Fashion: Geoffrey Beene's Amazing Grace

His house is miles from Manhattan, out in Oyster Bay, on the north shore of Long Island. From the large home to the rolling acreage and the bounteous orchid gardens, this is Gatsby territory, a place of retreat. But in his work Geoffrey Beene is not interested in insulating himself or in evoking a Pololand of faux nostalgia and privileged period froufrou. Since he began his own label in the spring of 1963, Beene has kept a pace and set a standard that has made him, gradually and quietly, one of the most intrepid of fashionmakers.

The lovingly assembled career retrospective...