Gloria Sachs, Fashion Designer, Dies At 85

Well known sportswear designer Gloria Sachs has died at age 85.

According to Women's Wear Daily, Sachs, who owned her own company, Gloria Sachs Designs Ltd., died in her sleep of unknown causes at her New York apartment on Monday.

Sachs was best known for her luxurious sportswear designs and has been recognized as the "inventor" of capri pants. According WWD, her daughter, Nancy said Sachs first discovered capri pants while on her honeymoon in Capri. She noticed the shorter pants, commonly worn in Europe, and brought them to the U.S. and dubbed them "capris."

Born in Scarsdale, N.Y. on February 17, 1927, Sachs had spent over half a century in the fashion world. She worked as a textile designer, Balenciaga and Pierre Balmain model and fashion director for Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue. She started her own label in 1970, and her sportswear was sold at high-end fashion stores until the label's cessation in the early Nineties.

According to the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Sachs served as a member of the Economic Council for the City of New York and was one of the first women invited to be a member of the club.

She remained active in the industry until her death, said designer Stan Herman, former president of the CFDA:

"She was always thinking forward, never backward. She always stayed involved with the council. She was proud of being in this business. She treated it as an artistic endeavor. Her clothes were beautiful. She dressed women in a very elegant way. She was a perfectionist, and she really loved fabric."

Funeral arrangements have not yet been confirmed. She is survived by her two children and three grandchildren. To read more about her amazing life head over to WWD.