Lydia Silvestry

Lydia Mercedes Silvestry (born 1946) is a Puerto Rican fashion designer and author. Silvestry is the inventor of The Infinite Dress and is currently living and working in the United States.

Career in Journalism

Lydia Silvestry began her career in 1969 as a woman’s fashion editor at El Nuevo Dia newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1970, she was presented “The Medal of Communication” for outstanding performance in the journalistic field by Luis A. Ferre, the Governor of Puerto Rico. In the same year Silvestry went on to become managing director of Temas Magazine, a New York based Latin American publication, now defunct.

The Infinite Dress

While working as a journalist, Silvestry designed a convertible dress. In 1972, Lydia moved to London, England to study at the London College of Fashion. While at LCF, Silvestry was encouraged to market the dress. The Infinite Dress was launched at a press gathering in on May 5, 1976. On December 13, 1977, The Infinite Dress design was patented as the first woman's dress designed to allow a variety of style changes.

In 1976, Silvestry began her own fashion company, Lydia Designs Ltd. Inc. Silvestry began appearing on television, radio and in print media interviews promoting The Infinite Dress. Silvestry's television debut was at The Today Show on October 12, 1976 where she was interviewed by Jane Pauley.

Lydia has also appeared on Nationwide (TV Series), Pebble Mill at One (BBC), De Mananita (Telemundo), Al Rojo Vivo, Plum TV, and The Morning Show (now Live with Regis and Kelly).

From 1976 until 1994, The Infinite Dress was available for purchase in the United States at Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Bonwit Teller, Sakowitz, and Nordstrom. The dress was also available at Lucien Phillips in London, England, Antoinette Specialist Center in Singapore, Thailand, and Velasco in Puerto Rico.

In 1994, Silvestry signed a contract with Tower Entertainment. In an attempt to sell directly to consumers, Tower Entertainment marketed The Infinite Dress through a nationally televised infomercial distributed by William's Worldwide Infomercial Company.

The dresses manufactured by Tower Entertainment were not made from the original Infinite Dress pattern and Silvestry subsequently denied the use of her trademark. The company continued to distribute millions of dresses, both through the infomercial and on the As Seen On TV website. On August 16, 2001, Tower Entertainment lost a patent law suit and was ordered to pay $1,444,283.00 in compensatory damages. Silvestry received no money from the judgement, as Tower Entertainment declared bankruptcy shortly after the law suit.

Silvestry owned The Infinite Dress trademark from 1976 to 2007. The US registered trademark Infinite is presently owned by IIP, LLC.

The Modern Infinite Dress

In 2006, Lydia Silvestry revised her original dress design. Silvestry worked with the Georgia Institute of Technology textile department, directed by Dr. Krishna Parachuru, to design a new fabric for The Infinite Dress. The result was a jersey blend of 91% cotton linter and wood pulp cellulose with 9% lycra.

The new version of The Infinite Dress was sold in England through a British produced infomercial. Sales reached as far as Argentina, Austria, Germany, Italy and Viet Nam. The infomercial has been off air since 2007.

Contemporary Convertible Dresses

Since The Infinite Dress premiered in 1976, several companies have developed convertible dress designs, including Victoria's Secret Convertible Dress and Two Birds Bridesmaid Dress .

There are also patterns of The Infinite Dress, produced by McCall's pattern company, available on the internet. These patterns were designed specifically for the sewing market of 1976. And some of them were introduced in 1980.

Current Projects

Presently, Silvestry is promoting her self-published book on health and beauty titled Lydia Silvestry's Beauty Secrets. The book is a personal account of Silvestry's self-tested methods for looking youthful and living an ecologically safe and healthy life. The book is mostly biographical and informational.