Helene Pons

Summary

Helene Christoforovna Wermicheff, known by her married name Helene Pons, was a Russian-born American costume and fashion designer. With her husband, George Pons, she co-founded the George & Helene Pons studio in New York in 1924. The studio created costumes for more than 100 Broadway productions from 1924 through 1965, including costumes for the original productions of Our Town (1938), Pal Joey (1940), Kiss Me, Kate (1948), My Fair Lady (1956), Camelot (1960), and Sail Away (1961). In 1956 she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design at the 10th Tony Awards for her designs for three 1955 plays: The Diary of Anne Frank, A View from the Bridge, and The Heavenly Twins. In addition to designing for Broadway, Pons also designed and/or made costumes for production staged by the Metropolitan Opera, the American Ballet Theatre, and the New York City Ballet. She was also the author of the children's book The Story of Vanya (1963) and occasionally designed ready-to-wear clothing for American department stores.