Ali McGraw - Clothing Designer?

August 1969 - Fresh from the success of her first starring film role in Goodbye, Columbus, former model Ali McGraw is featured in a 4 page ad for Stevens Fabrics. At this time, home sewing was still quite popular, and fabric companies would buy ad space in major fashion magazines like Vogue.
"We at Stevens are very pleased that Ali, the movie star, would become Ali, the designer and model, for us. You see, Ali has always designed her own clothes. And before she made "Goodbye, Columbus" she was one of the top models in New York. So it was only natural for us to ask her to combine her two talents." The ad goes on to state that Stevens gave Ali a selection of fabrics, and then asked her to create her own fashions.
Do I believe Ali sewed these garments herself? Not for a second. She was probably shown sketches of the designs and given choices of 2 or 3 fabrics to have each made from. She may have helped choose a plaid or a color, and then modeled the clothing. Young actress, opportunity to have her name and photo splashed across 4 full page ads in the first 15 pages of Vogue magazine? Smart move on her agent's part.
These photos were taken before Love Story was filmed in 1970, Ali's most famous role.