……………… A little Sunday reading……..Somersault to most of you, Cat to me, had asked me if I could post this picture of the Anne Klein Couture Swarovski crystal dress that I designed, and the story behind it. She remembered that I had mentioned it a while back………….I thought with so much time on my hands you would all enjoy looking back at my 1991 Couture Fall Anne Klein Collection. This was exactly one year before I left the company after twenty years… It’s unbelievable that this was 29 years ago!……………………………………
When I graduated high school, before I started to go to Parsons School of Design in the Fall, my uncle Paul who was a big deal in the Ladies Garment Union [a very powerful union], got me a summer job at Norman Norell. I really new very little about designers and who they were, so I had no idea that Norman Norell was the premiere most prestigious American designer. I was just an 18 year old kid from Long Island with a certain amount of talent, who got into a design school. I had a lot to learn…….So off I went to 550 7th Ave, between 39th and 40th streets. This was THE BUILDING to be in if you were an important designer. Everyone wanted a floor in this grand building but few had them . Right across the street was the original Metropolitan Opera House! There were still gas lights surrounding the building. I remember looking at it in awe. Shortly after that summer the beautiful building was torn down and a modern, typical building took its’ place. I remember thinking all of that history, ALL of the WORLD FAMOUS performers who entertained all of the the people who came to see them, was gone forever. I was very said, but happy that at my young age I was able to see it before it was destroyed. So many people don’t even know that it existed like so many other incredible buildings that were torn down. I have found You Tube to be a great source of information concerning historical places that no longer exist…..There were so many incredible buildings that were once the height of NY that became relics of an age gone by…….I remember the first time I stepped off the elevator on the 15th floor in my navy blazer and khaki pants, my white button down and tie, and stepped onto the diamond pattern marble floor! The air was infused with Norell Perfume….It was intoxicating. I knew at once I was entering the world of Mr. Normal Norell. I was overwhelmed and excited. My summer at the House of Norell was a dream, but that is another story………………………………………………………………………
One day I was summoned by a seamstress and was told I had to bring one of Mr. Norell’s famous Mermaid dresses into his office for a fitting. I was shaking…….I walked in and the head sample maker, Josephine, was standing there with Mr. Norell, and his number one model and muse Claudia. She was in a tiny bra and little panties. I had this incredible pale blue sequin dress draped over my two out stretched arms, and turned BEET RED. I could feel my face and ears get HOT….They gently laughed and could see I was embarrassed. Josephine took the dress from me that I was holding like some precious offering, and I left the room. These dresses were NEVER hung. after the fitting Josephine carried it back to the sample room with the pins in it and handed it to one of the sample makers. When she was done it was wrapped in tissue and put into a labeled box for storage…..until taken out again for the show. These “Mermaid ” dresses were made in silk jersey from France, and each sequin was sewn on INDIVIDUALLY!!!! There were thousands of them….There was no chain stitch holding multiple sequins, that if broken the whole row came off……NO, if a sequin happened to come off a Mermaid dress only that one sequin would fall. These dresses were incredibly weightless! The fabric and the manner in which each sequin was sewn made it so. Needless to say these dresses were a fortune, and only the richest women and movie actresses, like Lauren Bacall who new M. Norell well, wore them………The Norell perfume will always be my absolute favorite sent, bar none. It just smelled RICH, and had a unique aroma due to the extremely expensive ingredients……..I purchased two bottles for my mother. It became her favorite too. I still have two unopened bottles, but you can still smell the fragrance. It smells exactly the same, and has not changed or soured with age…..After Mr. Norell’s death the perfume was sold to Revlon……They changed the ingredients to make it less expensive and ruined it…..another thing gone with the wind……..Mr. Norell would have been crushed………I worked there in the summer of 1966…………………………………………………………………..
Jump ahead to 1991. For my Anne Klein Couture Collection I divided it in to two color groups…..The first group was BLACK, IVORY, TAUPE, and BORDEAUX. The BLACK and IVORY bridged into the second group of VIVID COLORS…………….For evening I also had two groups in the same colors…………Norell was part of my psyche, and I always had something on my collections inspired by my mentor…………….On this collection I did The MERMAID dress, but instead of sequins it was covered in Swarovski crystals. I made two dresses one was all black JET and the other was all Clear CRYSTALS [the dress above]. It was a long sheath dress with a band TN collar as Norell always did. It had a high slit. I had my shoe company make two pumps one covered in he Black Jets and the other in the Swarovski crystals so they would match perfectly. I had the AK Hosiery co. make semi sheer tights black and in a silver white to match the dress. I didn’t want nude legs to distract from the dress. It was all to look like one column. The AK jewelry company made the jewelry accessories. It was all as I had wanted it to be. My vision had come to life.. One day I was summoned into the presidents office. As they said the machine was well greased so impromptu meetings rarely happen.. I had no clue what this was about since I usually wasn’t bothered as we were preparing for a show. He calmly asked me to sit in the chair in front of him…OH OH….something was up. He handed me a bill for the embroidery costs. They were astronomical. I could feel myself get red. He asked me if I had seen the bill, and I replied no, but I said I see what the bill was for. He looked at me straight in the eye and said, “this must be some hell of a dress” and smiled. He wasn’t happy but let me get off easy….PHEW!!!…….The dress retailed for $15,000. It was the most expensive garment I ever made at AK. Of course not one store would buy it, but we took special orders at Trunk shows. We sold SIX of them…two in NY, two in LA, one in Dallas or Houston, can’t remember, and one in Chicago. The president was very pleased. The dresses paid for themselves and then some!….I remember fitting the dress on Jac, and I nervously asked her if it was unbearably heavy…..She shrugged her shoulders and said she wore heavier ones in Europe. She said if anyone is lucky enough to wear a dress like this they don’t care or even feel the weight….That is not until they get home and take it off!
Jac was the Finale of the show. I waited for Anna Anderson, a tall Swedish blond model that Jac was often paired with in Europe, to leave the stage in the Black Jet gown, and made sure the stage was empty for Jac to make her entrance. Her gleaming blond hair was all swept back, her eye shadow was blacked and her lips were RED……As Jac stepped out onto the runway there was an instant roar. She brought the house down as I knew she would…………… This was a moment I will always remember………………I still get goose bumps………………..
She was so proud and looked absolutely amazing…….Jac wore the dress one more time at the Metropolitan of Art Costume Ball. In those earlier years of the Ball it took place around Christmas. As we exited the limo Jac left her coat in the car so she wouldn’t cover the dress. We walked up the grand stair case with Jac on my arm……..This time I was so proud, and yes she looked absolutely……AMAZING
