A private service for friends and family was planned for Monday afternoon.
Together with his late wife, Pearl, Albert Nipon built one of the leading better dress companies in the U.S. in the ’70s and ’80s, selling in stores such as Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Nipon was born in Philadelphia on Sept. 11, 1927, to Louis and Sara Nipon, who owned a delicatessen. Albert Nipon graduated from West Philadelphia High School, where he was a star athlete, excelling in both football and track and field. He served in the U.S. Army for 18 months, ultimately as a sergeant. Nipon received a degree in accounting from Temple University in 1951, where he was a four-year varsity letter winner in football, wrestling and track and field.
In 1952, Albert Nipon met Pearl at an Atlantic City, N.J., hotel party. “He saw her and picked her up and threw her in the swimming pool, fully dressed,” said their son Larry Nipon. They married in 1953. Together they raised a large family and built a major fashion company based in Philadelphia. Pearl Nipon died in 2018 at age 90.
Pearl Nipon had been designing maternity clothing under the name Ma Mere, and Albert Nipon left his accounting job at DuPont in 1955 to manage the business. That business grew into a successful enterprise before it began to struggle. Pearl Nipon left the business to raise her children, but her husband convinced her to make a comeback.
According to Larry Nipon, Ma Mere’s most important client asked Albert if he would consider taking some of the best Ma Mere styles and convert them to career dresses, to accommodate the women who were entering the executive workforce. Around 1972, when separates and pant suits were at their peak of popularity, the Nipons decided to focus on the dress, a business that eventually exploded for them.
The Albert Nipon label would become well known for its use of pussycat bows, elegant collars, cuffs, tucks and pleats. Their risk paid off and at its peak Albert Nipon was generating $60 million in annual dress sales. In addition to Saks and Bergdorf’s, the dresses were sold at 1,000 stores including I. Magnin, Neiman Marcus, Bonwit Teller, Sakowitz and Lord & Taylor. The business eventually expanded to include Nipon Boutique, a dress collection at more modest prices, and Nipon Collectibles, which were separates.
In 1987, Ira Neimark, then-president of Bergdorf’s, told WWD that it was opening a designer shop for Albert Nipon which ranked in the store’s top five dress resources, and “possibly top three.”
“It’s a good dress company and a good dress line. We have a very strong dress business. Therefore a line like Nipon properly programmed has worked out exceptionally well,” said Neimark.
Celebrities such as Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara Walters and Rosalynn Carter wore Albert Nipon’s designs, and the label became one of the most popular of its time. Albert Nipon, regarded as a tough businessman, focused on running the business and Pearl was head of design.
But then the company faced some major problems.
In 1984, Albert Nipon was indicted for tax evasion and bribery. Nipon pleaded guilty in May 1985 to falsifying tax returns and to paying $200,000 to two Internal Revenue Service Agents to avoid paying about $500,000 in personal taxes and $300,000 in corporate taxes. He agreed to pay the back taxes and was sentenced to three years in a minimum security prison in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
When Albert Nipon returned to the business in 1987, the company was in the midst of trying to recover from the emotional and financial sting of his 20 months in prison.
“My coming back allows Larry to get more involved with marketing and sales, and it allows Pearl to get more involved with her designing and the creative end,” Albert Nipon told WWD in 1987. “Frankly I don’t know how they could have done what they’ve been doing. In addition to taking care of our personal matters and business matters that normally I would be taking care of.”
He said at the time that the comeback wouldn’t be complete until his company regained its stronghold in the dress market, which had suffered during Albert’s time in prison. “While I was away I think we got a little off course,” he said. “We got a little too price-driven.”
Ron Frasch, who at the time was a general merchandise manager for women’s apparel at Neiman Marcus, told WWD in 1987 upon Nipon’s return from jail: “You’ve got to remember that without Albert Nipon there never would have been a better dress market. They have always been an important resource. They still are.”
But the company experienced a series of setbacks and financial losses and never fully recovered. In 1988, Albert Nipon declared bankruptcy as a result of a $3.7 million jeopardy assessment by the IRS, and was sold that year to the Leslie Fay Co., which allowed the Nipons to continue running the design business.
Later in his life, Albert Nipon got involved with the Home Shopping Network in fashion marketing and product placement, and parlayed his industry relationships and knowledge into that channel, said Larry Nipon.
Larry Nipon, who is chief executive officer of Zer0 Frixion, which works with companies on revenue and cost management performance, recalled Monday that his father always found something positive in situations where few could. “If he couldn’t find it, he’d create it. He turned every adversity into an opportunity.”
He said no one could ever remember a time when they heard Albert complain. “Albert lived for two things, his family and his work. He wasn’t a man of many interests. His passion for and devotion to those two things left little room for anything else,” said Larry Nipon.
He also recollected the devotion and loyalty exhibited by their many employees. “They loved and respected him and they stayed with him and Pearl for decades. They were his and Pearl’s extended family.”
Stan Herman recalled Monday, “Albert was a mover and shaker. He never left any dust under his feet. He had Pearl, who was a magnificent commercial designer and was one of the best in the business.
“They were a team. He respected designers and he knew a good designer could make his profile that much higher,” Herman said. He noted that Nipon was also involved with home shopping. “He never stopped.” He recalled that when Nipon served time in jail, “it was a shock, but most of the industry handled it gentlemanly.”
Reached for comment Monday, Frasch, who now has his own consulting firm, Ron Frasch Consulting, said, “Albert was an amazing man. He really built a company back when companies had a lot of competition. He was a philanthropist, a great father and a really kind person who was very generous with me over the years in offering advice and counsel.”
He said about Nipon’s time in jail: “It was unfortunate but Albert came back with a big smile on his face and the support of Philadelphia, and moved on with his life.”
Albert Nipon was a lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fan, and even when his health was failing, friends and family would join him in his home on Sunday to watch the Eagles and enjoy his traditional bagels and lox brunch.
In addition to Larry and his wife, Lois, Albert Nipon is survived by his sons Leon and Andrew and his wife, Nancy; daughter Barbara Joy and her husband Craig Spencer, along with nine grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
He said at the time that the comeback wouldn’t be complete until his company regained its stronghold in the dress market, which had suffered during Albert’s time in prison. “While I was away I think we got a little off course,” he said. “We got a little too price-driven.”
Ron Frasch, who at the time was a general merchandise manager for women’s apparel at Neiman Marcus, told WWD in 1987 upon Nipon’s return from jail: “You’ve got to remember that without Albert Nipon there never would have been a better dress market. They have always been an important resource. They still are.”
But the company experienced a series of setbacks and financial losses and never fully recovered. In 1988, Albert Nipon declared bankruptcy as a result of a $3.7 million jeopardy assessment by the IRS, and was sold that year to the Leslie Fay Co., which allowed the Nipons to continue running the design business.
Later in his life, Albert Nipon got involved with the Home Shopping Network in fashion marketing and product placement, and parlayed his industry relationships and knowledge into that channel, said Larry Nipon.
Larry Nipon, who is chief executive officer of Zer0 Frixion, which works with companies on revenue and cost management performance, recalled Monday that his father always found something positive in situations where few could. “If he couldn’t find it, he’d create it. He turned every adversity into an opportunity.”
He said no one could ever remember a time when they heard Albert complain. “Albert lived for two things, his family and his work. He wasn’t a man of many interests. His passion for and devotion to those two things left little room for anything else,” said Larry Nipon.
He also recollected the devotion and loyalty exhibited by their many employees. “They loved and respected him and they stayed with him and Pearl for decades. They were his and Pearl’s extended family.”
Stan Herman recalled Monday, “Albert was a mover and shaker. He never left any dust under his feet. He had Pearl, who was a magnificent commercial designer and was one of the best in the business.
“They were a team. He respected designers and he knew a good designer could make his profile that much higher,” Herman said. He noted that Nipon was also involved with home shopping. “He never stopped.” He recalled that when Nipon served time in jail, “it was a shock, but most of the industry handled it gentlemanly.”
Reached for comment Monday, Frasch, who now has his own consulting firm, Ron Frasch Consulting, said, “Albert was an amazing man. He really built a company back when companies had a lot of competition. He was a philanthropist, a great father and a really kind person who was very generous with me over the years in offering advice and counsel.”
He said about Nipon’s time in jail: “It was unfortunate but Albert came back with a big smile on his face and the support of Philadelphia, and moved on with his life.”
Albert Nipon was a lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fan, and even when his health was failing, friends and family would join him in his home on Sunday to watch the Eagles and enjoy his traditional bagels and lox brunch.
In addition to Larry and his wife, Lois, Albert Nipon is survived by his sons Leon and Andrew and his wife, Nancy; daughter Barbara Joy and her husband Craig Spencer, along with nine grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
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