Charles Kleibacker
Charles Kleibacker, American fashion designer
Charles Kleibacker with Mount Mary fashion design student
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
Charles Kleibacker (1921-2010), a prominent New York designer, had an immense impact on Mount Mary College's fashion program. He was involved since the early days of the program, and over the course of roughly 40 years, he provided advice, expertise, financial support, and industry connections to the program staff and countless students.
Charles Kleibacker commentating at a Mount Mary College fashion show
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
Mount Mary's fashion shows highlight his many contributions. According to the fashion show programs, he was involved with the fashion shows from 1969 until at least 2008, serving many different roles including that of commentator, consultant, designer critic, and donor. He was listed as a visiting professor for several years and then as faculty in the fashion design program.
Fashion show program 1978
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
The 1978 program (to the left) records that "He visits Mount Mary College monthly to critique and assist in the designs of the junior and senior fashion students." The images below, from 1970 and undated, show some of that work (click each image to see more detail).
He also provided monetary support; by 1997, the Charles Kleibacker Scholarship had been established, as one of a variety of scholarships to which he donated.
Kleibacker contributed in other ways as well. As Sister Aloyse Hessburg was beginning the program in 1965, he advised her to collect historic garments, in what became known as the Historic Costume Collection, to provide fashion students with hands-on experience to enhance their design and technical abilities. He donated many items himself, helping to build the 10,000-item Fashion Archive (as it's known today). Many of these items have been digitized as part of the Digital Fashion Archive, thus expanding the audience who can benefit from his recommendation.
Sister Aloyse Hessburg, Hildegarde, and Charles Kleibacker at Hildegarde's 1982 fundraiser for Mount Mary
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
Through Kleibacker, the network of individuals supporting Mount Mary's fashion program continued to grow. He was a friend of and designer for Hildegarde, a famous cabaret singer, who became friends with Sister Aloyse and performed on campus at least three times between 1974 and 1993, including in 1982 as a fundraiser for the campus.
Fashion show program 1971 (with Gold Needle Award information)
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
In 1971 Mount Mary presented Kleibacker with the Gold Needle Award, "in recognition of professional excellence and academic contributions in the field of fashion design" (see program to the left). The letter he wrote to Sister Mary Nora Barber, president of Mount Mary College, later that year (see below) expresses both his appreciation of the award and how he was "elated" to be returning to the fashion design program for the 1971-72 academic year. He wrote that "Working with Sister Mary Aloyse and the Program has been, I repeat, one of the high-lights of my life." Certainly working with Kleibacker was a highlight for the Mount Mary fashion design program as well!
Letter from Charles Kleibacker to Sister Mary Nora Barber, May 16, 1971
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
