Yearly Archives: 2023

……………………I have ALWAYS used suede or leather or BOTH in every collection I have done…..even SUMMER……………For the cut in armhole, jewel neck top….I had suede skins made into thin fine strips that could be hand knitted. The very construction of the knit gave the top a lot of stretch. The raw edges of the HONEY SUEDE were paler than the suede itself which gave the knit an interesting, almost frosted look…..The unlined wrap side button skirt was made in the same honey suede from Italy….One of my relaxed jackets could easily be worn over it….The belt was a combination of woven extremely thin strips of suede and leather with a leather buckle, keeper and end tip….The shoes were another version of the platform , open toe, “birdcage” sandal with an ankle strap in HONEY SUEDE……………The STATION NECKLACES were a series of different shaped and sized glass and resin beads. There were also different gold station beads mixed through out…..There were coordinating long earrings……..The outfit had a kind of BOHEMIAN LOOK……I also did a tube skirt, and a sleeveless midi dress in the knitted suede.

………………………….I have ALWAYS made EVERY NEEDLE RIB SWEATERS…..Many know the ENR construction from my Linea Whisper Knit sweaters, but I started making ENR sweaters long before QVC! The tunic V-neck and the tunic cardigan both had high side slits, and were worn over sleeveless sweaters…..all in the ENR construction………..The easy suede jacket was in ALOE suede. The sweater below was in a jacquard pattern in ALOE and PUTTY with Aloe leggings…..All of the accessories…..the stone drop earrings, the “birdcage” platform sandal, and the sunglasses were all Anne Klein.

……………………..On this day, January 24th, 1992……31 years ago……my nephew John lost his life…….He was 21 years young. John was the first born, and oldest son of my oldest brother Mauro and his wife Kathy. He was a wonderful boy and young man. He was the most BEAUTIFUL BABY I had ever seen then or now! He emulated his father in every way. They both had “A” type personalities. John even kept his closet the way my brother kept his by organizing and building things to keep his cloths and sports equipment as my brother did……At his young age he was already a volunteer fireman where he lived on Long Island, and was very accomplished in everything he did. He was an accomplished player of the electric guitar, and was into , to my brother and SIL’s chagrin, heavy metal…..Sometimes he and his cousin would surprise me and show up at my office at AK. The receptionist would call in, and say my nephew John and his cousin were here to see me! What a happy surprise! As soon as they entered my studio, and started looking around, I quickly realized I was NOT the one they came to see! They were hoping to see models! They asked if Cindy Crawford was going to be there. I had to tell them no….They were so disappointed that models were not just hanging around. You have to love these young boys!!!…….I will NEVER EVER forget the day he died in a tragic accident….That Jan 24th was incredibly cold and extremely windy. My brother had brought his son John into the family business which my grandfather and father started….so they worked together every day. On this particular day, my brother left work first, and John was to soon follow in his own truck. They said they would see each other at home…….As my nephew was driving home he had to cross the Throgs Neck Bridge. As he was reaching the pinnacle of the bridge the metal roof of the truck in front of him blew off and landed in the road. He and all the other cars had to stop. The traffic on the bridge was at a stand still. They couldn’t get past the roof because it landed on a road divider and was elevated. SO…John and two other men got out of their vehicles and decided to move this roof so it would be laying flat and they could drive over it. As the three men were trying to lift it…..a strong gust of wind lifted this piece of metal and cut my nephew John’s throat, killing him instantly…………….Someone, went to my nephew’s truck and found his cell phone, and somehow called my brother. My brother had just arrived home, and some stranger was telling him that John was in a terrible accident and he should come immediately…….When my brother arrived at the scene he was only told by the police what they knew of how the accident happened, and that John was taken to the hospital. When he arrived at the hospital he was given the shattering news…………………I was at work, and was having my car tuned up in the city. I went to pick it up when it was ready. On my way back to the office I had the radio on, and they were reporting about this terrible accident that closed the Throgs Neck Bridge. I had no idea they were talking about my nephew…….When I got back to the office a call came through for me from my cousin John. I thought this was strange, because he never called me. He asked if I was sitting down, and if not I should! OMG what is going on were my first thoughts…..He then said “I have bad news to tell you, John is dead.”…..and I said, “my brother John died!!!”, and he replied           “no, not your brother…your nephew John”. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!!!! I called Jac and told her…I was going to call the car service to drive us to my brothers house. There was no way I could drive. I went into see Frank Mori, the president of the company and told him what happened and I was leaving and wasn’t sure when I’d be back. Jac was working at another booking, and I picked her up and we went to my brother’s house on Long Island. By the time we arrived there were already many people there. My brother and SIL were in shock…..what can you possibly say????? I don’t remember much about what happened after that….I remember there was a wake and my nephew looked like he was sleeping……I remember going to the church and the cemetery. It was bitter cold…..I remember that there were many many people there and many firemen in their uniforms, but I don’t remember much else. It was a blur………The truck who’s roof blew off, drove away never knowing what had happened. The police eventually did find the company that owned the truck, but I don’t recall what happened to the driver or the company….if anything………Every time I drive over that bridge and I reach the pinnacle I talk to John. It has become a sort of sacred place for me….like a shrine or a cathedral……………….John was an incredibly BEAUTIFUL boy, both physically with his blond hair and blue eyes, and spiritually….He had the biggest heart!  …The photo of him in the lounge chair was the last photo ever taken of him…..There isn’t a day that has gone by in all of these years, that my brother, his family….or I don’t think about that wonderful young man, taken from all of us way too soon….I often wonder what John would have been like, would he have his own family…..I’m sure he would have………I have to think God must of had a special plan for John to take him just as he was beginning his life…..It’s been 31 years………..I wanted you to know my wonderful nephew.

……………………….These accessory photos were part of my Spring 1992 National Ad Campaign on Christie Turlington. The double strap belt came in a rich dark brown shiny leather with Ivory saddle stitching…….The leather of the coil bracelet was wrapped around a flexible thin metal flat band, and then saddle stitched on both sides and both ends…….The Leather hoop  had a metal hoop which was also wrapped in leather and had the same saddle stitching. It was a clip on with the gold metal top………LEATHER became a major accessory statement through out the collection……Christy looked incredible!

…………………..I built this collection around simple silhouettes in fantastic fabrics……..I worked with one of my good friends Roberto Sarti on developing three fabrics for me using the same base silk yarn in three very different ways….His mill was located in Prato which is a major fabric manufacturing city just outside of Florence…..I spent quite a few evenings having dinner with Roberto and his lovely family…..We ate at a big table “family style”….Roberto, his wife and his four children……The yarn Roberto developed for me was a silk blend and had a very fine black yarn twisted in to give the look of a VERY subtle FINE tweed…The first fabric developed with this yarn was a light weight stretch knit. I could make all sorts of clothes out of this knit fabric, and it became the backbone of the layering pieces. I made an assortment of body skimming DRESSES like the one at the left on Yasmeen Ghauri, and separates like tanks, mock neck elbow sleeve tops etc. Long leggings, and Capri leggings, as well as a “tube” skirt were all part of the knit group…..On the left the KNIT UNITARD on Gale Elliot.  Worn over the unitard is a one button WRAP SKIRT made in the second fabric developed in the same yarn….a WOVEN BASKET WEAVE GAUZE. This skirt was meant as camouflage and a new layering piece. Like wrapping a scarf, but with more structure. The third fabric developed was a woven jacket weight fabric that I used for pants and skirts…….The colors of the collection were neutral and very ZEN like…..Cement, Putty, Honey, Terra Cotta, Navy, Oyster, Aloe, Ivory, Walnut and Black were the base of the collection. SOFT, RELAXED, AIRY, NONCHALANT, FEMININE and SEXY are some of the adjectives I use to describe the clothes.