Monthly Archives: April 2021

……………………… Resort was always a fun collection to work on. It was all about vacation clothes….Thirty years ago, Nov. Dec. Jan and Feb. were prime vacation months, and resort clothes had become an important category of clothing……Fish net was a strong theme in this collection and the Fishnet beach cover up was perfect over the tank bathing suit above as well as dresses, tanks and Capri pants……Notice the first FISH PENDANT around her neck. It was to become a very important theme to the collection and it was very successful…….The customers loved it then as the do now….thirty years later!

……………………My trips with Jac to the Caribbean were always a source of inspiration……..We were at the Jumby Bay Resort on the small island of Jumby Bay. It is  a short  boat ride from Antigua. We were one of the first guests to go to this brand new resort. It was then owned by Mariuccia Mandelli and her husband Aldo Pinto. Mariuccia was the designer for the Italian company she and her husband owned called KRIZIA. Jac worked for them for many years and always said they were wonderful generous people……We thought we would try something new and booked a stay at the hotel. It was a beautiful place as we were sure it would be if Mariuccia had anything to do with it, and she did!!! It was paradise…..When we got to our beautiful villa we noticed ear plugs on each bedside table???? We soon came to find out the the island was in the direct path of the planes taking off from the Antigua airport! Paradise had some kinks!……….The dresses above were made out of a beautiful and fine quality of cotton knit jersey from Italy. They were detailed with large cotton fish net……This is where it all began…..where the FISH and PALM FROND necklaces were conceived!

……………….Since we whizzed through TEN YEARS OF LINEA, I thought we would take an intermission!…….In the spirit of the retrospective of my career I thought it would be fun to look at some of the clothes I created for Anne Klein……We published what was known as “LOOK BOOKS” for each collection. These were photos of each of the items on the individual collections. We supplied these books to our “A” and “B” stores. These were high end stores that had separate Anne Klein Boutiques within the stores. Customers could look through them and place advanced orders on the items the stores had ordered, and they could place “special orders” on items the stores did not buy. Unfortunately, when I left Anne Klein many of the books were left behind so I have a limited number of them. What I do have are VSH tapes of many many shows……I should have them converted before they are ruined, but even DVDs have become a thing of the past……..I hope you enjoy this “look back” at some of the collections from the past………KEEP IN MIND……..this RESORT 1991 collection is THIRTY YEARS OLD!!!!!!! I can’t believe it myself, but when I look at the picture of the clothes it all comes back to me……These pictures were all taken in East Hampton and Montauk Point…….They were all having so much fun during this week and a half long photo shoot that I decided to spend the last two days with them. That’s when my “head shot” was taken…..We all had a great time….lots of good memories!!!!

………………….Each book had a brief introduction of what the customers would find on the following pages. I would have conversations about the clothes with the writer, and these conversations would be condensed into a few paragraphs………The books were so popular that many were stolen out of the stores and we always had to replace them. In some stores it got so bad they had to be under lock and key, and were shown to customers by the sales people!

…………………………..Ten years had gone by in a flash…….For the most part they were good. By now Elaine, Rowena and I had become true friends, not just working associates……The models had become an extended part of the family , and Jac had made friendships that would last for another nine years…….I had seen many many designers come and go, and in the next ten were to see many more become part of the QVC stable only to be let go too…..The few of us that remained would look at each other and say, “well, at least we’re still here!”…….There are only three or four of those originals left……The Dec. offerings were a sweater set. A classic cardigan and tank in Red and Black……..What the New Year at QVC was to bring was uncertain.