Joan Morse

Joan “Tiger” Morse (American, 1932–1972), a New York socialite, was a mod fashion designer in the mid 1960s. A native New Yorker, Morse helmed a couture business beloved by the jet set, operated a series of innovative retail ventures and appeared in Andy Warhol Factory films before dying of an amphetamine overdose in 1972, at the age of 40. Morse’s chic Upper East Side shop, A la Carte, outfitted clients First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Jean Harvey Vanderbilt, Florence Knoll Bassett and other seekers of forward-looking fashion. Her specialty was transforming exotic textiles into streamlined couture creations as she traveled the world buying fabric. Later she openedTeeny Weeny, her pop boutique located on Madison Avenue at 73rd Street in New York. She was captured in photographs by photographer Mark Shaw on a buying expedition to Asia.

By the late 1960s, Morse's simple, traditional designs gave way to avant-garde creations (including illuminated mini-dresses made out of Mylar) sometimes called "extreme pop."