From Louis

……………………….30 years ago I introduced “dressed down” evening clothes to Anne Klein. For me taking a typical casual style like a wind breaker, as above, and make it in a dressier fabric created a new way of dressing for special occasions. Adding a dressy touch like the clear resin and embedded gold orb zipper pull to a sleek Rayon Cady jacket you know immediately that this is something different……something special. The rayon pant was also slim and sleek. To bring the dressy attitude home I added the sheer stretch mesh top. The gold link necklace and belt finished the look.

……………………..There are always different qualities of fabric, and it all starts with the quality of the yarn. There are many types of rayon fabric, and likewise many different qualities of yarn. The rayon fabric I used for this collection was at the pinnacle of rayon fabrics……………….The dress to the right was simple and sleek. Its’ only adornment the custom made artisan gold bean buttons. You simply can not find dresses like this anymore, and IMHO they are desperately needed……….The sleek zip front jacket, again only has the clear resin and gold embedded orb zipper pull to adorn it……The addition of the clear resin and gold stick pin added a special and unexpected touch.

……………………..I love Silk Organza……Organza is a some what stiff fabric. It’s as if you dipped the fabric in starch, but it is the weave and the type of silk yarn used that create organza. There is usually a sizing that the fabric is treated with in the finishing process. Even with the stiffening process Silk Organza is still soft next to the skin. It’s similar to organdy, but heavier and more opaque. The Organza Portrait wrap blouse framed the face perfectly. It was trimmed in black silk. The pants were black Silk Cady……….The Bib Front dress was one of Jac’s favorites. She wore it to  special events and cocktail parties……We used to go to many cocktail parties and charity events when we lived in the city. We went out almost every night, but when we moved out of the city our life became much quieter, and that’s the way we liked it…..I know many of my friends who live in the city, still live that life style…out every night…..not for me….The dress was made out of silk faille, another new fabric, and the organza bib collar….Both collars were about exaggeration, which is what designer clothes are about to one degree or another…..Designer lines are not focused on the “basics”…….The Bib necklace and both sets of earrings were made with glass Black Jet and glass Ivory Pearls……The “BIRDCAGE” shoe was from the Anne Klein Couture Collection, and was made by my shoe company, Schwartz and Benjamin. It went with everything.

…………………….There are two portraits of me that are my absolute favorites…….In 1981 Lord and Taylor presented me with a portrait of myself by Kenneth Paul Block. It is inscribed “With Appreciation and Gratitude, Lord and Taylor September 15th 1981”. Honestly, I don’t remember what it was for!!!!! LOL…but I’m happy to have this special sketch done by KPB!…..I didn’t sit for this portrait, and I assume it was done from the photo though I never found out for sure. Lord and Taylor kept the original art work and I got the framed copy…..That was fine with me! Somewhere in this world the original, I hope, exists…..The photo was taken of me by a wonderful photographer named Michael Doster. He did a series of photos of me to be used as publicity shots. They were the BEST photos of me ever taken. I remember him telling me I had “a good side”, meaning the planes of my face were sharper on one side than the other. No one’s face is totally symmetrical. He went on to say I really couldn’t take a bad picture no matter what side was taken. A perfect gentleman, and a true diplomat, but as a photographer it was something he saw through the lens. I have always remembered it, and from then on I was very aware when I posed for photos that I had a good and bad side….LOL…Way too much information for me!…..I was 33 years old, and having a wonderful time!!!!! Good side or bad side…who cared! Michael was a wonderful fashion photographer, and we worked together many times. He moved back to Munich Germany where he continues to work and produce wonderful photos. I understand he now lives in both Germany and NYC, but I haven’t seen him in ions…..He moved on from fashion, and is now mostly taking wonderful photos of architecture and landscapes and has had many exhibits and books of his work. It would be great to run into him again after all of these years……. I wish him all the best.

……………………Kenneth Paul Block was one of America’s greatest fashion illustrators. He worked for 40 years as Women’s Wear Daily’s in house illustrator, but he also did illustrations for store advertisements, and magazines. For me he was the greatest among so many great illustrators of the time…It truly was the “Golden Age” of fashion illustration……..Antonio Lopez, Joe Eula, and Steven Stipleman were also incredible illustrators at the time….all having their own signature look……It was a period in fashion when wonderful illustrations were used for everything. Today illustrations aren’t used the way they were, and maybe that is the reason that great illustrators aren’t as well known…The illustration above is one KPB, as he was known, did of my Anne Klein outfit for the cover of WWD. He was an extremely quiet, and private man. Sometimes, I would come to work and find him alone in the showroom, with a model, busily sketching clothes from the collection to be used later for WWD. His sketching was so free and spontaneous. He was always dressed impeccably, and always held a cigarette in a cigarette holder in one hand. He was simply a genius. He traveled all over the world for WWD sketching the collections of every famous designer in every country……..There are many books avail. on these illustrators. They have all had exhibitions of their work around the world. KPB died at the age of 84. Unfortunately, Lopez and Eula are gone but, their work is a testament to their incredible talent! I highly recommend you google these great artists and take a look at their beautiful sketches.