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Holly Harp
Born
Helen Roberta Speller

(1935-10-24)24 October 1935
Buffalo, New York
Died24 April 1995(1995-04-24) (aged 59)
Cedars Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles, California
EducationNorth Texas State University
Years active1968–1995
LabelHolly's Harp
Spouse
James "Jim" Harp
​
​
(m. 1965; div. 1981)​
PartnerMark Buckman
Children1
AwardsDistinguished Alumnus from University of North Texas (1979)

Helen Roberta Speller (also known as Holly Harp) (24 October 1939 – 24 April 1995) was an American fashion designer based in Los Angeles known for her nostalgic designs and style reminiscent of the hippie era.

Life

Born as Helen Roberta Speller on October 24, 1939 in Buffalo, New York,[1] Holly Harp studied art and costume design at North Texas State University,[2] where she met her husband, James "Jim" Harp, who she married in 1965 and would later divorce in 1981.[3][4][5] The Harps stayed in business together, with Jim starting to serve as sales director in 1986.[6] Harp additionally did night classes to learn pattern making.[2] They had a son, Thomas "Tommy/Tom" Harp.[4][7] Harp died due to ovarian cancer on April 24, 1995 at the Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles,[3][8] and additionally had breast cancer.[9] Her mother predeceased her, as she had died when Harp was nine years old.[2] In addition to her ex-husband, son, and fiancé, Harp was survived by her siblings: sisters Elizabeth Horn and Sarah Bozzola, and brother Thomas Speller Jr.[10][3][6]

Work

Harp's work consisted of materials including nylon, silk, rayon, jersey, and chiffon.[1][11] The style of her work ranged from a hippie, psychedelic style to a romantic, fantasy inspired style.[12] She began work upcycling fabrics and thrifting to make ready-made clothes and doing custom orders.[13][2] She designed evening wear, and prized theatrics as well as the happiness and confidence of her clients.[14] She considered herself to work with nostalgia,[15] and Harp's fiancé at the time of her death, Mark Buckman,[7] said that she had described her work as "counterculturalist".[3] Geraldine Stutz is credited with introducing Harp to a wider audience as the president of Henri Bendel.[16][17]

In 1968, Harp opened "Holly's Harp", a boutique on the Sunset Strip.[12] Her work was sold on both coasts, from her store in Las Angeles to stores on Fifth Avenue,[3] such as the stores Henri Bendel,[18] Bergdorf Goodman, and Neiman Marcus.[10] After her collection's appearance at Henri Bendel in 1972, she began manufacturing herself.[19] In 1973, Harp filed for a patent under the name "Holly's Harp and Design" under "Holly's Harp Inc".[20] Harp was one of the designers who took over the work from designer Anne Klein after her death in 1974.[21] In 1978, clothes from her factory were shipped to ninety stores.[15] In 1986, her designs at Henri Bendel sold for $650 to $1,350.[22] The boutique Holly's Harp closed in 1986, though she continued to work at her studio in Culver City until her death in 1995.[12][23] After her diagnosis of breast cancer, Harp claimed her assistant Amy Michelson as the designer to continue her line.[9] In 1994, Harp's jacket with two shirts retailed for $3,185.[24] The firm "Holly's Harp" was inherited by her son and continued operations, including the creation of a new clothing line titled "HH by Amy Michelson” and a bridal line “Amy Michelson Wedding“ as well as the “Amy Michelson for Holly Harp” collection,[25] until closing in 1999 at a stable volume of business of roughly $2.5 million.[6]

Her work was worn by celebrities such as Janis Joplin, Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross, Grace Slick, Barbra Streisand, and Jane Fonda.[12][10] She was the stylist for Stevie Nicks, and created her stage persona.[26] She was additionally head costume designer on movies such as Sleeper and The Turning Point,[5] and her work appeared in the movie Cabaret.[18] She was credited as the inspiration for clothes by fashion brands Gucci and Marc Jacobs by Cameron Silver in June 2002.[27]

Her activity in the Los Angeles community extended to other artists and causes. She designed clothes for Judy Chicago to paint on for International Festival of the Arts in New York,[10] held a fundraiser with Elyse Grinstein to raise money for Chicago's art project "The Dinner Party" in 1990 which Harp had also worked with Chicago on,[28][29][30] and donated fabrics to Chicago's projects "Creation of the World".[31] Harp did a show at a luncheon for the Cedars Sinai Hospital,[32] and delivered meals to AIDs patients during protests.[10]

Awards and collections

Her work was nominated twice for the Coty Awards,[3][33] and nominated for an award at the Los Angeles Woman's Building Annual Vesta Awards ceremony in 1990.[34][35] She won the Distinguished Alumnus award in 1979 from her alma mater, University of North Texas.[36][37]

Harp's work is stored in collections at the MET,[1] the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum,[12] the Oakland Museum of California,[38] the Boston Museum of Fine Arts,[39] the Philadelphia Museum of Art,[40] and Thomas Jefferson University.[41]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Holly Harp | Evening dress | American". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  2. ^ a b c d Lobenthal, Joel (1990). Radical rags: fashions of the sixties (1st ed.). New York: Abbeville Press. pp. 125–127. ISBN 0896599302.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Jr, Robert Mcg Thomas (30 April 1995). "Holly Harp, Fashion Designer Inspired by Hippies, Was 55". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b "Holly Harp - Fashion Designer | Designers | The FMD". The FMD - FashionModelDirectory.com. Fashion Model Directory.
  5. ^ a b "Harp, Holly". Swank Vintage.
  6. ^ a b c Pogoda, Dianne M. (22 June 1999). "HOLLY HARP TO SHUTTER BUSINESS". WWD. Women's Wear Daily.
  7. ^ a b "HOLLY HARP". WWD. Women's Wear Daily. 26 April 1995.
  8. ^ Chicago, Judy; Steinem, Gloria (2021). The flowering: the autobiography of Judy Chicago. New York, New York: Thames & Hudson Inc. ISBN 9780500094389.
  9. ^ a b Stein, Jeannine (10 May 2000). "Farewell, Princess Bride". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ a b c d e Turk, Rose-Marie (26 April 1995). "Holly Harp, 55; Designed Hand-Painted Clothing". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ Milinaire, Caterine; Troy, Carol (1 September 2015). Cheap Chic: Hundreds of Money-Saving Hints to Create Your Own Great Look. Crown. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-101-90342-1.
  12. ^ a b c d e Museum, FIDM (20 November 2009). "Holly's Harp". FIDM Museum. Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum.
  13. ^ Wills, David (3 October 2017). Switched On: Women Who Revolutionized Style in the 60s. Weldon Owen. p. 217. ISBN 9781681882611.
  14. ^ Taylor, Angela (6 March 1977). "What Famous Designers Have to Say About Faces". The New York Times.
  15. ^ a b Walz, Barbra; Morris, Bernadine (1978). The fashion makers (1st ed.). New York: Random House. pp. 102–104. ISBN 9780394411668.
  16. ^ Wilson, Eric (9 April 2005). "Geraldine Stutz Dies at 80; Headed Bendel for 29 Years". The New York Times.
  17. ^ Burstell, Ed (October 2015). At Liberty From Rehab to the Front Row. Michael O'Mara. ISBN 9781782434696.
  18. ^ a b "Holly's Harp". Vintage Fashion Guild.
  19. ^ O'Hara, Georgina; Donovan, Carrie (1989). The encyclopaedia of fashion: from 1840 to the 1980s (Repr. with rev., 1. paperback ed.). London: Thames and Hudson. p. 129. ISBN 9780500275672.
  20. ^ Office, United States Patent (1973). Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office: Patents [microform]. The Office. p. 57.
  21. ^ Pierre, Clara (1976). Looking good: the liberation of fashion. New York: Reader's Digest Press : distributed by Crowell. p. 248. ISBN 0883490935.
  22. ^ "NOTES ON FASHION". The New York Times. 8 April 1986.
  23. ^ "Sally Field, Jane Seymour and other regulars..." Los Angeles Times. 18 April 1986.
  24. ^ LLC, New York Media (31 October 1994). New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. p. 126.
  25. ^ Stein, Jeannine (18 December 1998). "Her Golden State". Los Angeles Times.
  26. ^ Burns, Gary (8 March 2016). A companion to popular culture. Chichester, West Sussex Malden Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 9781118883334.
  27. ^ Picardie, Justine (19 November 2022). "When Vogue Went Behind The Scenes At The 2002 Oscars". British Vogue. Vogue.
  28. ^ Goodwin, Betty (7 February 1990). "Inviting Help for 'Dinner Party'". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times.
  29. ^ Woods, Robert; Darnovsky, Marcy; Wallace, Bill; Stein, Ellin; Witko, Maud; Arnold, C. D.; Powelson, Mark; Edelson, Morris; Goldberg, Michael; Cohen, Richard; Thomas, J. N.; Snyder, Michael; Lyons, Len; Hurwitt, Robert; Kazin, Michael; Hirsch, Marina (29 March – 11 April 1979). "Berkeley Barb: Berkeley Barb". Berkeley Barb. 29 (13(698)): 4.
  30. ^ Chicago, Judy (1985). The birth project. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday. p. 122. ISBN 9780385187091.
  31. ^ Chicago, Judy (1985). The birth project. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday. p. 19. ISBN 9780385187091.
  32. ^ Center. (Summer 1997). "Compass [Cedars-Sinai Medical Center]". Compass: 16.
  33. ^ Morris, Bernadine (24 October 1976). "Women Designing for Women Highly Individual Approaches". The New York Times.
  34. ^ Maksymowicz, Virginia; Langer, Cassandra L.; Moore, Sylvia; Winter, Amy; Hanson, Jo; Phillips, Leslie; Poulson, Elizabeth; Mihopoulos, Effie; Heisler, Eva; Yefimov, Alla; Leone, Vivien; Moore, Lylvia; Franz, Lissa; Holbrook, Megan W.; Steinitz, Hilary J.; Cole, Doris; Taylor, Karen Cord; Eichman, Shawn; Jewell, Terri L.; Mendelssohn, Suzanne; Seigel, Judy; Smuda, Gail; Newfield, Marcia (1 November 1990). "Women Artists News: Women Artists News". Women Artists News. 15 (3): 34.
  35. ^ "Woman's Building Records". oac.cdlib.org. Online Archive of California.
  36. ^ "[Holly Harp during distinguished alumni announcement]". UNT Digital Library. University of North Texas. 30 August 1978.
  37. ^ "Past Recipients". UNT Alumni Association. University of North Texas.
  38. ^ "2003.46.1 | OMCA COLLECTIONS". collections.museumca.org. Oakland Museum of California.
  39. ^ "Woman's dress". collections.mfa.org. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
  40. ^ "Woman's Ensemble: Top and Wide-legged Trousers". philamuseum.org. Philadelphia Museum of Art.
  41. ^ Harp, Holly. "Dress". Thomas Jefferson University.
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