Legacy

Sixty years ago, when Harvey and Barney Morse were serving on the Mount Sinai Hospital Board of Directors, they saw first-hand how much good this hospital was doing for the people in the community. Recognizing that with additional support the hospital could do even more, the Morse brothers teamed up with other leaders from the garment industry to form the Fashion Industries Guild. This charitable organization, whose membership is drawn from all avenues of the fashion world (from manufacturers and buying offices to sales reps, publicity organizations and much more), is devoted to raising much-needed funds to help elevate the standard of medical care that the hospital can provide. 

When Mount Sinai merged with Cedars of Lebanon to form Cedars-Sinai in 1961, the Fashion Industries Guild was called to help...and has been part of the Cedars family ever since. In fact, the Fashion Industries Guild is one of the few auxiliaries (if not the only one) that has been raising money for Cedars-Sinai for 60 continuous years! Involvement with the Guild also became a Morse family tradition, as Barney’s son, Sidney, was also heavily involved for many years. 

The Fashion Industries Guild has Made an Enormous Impact 

Even with their very strong vision and leadership, Barney and Harvey probably never imagined how big the Fashion Industries Guild’s impact would be. Today if you tour the over 25 acre campus on Beverly Boulevard you will find that you can’t go very far without coming across one of the many projects funded by this incredible group.

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Over the past 60 years the Fashion Industries Guild has raised over $25 million for Cedars-Sinai projects. Since 1992 the group’s focus has been on pediatrics, making a difference for extremely ill newborns and children, and children dealing with the challenges of neurological diseases, neuromuscular disorders, AIDS, and more.

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For example, Cedars-Sinai’s Pediatric Acute Care Unit, Child Neurology and Neurodevelopment Program, and Pediatric Clinic and Pediatric AIDS Outpatient Clinic were all built with funds raised by the Fashion Industries Guild. The Guild also raised a significant amount of money to help build the Neo-natal Intensive Care wing. In addition, the Guild has also focused on research, endowing a number of programs, including a Fellowship in Pediatric Neuromuscular Diseases and a Chair for Community Child Health.

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Prior to 1992 the Fashion Industries Guild’s fundraising efforts were mostly concentrated on helping to build out the Cedars-Sinai campus. The Florence and Duke Becker Building, Harvey Morse Conference Center, Barney Morse Rehabilitation Center and 7th Floor of the South Patient Tower were all made possible by the generosity of the Fashion Industries Guild’s members and associates.

Projects Funded

While the list of projects funded by the Fashion Industries Guild since 1956 is lengthy, it is worth recounting here. Thanks to the millions of dollars that the group has raised, Cedars-Sinai’s staff and patients are able to benefit from:

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• The Hal Kaltman Fashion Industries Guild Congenital Heart Research Endowment

• The Fashion Industries Guild Congenital Heart Laboratory

• The Diana and Steve Marienhoff Fashion Industries Guild Endowed Fellowship in Pediatric Neuromuscular Diseases

• The Kenny Weinbaum Fashion Industries Guild Pediatric Acute Care Unit

• The Child Neurology and Neurodevelopment Program in the Ruth Bregman Children’s Health Clinic

• The new Neo-natal Intensive Care wing

• Endowment of the Guess? Chair for Community Child Health Care, focused on expanding comprehensive health services for high-risk children

• The Ruth Bregman Pediatric Clinic and the Pediatric AIDS Outpatient Clinic, including funds to staff it for several years

• The purchase of two 2-dimensional echocardiography machines for research in cardiology

• Funding for research into the study of the irregular heart beat

• The Florence and Duke Becker Building

• The Harvey Morse Conference Center

• The Barney Morse Rehabilitation Center

• Construction of and equipment for the 7th Floor in the South Patient Tower

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Over the years the Fashion Industries Guild has been pleased to honor many of the leaders of the Los Angeles fashion industry. The list of past honorees includes:

1979 -  Estelle & Larry Silberkleitz

1983 -  Sidney Morse

1984 -  Bruce Corbin, Teddi Winograd, Sydney Arkin, Bud Schoenholz & Rudy Cervantes

1985 -  Ruth Bregman

1986 -  Marcia Israel

1987 -  Duke Becker

1988 -  Stephen Meadow

1989 -  Barry Sachs

1990 -  Marvin Winkler

1991  -  Robert Margolis & Jay Kester

1992 -  Jon Bernstein

1993 -  Larry Hansel

1994 -  Dorothy Schoelen

1995 -  Karen and Lonnie Kane

1996 -  Maurice “Corky” Newman

1997 -  Maurice Marciano

1998  - George Fiene

1999  - Steve Maiman

2000 - Milo Rivah

2001  - Ilse Metchek

2002 - Richard Clareman

2003 - Michael Singer

2004 - Dov Charney & Jeff Marine

2005 - Moshe Tsabag

2006 - Kenny Weinbaum

2007 - George Rudes

2008 - Barbara Fields

2009 - Sandy Richman & Tony Litman

2010  - Christopher Wicks

2011   -  Lars Vilkund

2012  -  Jeff Kapor & Jay Mangel

2013  -  Vera Campbell & Steve Schoenholz

2014  -  Michael Lefenfeld & Dr. Charles F. Simmons, Jr.

2017 -   Dr. Sabrina Kay & Anine Bing

Looking to the Future

While medical advances have cured or dramatically improved numerous conditions, there is still a great deal of work to be done. The Fashion Industries Guild continues to be dedicated to making the Morse family’s vision of improved medical care within and beyond the Los Angeles community a reality.