From Louis

………………..I happened upon these OLD photos taken in the 70s…..I can’t tell the exact dates because they were taken at different times, and Donna’s hair was all different lengths…..but all the photos were in the OLD showroom before it was totally redone…..I had a very black thick beard in one of them, photo upper left….I started working at Anne Klein in June of 1974 the same year Anne Klein died in that previous March….I worked their for twenty years, until Sept of 1994.The photos at the bottom left and right corners were for a WWD Fall shoot that ended up being a COVER PHOTO for the new preview of the Fall Collections. One of the models is wearing the infamous flammable chenille sweater I created in Italy [second from the left]……but that’s another story……..Those TWENTY years I designed at Anne Klein were some of the best years of my life…..I was 23 years old when I started working there…..and I met the “LOVE OF MY LIFE”…..JAC!!!

………….With summer coming on it’s time to think of VACATIONS!……………The owner of the Anne Klein company, Mr. Tomio Taki, had a beautiful vacation home with a pool….He allowed us to use it quite a few times….There was a cook and a man who took care of the property on staff….which was wonderful!……Guess where we were???!!! My outfit is a giveaway!

……………….I want to wish my nephew and GODSON…..a very late, but none the less a HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!!………..He was born on March 26th…..53 years ago……..HOLEY COW!!!!!! That makes me 53 years older too……..I was 23 when he was born, and had  just started working at Anne Klein……SOOOOOO many years ago!………….Happy Birthday Chris!

………………….Every Spring it has become a ritual to plant pots of PANSIES……Jac did it every spring. She LOVED pansies, but they had to have “FACIES”……When the pansy season over, and the pots of pansies had to be replaced with “summer” flowers…..I had to make sure Franco came on a day to dump the pansies when Jac wasn’t home. She kept them until the last second………..So……..it’s now “PANSY TIME” once again…..Franco, my landscaper and all around jack of all trades, and I went to SAM BRIDGES in Greenwich, Ct……They are a terrific nursery, and have the most wonderful trees, plants, bushes, flowers etc etc. etc…….One of the many green houses is full with pansies and violas…..rows and rows and rows of flats…..We found a section that had trays of MIXED colors….ALL WITH FACES! so we bought 8 trays of pansies and bags of potting soil…..and back home we went!

…………………Once Franco and I got back to my home….it was time to unload the truck…..set up the empty pots where I wanted them placed on the brick patio……..and GET TO PLANTING!…….Now the patio is full of pots filled with PANSIES……I know Jac is happy!