An international fashion leader known globally as the Joan of Joan & David, Joan Helpern died on Sunday in New York. She was 89.

An honorary CFDA Member, Helpern founded Joan & David in 1968 and led the company as President, CEO and Creative Director until its sale in 2000.

Helpern may have been a native New Yorker who was born in The Bronx, but essentially, she was a citizen of the world. She spent 30 years commuting between the U.S., her Italian factory partners, and the Joan & David boutiques in Europe, Asia, Canada, North Africa, and South America.

Helpern had a B.A. from Hunter College, a master of social psychology from Columbia University and a doctorate in social psychology from Harvard University. She served on the New York City Board of Education and sat on Harvard’s JFK Women’s Leadership Board. At Columbia’s Graduate School of Business, she was a member of the Mentoring Board of the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Program and a member of the Advisory Board of the Denning Center for Advanced Commerce Research. She was also the recipient of over three dozen awards for her design excellence and for her personal achievements, and was a co-founder of the Committee of 200, a forum designed to encourage and support women entrepreneurs and corporate executives.

In September 2002, Helpern became appointed adjunct professor and executive-in-residence at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).

She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Helpern, and stepson, David Halpern Jr., as well as three grandchildren.