Vicky Tiel is a unique phenomenon in the international world of fashion.  She began designing clothes forty years ago, and is perhaps the only American to have operated her own fashion design business in Paris over this time, lasting longer than many of her French contemporaries.

As the “it” girl of the 1960’s, Tiel’s signature dresses—designed to make women look and feel great in their curves—have been sold exclusively in Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus for the past thirty years and worn by everyone from her old friend and investor in her Paris shop, Elizabeth Taylor, to Goldie Hawn, Halle Berry and Kim Kardashian.

Born in Washington, DC in 1943, Tiel grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, where she enjoyed cheerleading, clothes and boys.  At the age of 17, her father gave her advice she’s always lived by, “Don’t have sex for shoes.”  Tiel knew from that moment on that she would always have to make her own way in the world and not rely upon a man to support her.

Upon graduating from New York’s Parsons School of Design in 1964, Tiel and her best friend Mia Fonssagrives, daughter of legendary Swedish fashion model Lisa Fonssagrives, moved to France and proceeded to take Paris by storm with their lace bustiers, hot pants, and a little something new called the miniskirt.  Amidst considerable press for their sexy designs, the two opened their own shop, Mia and Vicky, later renamed Vicky Tiel when Fonssagrives dropped out. Within just months of graduating Parsons, they were designing costumes for Woody Allen’s first film What’s New, Pussycat?,  and mingling with Hollywood royalty.

Later that year, Tiel met her future husband Ron Berkeley.  As the head make-up artist at MGM, Berkeley introduced Tiel to the biggest stars at the time, including his top client, Richard Burton.  When Burton spotted Tiel wearing a white lace, thigh-high mini dress on set one day, he asked her to create a similar design for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor.  For the next twenty years, the two forged a close friendship--Tiel dressed Taylor, creating her signature caftan style, and traveled around the world in the Burton-Taylor entourage.

Over the decades, Tiel’s designs evolved from youthful minis to sophisticated wrap dresses, to her Liza caftan (named after Elizabeth Taylor’s daughter), to the oh-so flattering “Torrid” strapless dress made famous by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.  A 1986 feature in People magazine catapulted her career as she set up private boutiques in Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tiel placed an increased emphasis on evening wear.  Her designs, constructed to show off the feminine figure and give women confidence, are still worn by leading ladies today.

Today, Tiel is the longest surviving female designer in Paris.  Her couture dresses are still available in Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, and her perfumes are available in Perfumania.  Tiel has been married for the past sixteen years to her second husband and splits time between living in Paris, New York, and her Florida farm.

Tiel’s memoir, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DRESS: What I Learned in 40 Years About Men, Women, Sex and Fashion, will be released by St. Martin’s Press in August 2011.