The Pink Ribbon lady passes on

Evelyn H Lauder, founder of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation whose pink lapel ribbon is worn around the world, died last week at age 75 from complications of non-genetic ovarian cancer.

She was senior vice president in charge of fragrance development at Estee Lauder. 

“My mother carried the torch of our company heritage and the values that were passed to her by my grandmother, Estee Lauder,” said William Lauder. He is executive chairman of the Estee Lauder Companies and was at her bedside in New York City when she died, along with her husband, chairman emeritus Leonard, and another son Gary and his wife Laura, both also company executives.

“Evelyn embodied the heart and soul of the companies,” said president and chief executive Fabrizio Freda. “She was dynamic, creative, smart, endearingly warm, generous, and incredibly gifted at connecting with people. Her enthusiasm was contagious.”

Lauder was born in Vienna but the family fled Europe during the Nazi occupation, settling in New York. Evelyn graduated from City University’s Hunter College and taught public school for several years.

In 1959 she married Leonard Lauder, elder son of Estee and Joseph Lauder, who owned what was then a small cosmetics firm. Evelyn joined the family business and served in various roles while creating the firm’s brand-training programme.

Her insights into fashion trends and shifting demand led to fresh approaches in the development of skincare products, makeup and fragrances. It was she who conceived the name Clinique in 1968, with Evelyn the first to wear the now ubiquitous white lab coat.

Lauder was on the boards of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, the Central Park Conservancy and the Evelyn and Leonard Lauder Foundation and contributed much to good causes, including non-profits devoted to health and human services, education and inner-city schools, the environment, women’s issues and the arts.  

Having experienced early-stage breast cancer, Lauder co-created the Pink Ribbon in 1992 to raise public awareness about the disease. The Estee Lauder Companies Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign she founded raises funds for research, and her Breast Cancer Research Foundation, launched in 1993, provide more.

Lauder was also an avid photographer, and has work on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Brooklyn and Houston museums of art. Three books of her photos have been published, “The Seasons Observed” and “An Eye for Beauty”.