Emeric Partos

Emeric Imre Partos was born in Budapest on 18 May 1905, where he studied art. He then went to the Sorbonne, Paris, to further study art, before moving to Switzerland to study jewelry design. Introduced by their mutual friend Christian Dior, Maguy and Partos became close friends, and for a while during World War II, as two Eastern European Jews and members of the French underground, they hid from the Nazis in the attic of a farmhouse in Saint-Gervais-d'Auvergne. Maguy's great-niece, Hadley Freeman, has suggested that Partos, who was openly gay, may have been in a relationship with her great-uncle. After the war, Partos joined Dior at his fashion house when it opened in 1947. He was credited with helping develop the crinoline under-structures strong enough to support Dior's immensely full 'New Look' skirts. He stayed with Dior until 1950, when he was invited to be a guest designer for the New York furriers Maximilian and subsequently chose not to return to Paris, terminating his Dior contract. ==Fur design career==

Partos worked with Maximilian unil 1955, when he was employed by Bergdorf Goodman and rapidly became known for his innovative, original and unexpected work with expensive pelts for that department store. Eleanor Lambert wrote of Partos's show at the awards ceremony as being "a testimonial of his mastery of furrier's technique expressed in couturier terms," noting coats combining two furs or materials (such as nutria and badger fur; or ranch-farmed mink with velvet) and an informal middy top made from ermine designed for apres-ski or at-home wear. ==Death==

Partos died of a cerebral haemorrhage at Mount Sinai Hospital on 2 December 1975. He was 70 years old and living in New York on East 65th Street. The executive vice president of Bergdorf's told The New York Times that Partos was a "small man of great stature", referring to his height of 5'3 inches. Unusually for Alex Maguy, he and Partos had remained friends all their lives despite having drifted apart, and Partos's death brought Maguy "great sadness." ==References==