Designer

………………………..What can I say…….I’m an Oscar JUNKIE!!! I haven’t missed one Oscar presentation since I can remember. When I traveled in Europe and the Oscars were on I’d stay up into the wee hours of the morning just to watch the Oscars…..I can remember sitting in my room in Florence, Italy watching the Oscars and going to work a few hours later bleary eyed!…….As I said I’m as Oscar Junkie! Some years I am very disappointed in what the women are wearing, but last night didn’t disappoint……….Out of all the beautiful dresses IMHO the red gown worn by Cara Delevingne designed by Elie Saab, for me was incredible. I thought she looked fabulous from the top of her to the tip of her toe. When she walked out onto the stage my jaw dropped…that RED was perfection!!! Her makeup and hair was impeccable, and the jewelry was spot on……She was dazzling! ……..As for the men, Harry Shum Jr. looked wonderful as he stepped out of the box with his avante guard tuxedo. I loved the asymmetric and piped lapels, and the obi sash was a wonderful acknowledgement to his heritage…………..Congratulations to all the winners!.

……………………..This was my first HEAD SHOT for publicity, after Donna Karan left the company……1983-84. I was about 34 years old……..I have to say my 30s were the best “single” years of my life!

……………………….Jac and I loved spending time by the Pacific ocean, just the two of us, in Malibu. We would stay at the Malibu Beach Inn and get a suite on the top floor with a beautiful terrace and a fireplace. It was a short walk to the NOBU restaurant on the beach, or to the pier….We spent lazy days walking on the beach or resting on lounge chairs being waited on by the hotel staff…..These were great long weekends to just get away……..As you can see the sunsets were awesome!…..somehow different from the east coast…..Our trips to Malibu were infrequent, but we love the uninterrupted time together….just the two of us

………………….Donna Karan was married to Stephen Weiss on the hottest day of the entire summer! It was on September 11th, 1983. The wedding took place in the back yard of Stephen’s mother’s house. A huge tent was set up on the lawn with a wooden dance floor. It really was a blistering hot humid day. I designed Donna’s wedding dress which was a billowy chiffon low notched open collar shirt covered in iridescent baby sequins. The skirt was yards of chiffon cut into circles. She wore a wide belt covered in layers of the chiffon…..On her head she wore a huge ivory straw hat, and the front brim was held back with a large pearl stick pin…….It was so hot I decided that morning to scratch the navy suit I had planned to wear, and wore a pale blue dress shirt, sleeves rolled up,  with a pink tie, and white Bermuda shorts with pink socks and white bucks….I was the “coolest” guy there….literally……In the photo Jac had just given me a piece of the yummy wedding cake, and I was licking the frosting off of my fingers……The photographer was there just at the right second to capture this moment in time.

…………………….In 1972 I was still working for Giorgini, before I started working at Anne Klein in 1973….I was 23 years old when I took my trip to South America……..I went with my best friend Robert Guy Tirman……BOBBY……. We knew each other from when we were 13, and were best friends immediately in 7th grade until his passing last year……He was on a college brake in Feb. and we decided to go to Brazil for Carnival. His best friend in college, Kenny Pulsky, also came with us. Kenny lived in NYC and we too became fast friends….Any friend of Bobby’s was a friend of mine! Kenny and I decided to take a side trip to Peru to see MACHUPICCHU. Kenny was to become a world traveler and went all over the world by himself meeting wonderful people along the way. That was the kind of personality he had. Something I could never do….just take off on my own…..First stop…Peru, and what a great adventure it was. In those days we were allowed to wander through the ruins unsupervised…..But people started taking “souvenirs” from the ruins!!! so that stopped. I understand it is much more of an organized tour now. Bobby had another college friend who was Brazilian and lived in Rio, so Bobby skipped Peru and Machupicchu for the fun in Rio…..that was HIS personality! After an incredible trip visiting the ruins and Cuzco, Kenny and I met Bobby in Rio……Everything they say about carnival is true only 1000 times more so. It was the wildest time I ever had! Maybe we got 3 hours of sleep on the beach each day before we went to another party. Bobby’s Brazilian college friend was very rich and had his own incredible house with servants, and knew tons of people…..who’s parties we went to…..The Carnival Parade was unbelievable with the hundreds of people in each “Samba School” dancing down the street in their fantastic costumes to incredible music….almost naked except for tons of feathers and glitter! It is a trip that is embedded in my brain, and I’m so happy I was able to share this with my BFF………Bobby……..Rest in Peace dear Bobby