The Villager and Ladybug Labels
Created in 1958 by the Raab family of Philadelphia; brothers Norman and Max and Max’s wife Mary Jones. Norman and Max were the sons of a garment manufacturer (Morgan Raab), so it was easy for them to pick up the business especially during the economic boom of the 50s. They seized the opportunity to make a higher end product than their father had been producing.
The Villager was an upscale feminine women’s sportswear brand geared towards teenage consumers in the suburbs. They started by making solid coloured women’s cotton blouses before moving into the small floral prints that made them famous. As the company grew in popularity, so did their product lines and shirt dresses were soon added. They utilized Peter Pan collars and sort roll-up sleeves in their designs.
Mildred Orrick became the head designer in 1963 and their junior line for teenagers, Ladybug, was launched. Ladybug made sweaters, kilts, tights, slacks and simple dresses. They used prints from Liberty of London and Marielle Bancou Segal.
The Villager was THE proto-preppy label geared towards suburban American girls not caught up in counterculture movement of the decade. Boarding school girls and country club wives (as well as those who wanted to be them) were the Villager and Ladybug customer.
New York Times writer Andrea Lee noted that:
“Their ad copy had a tongue-in-cheek literary vibe that hinted that the ideal Villager girl was a Wellesley English major with a dash of Brett Ashley. The Villager focused on black and white stylized pictures of their clothing accompanied by prose poetry involving the clothing pictured.”
“Fall of Flowers” is the title of one shirtdress ad, from the summer 1965 collection:
“Raining softly downwards like the quality of mercy. Small flowers with long stems and pointy leaves. Villager’s very soft, very light cotton twill crosses them with faint shadows. The dress itself, pleated down the front, gives the impression of gentle motion, like grass in the wind.”
They ended up with hundreds of locations nationwide within department stores. Their oval logo with an eagle gained wide recognition.
“I know women better than they know themselves ” Raab said in a New York Times interview. “The Waspy girls all want that country look, and the Jewish girls want to look like the Wasps. I knew I had a winner.”
Above: a 60s Ladybug 3-piece pink set we recently sold
The villager provided the wardrobe for the movie David and Lisa (1962) and Raab was inspired to enter the movie business thereafter as a producer.
The brand grew into a collegiate look and Ali McGraw (a former Villager model) wore a Villager kilt in Love story (1970).
Raab also founded Rooster Ties, which made square ended straight grain ties.
The company was sold in 1970 when fashions were changing and there wasn’t a demand for the Villager style of preppy clothing anymore. It was owned by Russ Togs and then Jonathan Logan.
Raab purchased the rights to Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange and acted as executive producer on the film, which came out in 1971.
Raab also made movies with friends and collaborators like Agnès Varda and Robert Downey, Sr.
In 1974, he founded J.G Hook, another preppy brand. And Tango, another tie brand, in 1989.
With the Romantic revival of the 1980s pushing sales steadily upwards, The Villager had a revival. But by the 1990s the brand was in trouble, and in 1992 it was sold again, to Liz Claiborne.
Raab was dubbed the ‘dean of the prep look’ by WWD in 1980. They said that he was responsible for “supplying American women with as many blazers and button-down Oxford-cloth shirts as they could wear with the Fair Isle sweaters and Bass Weejun loafers.”
In 1998, he left the clothing business to start Max Raab Productions, a documentary film company.
He died in 2008 from Parkinson’s.
Koret of California
Joseph Koret was a jewish immigrant from present day Ukraine and he started his career working at his father’s men’s clothing company in San Francisco. He founded Koret of California in 1937 and travelled around the US selling sweaters. He was joined by his wife Stephanie, a Romanian Jewish immigrant, and she modelled the sweaters for customers.
Soon, their client base was asking for skirts to go with the sweaters and they came up with the adjustable Trikskirt, which featured a drawstring and pleats.
In two years, they had made over one million dollars. They then went on to make ‘Slim Hip Slax’ pants and permanently pleated ‘Pleetskirt’s’.
They developed a full range of sportswear and even went into suiting. They were leaders in the separates market with the ability to mix and match many of their designs. Their catalogues even had half pages that you could flip to see, for example, what a top might look like paired with a different pant.
They even developed a permanent press fabric called Koratron in 1961, which didn’t need to be ironed and was a huge success. It was widely adopted in the clothing industry which earned them patent license revenues that far exceeded their own clothing sales.
After a series of bad business decisions, the company was near bankruptcy in 1973 and new management took over. Eventually its very first patent licensee, none other than Levi Strauss, bought the company in 1979 after the death of Stephanie. Joe married again in 1981 but passed away the following year. Koret was sold again in 1986 and lived on as a subsidiary of the Kellwood Corporation, being sold in department stores like Macy’s, until 2012.
We just listed a handful of 1960s Koret items including x2 3-piece co-ordinating separates made with their famous Koratron fabric, as well as a 2-piece set and 2 skirts. These were originally purchased for the 2007 film production of Hairspray, which Ian was the extras coordinator on. Check out these pieces from this iconic American sportswear brand below!
We also still have this 1950s deadstock skirt available:
