Restivo, Mary Ann (1940 -)

Dates

• Existence: 1940 -

Biography

Mary Ann Restivo was born in South Orange, NJ in 1940. She attended the College of St. Elizabeth, Morristown, New Jersey, from 1958 to 1960, studying retailing. Right after graduating, she studied design at FIT, graduating in 1961. Her first job out of college was at Abby Michael junior sportswear house in New York. She moved between different firms from 1962 to 1974 before being hired as Dior's head designer of the women's blouse division. Restivo stayed with Dior until 1980, when she started her own company, Mary Ann Restivo, Inc. The brand focused on contemporary sportswear. In 1988 she sold the brand to Leslie Fay Corporation, but stayed on under their new "Mary Ann Restivo" division as head designer. That division closed in 1992. After that, she became an independent design consultant for high-end clients. She returned to design in 2002 with an accessories line. In 1973, restivo was awarded the Mortimer C. Ritter award, from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records: