Rommy Hunt Revson
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Short description|American nightclub singer and inventor (1944–2022)}}
{{infobox person
| name = Rommy Hunt Revson
| image = File:Romy_Hunt_Revson.jpeg
| caption =
| birth_name = Rommy Kolb
| birth_date = {{birth date|1944|2|15|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = White Plains, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|9|7|1944|2|15|mf=y}}
| death_place = Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.
| occupation = Nightclub singer, vocal coach, inventor
| yearsactive =
| known_for = Inventing the scrunchie
| spouse = Four times divorced, including from John Revson
| children = 1
}}
Rommy Hunt Revson (née Kolb; February 15, 1944 – September 7, 2022) was an American nightclub singer and creator of the scrunchie.
Early years
Revson was born in 1944 in White Plains, New York. She worked in the 1970s and 1980s as a singer in Manhattan nightclubs. She was also a voice teacher and songwriter.{{cite news|title=Rommy Hunt Revson, Creator of the Scrunchie, Dies at 78|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 14, 2022|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/style/rommy-revson-dead.html|last = Sandomir|first = Richard|accessdate = September 19, 2022|url-access = limited}} While working as a singer, she met Revlon cosmetics heir John Revson. After a six-year courtship, they were married for a year.{{cite news|title='Pretty Girls': Song Written As Memorial To Rommy Revson's Friend|newspaper=Palm Beach Daily News|date=January 8, 1986|page=1|author=Millie Wolf|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109232121/palm-beach-daily-news/|via=Newspapers.com}}
The scrunchie
In 1986, Revson invented the scrunchie, a hair accessory used to hold the hair in a pony tail. Revson invented the scrunchie while preparing for job interviews and trying to protect her brittle hair after having it bleached. She created the scrunchie out of soft fabric to avoid damaging her hair with elastic bands or plastic clips. She received a design patent for the invention.{{cite book|title=Patently Female: From AZ to TV Dinners, Stories of Women Inventors and Their Breakthrough Ideas|author=Ethlie Ann Vare, Greg Ptacek|publisher=John Wiley|page=140|year=2002|isbn=0471023345}} The invention, originally known as the "Scunci", was named after Revson's pet poodle. It later became known generically as the scrunchie.
Revson began a business to market her Scuncis and had $20 million in orders in the initial months. Unable to keep up with demand, Revson's business failed. She thereafter licensed her patent for manufacture by others.{{cite news|title=Ponytail-holders turn out to be worth a fortune|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|author=Robin D. Givhan|date=September 24, 1995|page=6D|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109622143/revson/|via=Newspapers.com}} By the time her patent expired in 2001, more than two billion Scrunchies had been sold.{{cite news|title=Book documents women's patents|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=October 23, 2002|page=|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109621454/revison/}} Revson made $1 million a year in royalties from the scrunchie for more than 12 years.
Personal life and death
Revson was married and divorced four times and had one son.{{cite news|title=Bauble, bauble, toil & royal trouble|newspaper=New York Daily News|author=Richard Johnson|date=March 30, 1992|page=|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109621290/revson/|via=Newspapers.com}} At the time of her death, she was a resident of Wellington, Florida.
On September 7, 2022, Revson died in Rochester, Minnesota, at age 78, from a rupture in the ascending aorta. She died at a hotel room near the Mayo Clinic, where she was undergoing medical treatment for Cushing's disease and Ehlers–Danlos syndrome.{{cite magazine |first1=Alexandra|last1=Schonfeld|title=Rommy Hunt Revson, the Woman Who Invented the Scrunchie, Dies at 78|magazine=People|access-date=September 16, 2022|date=September 15, 2022|url=https://people.com/style/scrunchie-inventor-rommy-hunt-revson-dies-at-78/}}{{cite web|title=The Inventor Of The Scrunchie Left A Lasting Mark On Fashion: Rommy Hunt Revson, who died Sept. 7, created one of fashion's most memorable accessories|publisher=HuffPost|author=Griffin Wynne|date=September 15, 2022|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rommy-hunt-revson-scrunchie_l_6323290fe4b0eac9f4df1c23}}