From 1922 to 1973, Ida Rosenthal made women's breasts her business. As the co-creator and CEO of Maidenform, she developed the company into one of the world's most successful intimate apparel businesses. It was under Ida’s tutelage that Maidenform produced an array of innovative products that shaped women's bodies and became an American icon for their \"I Dreamed\" campaign. She built Maidenform into an international corporation, a famous name, and a legacy brand while living an incredibly full life with as many peaks and valleys as the company she created.
For this study, I focused on the early years of her life, beginning at birth to the opening of Maidenform's first factory in the early 1930s. By concentrating on this timeframe, I have developed a narrative of the cultural, educational, and personal foundations that Ida utilized to become a powerful businesswoman.
","abstract_html":"<p id="x-x-x-x-x-x-docs-internal-guid-0b820880-7fff-194d-8a85-3facc3098628">From 1922 to 1973, Ida Rosenthal made women's breasts her business. As the co-creator and CEO of Maidenform, she developed the company into one of the world's most successful intimate apparel businesses. It was under Ida’s tutelage that Maidenform produced an array of innovative products that shaped women's bodies and became an American icon for their "I Dreamed" campaign. She built Maidenform into an international corporation, a famous name, and a legacy brand while living an incredibly full life with as many peaks and valleys as the company she created.</p> <p>For this study, I focused on the early years of her life, beginning at birth to the opening of Maidenform's first factory in the early 1930s. By concentrating on this timeframe, I have developed a narrative of the cultural, educational, and personal foundations that Ida utilized to become a powerful businesswoman.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Holt, Sierra B"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master","degree_discipline":"Biography and Memoir","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Kate Culkin"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-09-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-09-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:00:13Z","subjects":["Fashion Business","Nonfiction","Women's History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4594","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Kate Culkin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Holt, Sierra B"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-09-30T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biography and Memoir"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Fashion Business","Nonfiction","Women's History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4594"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["From 1922 to 1973, Ida Rosenthal made women's breasts her business. As the co-creator and CEO of Maidenform, she developed the company into one of the world's most successful intimate apparel businesses. It was under Ida’s tutelage that Maidenform produced an array of innovative products that shaped women's bodies and became an American icon for their \"I Dreamed\" campaign. She built Maidenform into an international corporation, a famous name, and a legacy brand while living an incredibly full life with as many peaks and valleys as the company she created.
For this study, I focused on the early years of her life, beginning at birth to the opening of Maidenform's first factory in the early 1930s. By concentrating on this timeframe, I have developed a narrative of the cultural, educational, and personal foundations that Ida utilized to become a powerful businesswoman.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Why Fight Nature? A Biography of the Early Life of Ida Rosenthal"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Kate Culkin"],"dc:creator":["Holt, Sierra B"],"dc:date.available":["2023-09-30T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["From 1922 to 1973, Ida Rosenthal made women's breasts her business. As the co-creator and CEO of Maidenform, she developed the company into one of the world's most successful intimate apparel businesses. It was under Ida’s tutelage that Maidenform produced an array of innovative products that shaped women's bodies and became an American icon for their \"I Dreamed\" campaign. She built Maidenform into an international corporation, a famous name, and a legacy brand while living an incredibly full life with as many peaks and valleys as the company she created.
For this study, I focused on the early years of her life, beginning at birth to the opening of Maidenform's first factory in the early 1930s. By concentrating on this timeframe, I have developed a narrative of the cultural, educational, and personal foundations that Ida utilized to become a powerful businesswoman.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4594"],"dc:subject":["Fashion Business","Nonfiction","Women's History"],"dc:title":["Why Fight Nature? A Biography of the Early Life of Ida Rosenthal"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biography and Memoir"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:00:13Z"}