Eileen Fisher’s goal is to live simply. That includes getting dressed! "I’m a mother, a clothing designer and a businesswoman," says Eileen. "My wardrobe meets my varying needs. The idea is, you just put your clothes on and go. You don’t have to fuss, you don’t think about them all day, you’re just ready to … do what you need to do."

Eileen didn’t start out as a clothing designer — she began her work life as an interior designer. Getting dressed for work each day took so much effort! She thought about the uniform she had worn throughout high school — and it became the seed of a vision. "The company really started when I began seeing all these little pictures in my mind, these garments, and how they all would go together. It was a vision of simplicity."

In 1984, with $350 in the bank, she designed and introduced four basic pieces at The Boutique Show in New York City, where she received $3,000 in orders. At her second show, three months later, she expanded the line to eight pieces — and brought in $40,000 in orders. Eileen Fisher Inc. was born.

The original concept — high-quality, simple, comfortable women’s clothing that works as a "wardrobing concept" — still defines the evolving line that now fills 45 Eileen Fisher stores and is sold in department and specialty stores across the U.S and Canada.

Eileen was born and raised in Des Plaines, IL, and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She moved to New York in 1973, working first as an interior designer and then as a graphic artist until 1983. She founded her company in 1984 with clothing that filled a void in the market. As one customer put it, "What I love most about Eileen Fisher Clothes is that they allow me to be myself."