Anne Klein - Fashion Designer Encyclopedia
American designer
Born: Hannah Golofsky in Brooklyn, New York, 7 June 1923. Education: Studied art at Girls' Commercial High School, New
Publications
On KLEIN:
Books
New York and Hollywood Fashion: Costume Designs from the Brooklyn Museum Collection, New York, 1986.
Milbank, Caroline Rennolds, New York Fashion: The Evolution of American Style, New York, 1989.
Stegemeyer, Anne, Who's Who in Fashion, Third Edition, New York, 1996.
Articles
Beckett, Kathleen, "Runway Report: In-Kleined to Wow Fans: Anne Klein," in the New York Post, 1 November 1994.
"New York: Anne Klein," in WWD, 1 November 1994.
Ozzard, Janet, "Anne Klein: The Next Act," in WWD, 1 March 1995.
Wadyka, Sally, "New Kid in Town," Vogue (New York), April 1995.
Schiro, Anne-Marie, "Ralph Lauren Does What He Does Best," in the New York Times, 6 April 1995.
"Anne Klein Said to Be Planning Revival of Designer Collection," in WWD, 18 December 1996.
Gault, Ylonda, "Redesigning Klein," in Crain's New York Business, 17 March 1997.
Parr, Karen, "Anne Klein's New Look," in WWD, 4 May 1998.
Carmichael, Celia, "A Suave Design Team…at Anne Klein," in Footwear News, 17 August 1998.
"Anne Klein's New Era: Kasper to Buy Name, Aims for Megabrand," in WWD, 17 March 1999.
D'Innocenzio, Anne, "Anne Klein: New Owners, New Era," in WWD, 27 January 2000.
McCants, Leonard, "Anne Klein: Bringing Back the Lion," in WWD, 6 June 2001.
Wilson, Eric, "Building Anne Klein to Bite Back," in WWD, 4October 2001.
***
Known as an American designer, Anne Klein often bragged she had never seen a European collection. Klein's philosophy was "not with what clothes might be but what they must be." Klein's career spanned three decades and her contributions to the industry were many. Like Claire McCardell before her, Klein helped to establish casual but elegant sportswear as defining American fashion.
Most notably, Klein transformed the junior-sized market from little-girl clothes designed with buttons and bows to clothes with a more sophisticated adult look. She also recognized that clothes for juniors should be designed for size rather than age. By analyzing the lifestyles of young women, Klein realized the fashions offered to them did not reflect their needs. In 1948, Klein and her first husband, Ben Klein, opened Junior Sophisticates, a company dedicated to this market, thus expanding the industry. Her first collection for Junior Sophisticates featured the skimmer dress with jacket; full, longer skirts; small waists; and pleated plaid skirts with blazers.
During the mid-1960s Klein freelanced for Mallory Leathers, where she established leather as a reputable dress fabric in the ready-to-wear market. She designed leather separates in bright colors and smartly styled silhouettes. In 1968 Anne Klein and Company and Anne Klein Studio were opened by Klein and her second husband, Chip Rubenstein. Focusing on sportswear with elegant styling, Klein established the concept of separates dressing. In doing this, she was
Klein focused on the needs of the American business woman in many of her collections for Anne Klein & Company. She relied on her own instincts to understand the diverse needs of the 1960s woman. By simplifying clothing, and showing women how to coordinate separates and accessorize, Klein taught the American woman how to dress with a minimum amount of fuss. The result was a finished, sophisticated look. The classic blazer was the central garment with shirtdresses, long midis and trousers introduced as well.
Anne Klein died in 1974. Designers Donna Karan and Louis Dell'Olio made significant contributions to fashion in her name, but left to pursue separate careers. Richard Tyler briefly came on board but did not fit with the Anne Klein aestethic. Patrick Robinson, Ken Kaufman, and Isaac Franco designed over the next several years before Charles Nolan, formerly of Ellen Tracy, was hired as head designer in 2001. With Nolan at the helm, the Anne Klein name returned to the catwalk after an absence for several years. Jenny Bailly, writing for the Fashion Windows website (22 September 2001), commented on Nolan's second collection for Anne Klein, "Our favorite pieces…were the well-cut, slightly flared trousers, accented with side-stitching and two-inch slits at the bottom." Bailly also praised Nolan's cocktail dresses and a neon orange linen coat.
—Margo Seaman;
updated by Owen James
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