Emil J. DeJohn was an American fashion designer and educator from Philadelphia. He designed for Bill Blass, Jones New York, OshKosh and Bergdorf Goodman, created the children’s collection for Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign that is preserved at the Smithsonian, and taught at Moore College of Art & Design, Drexel University and The Art Institute of Philadelphia. He died on 24 June 2026 at the age of 88.
Philadelphia fashion designer and college professor
Life in brief
- 2026 Died in Ambler, Pennsylvania, US, aged 88
The death report
Published 24 October 2026
Emil DeJohn, Philadelphia fashion designer behind Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” line, dies at 88
The designer worked for Bill Blass, Jones New York and OshKosh, created a children's collection for Nancy Reagan's anti-drug campaign that is now in the Smithsonian, and taught fashion until he was 82.
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