Lynn Manulis, 85; Fashion Retailer Helped Emerging Designers

Lynn Manulis, 85, a retailer of luxury fashion who dressed socially prominent women in classic style and also promoted up-and-coming designers to a younger crowd, has died.

A resident of Lantana, Fla., she had lived in Palm Beach for many years. Her daughter, Nancy Glick, said Manulis had lung cancer. She died Sunday.

Until her retirement last year, Manulis was president and chief executive of Martha Inc., the chain of boutiques founded by her mother, Martha Phillips. The flagship store, Martha, was in New York City.

Manulis, whom almost everyone called Miss Lynn, and her mother, known as Miss Martha, were for decades “the doyennes of haute couture in America,” the New York Times wrote in 1992. Phillips died in 1996 at 98.

In 1989, Manulis opened Martha International, where she featured the work of emerging talents such as Zang Toi, Charlotte Neuville, Gemma Kahng and Christian Francis Roth.

In 1995, mother and daughter opened Martha Phillips, which sold less-expensive clothing, in Palm Beach. That store closed last year.