Adrienne Steckling- Coen was born in St. Joseph. (1934-2006) She was known as Adri, and was an American fashion designer. Her label Adri was very successful in the
1970’s – 1980’s.

Mary Adrienne was born on November 7th, 1934. While in college at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, she won the opportunity to be a guest editor for Mademoiselle’s College Issue in 1955. She moved to the Parson’s School of Design and graduated from there in 1958.

While at Parsons, Adrienne met Clair McCardell who inspired her early design work. She worked as a fashion assistant for several great designers of the time such as Oleg Cassini, Anne Fogarty and for Sydney Wragge, who taught her tailoring. Adrienne launched her own clothing business in 1966 as, Adri Designs Inc. The other labels she launched include Collectors Items and Clothes Circuit. She designed for the modern woman. She described the relaxed style as not sportswear but clothes for women with active lifestyles. She was known for her trousers and culotte skirts and also focused on the classic mix and match separates so that her customers could collect and assemble the pieces into their own personal styles.

In 1971 the Smithsonian Institute held and exhibition titled “ Innovative Contemporary Fashion: Adri and McCardell.” In 1982 she was awarded the Coty Award for womenswear design. She also married Fabio Coen in 1982 and soon after launched a menswear line. iIn the mid 80’s into the 1990’s she provided designs to Vogue Patterns to enable dressmakers to create their own Adri garments themselves.

In 1976, Adri opened Adri Studio Limited on Seventh Avenue to make designer sportswear. It was still in business in 2006 but for individual orders and private clients and not for wholesale manufacture anymore. Her business partners and friends described her as a iconoclastic designer, but also a purist, she was elegant and inspired to work until she passed away in 2006. Her archives are held by the Parsons New School of Design.