Florence Eiseman:
Designing Childhood for the American Century
Florence Eiseman (1899 – 1988) created the look of childhood in the “American Century,” the period of prosperity that followed World War II. From the 1940s to the present, her iconic dresses and suits for children, especially her A-line shapes and graphic cutouts, have projected an image of childhood that feels simple, visually distinct from adulthood, and somehow timeless.
Eiseman was born in Minneapolis and lived and worked in Wisconsin for nearly sixty years. She and her husband, Laurence, transformed her hobby of sewing beautiful custom garments for the children of friends into a large successful business; her first major commercial order came in 1945 from Marshall Field’s in Chicago. Within a decade, her designs had so transformed the children’s fashion industry that she was honored with a Neiman Marcus Fashion Award. Many more honors followed before her death in 1988.
The Museum of Wisconsin Art and The Chipstone Foundation are proud to present Florence Eiseman: Designing Childhood for the American Century. This innovative exhibition and the accompanying catalogue take a critical look not only at Eiseman’s distinctive design aesthetic, but also at the ways her work has both represented and scripted key aspects of American childhood.