From Louis

………………..Sept 06 was chocked full of fabulous things!!!!!! Starting at the lower left was a fabulous suede jacket that came in the most beautiful GOLDENROD color and BLACK. It had a jewel neckline that had an opening which created a V, and came down and kissed just above the waist line. There was a slight cutaway to the bottom. By making the closure above the waist and not at the waist allowed me to make the bottom half of the jacket longer in proportion that the top which ALWAYS makes you look longer and leaner.The jacket had TWO BODY SEAMS in the front and two seams in the back. The fact that it was real suede meant that I had to have horizontal seams for the size of the skins. Instead of doing them the usual way by just making horizontal cuts I decided to make them all on a slant creating Vs which also helped me to give the jacket a certain shape, and also made the body look longer and slimmer. It had a self suede tie closing which was attached on one side so you couldn’t lose it! I had done a very similar jacket to this at Anne Klein and Jac still had it. I brought it in to Elaine for her to see the very special grommet. It was not your typical punched on grommets with prongs in the back….oh no not for me…..The one I used for the AK jacket was hardware used for bags….expensive hand bags. The front and back looked the same with full metal grommets…only prongs didn’t keep in on the jacket. These special grommets screwed on with tiny screws. Elaine looked at me like I had ten heads!!! I remember her saying we aren’t doing couture with hand screwed grommets!!!!! It was actually very funny…..We had to send Jac’s jacket over so they could see the grommet with the screws! As it turned out it wasn’t as difficult as we thought it would be. Within  two weeks they returned Jac’s jacket with samples of “The Grommet” screwed into pieces of suede for us to look at. The jacket was done…….The sweater set, cardigan and short sleeve shell had gold metal studs all over it with small gold buttons down the front that looked like the studs. Jac and I loved this set and she wore it a lot…..It came in BLACK and CLARET RED both with gold studs…….The jacket above was a zip front velour jacket that had very dimensional horizontal TRAPUNTO STITCHING at the hems of the jacket and the sleeves. It came in BLACK and a beautiful vivid VIOLET………The next sweater jacket was the WINNER OF THE SHOW!! It was a wool OTTOMAN STITCH cardigan. An ottoman stitch is a horizontal rib. It is as dimensional as the gauge and yarn it is made in. These were made on 5 gauge machines so the rib was pronounced……I made the GOLD NUGGET BUTTON to go with them….This was a sweater I had done for Anne Klein in fabulous colors with the same gold nugget buttons. The cardigan had band knit pocket set in on a slant for easy entrance…. The colors were bright and pure [the swatches above photographed are pale except for the red]. …..RED, BLACK, ROYAL BLUE and KELLY GREEN were the colors and all sold out in a flash…..Needless to say these were reordered for two or three more years! The blouse to the right was made in a beautiful silk crepe georgette. It had a lovely small collar and beautiful stitched down pleats in the front. The sleeves had shirring in the cap and the full bottoms were shirred into French cuffs. Tiny faux shell buttons closed the front placket…….The next jewel neck, elbow sleeve sweater was made in one of my most favorite fancy stitches. It is called “Frosted Flowers”, and hand knitters know it well. It has old world charm…….,A knit pant was part of this group…..The BOHO tiered skirt below was made in my original RAYON/SILK crushed velvet. It was light and silky….a true designer fabric….unfortunately when the silk prices escalated it was another fabric we couldn’t use…For those of you who still may have this skirt you have something very special. Today crushed velvet is made out of polyester or maybe a blend of rayon and poly We did the skirt in BLACK, CLARET RED and VIOLET to work with the sweaters and blouses. The black skirt look fantastic with the gold grommet suede jacket and a black TN. It would look just as fabulous now………FIFTEEN YEARS LATER!

………………….HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of my Asian friends! I have been told by Elaine and Rowena the easiest way to say it phonetically is….GONG HAY FAT CHOI………It’s the year of the OX which means hard work and serenity.

…………………..The August 06 group continued with some fabulous items and THREE NEW JACKETS……The first, at the bottom left, was one of the first MIXED MEDIA garments….It was a combination of BOUCLE, SATIN with SUEDE trims. The body of the jacket was in the Boucle, The side front and side back panels were in a very substantial heavy Satin that worked well with the weight of the boucle. The Strips separating the boucle from the satin were in suede. This was a very complicated jacket to make….very very designer. Again, looking at these sketches again, I’m amazed we were able to make them at all let alone at the prices we sold them for. I had a beautiful translucent carved button made fore this jacket that looked like old amber…..We offered the jacket in two colors…SIENNA and PINE……..These jackets were gems!…..The blouse above was in a jacquard silk. The pattern of the jacquard looked like a fine tweed. You can see it in the photos. It came in Light Orchid, Sage and Cream. The front ruffle was removable. It buttoned onto the skirt front, and in two places under the collar. It had tiny flat faux pearl buttons….Once again, details that would be impossible to duplicate today at a price QVC would accept……You may complain about “Made in China”, and there is much to complain about the government, but the workers made beautiful things with precision…..When I was at Anne Klein I would complain to my production people that the Anne Klein11 silk blouses were made better than the “Couture” blouses made in the Us…They had centuries of experience with sewing silk…The jacket next to the blouse on the top row was a DISTRESSED LEATHER BARN JACKET. The leather had an acid treatment that made it look naturally worn in areas as you can see in the upper right photo. The jacket had a rugged sporty, casual look. The patch pockets were sewn all around and had zippers along the top in the patch so you could get into the pocket. The teeth of the antique zipper front and on the pockets were all exposed to continue that rugged and casual look. The jacket also had side slits…….The bottom jacket was made in a beautiful VELOUR fabric. This type of fabric was something that I had often seen from the best Italian woolen mills. It had a nape to it, and thinner versions were called BILLIARD CLOTH. The thickness of the fabric varied. This one was a med. thickness, but still light.. This jacket had a very unique collar. Instead of a basic stand it had what I called a “ROLL COLLAR”. The ends of the collar were open and you could actually put your finger into it. I had actually seen something similar on an Armani jacket and thought it would be perfect for QVC. Armani also used many velour type fabrics for jackets, This jacket had body seams from shoulder to hem front and back. It had band pockets and DTM polka chip buttons. The rich colors were SPICE, ORCHID and DARK TAUPE and were deep and saturated in the velour fabric…….The last two items were in stretch SILK/RAYON VELVET!!!!! The top sketch at the extreme right was a scoop neck, elbow sleeve top. It had a short fitted shape, but because of the great amount of stretch it fit nicely to the body and was not tight. The bottom sketch was a 29 inch double pleated panel front and back skirt. The pleats were stitched down at the top and then flowed freely. This skirt had beautiful movement. The zipper was on the side so it didn’t interfere with the paneled pleats The colors of both pieces were done to work with the  two main jackets…….PURPLE, SPICE and PINE………..It really was a gem of a fall 06 capsule group.

…………July was the start of the new Fall/Winter 06 season and with that a new “Designer’s Gallery”. There were 10 styles in this group…..Starting with the TWEED JACKET. The jacket was trimmed in my Black Boucle and had black jet buttons……The Black and Ivory swatch at the bottom center is the actual swatch of the fabric I had developed at Tissage des Charmes for Anne Klein….the French company that I already told you about outside of Brussels. I think the effect we achieved was quite good. Of course the French yarns were all hand spun and were thicker mixed with fine yarns to hold it all together. The polo sweater had rhinestone button, and looked wonderful under the tweed jacket……The FEATHER PRINT  shirt was printed on a fine silk jacquard patterned fabric. The original print I developed with ETRO. I know this will sound horrifying, but I actually sent dead birds that I found in a milliners shop to ETRO to develop the patterns. The feathers on each of these birds was so beautiful, and were used on hats. When the package arrived Mr. Etro got a good laugh. He did an incredible job of interpreting the 4 different birds with very different feathers into beautiful prints. He also developed a “Feather Jacquard Silk” to print on. It almost gave the prints a 3-D effect. The jacket at the top was a boucle jacket a la Chanel. The black trims were boucle too I had a very special button from Anne Klein reproduced for this jacket [photo upper right]. It came in Black, Ivory and Garnet [a deep wine]….The next item was a zip front suede with ALL OVER BRASS STUDS. The studs were fancy and had grooves in them. It came in Purple, Forest Green and Black. I continued to raise the bar for every other designer at the Q…..I just saw a suede jacket being offered on ebay……I just question the condition of the suede even though they say brand new. It’s quite a few years old, so even if it hasn’t been worn, the suede just hanging there isn’t new.

………………….There were Six additional pieces in the Designer Gallery. Starting at the left….the TN sweater and sweater skirt with wide bands of different shaped large black jet beads. We did them in Black, Red and Ivory. I had saved the photo of Truman Capote and I believe the publisher of the WASHINGTON POST. He gave this extravagant “Black & White Ball” at the Plaza Hotel. Every guest had to come in either black or white  or a combination of, and many came with elaborate masks, because after all….it as a BALL…………The middle top outfit was a Ballet Neck 3/4 sleeve sweater, heavily beaded with cupped and tear drop shaped sequins that fluttered. The LACE SKIRT was also re-embroidered with the same cup sequins. Though there are different color lace swatches and sequins the buyers bought it in black only [it was reordered the following year}. I still have this sample as Jac wore it on occasion…….The blouse below was in a beautiful georgette. The RUCHED COLLAR had hooks and tiny covered buttons on the collar, and the hidden placket down the front hid the buttons underneath. It came with a separate scarf to tie as you like. I showed it under the tweed blazer as an ascot…………The next jacket was in suede. It had a zip front. It was the beautiful “long Stitch” emb that stole the show! I just saw it on ebay. It said brand new with labels…..Who has stored these brand new clothes all of these years? They always seem to be from the same seller…..Since the jacket is so many years old I always question the condition of the suede. Suede is better with age if it is worn or it can dry and get stiff. Has anyone purchased a suede jacket from ebay that is more than 10 years old?