………………………..I decided after posting the Linea 2012 collection it was time for another Anne Klein retrospective…..This is the SPRING 1991 collection. REMEMBER these clothes were done THIRTY YEARS AGO, and my portrait was also THIRTY YEARS AGO!!!!!! LOL!!!!!……..Spring and Fall were the two major shows of the year. They were huge and costly undertakings. The venue had to be booked, the models had to be booked, the lighting crew and the music crew all had to be hired. The hair and make up people had to be booked, and dressers had to be hired to dress the 30 to 35 models depending on the size of the show. My shows were all day affairs with two rehearsals. One for staging so the models knew what they were to do, and the second was a full dress rehearsal. After the dress rehearsal it was break time for lunch, and the hair and make up began. They were usually booked from 8am to 5pm. They loved doing my shows because they didn’t have to run all over the city. Of course the other designers who had shows the same day didn’t love me too much for keeping the models all day! Work had begun at 5 or 6 am setting up the stage, lighting and backdrop, so when the models arrived, which sometimes was like herding sheep, we could start the first rehearsal….. The light crews and music crews were still at work during the rehearsals…The chairs were being set up and names and gift bags put on each chair….The clothes were being unpacked and steamed if necessary. They were all brought over to the venue by truck on rolling racks. There were usually two models assigned to each rack so there were a lot of racks to be set up….. The hair and make up people were setting up back stage….it was madness! With all this going on I had to direct the models on what to do, where to stand and when to walk the runway with music cues for each of their 4 or 5 changes. I never used a choreographer to stage my shows. I always did it myself. Who knew better than me how I wanted it to look, and which models should walk together down the runway or who should be solo. In those days the shows were much longer with 100 to 120 outfits. I usually used a megaphone and had assistants also guiding the girls…..who never listened!!!! Some how when the show started they all knew exactly what to do. They were the “Super Models”, and super they were……When all was over with the show the new project began…..organizing the new “Look Book”……Meetings began with Connie, the art director and Torkel the photographer took place…….How should the book look?….It had to reflect the mood of the collection. Then the studio, the models….the make up and hair people had to be booked, and we started all over again……….Spring 1991 was on it’s way.
The starry eyed couple comes to Hollywood
buying up art deco properties and channeling Old Hollywood?
Who’s that?
online just google: 1993 Spring Summer
anne Klein Runway show. There are several
choices. I think I tapped the first choice.
It’s me, Cela. The video is the best on the first choice.
OKAY, I’ll try that.
Louis, I caught a glimpse of your 1993 Spring/Summer
Runway Show. It was amazing couture and the black embroidered evening wear, the ones with GOLD embroidery TDF. An interview with you was edited into
the runway video and you didn’t miss a beat explaining your inspirations for the designs. This must have been
a special time in fashion when everything just worked—
or maybe you just made it look that way. I loved your comment about leaving the revival of “bell bottoms to others designers”🤣
That was my second to last show for AK. The Fall 1993 was the last. I loved that Spring show and it did very well. Where did you see it?
There were video shots of your successor. How did he do? Who was he?
Where are these video shots???? My successor’s name was Richard Tyler. He was a California Designer. It’s a very complicated, conspiratorial, “All About Eve” backstabbing story. There were Judases involved in firing me from Anne Klein after 20 years. They thought he would bring a breath of “fresh air” to Anne Klein. He failed miserably to my glee, and went back to California with his tail between his legs….never to be heard from again. His wife was Lisa Trafficante….Does that name ring a bell? He was there two seasons, a Spring and a Fall, which did terribly, and they fired him. Then they hired Patrick ? and he lasted two seasons also. In a matter of 6 years after I left they went through SIX DESIGNERS and then they decided to close the Anne Klein Couture Line. The company was literally in shambles. Most of the licencees businesses were ruined because I wasn’t there to oversee, and for some lines like the shoes, bags, jewelry, hosiery and furs, to design them. Everyone knew they made a huge mistake.