Designer Charles Nolan, best known for the clothes he made for women in politics, died yesterday in his home on the Upper West Side at the age of 53. His partner of sixteen years, Andrew Tobias, told the New York Times the designer had cancer of the head and neck. In 2003 Nolan quit his job as head designer of Anne Klein to volunteer for Howard Dean’s presidential campaign. Nolan’s private clients included Tipper Gore, who famously wore his clothes at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. Nolan also recruited Robert F. Kennedy’s daughter Kerry Kennedy, John Kerry’s sister Peggy Kerry, and Olympic swimmer Dara Torres to walk in his runway shows.
