Monthly Archives: February 2024

……………….Looking back…………..It was 1961,  I was 13 years old, and in 7th grade when I went to see my very first Broadway show with my BFF, Robert Guy Tirman…..”Bobby”….The show was…..”How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying”…..It was also the first time I went into NYC by myself….just Bobby and me…..Bobby’s mother had to call my mother to assure her Bobby knew how to get us into and back from the city without any problems. My Mom reluctantly said yes……so off we went….two starry eyed kids ready for the big city. I think I had only been in NYC maybe once or twice before to see the tree and skate with cousins at Rockefeller Center, always with an adult…….I remember first we went for lunch at a very popular touristy restaurant named Toffenetti. It was huge and right in Time’s Square. It had an escalator to the bottom level where we ate spaghetti….The restaurant is long gone….I felt so grown up in my shirt and tie, and best suit,. Then off we went to see the matinee show….I remember we sat in the lower box at the right of the stage. I had never been inside of a Broadway Theater, and I was mesmerized by everything!!! Then the lights went off, and the orchestra started the overture, and the curtain went up……and there he was……the STAR of the show……ROBERT MORSE!!!!!!!! I instantly was captivated by him…..he was just incredible…….I loved everything about the show….the stylized 60s sets and the colorful costumes. The cast headed by Mr. Morse, also had Michele Lee, Charles Nelson Reilly, Rudy Valley and Virginia Martin among so many other incredible singers and dancers……Bobby was a “Broadway veteran” as he had already seen quite a few shows with his family…but this was my first, and the first of anything will always be special…..It remains to this day one of my favorite of all time shows. After the show ended we rushed to the stage door, and waited and waited for Robert Morse to come out! Finally he did and we had this photo taken. I don’t remember how this picture happened, because I don’t recall either of us having a camera with us…..Sorry for the blurry faded image which over 62 years has only gotten worse…..It was a day I will always remember….Robert Morse was so nice to us, and I thought he was IT…the greatest!…I was to become a life long fan!…Robert Morse won the Tony award for his performance as well as the show for best Musical. It actually won a slew of awards!….He went on to revise his role as Pierpont Finch in the movie version which you can stream!…..The last thing I saw Robert Morse in on Broadway, years later in 1983, was “TRU”. It was a one man show and he played Truman Capote. The play took place in his apartment after he had written the tell all book “Answered Prayers”. Chapters of the unfinished book were published with his permission. It was a tell all book of the secrets told to him by his socialite girl friends, who he lovingly called “his Swans”…… This betrayal destroyed all of these friendships, and it destroyed him. Morse as Truman was brilliant, and earned him another Tony award……..Later in years he joined the cast of “Mad Men” for which he won an Emmy award…..It’s hard for me to fathom that the energetic powerhouse was 90 YEARS old when he passed away in 2022!!!!……….For me he will lovingly always be remembered as the adorable imp in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”……..What was your first Broadway show?

…………………..This photo was taken at one of the many black tie events that Jac and I, and Donna Karan and her husband Stephen Weiss attended….That’s me at the bottom left…………..EVERYONE loved Stephen! He was a man’s man, and an all around wonderful person. When Steve was around you felt nothing bad could possibility happen…….He had the best infectious smile and always made you feel good………..He met Donna on a blind date…..They married in 1983 after they both got divorced from their spouses…….Steven, first and foremost was a painter and a sculpture. However, he became more and more involved with Donna’s business, and became the co CEO of the Donna Karan Company…….They had a joined family…..Donna having one daughter with her first husband, and Steve having a son and daughter with his first wife………Steve was an artist at heart, and that was his first love…….He did amazing acrylic sculptures. He created these organic shapes in all sizes. Some could fit in your hand, and some were huge. He first made a clay prototype, and then would cut it in slabs from which he could calculate different sizes. Then he would create acrylic slabs in the shape of these clay pieces to the size he wanted. They were glued together with a special process. Then he would sand them until they were SMOOTH and CLEAR like glass…Some he did in color, but most were clear…..During this final process of sanding tiny particles of acrylic dust would fill the air. Steve always wore a mask, and when he moved to a bigger and better studio he had a much better air filtration system………but…….it was too late……..After years of breathing in the dust that was still in the air Steve got lung cancer. It was determined the cause of the cancer was the acrylic dust he inhaled all of those years……….He died on June 9th at the young age of 62…..Who would have guessed that the thing he loved best…..his life’s work….his art…..would in the end kill him………A talented, wonderful man left us all too soon…….He will always be remembered with love.

……………………”A LINE, ANNE KLEIN”…………As a company Anne Klein always had it’s pulse on what was happening or what was going to happen in the world of fashion…….Anne herself realized the importance of bringing women upscale clothes that the clients could mix and match…..clothes that would be sold as separate pieces in all different sizes rather than suited outfits that were being offered in the “Designer Salons” in the high end stores and boutiques………She understood that most women wore a different size for their tops and bottoms, and never believed in suits where the two pieces had to be the same size……..She truly started what we know as “DESIGNER SPORTSWEAR”……..Donna and I realized, from doing so many trunk shows in stores across the country, that many women could only afford our collection when it was ON SALE…….We heard over and over, “can’t you make clothes we can afford? We love your clothes but they are just too expensive for me.” This really bothered us, and we thought why couldn’t we make a line of clothes with the same design philosophy at less expensive prices to reach a wider range of women……..Anne Klein 11 was born out of the request of women……..There was no place in stores for this price range of clothing, and they didn’t even know what to call it so we told them it was “BRIDGE”…….It was the bridge between “designer” and “moderate” priced clothes……It hit the sweet spot, and became an instant success……It opened up the business for all other designer lines to follow, and they did by opening up secondary lines……..BUT ANNE KLEIN11 was the FIRST!…….I started to realize that a category of dressing that the Anne Klein company was not addressing was active functional clothes with new fabrics that had terms like “WICKING”.  These types of fabrics were not being use on any of the lines I oversaw……I realized there was a need for clothes for a lifestyle taking over America…..CASUAL WEAR, but casual wear with STYLE and FUNCTION that still had a designer’s sensibility!………Out of this…..”A LINE, ANNE KLEIN” was created……A brilliant advertising campaign was created by Peter Arnell who came up with the name of the company, and created many of the logos and details that made the “look” of this new division unique….He also created DKNY and all of it’s logos and advertising…..a brilliantly talented man………The British invasion!……I hired Judith Leech, an extremely talented young Brit to head the design team. I felt she had the edge and the youth the collection needed! Judith hired a marvelous group of young designers to assist her. One of them was a young man named Chris Jackson, another Brit……After so many years that have gone by….Chris has become a face book friend, and I couldn’t be more please……Now, I can honestly say, when I first met Chris he was a very serious, and somewhat sullen young man…..and frankly a little intimidating…..Being around Chris, I always felt he was privy to something I was not, but I knew he was a very talented young man. I didn’t always understand what he designed…but I also knew this was what made him special…I have to say I learned a great deal from all of them….Their design sense was so different from my own that I knew it was right! I didn’t want clones of me…..I wanted a group of designers who would teach me……and they did in spades. The fabrics they used were innovative, and every detail on every piece was thought out to the nth degree…..Besides the clothes themselves, every detail was thought out…The labels, zippers and zipper pulls, the tapes in the clothes were all custom made, and made the clothes stand out from everything else in the market. You always know when you have a success when the models love it!….and they did…….Jac included. She was able to get clothes that just weren’t available on my Couture collection or Anne Klein 11……They also had a sexiness that was geared for a younger customer…..Everything was more extreme….the minis were true minis, not just SHORT skirts…the camisoles were bare….Everything had an authenticity to it……Many of the pieces could be incorporated with the designer line giving the designer clothes a different attitude, and I loved it!…….In the photos Jac is wearing a beautiful A Line motorcycle leather jacket. It was made in the best quality European leather. It had all the bells and whistles, and all the details a real motorcycle jacket should have…….I still have the jacket! It was one of Jac’s favorites!!……..A Line was something brand new in the market. Once again we led the way.

…………………When I started to create a new collection I did HUNDREDS of “croquis” sketches……..A croquis sketch is a fast sketch just to get your idea down on paper……..I used to keep small pads all over for when I got an idea that I wanted to jot down. This particular sketch features linen and cotton blend sweaters in 8 guage with wide rib details over sheer chiffon bottoms. They were done for an Anne Klein 1986 Resort collection.

………………..”THE GRANDKIDS”…………..My dad is sitting here with his mom, in the middle, and her sister at the far left……my great Aunt Victoria…..The grand kids from left to right……John, my brother Mauro’s oldest son, Jonathan, James, peeking over the chair, and Danielle…..all of which are my brother John’s children. There are four others missing from the photo……some weren’t born yet. They all have children of their own now…..except for John who tragically died in an accident at 21 years of age……It was always happy times when the kids got together.