Luba Marks

Luba Marks (November 28, 1921 – July 5, 2020) was a Bulgarian-born French-American fashion designer of Russian descent specializing in sportswear from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Prior to this, under the name Lubov Roudenko, she was a former soloist for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in the late 1930s and early 1940s, afterwards performing on Broadway throughout the 1940s.

[6] Disappointed by this, Rodenko quit the Ballets Russes,[6] and took a better-paid job performing in a Broadway production of The Merry Widow.

[5] This production launched at the Majestic Theatre on 4 August 1943, with Rodenko and James Starbuck leading the character dances, including a comic polka and a can-can number.

[10] Luba and her first husband, Richard Marks, a manufacturer of coats and suits,[11] launched their new clothing company Elite Juniors, in 1957.

[5] Luba first caught the attention of the fashion press by successfully reinterpreting the classic Chanel suit for ready-to-wear.

[2] Luba was also noted as an early promoter of the woman's pantsuit in America, dedicating over half of her 1966 collection to this look.