Vintage Belt Collection, Geoffrey Beene Archive

Geoffrey Beene was an icon of the American fashion scene: as the New York Times put it, "fashion editors ran out of superlatives to describe Mr. Beene's high-wire act." Just a year after founding his firm in 1963, Beene was awarded the prestigious Coty American Fashion Critics' Award. This would be one of eight Coty awards given to the designer over the course of his life, more than any other designer has received to date. Over the next four decades, Beene built on his reputation as a one-of-a-kind designer, producing acclaimed lines of women's and men's clothing, accessories, and perfume. In 1976, he became the first American designer to show a collection in Milan, Italy.

Two years after Geoffrey Beene's death in 2004, the Geoffrey Beene Foundation was established in his honor. The mission of the Foundation is to support critical philanthropic causes, the most important being the establishment in 2006 of the Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Since its creation in 2006, the Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center has served as a nucleus for revolutionary new research approaches in preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer.

Proceeds from this item to benefit the Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering.