Anne Klein (Q1950)
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American fashion house
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Anne Klein |
American fashion house |
Statements
1974
head designer
designer
worked at
"My inspiration?" mused Isabel Toledo after her sophomore outing at Anne Klein. "A collaboration with a husband. A creative bouquet." Indeed, the collection had many stories woven into it, including an "Art Attack" print inspired, Toledo said, by an incident in which her artist husband Ruben accidentally smeared a dress with paint. It also veered between classic Americana in the Anne Klein tradition—exemplified by a striped bathrobe dress, a knit tennis number, and the slightly fifties nipped-waist silhouette—and the more artful dressmaker look that characterizes Toledo's own line. Clearly, the balance between the two is still being worked out.In the meantime, slick-as-oil lacquered-cotton pieces mingled with silver plissé separates, and transparent-pastel glazed raincoats topped hand-painted haute hippie broomstick dresses. The draped jersey dresses were standouts. If overall the collection was somewhat scattered, Toledo's pleasure in creation and materials was evident throughout.
11 September 2007
Anne Klein was a pioneer of American sportswear who, in the seventies, pushed the idea (it's hard to believe it was ever rebellious) of mix-and-match separates for a workforce of women heading to the office in Charlie, and to Elaine's in a blazer and slacks.This season marked the debut of the much-admired Isabel Toledo as the designer of the brand with the lion's-head logo, and there was a palpable feeling of goodwill in the room. If the collection didn't come out roaring, it did purr along apace, with solid pieces like a navy cashmere cardigan with an asymmetrical closure and a camel robe coat.The Klein DNA was most directly obvious in a suede tunic and pant. Toledo's concept for Fall was "couture haberdashery," and it was well captured by several pleated dresses and a red cord coat-dress with a peplum. The sophistication of these looks perhaps spoke more to Toledo's own refined aesthetic than to Klein's more emphatically casual one. "I feel like a scientist in a lab," Toledo joked of her alchemical attempts to create new Anne Klein gold. Her debut can be seen as a useful experiment, with the promise of new invention to come.
8 February 2007
Seismic shifts seem to be a trend this season, and it’s not a hemline movement. Anne Klein, in the process of changing ownership, named a new designer after Charles Nolan announced he was leaving to campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Governor Howard Dean. His replacement, Michael Smaldone, debuted with a spring collection that added a bit of edge to his predecessor’s aesthetic, without veering off wildly in a new direction.Smaldone’s theme was “urban nymph,” and he set the mood by paving his runway with wood chips (not the best surface for high heels, as the models soon discovered). Working with a limited palette—white, yellow, black, and khaki, with a few plum-toned accents—he kept silhouettes simple, with pencil skirts, tailored jackets cropped above the wrist, and full-cut white shirts tucked into slim pants or shorts.The designer attached a high leather waistband to a few pants and skirts, used hook and eyes up the back of a skirt, and lavished silver beading in unexpected places—on a khaki tunic over cropped pants, and on an A-line skirt paired with a yellow striped shirt. While he may have chosen classic lines, clearly he likes a vivid detail.
15 September 2003
Anne Klein designer Charles Nolan picked up the early-’60s mood that’s been sweeping through the collections this week, citing references from Jackie Kennedy to Antonioni to the house’s own founding designer.For one thing, that meant hemlines zoomed well above the knee; fully three quarters of the looks Nolan sent out were minis, from swingy kilts to leather A-line looks to sporty, rugby-striped versions. He paired them with slim ribbed turtlenecks, popcorn-bedecked sweaters, crisp shirts and silky geometric-print blouses. There were a few pantsuits with trim, short jackets topping slim, tab-waisted trousers. While minis are generally aimed at the younger set, Nolan’s restrained colors made the collection mature: plummy browns, black, ivory, white, navy and gray, with jolts of orange and blue. And he made sure to give his grown-up customer a bit of luxe, via combinations like a black mink anorak worn over a black leather mini.For evening, Nolan moved his inspiration back even farther, to the flapper era. He showed short, beaded and sequined shifts, one topped with a pretty ivory satin evening coat. How short his customer will really go, of course, remains to be seen. But should she decide to raise high her hemlines, Anne Klein gives her an adult alternative.
10 February 2003
Anne Klein designer Charles Nolan faces a tricky fashion dilemma: how to take a venerable, commercially powerful name and give it a new lease on life, without alienating a faithful clientele.For spring, Nolan rose to the challenge by adding a touch of tough chic to the sportswear classics for which the label is known. Skintight trousers were paired with generous deerskin motorcycle jackets, while pencil skirts and short shorts came with neat cotton blouses or soft jersey tops. He kept the fabrics lightweight—parachute silk, crisp cotton, seersucker, taffeta—and the color palette predominantly white, khaki, toffee, gray and black, with shots of red and pink. The handkerchief-point hem has embedded itself deeply into spring's collections, and Nolan showed his own version, using striped fabrics in bias-cut skirts that just grazed the knee.Sportswear is all about easy comfort, and, as far as Nolan is concerned, that notion extends to evening as well: He sent out tiny jersey dresses paved with coin-size paillettes and rhinestone-studded sweatshirts that were simultaneously soft and sparkly.
18 September 2002
Anne Klein, who died in 1974, was a forceful proponent of smart, fashionable, well-made clothes for working women (a philosophy she passed on to her former design assistant Donna Karan). But the past few years have seen several changes in direction for the company she founded, which has lost ground as a result.Now, with new ownership and a new design director, Charles Nolan, the house is hoping to reclaim its rightful place in executive wardrobes. Nolan came to Anne Klein from Ellen Tracy, another bastion of career clothes, so he knows what works in a boardroom and what doesn't. No micro-minis, no sheer tops; instead, he offered a solid series of items like A-line leather skirts, short shearling jackets, crisply creased trousers and tweed three-quarter coats. Styles were fitted, but never supertight, and the color palette stuck close to tones of mocha, cream, white, black and navy.Busy women like to look good, of course, but Nolan knows they also like to save time; to cut down on agonizing decision-making, he showed all his looks, even a slinky white jersey evening dress with black stiletto snakeskin boots.
10 February 2002