Bill Blass posing with dress formBill Blass' Connection to Fort Wayne

Bill Blass was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana on June 22, 1922. He grew up in a house on South Calhoun, across from South Side High School with his one sibling, an older sister named Virginia. When he was 5 years old, Bill’s father took his life. In his autobiography Bare Blass, Bill wrote, “My mother supported us with money she earned by dressmaking which she did with decent success in a spare room in our house on South Calhoun Street.”

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