Monthly Archives: October 2023

……………………..There are many many words to describe…….ANDREA PFISTER……He was one of my dearest friends. I met him when I was a young designer in 1974, and knew him for 43 years…….Many of those years we worked together on the Anne Klein Couture Shoe Collection…….He was very funny, and had a wild sense of humor. Those of us who knew him well knew better than to dare Andy to do anything, because he would do it in SPADES! He could be outrageous!!!….He would do absolutely anything ….ANYWHERE!….He was brilliantly talented, and it was my privilege and honor to see his creative mind at work…….He and his husband, Jean Pierre, created a world of wonder, and their villa in Praiano, Italy was a dream…..something out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. He had impeccable taste, and a keen eye……Everything inspired him!……He published a book, upper left with many of his shoes from his archives. He had exhibitions all over the world….including Paris, Milan, Germany, Switzerland, NYC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston Texas, and Chicago. He had two of his own stores….one in Paris just around the corner from the Hotel de Crillon, and one in Milan on St. Andreas, diagonally across from Armani…..His designs were very elegant, but he could be very whimsical…..His clientele was enormous, and had followers in every city he visited. I would often visit him when he was doing trunk shows at Saks 5th Ave or Bergdorf Goodman. It was fun to be a fly on the wall and watch him charm the women with his twinkling blue eyes and French/Swiss accent! No one left without buying at least one pair of his very expensive shoes…….Andrea was a dichotomy….Andrea would give you the shirt off his back, and was very generous. Every time he came to NY he always brought Jac presents, whether a handbag or shoes or boots…but I also saw another side of him….he could also be very selfish….a true diva……no one is perfect……Andrea was a true genius…..and I loved him very much…..I miss him…..I have many pictures of him and Jean Pierre around my home…..so they are always with me……..every day.

……………..Andrea Pfister was all about the details!….Every part of a shoe was well thought out…from the last [shape of the silhouette] to the heel…..He loved to design intricate patterns, and his shoes were VERY LABOR INTENSIVE! He was known for his “BIRDCAGE SHOES”, bottom row second in from the left, and they were widely copied. Even today his influence is seen in many shoes. His materials were the finest and rarest….Crocodile. Lizards, Snake skins Suedes, and Calf skins, silks both printed and solid, satin and failles, straw and raffia were his pallet…. If Andrea could make a shoe out of it…he use it!…..Every season Jean Pierre would shop the leather and trim shows in Europe looking for the newest treatments to show Andrea. He had close relationships with tanners and was hired by one of the best to do their colors each season. He worked very far in advance. Many times he shared his colors with me which I used for my apparel at AK…..so I always had shoe colors to match the clothes…..It was an incredible collaboration!! I learned so much from Andrea about how to make and design a shoe. I watched him from the very first step to the final result…..It was fascinating….He even put his doggies….New York and Brooklyn…on his shoes and boots…….His creativity astonished me……He never did a “plain” pair of shoes…..Even his “simple” pumps had an interesting shape, toe character and heel…..and of course made in the most exotic materials……With tanneries he created different finishes to the skins giving snake and crocodile a suede finish….glazing, printing, hand painted, and ombre finishes to create something knew!…..His mind was always working and creating.

…………………..This photo is very dear to me…………Jac is in the middle of two of my dearest friends…….Jean Pierre du Pre [JP] is on the left, and Andrea Pfister [Andy] is on the right. We met them in 1974 when Andrea was hired to collaborate designing the Anne Klein Couture Shoe Collection. At the time we met they lived in Paris, but had a home on the water at Deauville, and one in Italy  next to their small shoe factory……Andrea made the most incredible, extremely expensive, designer shoes under his own label. They were carried in all of the best stores and boutiques in Europe and America…He also had his own stores in Paris and in Milan…..Jean Pierre was his business partner, but more importantly, his life partner. They met in Paris when they were in their 20s, and were together for well over 50 years….When the laws changed they were finally married! It was wonderful!!…You have read about, and have seen pictures of their incredible villa in Praiano, Italy on the Amalfi coast next to Positano. For 15 years I would go there twice a year to work with Andrea on the shoe collection…I was usually there in July and late Oct……During my summer visit, Jac would meet me there a week before the work began. The four of us just lounged about the pool drinking iced cold white wine, and laughing hysterically. Often, while “Andy” and I were up in the unairconditioned studio after lunch to work, sitting in our bathing suits because it was so hot, Jac and JP took themselves off on daily excursions. They had a car and driver so the two of them took day trips up and down the Amalfi coast. They would come back and show us what they bought, and tell us of their adventures over dinner, which JP usually cooked. He was an incredible cook!…After dinner we sometimes went for a swim before bed in their beautiful pool…JP was born in Egypt to French parents, and Andrea was Swiss. Like many Europeans they both spoke many languages…… They often gave fabulous parties at the villa with incredible people invited….They knew so many people, and many celebrates! The two of them were very well know in Praiano and Positano, and their parties were legendary. They did have one of the most beautiful villas there, and one of the very few private homes with a large pool…Now it has been turned into a luxury villa rental called “Villa Lily”….google it if you’re interested “Villa Lily, Praiano, Italy”…..It would amaze me, when we were in a group of people, how easily they would switch from language to another language without skipping a beat, speaking to their varied guests…..When ever they were in NYC we would all go out to dinner, and sometimes a Broadway show or a movie……..mostly just the four of us, but sometimes in a large group. It was always great fun…….It was largely due to them that Jac and I got married….but that’s another story!!…..JP had terrible diabetes, and was always giving himself insulin injections…..He passed away seven years ago….It seems like yesterday……..When Jac passed, Andrea was very sick with cancer, so I never told him about Jac’s passing….It would have been too upsetting for him. Jac passed in Dec. and Andy passed the next March……..JP and Andy were both cremated, and Barbara, Andrea’s sister, took their ashes and set them free into the Mediterranean Sea in front of their villa……It was a perfect ending for them…….Jac’s ashes were also set free into the Long Island Sound……I like to think that somehow they have all met up again and are having a wonderful time laughing and laughing.

…………………..”I HATE TO TELL YOU THIS………BUT YOU’RE ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS”

…………………….”never go in search of love, go in search of life, and life will find you the love you seek”………………..”NEVER, in the history of the world, have the people BURNING or BANNING books, turned out to be the good guys”