Charles Craig Nolan

Charles Craig Nolan was born on June 5, 1957, the fifth of nine children — all born within 10 years — of Philip Francis and Elizabeth Frances Nolan. Growing up in Brooklyn and Massapequa, N.Y., where his father worked as an insurance salesman, he expressed an interest in clothes at an early age, staying up all night on the occasion of a royal wedding to see the gown. He inspired some of his siblings to follow him into the fashion business. Early in his career, Mr. Nolan was a major force behind the expansion of mainstream American sportswear labels like Bill Blass, Ellen Tracy and Anne Klein. But he was perhaps better known publicly for the work he did dressing private clients, including many prominent women on the political scene. After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology, Charles Nolan first worked for the dress houses Frank Tignino and Bill Haire, then designed licensed products for Bill Blass and Christian Dior, before taking on higher-profile roles at Ellen Tracy, in 1990, and Anne Klein, in 2001. In addition to his partner Andrew Tobias and his father, Mr. Nolan is survived by four sisters, Elizabeth Rooney of Tarrytown, N.Y.; Joyce Nolan of Bellmore, N.Y.; Virginia Vitto, a sales associate at Mr. Nolan’s boutique in the meatpacking district, of Merrick, N.Y.; Carola Nolan, also of Merrick; and four brothers, Edward, of Freeport, N.Y.; Philip, of Bellmore, N.Y.; the Rev. David Nolan of Beacon, N.Y.; and Kenneth, the creative director of the Calvin Klein dress division of G-III Apparel, of New York City. But his most surprising political statement, at least in the eyes of his colleagues on Seventh Avenue, came in 2003, when he abruptly quit as the head designer of Anne Klein, where he had led a successful turnaround of the brand’s image, to volunteer for the presidential campaign of Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont.