Full Name Karin Hallberg Known for Fashion design | Name Katja Sweden Nationality Swedish | |
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Education Konstfack, Sweden, Beckmans, Sweden, Parson's School of Design | ||
Katja Ingergard Geiger (born Karin Ingegerd Hallberg; 12 January 1920 – 25 January 2017), better known as Katja of Sweden, was a Swedish fashion designer.
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Early life and career
After studying art and design at Konstfack and Beckmans in Stockholm, Sweden, Karin moved to New York City in 1946 to study fashion design at Parson's School of Design. There she married movie producer and director Rod E. Geiger who at the time was producing movies for Roberto Rosselini. Katja became close friends with Rosselini's wife Ingrid Bergman, and named a blouse after her that became a fashion hit. A New York Times article and NBC interview followed. She was the designer for Arthur Sportswear which used contractors including those in the Bronx which employed 50 seamstresses turning out her products. Being close friends with Charlie Chaplin, and Edward Dmytryk who was one of The Hollywood Ten, the Hollywood blacklist ordeal got Mr. Geiger in hot water. The couple moved to Huaröd in Sweden, where the label "Katja of Sweden" became a fashion sensation which lasted for over twenty years.
Mid-career
In 1975 the Geigers moved back to New York City, where Katja began designing home textiles, bed sheets, and kitchenware. "Katja shops" opened up in Macy's department store and Cannon Mills manufactured her designs under license. In the 1980s advertisements featuring Bob Hope and Larry Hagman sleeping in "Katja sheets" ran with the tagline "Two of the Most Famous Names in America Sleep Together"
Retirement and death
In 1995, the Geigers moved back to Sweden to be closer to family. Rod Geiger died in 2000. Katja's clothes are now part of the permanent collection of the Museum "Kulturen" in Lund, Sweden. She died on 25 January 2017 at the age of 97.
