Margaret Hayes, the fashion icon who left a glorious career in retail to champion the young designers, passed away on Thursday at her home in Greenwich, Conn, in the US. At 79, she was the president and chief executive officer of Fashion Group International, the organization she joined in 1994.
A few complications due to breast cancer caused her death. Hayes was renowned for being a hard-driving executive who produced impeccable events, as she was the one to put together key FGI programs such as the annual Night of Stars gala, the Rising Stars awards, a symposium series and the ready-to-wear trend forecasts.
A Queens College graduate, Hayes began her retail journey via Bloomingdale’s and as soon as she became senior-level executive, Saks Fifth Avenue recruited her in 1976 where she worked up to the position of senior vice president, then general merchandise manager. She contributed the largest profit base for the company being in charge of directing and implementing sales and profit growth for seven divisions.
She was supervising a membership of about 5,000, belonging to the fashion and design-related industries from 26 regions around the U.S. and internationally. FGI was the first nonprofit, professional organization instituted by and for women, founded in 1930. Its founding members include influential icons from different facets of business industries such as Edith Head, Dorothy Shaver, Claire McCardell, Virginia Pope, Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Hayes was also honoured at the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation’s Hamptons Happening fund-raiser in 2017 and duly justified for her, being a supporter of many cancer research initiatives, as she had said, “As a cancer survivor myself, cancer research is not only philosophically critical, but has been vital to me in the course of my own life.”
In 2013, Hayes was also honored by K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers, which is now known as Delivering Good.
Hayes has been a part of a number of corporate and nonprofit boards that comprise of International Flavors and Fragrances; The Movado Group Inc.; LIM Fashion Education Foundation and The Mosholu Preservation Corp. She was also honoured with multiple humanitarian and business leadership awards by the American Cancer Society, the American Jewish Committee, the City of Hope, Cosmetic Executive Women, The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, The Fragrance Foundation and La Medaillè de la Ville de Paris.
