Designer

…………………My tale of Barbara Streisand……This tale actually has two parts.

…………………. Part 1……The year was 1978. I was 30 years old…..For the Fall 1978 collection I took my usual trip to Florence Italy to work on the sweater collection while Donna remained in NYC working on the apparel……I discovered an incredible chenille yarn like nothing I had ever seen before. It was super thick. The manufacturer of the yarn called it “The Caterpillar”, and it was sensational. I was like a kid in a candy store and selected at least ten colors…..I did five styles…..a wrap cardigan, a ballet neck pull-over, a pullover with a huge cowl, a two color sweater that was split in half on the diagonal, and a hat with a big rolled brim. Due to the fact that the size of the yarn was so big these sweaters, and hat had to be hand knitted……When the samples arrived everyone loved them. Donna wanted to wear them, but I said no we had to have them fresh for the show. They were a huge hit. They sold like gang busters and the fashion magazines photographed many of the colors……..The orders came in and the sweaters were put into production. It took a while to get them because they were hand knit. They all arrived in big boxes and were stored for the delivery dates. One morning Donna had an early shrink appointment, and came into the office late and all upset! She begins to tell me she was laying down on her shrinks couch, smoking a cigarette….yes we were still smoking then, when the cigarette fell from her hand and landed right on her chenille sweater….which immediately went up into FLAMES!!!!!!! Of course she put it out, and came right to the office to tell me! Oh no, what were we to do. We got some of the sample sweaters that we discarded and put a match to them, and sure enough up they went in flames!!!……We immediately called into Frank Mori’s office and told him we had to see him, and that it was an emergency!. We told him the story and set a sweater on fire for him to see. He immediately called our production person Danny, and our piece goods buyer, Julie, into the room. A decision had to be made ASAP. We called our agent in Italy, Giovanna, and told her about the flammable sweaters, and she checked with the yarn maker. They did not treat the yarn for flammability, and in Italy there were no laws at the time. The decision was made that all of the sweaters had to be destroyed. The company couldn’t afford law suits in case someone got hurt. The stores that bought them had to be notified, and the orders cancelled….From what I understood they poured oil on the sweaters to ruin them! Donna and I were so disappointed….We had gotten so many editorial credits in all of the major magazines……This is the end of part 1.

………………..Part 2…….Enter Barbara Streisand……Our PR person Connie, got a phone call from California, and it was Barbara’s assistant. Barbara was coming to NYC, and wanted to stop at our show room!!! Donna and I were ecstatic, but Donna was really besides herself. She worshipped Barbara, and felt they both had a lot in common. Two Jewish girls, born in the Bronx, who’s father’s died when they were both very young. Barbara was seven years older than us. We had never met before, and couldn’t wait. Her PR person gave us a list of DON”T! Barbara didn’t want to see anyone but the designers ANYWHERE. She didn’t want to meet anyone or sign any autographs. We had to make sure the path to our studio was clear of people which wasn’t easy, because everyone wanted to take a peek!. When she arrived all doors were closed except to our studio. I have to say Barbara was very cool and distant at first, and Donna bent over backwards to make her happy. We began to show her the fall line, but she seemed a little bored????…..After a short while she stopped us and said……….”WHERE ARE THE SWATERS I’VE SEEN IN VOGUE?”………OH OH…..We had to tell her the whole story, by now the atmosphere was warming up. She said she didn’t care if they were flammable she wanted them anyway. What Barbara wants Barbara gets! We explained to her that all of the sweaters, but our original samples were destroyed, and we weren’t allowed to even show them to her. She wasn’t hearing it. Back and forth it went until we finally showed her our samples……She tried every single one on…hats too, and was in love, and had to have them for her new movie she was about to film….”The Main Event” with Ryan O’Neil. We told Barbara we had to speak to Frank Mori, our president. Off Donna and I went to speak to Frank. He wasn’t even allowed to meet Barbara!!! We told him Barbara absolutely wanted the sweaters and he said “why did you show them to her”, and we said “we didn’t she saw the in Vogue and even after we told her they went up in flames she still insisted on seeing them so we weakened”…..After all it was BARBARA, and you don’t say no to Barbara…..Well, Frank said NO!….Back into Barbara we went with Frank’s answer. She wasn’t having it, and said she would sign a release….back into Frank with Barbara’s reply. He said “Listen kids” he called us kids, “it’s not that I don’t want her to have them, or for the company to be sued, I don’t want her to get HURT!”…..Back into Barbara with Frank’s concern. She said “I want to speak to him”….so the three of us marched into Frank’s office. To say he was shocked to see Barbara is an understatement. The look on his face was priceless….You had to be there. The conversation went back and forth, and he tried to explain that if she went up in flames it would be horrible! To make a long story short….after much conversation Frank finally relented….What Barbara wants Barbara gets. She signed a release, and Anne Klein was not to get any credits for the clothes. It ended up saying “Barbara’s closet” on the film credits. Barbara was happy. Then we went back to our studio where Barbara laid out all the sweaters she wanted, and all the coordinating clothes to go with them…..even shoes. Once the sweater ordeal was over we three had a grand ole time!!! In the photos she is wearing our rust silk shirt with the rust suede pant and the rust chenille sweater cardigan over her shoulder. In another photo she has the peacock chenille hat on…….She took at least four or five or six sweaters and the coordinating clothes. The movie came out in 1979. If you ever get a chance to see it you will see her wearing the sweaters…….To this day Donna and Barbara are BFF……all from that first meeting over my chenille sweaters!

………………………….It’s December 1st, and it’s time to decorate the house. I got up early in the morning and started one room at a time. Lou had helped me yesterday bringing everything down from my third floor and up from the basement. I was tired just gathering all of the decorations. First thing this morning at 7:45am I went to get the wreaths for the front door lamps…..then the house…..I’m 99% finished with the house except for one thing….THE TREE……I started at the top on a tall ladder, but got tired and called it….I’ll continue tomorrow. It will take me three days to complete….I’m not in a rush, and I like to look at each ornament. Each one is a memory, that I only think about once a year so I like to take my time…..I should be done by Saturday…..and if not Sunday is good too!

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………………………….Frank Mori was the President of Anne Klein for most of the 20 years I designed for the company……I think Frank described his function as the president extremely well in this quote he gave to WWD in 1984….”My job was to be the orchestra leader, not to design the clothes, get them made, or negotiate the piece goods buy. I had good people to do all of that. My job was to be Leonard Bernstein, and make sure everyone was playing the same tune”, and that he did superbly. I worked with Frank for the nine years while Donna and I  designed AK together, and I continued to work with Frank for TEN more years after Donna left the company to go on her own…….Every time I walked into Frank’s office, or he walked into my studio just to say hello, he always had a smile on his face…..just like in the photo….I can’t recall ever having one argument or disagreement with Frank in all of those years…..An orchestra leader he was!!!…I remember one time I had spent a small fortune on embroidered samples. I had to sign the receipts to approve that they were correct. My jaw dropped when I saw the amount!!!…..I was called into Frank’s office….I knew why!…..He has a stern look on his face, and I knew I was in big trouble. He asked me to sit down, and handed me the receipts….OH NO I was in for it now!!! He asked me if the bills were correct, and I sheepishly said….yes….His stern look turned to a smile and he said these must be beautiful embroideries, and I replied that they were. He said, “Okay, you can get out of my office now”, and that was the last I heard about my spending……..I can also recall one time when Frank was told that he had to intervene with Donna and I about editing the collection. Of course neither Donna nor I knew about someone “telling” on us, so we were caught off guard when Frank asked to see us in the show room where all of the new samples were being stored for the next fall collection……So into the show room Donna and I went at the appointed time. Frank, never one to beat around the bush, and got right to the point. He said he was “told” that we had an abundance of jacket styles and there were too many to be produced. Donna and I, since we were two designers always had more styles than were necessary, but it was difficult for us to part with them….So, the orchestra leader, Frank, asked us to line up all of the jackets on the wall. I think it even surprised Donna and I to see the amount of jackets there were……Frank then said….”Okay guys pick your TEN FAVORITES!!!” Donna and I were horror struck. He explained that to have so many jackets on the line for the buyers to choose from would result in the orders for some being very small. The buys would be so spread out among all of these styles that it would reduce cutting tickets on some styles, which would make it impossible to produce these small quantities…..He explained that it would be better to have less styles and larger cutting tickets. Frank always had a gentle way of saying things, and we understood…..We didn’t like editing so many of our babies out, but we started to choose. Donna picked five and I picked five and then Donna and I discussed what we had chosen to make sure it made sense for the total look of the collection….When we made our final decision Frank said “Okay….now you each can pick one more”. It was like he gave us a present!….He was very clever…..As the article that was in WWD said, Frank was a good father, and I met two of his three children, Chris and Heather. Through the years I saw them grow from  beautiful children tom young adults. They were always dressed well, but always very respectful. The apples didn’t fall far from the tree. While working with Frank, I always felt supported and PROTECTED as a designer….which wasn’t always the case in many companies where the designer was an employee and not a principle owner……When I left Anne Klein I only saw Frank maybe two or three times. I went on a different adventure, and our paths never crossed…..It’s always very hard when someone you knew for many years and had a great deal of respect for passes….I guess I thought Frank would always be around…….The last time I saw Frank he was a young handsome man, and looked exactly like the photo…..with that warm welcoming smile…..That’s the way I want to remember him………Rest In Peace dear Frank.

………………The combination of leather or suede with ribbed knit had already become a Linea signature when I designed this jacket. I have owned a zillion leather and suede jackets myself. Some I have worn very infrequently because, as beautiful as they were, they weren’t very comfortable, and comfort is supreme for me. I was never a believer in “pain for beauty”. Let others suffer! The insertion of knit in the proper places made movement and COMFORT very important. This zip front leather jacket came in MALACHITE, RUBY, and BLACK……I always used a superb quality of soft leather, and the make was unparalleled….All of my leather pieces were very well received, and so was this jacket.