12 Facts About Babs Simpson

Babs Simpson is best known for her 25-year tenure at Vogue as a fashion editor.

The oldest of four children, Simpson was born in 1913 in Beijing, China, to Daniel Ammen de Menocal, a banker from an aristocratic Cuban family, and Beatrice de Menocal, a New York City socialite.

Babs Simpson married William Babs Simpson in 1935 and moved to Locust Valley, New York; they divorced seven years later.

In 1944, two years after moving to Manhattan, Babs Simpson obtained a position at Harper's Bazaar, working in a photographer's studio.

Babs Simpson was then hired to work for the magazine itself, under editor Carmel Snow.

Babs Simpson collaborated with the photographer Irving Penn on many of his iconic images.

Babs Simpson styled what would become Marilyn Monroe's final photo shoot, photographed by Bert Stern a month before her death.

In 2006, at the age of 93, Babs Simpson became the oldest person to be featured in Vogue, when she appeared in its annual Age Issue.

Babs Simpson was in a 35-year relationship with art dealer Paul Magriel; they lived in separate apartments in the same Manhattan apartment building throughout their relationship and did not marry.

Babs Simpson owned a Paul Lester Weiner-designed modernist home in Amagansett, New York, built for her in 1963.

Babs Simpson spent her later years in a retirement community in Rye, New York.

Babs Simpson died on January 7,2019, at the age of 105, in Rye.