George Philip Meier

(Sept. 16, 1864-Sept. 18, 1932). George Philip Meier was a leading designer of women’s apparel in the United States and abroad throughout the early 1900s. In addition to being a skillful tailor, he was an artistic designer who believed that “a gown is something more than a covering for the body. It is the expression of the artistic nature of the wearer.”

Born and raised in Marshall, Michigan, to German immigrants, Meier moved to Indianapolis in 1898, where he set up a women’s tailoring and dressmaking business in his home at 962 North Pennsylvania Street. A year later, Meier met Nellie Simmons, a palm reader, and the pair married on Valentine’s Day in 1899.

With his talent for both sewing and design, Meier earned a name for himself in Indianapolis. Within just three years of opening his shop, L. S. Ayres & Company recruited him as a designer. In 1905, when Ayres opened a new multistory building, the company recognized Meier’s talent by giving him a third of the department store’s custom dressmaking space to use for his own business. He eventually became the store’s chief fashion designer and foreign buyer.

Outside of this work, the fashion designer and his palm-reading partner quickly became known for their art patronage and social gatherings, attracting well-known writers, artists, actors, dancers, and musicians. In need of more space to accommodate their increasingly social lifestyle, the Meiers bought and renovated a new home in 1910, at 3128 N. Pennsylvania Street, dubbed “Tuckaway House.”

Meier spent the next two decades building his skill and reputation as a fashion designer. He took annual trips to France and other areas of Europe to study and bring back new fashion designs. In 1913, Meier was offered a position as the creator of women’s fashions for a magazine, but he declined because the publication only focused on American styles. Meier believed in the multi-nationality of American women and that styles of all nationalities should be recognized.

During World War I, Meier was unable to serve in the military because of his age and German parentage. He did, however, find several ways to serve on the home front. Meier donated to the war chest and volunteered for a 3-month period with the YMCA (see YMCA of Greater Indianapolis), working at the military encampment that prepped soldiers before they headed to war overseas. He also put his design skills to use by creating hooded capes for the Red Cross for refugee children and allowed the organization’s volunteers to use his shop’s equipment to make them.

Meier died unexpectedly in 1932 from a stroke. Several of his designs are housed at Newfields.

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