Adel Rootstein

Adel Rootstein (1930 – 20 September 1992) was a British mannequin designer responsible for premium designs that are sold worldwide.

Early life

Rootstein was born in Warmbaths, South Africa in 1930. She married the industrial designer Richard Hopkins.^[1] Rootstein started by making window displays, which gave her an understanding of "the void that had existed between fashion coverage in the international media & what actually happened in windows."^{[2][full citation needed][non-primary source needed]}

Mannequins

Rootstein started making mannequins in the kitchen of her basement flat in Earls Court in 1956.^[2] She first hired sculptor John Taylor and model Imogen for her first mannequin, placed in a reclining position.^[2] This was the start of her first collection, called "GoGo".^{[2][non-primary source needed]} Her sources of inspiration expanded to music and clubs.^[3] Rootstein has been called the "Rolls-Royce" of mannequin makers, and later used well-known singers and actresses as models for her mannequins; Cher, Joan Collins and Twiggy among them.^[4]

Rootstein Hopkins Foundation

In 1990, Rootstein and her husband Rick Hopkins set up the Rootstein Hopkins Foundation to assist young artists and designers.^[5] The mannequin business was sold in 1991 to Japanese mannequin manufacturer, Yoshichu who had been a long time collaborator of Adel's^[6].They continued to grow the business and release collections that stayed true to Adel's founding principles. Rootstein died in London on 20 September 1992.