Eileen Ford, the founder of Ford Models, died in a Morristown, N.J. hospital at the age of 92 on Wednesday, July 9. Ford's daughter, Katie, announced the news telling People magazine in a statement:
"Eileen loved Jerry [Ford] and her family and her friends, as well as Le Cirque, football, ballet, bellini's, Benny Goodman, '21,' books on history, the New York Post and The New York Times, 'Seinfeld,' 'The Stork Club,' her flower garden... and life in general.
"She was interested in everyone, and truly LOVED her husband of 64 years, Jerry, and her children...and her grandchildren... (and her adored five great grandchildren)."
Eileen co-founded the modeling agency along with her husband, Jerry, in the late 1940s. The former fashion reporter has often been credited with turning the modeling industry into what it is today. Eileen pushed for models to not be paid by the day or the hour, but for the use of the model's work.
She is also said to have created a market for "supermodels," a select few who were able to make huge salaries. Ford Models has signed some of the most successful women in the industry including Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Elle Macpherson.
Following Eileen's death the agency issued a statement on their blog, writing, "Today we lost our founder, as well as a mentor, a mother and an icon. Eileen Ford was an indomitable force who not only defined Ford Models, but the world of modeling itself. The myriad ways Eileen affected the world of fashion and the public perception of beauty are ineffable. Though she will be missed, her fearlessness, generosity of spirit and unequivocal vision will continue to live on in the agency she founded nearly 70 years ago."
According to People magazine, Eileen had been hospitalized after she fell in her New York apartment.
