………………..BANDING was usually created with bold contrasting colors, like the classic black and ivory, but sometimes I did it in a more subtle way as shown here….mixing the soft LILAC with the gentle PINK…….It was a more elegant and feminine way to get the message of color blocking and banding across………This suit, on Christy, is in a fine spring weight wool crepe from Italy.
…………..From the very moment I started the……ANNE KLEIN COUTURE JEWELRY COLLECTION……It was an instant success……This new division created apart from an already existing Anne Klein jewelry line, and was born from my need to show jewelry on the runway with my collection. Previously, the licensee was only making inexpensive jewelry, and the majority of it had LION LOGOS all over it. I was using other jewelry designers creations….mostly from Robert Lee Morris’s stable of incredible designers at ART WEAR to show with my collections. My Licensee, SWANK, wanted to know why I wasn’t using their products in my shows. I frankly told them they weren’t producing the quality of jewelry I needed to show with my clothes……So they chose another person at their company to head up the AK Jewelry division, a young man named Matt Moehle….He was very young, and honestly I had little hope he would do much better. I really had no idea of the capabilities their factories could produce, because up until this point they were making inexpensive jewelry I never would have shown on my collection….We had our first meeting, and I have to say I was not easy on him, because I was so frustrated with the product they were producing…He was very very young and looked a boy….I showed him what I was working on for my next Spring collection. I gave him lots of sketches, and he said he understood…..I sent him on his way back to R.I….not expecting much to come out of this meeting…..At that time all of the jewelry was produced in the US…….After a short while Matt called me and asked if he could come and show me what he had done so far….I said yes…..When he arrived he unpacked his versions of the sketches I had given to him…….I WAS AMAZED!…….It was truly beautiful!….I said to him, “why hasn’t the jewelry looked like this before?”….and he proudly said…with a Cheshire grin, “because I wasn’t in charge”. I soon learned that Matt had a wonderful dry sense of humor similar to mine!….This was the start of a wonderful collaboration that lasted for many years until I left AK….In one season he had turned the whole collection around!…..He was a brilliant young man who I had the highest regard and respect for. He had guts to stand up to me and prove he was more than worthy of his new position…..I grew to become very fond of Matt…Matt and I created this new division, the “ANNE KLEIN COUTURE JEWELRY” line from nothing…..We created beautiful jewelry together…..It was a huge hit with retailors and CUSTOMERS, and soon grew to become a multi million dollar division……..The photo inset was from a Neiman Marcus Spring 1992 Catalogue of three of the many pieces that were designed to go with this collection. Considering this was 32 years ago, the prices were quite high for “Fashion Jewelry ” at that time……Each color of the resin stones was custom made, and each shape was custom made from special molds….each pearl was custom made along with the small stones….The metal part of the pieces were also all caste and then plated in REAL GOLD……Finally, I had AK jewelry I could show on the runway…..Matt was a savior, and I have the utmost respect for him. He is now the head designer for another company and he oversees many divisions, all of which are made in China. It is so unfortunate that most Fashion jewelry is now made overseas due to high pricing in this country which has forced most factories to close…..When I met Matt he had a very young son…..Soon another boy would follow….They are grown men now….I often think of Matt and his family fondly…..I wish him only the very very best!
……………….It’s always a great day when my nephew Chris comes to visit me…..When he was a little boy he was this angelic gangly skinny short kid…..with a deep raspy voice!……Jac adored him!….I called him Christopher Robyn, and I still do….Chris is one of my four Godsons…..When he comes to visit, Uncle Louie always has a list of things for him to FIX!…..My “HELLO BIRDIE”, bird feeder wasn’t working, and I wasn’t getting the live feed on my phone that I should have…..Within two minutes he had it working! His next job was to find out why some of my RING CAMERAS that are all over my house weren’t working….He looked at them and flipped the wall switch…..and viola….they were working again!!!…..Call me STUPID….but to my defense, I have workers at the house who have been using the electric power and maybe they accidently turn the light switch off….WELL THAT”S WHAT I”M GOING WITH!……On Saturday night I cooked dinner…I gave Chris a choice of a few of my best dishes, and he wanted ….”HOT ITALIAN SAUSAGE & PEPPERS & ROASTED POTATOES”…….Chris is great on the Barbeque…..but he doesn’t cook much, so I walked him through the steps of each dish which were really very very simple. He was surprised I cooked my peppers with olive oil, salt, pepper and lots of BALSAMIC VINEGAR. When everything is almost cooked I combine them all together…..Since they all cook at a different pace….timing for each dish is essential!……First the potatoes, then the peppers and then the sausage…..He love the way it all tasted with the Balsamic vinegar……I also gave him a choice of deserts….and he chose…..”LEMON CHEESE CAKE”………I had never made a lemon cheesecake so I googled a few receipts…..and chose parts of each I like d, and then improvised……My crust was a combination of Graham crackers, Tate’s Lemon Cookies that I put in my food processer, and I also put the sugar and lots of fresh lemon zest in the food processer so the juices of the lemon mixed with the sugar….and melted butter….that was my crust…….For the filling…cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, fresh squeezed lemon juice and a splash of vanilla, and a splash of lemon extract!….Then it baked in tin foil and a water bath for a hour……While it was baking I made lemon curd for the topping. It was a process for it to thicken, and I did have to add some powdered sugar and corn starch, but it came out great. There are some good receipts on line. It’s not really hard, but it takes patience…..lots of stirring……After the cake had cooled in the turned off oven for an hour it came out to cool completely…..The cheesecake and the curd went into the frig overnight…..On Sat. evening, when I was ready to serve it, I spread a generous amount of the curd all over the top……THEN……….I put more of the Tate’s Lemon Cookies into the processer and pulsed it a few short times so I had nice crumbs….and I put lots of them all over the top of the curd creating a nice thick layer……….OMG…….it was incredible!!!! My nephew said it was the BEST DINNER HE EVER HAD!!!! I had to agree it was delicious!……On Sunday morning we went to our favorite diner in Darien, and I had my usual….two fried eggs, HARD, with crisp bacon, and rye toast….no potatoes please….and lots of decaf coffee. Chris had a bacon, cheese and fried egg sandwich with a side of short stacked pancakes…..God bless him, and he has lost 18 lbs in two weeks! When we got back to the house Lou was replacing my front storm door with a new one….He and Chris shared cigars…..and then I gave Lou a large piece of the Lemon Cheese cake…..it was unanimous….THUMBS UP for the cheese cake……Chris went home with a big piece of the cheesecake so he could share it with my brother and my SIL Kathy……I hope he comes back sooner rather than later! I’ll make him another cheesecake!
……………..If you are a LEMON LOVER, like I am and my nephew Chris is….you’ll LOVE THIS…….My nephew even has lemon soaps, and body washes!….This was his request, and even through I had never made one before….I pretty much knew my way around a cheese cake….With a change of this and an addition of that…it came out INCREDIBLE!
………………Many of you are familiar with my “WHISPER KNITS” that I did for my Linea Collection………..This is wear it started…..With every collection I did at Anne Klein I always did a group of “MAGLIA UNITA” sweaters. That is the term for the type of knit….In the US we call it “every needle rib”. The Whisper knits were done with the same machines as the Italian sweaters, though these were in a different more expensive yarn….The three styles shown here were a…..TANK…..a JEWEL NECK SHORT SLEEVE PULL OVER……and a BUTTON FRONT CARDIGAN…..The PINK and LILAC sweaters were all trimmed in BLACK. There were matching light weight wool crepe pleated skirts to match…..All of the jewelry was done for this collection by my licensee for the ANNE KLEIN COUTURE JEWELRY COLLECTION…………….They still look great all of these years later.