Heidi Weisel, the New York designer who was best known for infusing her modern, timeless eveningwear with the simplicity of sportswear, passed away peacefully on January 28th. Services were held at Mount Sinai Simi Valley, California, on Sunday.

Known for an ebullient personality and joie de vivre, the CFDA member’s personal standards of elegance and grace defined her design aesthetic, resulting in sophisticated, understated, luxurious evening wear.

Born in San Francisco, she was raised in New York City; her parents Rachel and David had survived the Holocaust and came the U.S. from Hungary in the 1950s.  She lived in New York until last spring when the pandemic prompted her to relocate to the West Coast.

At age five, Weisel began designing basic wrap dresses for her doll, Skipper.  She considered that the starting point for her lifelong commitment to fashion.  After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology, she  worked in the industry before launching her own line in 1990.

The quiet, luxurious simplicity of Weisel’s debut collection captivated retailers and press alike. The group of six black evening pieces was carried by Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Barneys New York, among others. Inspired by splendid textiles, she  began working with knitted cashmere, which would become her signature fabric. She paired cashmere with silk chiffon and duchesse satin, resulting in evening wear with the ease and comfort of sportswear.

Her creations often graced the red carpet and clients included Brooke Shields, Oprah Winfrey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Elizabeth Hurley. Weisel was honored for her accomplishments at a White House luncheon hosted by First Lady Hillary Clinton.

Hardworking and straight-talking, Weisel was a mainstay New York designer during the 1990s and 2000s. The Manhattan-based designer came of age in the 1990s with contemporaries Eric Gaskins, Sylvia Heisel, Badgley Mischka, Pamela Dennis, Richard Tyler, Yeohlee, and Robert Danes. In addition to her own collection, she collaborated with several nationally recognized retailers and global brands, including HSN, Gilt Groupe, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Standard Textile.

In 2015, Weisel was one of the designers creating  collaborative lines with Dress Barn to offer more affordable options under the Mixt by Weisel label.  In a video for the program, Weisel spoke of her inspiration: “I love New York. It’s this great big city. It has everything you could possibly want in terms of culture. There is such diversity, photography, the arts, architecture. Everything inspires me: great food, great music, great people.”

Weisel loved designing dresses in particular because it involved creating an experience or a memory for a woman — “because when a woman puts on a dress,” she said, “it’s usually for a special occasion.  Whether it’s the Dress Barn woman or couture collection, or anything I’m working on—it’s all really the same.  Every woman deserves to have beautiful clothes that she feels great in, at the price she can afford.”

The designer continued to sell custom clothes and sportswear under her label well into the 2000s.  Last August, she started an initiative to help women and families dealing with breast cancer and ovarian cancer in the U.S.  Through a partnership with Standard Textile, she gifted her company’s ‘Rachel’ robe to members of Sharsheret’s Embrace, a support organization for women with cancer. Her philanthropic efforts included a collaboration with Neiman Marcus to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  In addition to her public philanthropy, Heidi discreetly and privately helped those in need, be they friend or stranger.  Her compassion and generosity of heart was well known to her family and close friends.  Her friendships lasted not years but decades.

Her designs are in the permanent collection of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  She was awarded the celebrated Gold Coast Fashion Award for Excellence in Design in 2000.

Heidi Weisel is survived by her brother Jack.