FASHION
Her fields of study became 0ournalism and public
14
relations, and in her first year as a 0ournalist for 4l
5uevo 6a, the top newspaper in her native San
7uan, she received the Medal of Communications
award from the governor of 9uerto :ico. Her first
day on the 0ob was as women's editor, writing about
fashion, family, manners — anything that concerned women.
5ot long after receiving the award, she was recruited by a
5ew ;ork-based magazine for the Latin American market,
which meant <ying once a month to 5ew ;ork on the first plane
out of San 7uan in the morning, closing the issue of the magazine,
then <ying home by midnight. By then she was married and had
two children, with a husband who had been appointed by the
governor to represent 9uerto :ico in 4urope.
Before leaving for London and her new life with her family,
Silvestry gave a dress she had designed a few years earlier to
her best friend. “She said, =It's too cold in London for that dress.
Leave it for me to wear.’ ”
The dress stayed behind in 9uerto :ico but Silvestry couldn't
leave her love for design on the island. 4ven with her success in
0ournalism, what she considered a hobby, fashion design, was
never out of her thoughts. When she got to London, she began
testing fabrics and then recreated the design that would become
the Infinite ress. “By >ctober 19A", all the windows on Fifth
Avenue had it in their windows. It opened in 9aris in September
and went all the way to 7apan, Australia, Singapore — and they
came to me. >ne Sunday afternoon the owner of Bendel's CHenri
BendelD in 5ew ;ork knocked at my door in London with her
assistant. They sat in my living room and said that what I had
was extraordinary, that there had been nothing new since Coco
Chanel, and they had to have it to take to America.”
Before going public with her Infinite ress, at the suggestion
of her husband, she patented the design with the E.S. 9atent
Ldia Silvestr, above, invented the Infinite Dress, which could be seen in
+ew York storefronts in places such as Bergdorf /oodman, preceding pages.
The dress, opposite page, has also been featured in numerous maga1ine articles.
LYDIA MERCEDES SILVESTRY
San 2uan, Puerto Rico
34
Ldia Designs Ltd.
www.LdiaSilvestr.com
London 5ollege of ashion,
London, England
$arried to /eorge /on1ale16 two
sons and one grandson
!
75oco 5hanel for being an innovator in
fashion. She is m idol. I am pleased to be
able to sa that since 5oco 5hanel there
was nothing trul new in fashion until I
launched m Infinite Dress.
"
#$
7I was a volunteer with the U.S. 5oast
/uard Au9iliar for over five ears, teaching
boating safet. I was a hands:on member of
the board of directors of the Delphi
oundation in $iami, helping children in
crisis learn a better wa in life.
%
&
7$ two sons are m pride and ;o, and
recentl I felt honored when a ashion
$useum in England e9pressed their interest
in having the Infinite Dress in their world:
esteemed collection.
7I feel inspired b the (ol Spirit. "hen I
am designing I am in:spired, i.e., 7in spirit.<
"hen in spirit I feel a sensation that I am
doing what /od wants me to be doing, that
I am in harmon with m calling. It=s a most
e9hilarating feeling, something I cherish and
value immensel.<
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