Katja of Sweden
{{Short description|Swedish fashion designer (1920–2017)}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Katja of Sweden
| image = Katja of Sweden (cropped).jpg
| caption = Katja of Sweden, November 1957
| birth_name = Karin Ingegerd Hallberg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1920|01|12}}{{cite book|author1=Eleanor Lambert|title=World of Fashion: People, Places, Resources|date=1976|publisher=R. R. Bowker Company|isbn=0835206270|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldoffashionpe00lamb/page/172 172]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/worldoffashionpe00lamb/page/172}}
| birth_place = Ekeby, Bjuv, Sweden
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2017|1|25|1920|01|12}}
| nationality = Swedish
| field = Fashion Design
| training = Konstfack, Sweden, Beckmans, Sweden, Parson's School of Design
}}
Katja Ingergard Geiger (born Karin Ingegerd Hallberg; 12 January 1920 – 25 January 2017), better known as Katja of Sweden, was a Swedish fashion designer.
Early life and career
After studying art and design at Konstfack and Beckmans in Stockholm, Sweden, Karin moved to New York City in 1946 to study fashion design at Parson's School of Design.{{cite web|url=https://www.thelocal.se/20170126/internationally-acclaimed-swedish-fashion-designer-dies|title=Internationally acclaimed Swedish fashion designer dies|website=Thelocal.se|date=26 January 2017|author=AFP|accessdate=4 July 2018}}
There she married movie producer and director Rod E. Geiger who at the time was producing movies for Roberto Rossellini. Katja and her husband launched the Katja of Sweden brand in the late 1940s. Katja became close friends with Rosselini's wife Ingrid Bergman, and named a blouse after her that became a fashion hit.{{cite web|url=https://www.minnenasjournal.nu/katja-geiger-katja-of-sweden-1920-2017/|title=Katja Geiger (Katja of Sweden) 1920–2017|date=20 March 2017|author=Karl Zetterberg|lang=sv|accessdate=4 July 2018|archive-date=4 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704094448/https://www.minnenasjournal.nu/katja-geiger-katja-of-sweden-1920-2017/|url-status=dead}}
She was the designer for Arthur Sportswear which used contractors including those in the Bronx which employed 50 seamstresses turning out her products. Being close friends with Charlie Chaplin, and Edward Dmytryk who was one of the Hollywood Ten, the Hollywood blacklist ordeal got Mr. Geiger in hot water.
The couple moved to Huaröd in Sweden in 1953, where the label "Katja of Sweden" became a fashion sensation which lasted for over twenty years.{{cite book|last=Geiger|first=Katja|title=Katja of Sweden: mode och design utan gränser: en biografi|date=2000 |publisher=Dialogos Förlag|isbn=9789175041537}} In 1975, they moved back to New York City, where Katja began designing home textiles, bed sheets, and kitchenware. "Katja shops" opened up in Macy's department store and Cannon Mills manufactured her designs under license. In the 1980s advertisements featuring Bob Hope and Larry Hagman sleeping in "Katja sheets" ran with the tagline "Two of the Most Famous Names in America Sleep Together"
In 1995, the Geigers moved back to Sweden to be closer to family. Rod Geiger died in 2000.
Katja's clothes are now part of the permanent collection of the Museum "Kulturen" in Lund, Sweden. She died on 25 January 2017 at the age of 97.{{cite web|url=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=101&artikel=6616393|title=Modeikonen Katja of Sweden är död – P4 Kristianstad|website=Sverigesradio.se|accessdate=20 August 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/konst-form/modedesignern-katja-of-sweden-ar-dod/|title=Modedesignern Katja of Sweden är död – DN.SE|date=25 January 2017|website=Dagens Nyheter|access-date=20 August 2017}}
Awards
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite web|url=http://www.wornthrough.com/2011/12/a-fresh-look-at-mid-century-design/|title=A Fresh Look at Mid-century Design|date=15 December 2011|website=Wornthrough.com|accessdate=20 August 2017|archive-date=17 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117115501/http://www.wornthrough.com/2011/12/a-fresh-look-at-mid-century-design/|url-status=dead}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.sydsvenskan.se/familj/fodelsedag/katja-of-sweden-firar-90-ar/|title="Katja of Sweden" firar 90 år|website=Sydsvenskan.se|accessdate=20 August 2017}}