOGUE with Eric and Edith Flagg-- Barbara Freidman, Managing Editor ''CALIFORNIA APPAREL NEWS'' PAGE 17 FRIDAY MARCH 23 1975. *''Beverly Hills Courier'' January 9, 1976-- "Flagg, nationally prominent apparel manufacturer, active in the Dutch Underground--Flagg is the new chair of the Committee on Ideology of the City of Hope's Board of Directors. *Edith Flagg: Celebrating 20 years of Success ''California Apparel News'' page 9 Friday June 11, 1976. *''Jewish Federation Council Bulletin'' July 7, 1980. *''Jewish Federation Council Bulletin'' March 2, 1981. *''California Apparel News'' March 20, 1981 p. 16. *''California Apparel News'' April 3, 1981 p. 22. *''California Apparel News'', "By the Way" May 15, 1981. *''Los Angeles Jewish Community Bulletin'' Nov 23 1981 vol 23 no 22. *"By the Way" by Edith Flagg Aug 13 1982 vol 38 no 33. *''Los Angeles Jewish Community Bulletin'' sep 27 1982 vol 24 no 18. *United Jewish Fund Campaign Update; The Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles-, June 1985. *United Jewish Fund "Campaign Update" The Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, front page August 8, 1985. *Jewish Federation Council/ United Jewish Fund "Update" paper Feb. 27, 1986 -- "Flegenheimer, Fenstra, Flagg: Soldier Without a Uniform". *''Century City News'', March 18, 1986. *''Beverly Hills Courier'' Nov 15 2002 page 9 re: Cindy Flagg Cedars Sinai. *''Beverly Hills 213'' Nov 20 2002 vol 20, number 46 page 21 re Cindy Flagg Cedars Sinai. *''BeverlyHills Courier'' June 4, 2004 front page re: Cindy Flagg Cedars-Sinai. *''Beverly Hills Courier'' Nov 19 2004 re: CIndy Flagg Cedars Sinai p18. *''Beverly Hills Courier'' June 2, 2006 re: Cindy Flagg Cedars-Sinai.

References