Hildegarde                                                                           New York, January 1999

I wore the Kleibacker designs….they flowed with my every movement. They made me say, "Bless You" to Charles.

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Steven Stipelman
New York, January 1999

With work stints in the design studios of Ben Shaw's Elfreda-Fox, Lanvin-Castillo in Paris, and Nettie Rosenstein, Charles Kleibacker was prepared for the perils of the clothing business when he opened his own New York studio in 1960. A business of limited size devoted to the design and production of clothing with finesse, the Kleibacker label found its niche in bias-cuts of timeless fluidity and comfort.

I studied those clothes, I drew those clothes…they had distinction!

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Photo by Calvin Edwards

Kleibacker Design
1970s, brown and white, bias-cut, four ply silk crepe


Photo by Calvin Edwards

Kleibacker Design
1970s, Pale wool jersey by Racine

Kleibacker Design
1980s, Black silk charmeuse, bias-cut

Kleibacker Design
1960s, Black silk gazar


Photo by Calvin Edwards

Kleibacker Design
Late 1960s, Qiana taffeta by Bianchini


Photo by Calvin Edwards

Kleibacker Design
1970s, Beige silk taffeta

Kleibacker Design
1970s, Taupe silk crepe bias-cut top;
Silk crepe de chine skirt


Photo by Calvin Edwards

Kleibacker Design
1970s, Black silk panels,
One with colorful swirl

Kleibacker Design
1970s, Silk crepe panels by Bianchini

Kleibacker Design
1970s, Satin-striped silk chiffon by Bucol


Photo by Calvin Edwards

Kleibacker Design
1970s, Satin-striped silk chiffon by Bucol

Kleibacker Design
1980s, Satin-striped silk chiffon by Bucol


Photo by Kevin Fitzsimons

Kleibacker Design
1990s, Bias-cut bandeau
with cartridge-pleated skirt
of silk taffeta


Sketches by E.M. Larson

Kleibacker Designs for Bergdorf-Goodman
1970, Four-ply silk crepe, bias


Sketches by Kenneth Paul Block

Kleibacker Design
1960s, Bias-cut Qianas