Geoffrey Beene was a second-generation American designer who looked to Balenciaga and Schiaparelli for inspiration but also paid close attention to human anatomy and how the body moved. Born in 1924 in Louisiana, he was going to be a doctor, yet found himself sketching dresses during class. Once he got to Seventh Avenue, Beene looked to many cultures and eras for fashion verities. He incorporated shapes such as the kimono, the bolero, the T-shirt, the tank top into designs that were aerodynamic and witty. Beene is generally understood to be the most brilliant designer of his generation, a poet of cut, always exploring the landscape of the body. He worked in the realm of art, but never forgot it was breathing, thinking women who wore his clothes. —Laura Jacobs