California Apparel News

Marcia Israel-Curley, retail merchandising pioneer and founder of Judy’s fashion retail chain stores, died in her sleep Aug. 17 after suffering several strokes, according to Judith Krain, her personal assistant. She was 83.

Israel-Curley and her husband of 10 years, James Curley, were set to embark on a trip to Europe when she complained of illness. She was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where she was admitted after doctors learned she had suffered from multiple strokes, Krain said.

As founder of Judy’s apparel chain, a retail concept based on fashion-forward trends, Israel-Curley is credited with opening the first original specialty fashion store in the United States, industry sources say. A visionary of lifestyle marketing at the retail level since the ’40s, she gradually introduced ladies’ footwear, gifts, makeup and men’s apparel to the store’s merchandise mix. This strategy set her apart from her competition and paved the way for juniors retail chain stores such as Wet Seal, Rampage, Bebe, The Limited and Express.

Born on a dairy farm in upstate New York in 1920, Israel-Curley left home when she was 16 and got a job as a model/bookkeeper for a dress manufacturer on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. In addition to her regular duties, she volunteered to help with designing, shipping and packing. When she was not working at the dress factory, she was hobnobbing with celebrities and learning how to dance at the Copacabana. A platonic relationship with movie mogul Joseph M. Schenck lured her to Los Angeles, where she found a job as buyer at Mayson’s boutique.

After marrying her first husband, Larry Israel, in 1947, she set out to open her own retail business. One year later, she opened her first women’s apparel boutique in a 7-by-12 storefront in East Los Angeles. According to her 2003 autobiography, “Defying the Odds: Sharing the Lessons I Learned As a Pioneer Entrepreneur,” the space was so small that it could only fit a sign large enough for five letters: “Judy’s.” During the next 40 years, the company grew to include 104 doors in the Western region.

“She made a huge contribution to the fashion industry by founding the better juniors specialty market,” explained former Wet Seal executive Kathy Bronstein. “She gave the juniors apparel industry a platform to be trendsetters. People used to flock out here just to shop at Judy’s.”

Israel-Curley’s strong work ethic and creative spirit earned her a loyal following.

“She inspired a lot of people because she was ahead of the curve,” explained California Market Center Director of Merchandise Karen Mamont, who worked at Judy’s for nine years. “If her stores were open today with the merchandise she chose and created, it would still be considered directional and forward.”

Juniors apparel maker Gregg Fiene, founder of XOXO, said: “She was one of the best in the industry. She lived and breathed fashion. She was open to new manufacturers, and she was open to fashion— that’s why she was successful.”

Rampage founder Larry Hansel echoed Fiene’s sentiment.

“She gave me my first orders when I started my business in the early 1980s,” Hansel said. “She was very talented and driven and had vision like no one else in the business. Most of all, she had passion. I know that she lived an amazing life; everything she did was firstclass.”

Israel-Curley’s ownership of the retail chain was off and on beginning in the late 1960s, when she sold the chain to Beck Industries and bought it back two years later. By the late ’80s, Israel-Curley had sold her company to Hong Kong–based apparel company Laws Bros., which sold the retail chain to Rampage’s Hansel four years later. Hansel opened a few Rampage stores before consolidating the retail chains. He later sold his Rampage stores to San Diego–based Charlotte Russe and Israel-Curley bought back the Judy’s name to start an Internet business, Hansel said.

Besides being an innovator of fashion trends, Israel-Curley was a philanthropist, civic servant and ardent supporter of the arts. She served on the boards of Cedars-Sinai and the Yale University Cancer Center. Following her own battle with breast cancer, she founded the Marcia Israel Mammography Center and the Marcia Israel Trauma Center, both at Cedars-Sinai. She was appointed to chair President Ronald Reagan’s advisory committee for small and minority business ownership in 1986, a post she held for six years. Israel-Curley was one of the founding members of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and the Los Angeles Music Center. She also served on the board of The Geffen Playhouse.

Israel-Curley’s dedication to her community did not go unnoticed. She was the recipient of several honors, including the Entrepreneur of the Year award from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business Administration, Birmingham Southern University’s Legendary Woman award; the Los Angeles Times’ Woman of the Year award and France’s National Medal of Merit as Officer award.

Israel-Curley is survived by her husband, James; her daughters, Judith Israel and Jane Siegel; her son-in-law, John Siegel; and her grandchildren, Holly and Jack. Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, Israel-Curley’s family has requested that contributions be made to Cedars-Sinai’s trauma and mammography centers, The Geffen Playhouse, the Wilshire Boulevard Temple or Jazz at Lincoln Center.

—Claudia Figueroa