[3][4] In the 1940s the firm became a ready-to-wear house supplying department stores such as Bonwit Teller and Saks Fifth Avenue, although it retained a reputation for superior quality and hand-finishing.
A July 1947 show, falling at the end of the 9th New York press week, was described as "well worth waiting for," and reinvigorating the exhausted journalists with new enthusiasm.
[2] The junior Monte-Sano was also a talented fashion designer who had been associated with the firm since at least 1940, having established his own business on 1 January 1939.
'[6] Along with Clare Potter and Omar Kiam Monte-Sano jointly won the Coty Award in 1946.
[9] The Coty jury, chaired that year by Wilhela Cushman of Ladies' Home Journal, cited Monte-Sano's dress-like (rather than tailored) coats and suits as of particular significance, noting their use of white wool and officer styling.