There are different versions of the stories involving the name Lester Gaba and his mannequin. Cynthiacreated in 1937. One of the closest to the truth is the following: born in Hannibal Missouri, Lester made soap sculptures for Proctor & Gambles and Du Ponts.
At a cocktail party in Chicago, he met Miss Mary Lewis, Vice President of the Best Co. Department Store. She met him after reading an article in which he talked about the ‘lack of style’ of the dresses displayed in store windows and asked if he would like to create some mannequins for his stores.
He was surprised by the proposal, as he had only created small sculptures made of soap, but he accepted. Miss Lewis said: “… If you can achieve the same quality in larger pieces, they will be wonderful. If you breed them, I will buy them.”
Cynthia by Alfred Eisendaedt para a Life Magazine em 1937
Alongside her boyfriend, director Vincente Minnelli (before he married Judy Garlard… and the birth of Liza Minnelli), Lester moved to New York to create the “Gaba Girls”, life-size soap sculptures reproducing faces and bodies. of debutantes and socialists. They soon became the ‘talk of the wheels’.
Cynthia and Lester Gaba @ publicity
At that time, most mannequins were imported mainly from France, did not have a good finish and were made of wax, eyelashes and human teeth, which melted when exposed to heat.
Success
Thus, inspired by the name of a model and wife of a famous businessman, Cynthia was born. Made of plaster, face with freckles, very thin, blasé expression and sporting a cigarette between her fingers. And the short, blonde hair – just like the Hollywood stars of the time. She was the first realistic mannequin in practice.
Cynthia and Lester Gaba @ Reproduction
Cynthia was carried to all the trendy places Lester frequented, especially the Stork Club. In a pre-influencer era, she began receiving Cartier and Tiffany’s jewelry, shoes and dresses from famous brands, fur coats (original) and hats (especially from designer Lilly Daché – the most powerful of the 1930s and 1940s). She got a Saks credit card and her own seat at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Cynthia and Lester Gaba @ Reproduction
Cynthia and Lester Gaba at the Metropolitan Opera House @ Reproduction
With her success, she was invited to the wedding of Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII. She was on the July cover of Life magazine and even got a new article in the publication reinforcing the concept of ‘New York’s most famous socialite’. The following year, she appeared in a film called “Artists and Models”, starring comedian Jack Benny.
Cynthia, Lester Gaba and Vincente Minnelli at the wedding between Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson 1937 @ Reproduction
Cynthia in Life Magazine @ reproduction
Death
Then… Lester Gaba was called up to fight in World War II. He left orders for Cynthia to continue her life of glamour. Although. One day, the mannequin slipped off a chair in a beauty salon and fell to pieces. Newspapers announced the incident as ‘Cynthia’s death.
Cynthia doing her nails @ Reproduction
With the end of the War, Lester spent almost $10,000 to remake Cynthia. He perfected his features, changed his hairstyle, among other changes. She got a radio show and almost got a TV Talk Show. However, times were different. The joke lost its fun. Cynthia disappeared from the scene. It was 1952.
Lester continued to become a columnist for Women’s Wear Daily, a professor at LIM College on Visual Merchandising.
Lester Gaba wearing Cynthia @ Reproduction
Despite the bizarreness surrounding Cynthia, Lester’s legacy is the change in the concept of VM and store windows that use mannequins to display clothes.
He was also a pioneer in performance art in the creation of bringing the product closer to the end customer.