Designer

…………………KELLY GREEN done well is a beautiful rich , and wearable color. It shouldn’t have too much yellow…..it should be on the bluer side of the spectrum…..The simplicity of a wool crepe TRAPEZE short dress with short sleeves, and band pockets is all you need to tell the “color story”……..The zip front elongated jacket with the shirt color, and gently shaped body, looks fresh over a matching  short sleeve sweater and ivory crepe walking shorts…………..GOLD looks perfect as an accent in the door knocker earring and bold link belt.

………………….The Coty Awards were the most prestigious award given in the Fashion industry. It was to fashion what the Oscar is to movies. Five  designers were nominated [Donna and I were a team], and two would win. Perry Ellis, Steven Burrows and Charles Suppon were the other designers. Perry and Steven were older then us, but Charles was our age. Charles, Donna and I decided to give a BIG BLOW OUT PARTY at Studio 54, win or loose! We had photos done of the three of us together playing the parts of a trio. They were blown up to this huge bigger than life size, and 10 of them were hung from the ceiling of Studio 54, and one was at the entrance. It was an invitation only event and we took Studio 54 over for the night….The place was packed with designers, models, people from the fashion industry, friends and family. We won that year [Charles lost], and I don’t remember who the other designer was that won. Actually, I don’t remember much of what happened that night, but from a few remaining pictures we all had a GREAT TIME! This was our second win! Donna and I went on to receive another Coty Award in 1981 which made three. Then we were inducted into the Coty Hall of Fame in 1982……all before the age of 34.

………………….The above photos are the only ones I still have of the Coty Award evening in 1977. There were lots of them taken at the party by a photographer hired by the company, but I have no idea where they are. To the extreme left are photos of me and my parents at my apartment before we went to the ceremony. Bobby Tirman and I, my very best friend since the 7th grade, shared this great two bedroom apartment on Central Park South. It was in a pre war building, and it had a huge working fireplace. The bottom picture is of my mom and dad at Studio 54. I was taking them out to their waiting car to bring them home to Long Island. They were troopers and stayed for over an hour. I think it may have all been a little too “exciting” for them, and it was time to say good night. They had never been in a place like Studio 54……..The next row of photos is of Donna and me accepting the Coty Award……The middle row of pictures is one of the 11 posters that were hung from the ceiling over the dance floor of Studio 54 . Donna, Charles Suppon [who was also nominated], and myself decided we would give a BLOW OUT PARTY at the Studio no matter who won or lost. We had these fun photos taken of us which were made into these huge posters. I still have this one.We knew Steve Rubell who owned the Studio and he let us have the entire place for the night. We invited everyone. Models, photographers, editors, store execs, friends and some family. The place was packed! Perry Ellis and Steven Burrows were also nominated.  As it turned out, we won and Charles lost. He was a great guy and a terrific designer. Charles, Donna and I were all the same age, and were good friends. Sorry to say Charles left us at a very early age from the Aids Virus. During that time Donna, Jac and I were losing so many friends it was not to be believed. The fashion industry was hit hard. I was glad we had this time to celebrate with Charles before tragedy struck…….After the award ceremony we had plenty of time to go home and change before the party started. I really don’t remember much about that evening,…..but….I can tell you we drank a lot, and danced a lot, and we all left when it was daylight………………

……………………….Knit wear was an important part of every collection, and Spring of 1991 was no different………….At Anne Klein I had a wonderful assistant who’s specialty was knits. Her name was Fran and she was in charge of the knit wear department. She came to me as a hand knitter, and I soon hired her because of her talent. I used to call her “Needles” because she was an incredible at doing hand knit samples. She was very creative which helped me a lot. Designing novelty knits is a whole different ball of wax! She worked on all of the Italian production and the development of special stitches and all hand knits. I would show Fran a sketch of an idea I had and she would start to develop swatches with different yarns in different gauges until she came up with the one I liked. Each hand knit was a challenge especially an abstract like the one above that had no repeat. I took a large piece of paper and started drawing the design, and then Fran had to figure out, stitch by stitch, how to get it done. These sweaters were limited editions, and the stores were only allowed to buy a certain amount. Fran had established a small cottage industry of women who hand knitted the production. They were all in the NY area so Fran could oversee what they were doing………When I lefty AK Fran later went on to become the head of the Ralph Lauren knitwear division……a multi million dollar business. I heard she’s retired now, but I’m sure she’s still knitting something!! The hand knit sweater above was a blend of silk and cotton. The silk gave it a soft hand and the cotton gave it the loftiness I was looking for. These novelty sweaters always did well.

…………………..I always loved a mix of patterns especially when they were in the exact same colors. It makes it more understandable for most women….especially for those who have a problem with patterns to begin with. Here you have a stripe sweater tank, a sweater mini skirt with a stripe border, and a color block cardigan where the fronts and the sleeves were in different colors of Red and Ivory, all bordered in Black…….At Anne Klein we NEVER had a problem selling short skirts……I only ran into that conundrum at QVC!……..The leather bag was a fabulous mix. The front and back had Black and White BIG CHECKS….the sides had Red and White checks with a red leather corded shoulder strap……The whole look was VERY coordinated, and very fabulous. After all of the horrible mixtures we see today, head shaking bad, these looks are so refreshing and clean. I’d love to see a woman walking down a New York Avenue looking like this. It’s amazing how current they look after 30 years!!!!