…………………..The one and only…….ANNE KLEIN!……..Today, March 19th, is the anniversary of Anne’s death…….It is 50 years since she passed away in 1974……Anne was a tiny person in stature, a true petite, but had a strong and powerful personality, and dressed like she was six feet tall…..She was a giant in the Fashion Industry…….It can be argued that Anne Klein truly started the American Sportswear Industry as we know it today, and for that matter the world…..There was no such thing as “sportswear” in Europe……Anne was THE FIRST……..way before Calvin Klein even opened his business and before Ralph Lauren started designing women’s apparel……She opened her own business in 1968 with her second husband Chip Rubenstein, and two other partners….but it was Anne who ran the show, and called the shots in every aspect of the company……She always said the designer “must be the NUCLEUS of the company”…..Every decision was approved by her…….She was a “LEO”, like me, and the Lion became her trademark….She roared, and everyone listened!!….She started the “Designer Sportswear” business!….She was the very first designer to have her OWN BOUTIQUE in major stores…..starting with the “Anne Klein Corner” in Saks 5th Ave. Before her there were “salons” where many designers were housed together…….”The Anne Klein Corner”, a separate room, housed all of the Anne Klein products….the apparel and all of the accessories she produced at the time. She believed in one stop shopping, and this gave her customers the opportunity to get complete outfits and accessories all in one place. She coordinated everything…If a store was to open an “Anne Klein Corner”, they had to do it the Anne Klein way, or it wasn’t approved by her….She chose what stores she would sell, and turned many away…..The stores she did sell loved this concept…..It gave them exclusivity!….She offered women individual pieces of clothing in different sizes so they could buy tops and bottoms to fit their bodies….This really hadn’t been done before in any meaningful way…..She was the first to offer “vanity sizing”…..If you were a size 10….in Anne Klein you were a size 8…..Women loved it!!!……It was ground breaking!…..Women didn’t have to run all over the store trying to put outfits together…..Anne did it all for you! She became a sensation, and was the Gold Standard which everyone after her was to follow. She paved the road for all of us!………….Anne was a mentor and had many design assistants…..Many were to go on and become successful designers……Donna Karan and I knew each other from our senior year in high school, and we both went to Parsons School of Design….We were besties, and did everything together…. Donna got a summer job at Anne Klein after our second year of school…..Anne convinced Donna not to go back to school, and to stay with her as her assistant…..Anne told Donna, “you will learn more with me than you can ever learn at school”, so Donna quit school and stayed…I was on my own…..I lost my sidekick….What no one knew was that Anne was a breast cancer survivor…….In the fall of 1973, after being cancer free for years, Anne suspected the cancer had returned, but waited until after the huge fashion show in Versailles….”The Battle of Versailles”, to see her doctor….She was the only female designer out of the five designers invited, and she didn’t want any bad news to spoil her being at Versailles!…..Absolutely NO ONE except her husband and her partners knew that the cancer indeed had returned, and this time had spread to the point where nothing could be done…….Anne, her husband and the partners started making plans for the future………….Donna was very pregnant….and they knew they had to bring someone else in……They told Donna, that after SIX YEARS of designing the Anne Klein collections…Anne wanted to take a back seat and do other things…..They asked Donna who she would want to work with, and Donna said, without hesitation, there is only one person I would ever want to work with and that was….Louis……I had met Anne, and they all knew who I was from the work that I did at Giorgini….and Anne liked that I was a LEO…..like her. In early Dec. of 1973 Donna called me with the proposal of coming to Anne Klein and working with her……For me, the Anne Klein Company was IT!…..I didn’t hesitate and I said yes….however, there was one problem, I did have a contract with Giorgini until June of 1974. I loved Giorgini, and Allen Duddle, the president, gave this young kid, 21, my first big break for which I will always be grateful……but working at Anne Klein was an offer I couldn’t refuse…..A secret meeting was set up in early December of 73′ at Anne and Chip’s penthouse apartment on East 57th Street……The incredibly beautiful apartment had wrap around terraces, and French doors in every room leading onto the terraces……Anne greeted me at the door, but Chip immediately came, and Anne left…..My meeting was to be with Chip? I found this strange, because if I was going to work with Anne didn’t she want to interview me??……Chip led me into their huge sunken living room with a giant fireplace and French doors on both sides….I remember above the fireplace there was a huge painting of a pear….I loved it…..I have a large painting of pears tumbling out of a paper bag above my fireplace….We sat for an hour, in this very neutral serene setting, him asking questions, and just talking about all sorts of things. I guess he wanted to know who I was as a person, and would I fit into the company. I was comfortable with Chip immediately, and when I left I thought it went well, but does anyone really know if an interview went well?……Donna called me and asked how it went. I could only give her my impression, and said I thought it went well…….Now the wait……After a few days I got the call from Chip….I was in!…..and now the real wait until I could join them in June…….I told Mr. Duddle of my plans to leave, and could I get out of my contract early……He said no…..He wanted to know where I was going, but I couldn’t say….He guessed, but I told him I was obliged not to say…He said he was disappointed to lose me, but he understood. I was very grateful, and happy he didn’t push it….always the gentleman……Then on March 19th, 1974, the shocking news of Anne’s death came out! No one had a clue in the industry, or for that matter at Anne’s business. Absolutely no one knew that she was dying from cancer……She was only 50 years old!……Anne had only designed her company for SIX YEARS…..What a contribution Anne made to the world, and to all women….in such a short time!……I went to the funeral, but when I got there hordes of people were standing on the street, and I couldn’t get in. I went home……I didn’t know if Anne’s passing meant I didn’t have my job. I thought I was hired to work along side of Anne and Donna? Two days later I got a phone call from Chip, and he told me that nothing had changed, and they still wanted me. He wanted an assurance that Anne’s death hadn’t changed my mind…..I said no….I hadn’t changed my mind, and if they still wanted me I still wanted to come. I was invited to their apartment to sit Shiva…….Chip brought me into Anne’s beautiful warm private office in the apartment where the two of us could talk. Sun light was streaming through the French doors….He told me he was very happy I decided to come, and that he wanted me to know the final decision of me joining the company was Anne’s……..He then got up from sitting behind a glass top desk, and went over to thick glass shelves. He took down a crude metal sculpture of a Lion that Anne loved. He gave it to me and said he though Anne would like me to have it…….I treasure that little lion and it sits on a shelf in my gathering room where I can see it all the time……………I started working at Anne Klein June 1st, 1974, and the rest is Fashion History……………Donna and I were 24 years old when we took over this giant of a business……..I grew up at Anne Klein…….That’s where I met Jac…….The next TWENTY years at Anne Klein were some of the best of my life……..When the Anne Klein plaque was revealed embedded into the sidewalk of “THE FASHION WALK OF FAME” on 7th Avenue in 2001, I was no longer working at Anne Klein……I was surprised, after leaving the company in 1994, that I was asked to make the presentation to a room filled with journalists, heads of stores and friends…..I gave a speech speaking about all the many incredible contributions this trail blazer in the industry made…………I hope I made Anne proud.
