Blog

………………Carrie Donovan was a powerhouse fashion editor who had a lot of POWER in the industry. She was responsible for the Sunday Times fashion sections. EVERY designer wanted to be a part of this special magazine. To get the stamp of approval from Ms. Donovan was very validating no matter how big of a designer you were….No one wanted to be left out……Every Spring and every Fall Carrie did a special separate magazine for the Times. It was called the “Fashion of the Times Forecast” of the best of the BEST. She did one issue for New York, one for Italy and one for France. EVERYONE wanted a photo in the magazine….even a sketch or a black and white small photo would have been great to get. When the photo of my ZEBRA and WINDOWPANE outfit opened the New York section with a whole color page I was astonished and thrilled. I got a lot of feedback. Many congratulations, but there were always some who were jealous. That’s just the way it was, and I’m sure still is. The outfit was all mine, and this was a very special collection for me. Donna and I were still together working at Anne Klein, but she was very busy working on the first collection of Anne Klein 11, so I did 95% of this fall collection. I developed ALL of the fabrics and ALL of the sweaters and knitwear, plus I developed ALL of the accessories, so basically it was my collection with minimal input from Donna who was toiling away on another floor getting the AK11 collection done. In order to get both jobs done we had to separate and it was the first time working together that this separation took place…….The outfit Carrie chose to photograph was bold and fabulous. It happened to be the season that many designers did bold color. The coat was a double faced cashmere and wool blend in a GIANT WINDOWPANE design. The drop sleeve coat was totally bound in a double sided woven tape, so the coat was completely reversible…A firm that I had worked with for years, FILA, made the fabric for me. It had to be made on special looms due to the fact that it was double faced and due to the large pattern. Not many fabric manufactures had the capability of making such a fabric. Fila also made all of my wool crepe, some gaberdines, and many of my solid coatings. Magda Ferrare was the head of Fila, just under Mr. Fila himself.  I worked with Magda developing all of the Fila fabrics. We became very close, and I still, all these years later, hear from her once in a while. She even followed my QVC Linea line and she ordered many pieces for herself. She couldn’t get over the quality and workmanship for the price. Mr Fila was a marvelous man. He took us out to dinner at fabulous restaurants many times, both in Italy and in Paris when we were all there for the Premiere Vision fabric show…..He was a very sophisticated intelligent man….always with a smile on his face…..The long sleeve jewel neck ZEBRA sweater was made in Italy. I went to Italy and worked with my agent Giovanna Pestelli Ciampini. We traveled all over Italy together putting the samples into work with different factories. She was like the sister I never had, and we are still very close after over 50 years!!!!! This was an Intargia sweater [a method of knitting]. The black was ANGORA, and the golden orange [the color of a tiger] was Marino wool all on a 7 gauge machine…………..The zebra skirt was made in my work rooms by a man with golden hands, my Phillip! He was a genius when it came to leather and suede. He was a survivor of the concentration camps, and was freed when he was a very young boy. He once showed me the tattoo of numbers on his arm which they put on him in the camp. He was one of the kindest sweetest men I have ever met. Every Christmas he would make me a leather jacket or coat. I still have some of them. I loved him very very much…….The skirt was all suede. The gold color was the main suede pencil skirt and the black suede was hand cut and appliqued on top…….It was fabulous………When a designer does a Zebra pattern they must commit to it being VERY SPECIAL, since there are many many bad ones that have been done over the years. This skirt and sweater were very special!!!! There were also kimono cardigans in the same Zebra angora and wool, blouses in zebra stripes that were printed on a floral silk jacquard fabric done for me by ETRO. I had FILA also make a double face coating in the same wool and cashmere blend in a large zebra pattern. Andrea Pfister, the shoe designer who worked with me on developing the Anne Klein Couture shoe collection, made Zebra flats, pumps and boots all with applique NOT PRINTED on the leather. The shaft of the boot was in the applique zebra pattern. The scarf was a hand woven Hounds Tooth check done in a few different color combinations. The Hounds Tooth became a separate theme in the collection, but I combined many of the Hounds Tooth pieces with the Zebra pieces and the  accessories especially the  blouses and shoes…..All of the Zebra pieces were also done in Ivory and Black like a real zebra. There were additional colors offered in the zebra blouses. I was definitely COMMITTED to the Zebra design, and each piece was a gem…….I have recently seen Zebra patterns show up on designers runways, and some like Michael Kors have used them in their national ads, but IMHO none compare with the Zebra pattern or apparel I did for Anne Klein Couture some 37 years ago……I revised the coat and blouse pattern for Linea using the same designs I had done for Anne Klein Couture. I’m sure many of you still own them………This was an exciting and wonderful collection……WWD called it “A Walk on the Wild Side”. The stores loved it, and Bloomingdales ran a full page Sunday ad in the NY Times on the entire outfit above in the Black and Ivory combination. I received many editorials on the collection from many fashion magazines…….It was a great season, and one I will always remember.