She was a clotheshorse who pulled her weight for fashion. In New York, publicist Eleanor Lambert was known as the Empress of Seventh Avenue (a.k.a. Fashion Avenue); she created America's best-dressed list and helped Grace Kelly pick out her wedding gown. But Lambert's greatest contribution to American fashion is Fashion Week, which takes place this month in New York. In 1943, the German occupation of France threatened the world—not to mention fashion designers, because the international press couldn't attend the Paris shows. Lambert, the daughter of a circus promoter, organized exhibitions in Manhattan. Press Week, as she called it, lifted American designers into the exclusive world of haute couture for the first time. The semiannual event was held in a hotel—either the Pierre or the Plaza—where fashion writers from around the world crowded into a ballroom to get up close to the newest designs, like Samuel Winston's lilac taffeta slim dress from 1953 (above).

In 2001, IMG—the media conglomerate that promotes everything from Tiger Woods to Stars on Ice—took control of the event. And it keeps getting bigger: Last year, in a nod to Project Runway and chains like H&M, IMG staged shows in Houston and San Francisco open to anyone with $500 for a ticket. In her later years, Lambert criticized designers for pandering to the hoi polloi, but surely the savvy publicist in her would appreciate the rags-to-riches success of the media circus she created.