German Fashion Empress Aenne Burda Dies at 96

German Fashion Empress Aenne Burda Dies at 96
German lifestyle doyenne Aenne Burda, who built a global empire with dress patternbooks and was one of the few women who drove the country's postwar economic miracle, died at the age of 96.

Though the Germans dubbed her their "fashion empress", Burda had little in common with haute couture designers of the same era like Coco Chanel but set out instead to purvey cheap and chic styles.

"My aim is to put together practical fashions at an affordable price that can be worn by the largest possible number of women," was how she defined her mission.

Burda got her start in 1949 when she bought a small fashion publisher.

Her flagship magazine, "Burda Fashion", was launched in 1950.

Two years later she began inserting pull-out dress patterns that helped women in war-ravaged Europe to save money by sewing their own clothes at home.

The magazine is now published in 16 languages in 89 countries.

When Burda started her company she had a staff of 48, but today it publishes 241 titles, 186 of them outside Germany and has an annual turnover of 1.5 billion euros (1.8 billion dollars) despite the boom in mass-produced fashion sold by chains like H&M and Zara.