The cavalier attitude of Lusitania passengers to the threat of attack by submarines is striking when one considers the high feeling of nervousness on that part of at least one segment of the travelling public that prevailed just a few months before.
In the first months of 1915, Cunard stepped up its advertising campaign in the leading fashion trade paper, Women’s Wear Daily, in reaction to a falling off of business from buyers and stylists. Fashion professionals were among the most frequent sea-goers but these men and women had curtailed their shopping expeditions to Paris due to the war, or more specifically to the threat of U-boats. Their absence was cutting into profits and Cunard, for one, was very proactive in regaining the confidence of these business travelers.
Cunard took out full and double page ads in WWD, promoting its voyages, and stressing the speed and safety of Lusitania in particular. The paper’s editorial department even cooperated in Cunard’s campaign by publishing on the front page increasingly longer lists of names of prominent fashion folk who were travelling on Lusitania.
The media blitz obviously worked as Lusitania’s passenger list for her final trip was full of buyers. It also included two undisputed leaders in the New York fashion world, manufacturer Max Schwarz (Max M. Schwarz, Inc) and designer Caroline Hickson-Kennedy (Hickson, Inc). The Schwarz and Hickson empires were mainstays in American fashion at the turn of the century and were in fact pioneers in creating the mystique of "Fifth Avenue," where their palatial showrooms were located. Sadly both Schwarz and Hickson-Kennedy lost their lives in the sinking.
A separate point is that, in contrast to all the subsequent stories of last-minute cancellations by apprehensive wealthy passengers, two documented cases bear out personal rather than political reasons for not sailing. Top fashion designer "Lucile,"
Lady Duff Gordon, cancelled her passage because of genuine health complications (she had an emergency hysterectomy), and Mrs. Claude Graham-White, wife of the famous aviator, cancelled because of a sudden legal matter involving a family investment.
