Jo Copeland (1899 – March 20, 1982) was an American fashion designer. She received the

Neiman Marcus Fashion Award The Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion was a yearly award created in 1938 by Carrie Marcus Neiman and Stanley Marcus. Unlike the Coty Award, it was not limited to American-based fashion designers. Recipients of th ...

in 1944.

Early life and education

Copeland was born in New York City in 1899 to parents Samuel and Minna Copeland, however her mother died during childbirth. Copeland was educated in New York at

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

and

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

Career

After graduating from the Parsons School of Design, she began working as a designer which paid enough to help put her older brothers through

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. Copeland began selling her own designs as a commercial artist to manufacturing firms and was hired by Pattulo Models Inc in 1920 as a fashion illustrator. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

led to the liberation of Paris, Copeland began looking at other sources of inspiration for fashion including China and South America. She also persuaded other American fashion designers to become independent from Paris' influence. Copeland was so determined to not be influenced by Paris that she refused to travel to the city after 1947. By 1949, she was promoted to partner at the firm Pattulo Models Inc and eventually became Vice-President and Head Designer at Pattulo-Jo Copeland Inc. where she earned a reputation for refusing to conform to typical fashion norms. Copeland designed the buttoned, two-piece suit for women to wear without a blouse. She rejected the

Mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US * ...

style as desperation to be noticed and a sign of immaturity. As a result, many of her designs incorporated an extended torso and skirts no shorter than two inches above the knee. She received the 1944

for her designs. Copeland died on March 20, 1982, from a stroke. A collection of her designs is on display at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copeland, Jo 1982 deaths 1899 births American fashion designers American women fashion designers Jewish fashion designers Jewish women in business Parsons School of Design alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen Jews from New York (state)