Designer

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……………………..The picture of Donna and me was taken in the early 80s…………Donna and I had a mutual friend, Leslie Mesh. Leslie and I went to High School together and Donna and Leslie went to summer camp together. I remember Leslie as a very hip, cool and mature girl for her age. She introduced me to pot! When she found out her friend Donna Faske [later Karan] and I were both going to Parsons School of Design she said “you two must meet”. One day after school in early summer of 1966, Leslie and I drove over to Donna’s, which was about 20 minutes from us. Leslie drove her dad’s Cadillac convertible. Donna was sitting on her from steps. She was very thin and tall. Her hair was pulled back tightly into a ponytail, and she was wearing big sunglasses. She had on a skimpy ribbed white tank [we used to call them ginny tees, not so PC today], and cut off very short shorts. They were jeans she cut herself. She also wore gladiator sandals that wrapped all the way up to her knees. I knew at once we were going to be best friends!….and that’s what we became. It was Kismet….We were the only two students from Long Island so we worked together on our school projects all the time…….sometimes at her house and sometimes at mine. My mother would always make us an Italian dinner. We worked all through the night, and went straight to school bleary eyed. We were two peas in a pod, and had all of the same classes together. We became BFF…. After second year Donna got a summer intern job at Anne Klein, and Anne convinced her not to go back to school. She told Donna you’ll learn more on the job than any school could teach you. So she didn’t return. The school was not happy AK was poaching students! I got the Norman Norell Scholarship to complete my third year so I returned to Parsons. I missed my side kick, but we always kept in touch. When I started to work on 7th Ave we would grab lunch together whenever she could get out. Anne didn’t come in until 11am or noon, so it was hard for Donna to get out for lunch, and they worked all hours of the night so dinners weren’t often, but we did have the phone……This was way before e-mails and texts. Eventually I got the call from Chip Rubinstein, Anne’s husband….He wanted to know if I would consider leaving my design job, and come to work with Anne and Donna…..Little did Donna and I know that Anne was dying from breast cancer that came back after four years of remission…….I said yes, and Donna and I were so happy to be together again. When Anne passed it was a great shock. Chip called me and assured me they still wanted me to come to the company, I said yes again. We didn’t know this was Anne and Chip’s plan all the time…….We worked together for nine years, and we were 22 when we started together. During the nine years we worked together as co designers, we won three Coty Awards [the Fashion industries Oscar]. Then we were inducted into the Coty Hall of Fame….all before we were 31…..We grew the company from a 10 million dollar company to a 100 million dollar company when Donna left to create her own label. I continued on at Anne Klein as Chief designer and design director of all the Anne Klein divisions for another 11 years. When I left the company was doing over 500 million a year. The two “kids”, as we were called by Bill Cunningham, made fashion history. Bill was a famous fashion photographer who traveled all over NYC taking candid shots of interesting people…..I believe he took the photo above…….BTW, there were very few times in my life that I grew a full beard.  This was one of them and everyone loved it….. everyone but Jac!

…………………………August 2012 was filled with marvelous timeless pieces that will last forever…….Lots and lots of goodies……….Starting with the jacket at the lower right. It was a beautiful tonal plaid. The yarns in the plaid were thicker creating a fabulous texture. The single button blazer came in Mushroom which was made in Black, Mushroom and Dark Brown yarns. The Black combination was made in Black, Grey and White yarns. These jackets would coordinate with many things in the group like the feather print, the bodysuit and the drawstring knit pants. The feather print on the upper row was a print I did at Anne Klein with Etro. It was actually copied from real feathers. I had it reproduced for the Linea collection on a beautiful georgette. There was a boot length pleated skirt and a V-neck blouse that had TRIPLE STREAMERS that tied in a knot or a bow at the bottom of the V. The print was truly magnificent, and it looked like you could pick the feathers off the blouse…..that’s how real they looked. This was a NINE SCREEN PRINT to achieve the realness of the feathers. The Black multi combination had white, shades of grey, henna and chili pepper….it worked perfectly with the plaid. The Mushroom combination had mushroom, ivory, black. browns, taupe and a honey accent color…..The body suit was in a heather knit, as was the pull-on draw string pants with pockets. The combination of the bodysuit, the drawstring pant and the plaid blazer worn over it all was just wonderful and very European looking. The pant was a sophisticated JOGGER, before anyone was doing them….They were to become a major trend many years later, but they were strictly leisure, and not very sophisticated IMHO. My pant surprisingly did quite well considering, at the time a draw sting anything was considered the kiss of death! Many women wanted me to bring them back, but they didn’t do well enough to garner a reorder……too bad, I LOVED the look of this sportier pant with a blazer. The wrap over knit tunic was something I did at Anne Klein. That’s a picture of a very young Christy Turlington in it from a fall Look Book.. It came in Black and Dark Mushroom . It had a Cossack look when belted…..It worked with many bottoms including the pants on the next post and the two pleated skirts……the print and the solid on the next Aug  post. The top had a complete separate front panel with pleats at the jewel neckline. It was attached at the collar line, and shoulder. It was in a very light with Ponte Knit….nothing flimsy but light enough to have two layers in front………….The dress was fabulous in the animal Ponte Knit jacquard fabric. Unfortunately my photos paled the colors They were a rich Grey with Black and Henna with Black. The dress had princess seams with pockets hidden in the seam. It had a jewel neckline….perfect for a torsade. It was the seam down the front and the INVERTED PLEAT that gave the skirt of the dress its slightly TULIP tapered shape. With its’ slim sleeve it looked very modern and still does. The dress looked wonderful as it was, but could also be belted…………Fall was coming.

……………………..And the good things just kept coming! Frankly, after they fired me I was surprised they were buying so many new styles. August was a BIG FALL selling month. By the time you made your purchases, and the things were delivered, Sept was right around the corner…..At the upper left was a terrific Safari-ish jacket in a gaberdine, Navy and Mushroom. There was a coordinating pant in the navy and mushroom in the same fabric and colors. The jacket had a WING COLLAR, four patch pockets and buttoned flaps. It had a self fabric tie belt and button tabs on the sleeves with two buttons to cinch the sleeve in. If memory serves I called this the “Ninotchka Jacket”, inspired by a jacket Greta Garbo wore in the movie “Ninotchka”….The pleated skirt was in Dark Mushroom and Black, and coordinated with many things in the August delivery…….After all my years collaborating with the ETRO company developing prints and fabrics for Anne Klein, I was a push over for anything PAISLEY…….The Scarf Top was in a magnificent bordered paisley. It was engineered so it had a center motif, and elaborate patterns on either side…..then it had a fancy border all around. The colors were Blue multi, Olive multi and Purple multi. It truly was a gorgeous print, worthy of being framed. It looked great with trousers as well as all kinds of long boot skirts including the pleated version……..THE DRESS! This was a fabulous dress. The fabric was a JACQUARD KNIT, not a print….so the animal design was knitted into the fabric. Jacquards usually, because of the construction of the fabric, are beefier and more substantial than a regular Ponte jersey. This fabric was perfect for this style dress. It had princess seams with pockets hidden in the seams, long slim sleeves, a jewel neckline that split at the front to create a V from which there was a center front seam. In this seam there was an invert pleat just above the natural waist. The skirt of the dress was a slight tulip shape, because it tapered at the bottom. The animal pattern came in HENNA with Black spots, and Dark Grey with Black……..It was very CHIC.

……………………………July 2012 was all about TRANSITIONING from summer to early fall. The clothes had to be wearable in late summer through Oct or later depending where you live. The further south the longer the wearing period. In some southern states these were clothes to wear all year. Starting at the top right was a fabulous and extremely successful suit. It looked like linen and even felt like a linen/rayon blend but it wasn’t linen at all. The yarn was a high twist bi-color and was in a fine herringbone weave. It came in two colors …Stone with a fine black twist yarn, and Pale Olive with the same fine high twist black yarn. The button front blazer had a very relaxed European Armani look. It had three patch pockets with buttoned flaps and a side panel which gave it a gentle shape….. The buttons were in a pale horn as you can see in the photo. They were tinted in the stone and pale olive leaving the dark markings.The trouser zip front pant was relaxed too, and had trouser pockets. The pants became great separate pants to wear with many other things including every top in this July delivery……The suit did extremely well and was a reorder consideration, but when we found out the fabric mill wanted a lot more money we had to pass it…. The little Safari Shirt/Jacket was in a new Rayon/Nylon blend. It had a texture that gave it a casual look. It was very light weight which made it perfect to wear alone as a shirt….It had all of the details….epaulets….roll-up sleeves with tabs and buttons…..two top pockets with button flaps, and the pockets had invert pleats in the center. The self fabric belt had multi rows of top stitching. It came in Straw and Chili Pepper which was the introduction to this new color….Even the reorder Boho skirt came in the new Chili Pepper color to wear with the shirt……..The dress was a WOW. The silhouette was simple in the poly/rayon span. It had a v-neck, and an elbow sleeve. Down the center front were tucks to create a very controlled ruched effect. However, it was the print that gave it the WOW factor. The colors were Chili Pepper, Stone, and Peacock. It fit perfectly….Was it for everyone…..NO…..but those that bought it loved it and the print is so Iconic and the style so simple that it will always be “IN STYLE”……….The next two pieces were in an incredible engineered border print on a silky georgette. The top was a caftan style with a separate tank, and the skirt was a flowy A-Line wrap skirt. It had a cascade circular ruffle down on side of the wrap. The skirt had a fabulous border with the scattered paisleys on the entire skirt. Both pieces came in a Straw. Pale Olive and Chili Pepper. The skirt looked wonderful with the herringbone jackets and the caftan top with the herringbone pant……These were very special pieces in a very SPECIAL PRINT. They looked like they came right out of Europe.

…………….These suits were all about their relaxed European attitude, and the wonderful Herringbone languid fabric that had the look of LINEN……….They worded with so many other Linea pieces. They were very popular and sold incredibly well. The fabric price rose to the point that I was never able to use it again, and I could never find a suitable substitute……..This became a one of a kind suit in the Stone and Pale Olive.