…………………..This photo is very dear to me…………Jac is in the middle of two of my dearest friends…….Jean Pierre du Pre [JP] is on the left, and Andrea Pfister [Andy] is on the right. We met them in 1974 when Andrea was hired to collaborate designing the Anne Klein Couture Shoe Collection. At the time we met they lived in Paris, but had a home on the water at Deauville, and one in Italy next to their small shoe factory……Andrea made the most incredible, extremely expensive, designer shoes under his own label. They were carried in all of the best stores and boutiques in Europe and America…He also had his own stores in Paris and in Milan…..Jean Pierre was his business partner, but more importantly, his life partner. They met in Paris when they were in their 20s, and were together for well over 50 years….When the laws changed they were finally married! It was wonderful!!…You have read about, and have seen pictures of their incredible villa in Praiano, Italy on the Amalfi coast next to Positano. For 15 years I would go there twice a year to work with Andrea on the shoe collection…I was usually there in July and late Oct……During my summer visit, Jac would meet me there a week before the work began. The four of us just lounged about the pool drinking iced cold white wine, and laughing hysterically. Often, while “Andy” and I were up in the unairconditioned studio after lunch to work, sitting in our bathing suits because it was so hot, Jac and JP took themselves off on daily excursions. They had a car and driver so the two of them took day trips up and down the Amalfi coast. They would come back and show us what they bought, and tell us of their adventures over dinner, which JP usually cooked. He was an incredible cook!…After dinner we sometimes went for a swim before bed in their beautiful pool…JP was born in Egypt to French parents, and Andrea was Swiss. Like many Europeans they both spoke many languages…… They often gave fabulous parties at the villa with incredible people invited….They knew so many people, and many celebrates! The two of them were very well know in Praiano and Positano, and their parties were legendary. They did have one of the most beautiful villas there, and one of the very few private homes with a large pool…Now it has been turned into a luxury villa rental called “Villa Lily”….google it if you’re interested “Villa Lily, Praiano, Italy”…..It would amaze me, when we were in a group of people, how easily they would switch from language to another language without skipping a beat, speaking to their varied guests…..When ever they were in NYC we would all go out to dinner, and sometimes a Broadway show or a movie……..mostly just the four of us, but sometimes in a large group. It was always great fun…….It was largely due to them that Jac and I got married….but that’s another story!!…..JP had terrible diabetes, and was always giving himself insulin injections…..He passed away seven years ago….It seems like yesterday……..When Jac passed, Andrea was very sick with cancer, so I never told him about Jac’s passing….It would have been too upsetting for him. Jac passed in Dec. and Andy passed the next March……..JP and Andy were both cremated, and Barbara, Andrea’s sister, took their ashes and set them free into the Mediterranean Sea in front of their villa……It was a perfect ending for them…….Jac’s ashes were also set free into the Long Island Sound……I like to think that somehow they have all met up again and are having a wonderful time laughing and laughing.
