Charles Kleibacker

Who was Charles Kleibacker?

Charles John Kleibacker was an American fashion designer who earned the nickname "Master of the Bias" for the complex designs of his gowns for women, carefully cut from fabric at a diagonal to the weave.

Kleibacker was born in Cullman, Alabama on November 20, 1921. His family were the proprietors of a department store in the municipality. He attended the University of Notre Dame, where he majored in journalism, and worked for a time as a reporter for a newspaper in Alabama. He attended New York University for his graduate studies.

While working at a clothing store in San Francisco, Kleibacker met singer Hildegarde and her manager Anna Sosenko at the hotel in which he was staying. He was hired as her driver, primarily because he owned a station wagon large enough to transport the singer's sizable entourage. On tour in Europe, Kleibacker met numerous fashion designers and came to the conclusion that he had an interest in the field while in the offices of Christian Dior. He submitted a series of his early designs while in Paris in 1954, and earned a post as an assistant at Lanvin. Back in New York City in 1957, Kleibacker worked for Nettie Rosenstein.