Black In Fashion: Day 7 Jeffrey Banks

Pictured: Jeffrey Banks

     Do you know which Black Designer is partly responsible for the famous Polo logo on the Polo Ralph Lauren shirts? While the answer is debatable, Ralph Lauren likely had some help with his infamous signature. Jeffrey Banks was born November 3, 1955, in Washington D.C. A prodigy of sorts, at just 10 years old Jeffrey designed an Easter suit for his mother. This is mild when you learn he became an assistant to Ralph Lauren at just 16 years old and an employee for Calvin Klein at 19. In 1977, Jeffrey became one of the youngest people to win a COTY award, the most prestigious accolade in fashion at the time, for his men’s fur collection with Alixandre.

     The following year he opened a design firm that would eventually expand to be an empire. In 1980, Jeffrey signed on with the sports apparel company Merona Sports, a line that bragged 150 million dollar sales. Similarly, in 1996 his namesake fashion brands were recorded to amass 20 million in revenue. Jeffrey Banks’s name, his impact and influence are quite literally etched into some of the top fashion retailers today such as HSN and amazon.com to name a few.

Pictured: Jeffrey Banks

Pictured: Jeffrey Banks designs