Last week, Mickey and Maury were in Los Angeles for La Cienega Design Quarter’s fourth annual LEGENDS of La Cienega. As part of this three-day event celebrating fashion, art, and design, there was a special exhibition of Mariano Fortuny’s famous gowns and cloaks at the Keith McCoy & Associates showroom. We wanted to know more about the more than 20 original Fortuny pieces on display, so we interviewed the man behind the collection - Keith McCoy himself.
1. What was your first encounter with Fortuny? When and where was this encounter?
I grew up in a small town in central Idaho and came to Los Angeles to attend Woodbury University immediately after high school. The very first class, on the very first day, the instructor arrived with two large shopping bags. She announced that she was going to show us things that we had never seen before. She proceeded to unload the shopping bags, which were filled with Fortuny memo samples (back in the old days when actual memo samples were given out). Little did I know what Fortuny was going to mean to me.
2. When did you purchase your first Fortuny gown?
First purchase was at the Tina Chow auction, September 21, 1993. I had a friend bid via telephone. I told him that I was interested in obtaining three pieces and gave him six items to choose from, with a total dollar limit indicated. I was in San Francisco on business and when he called me late in the day he told me that he had purchased all six items and had spent twice as much as I had wanted to spend.
3. How many pieces are in your collection?
Twenty-three pieces.
4. Which dress is the most special to you?
My favorite is a Delphos in celadon green, which belonged to a dear friend in La Jolla, California. She had had the dress for some 50 years. A friend of hers called one day to see if she was at home. He then came by with a brown paper bag, reached into the bag and rolled onto the carpet this green dress and another one in red. He told her to take her pick. She asked where he had obtained them and he said, “At the church bazaar;” he had bought the two dresses for $25.00. She took the green and he gave the red one to the Phoenix Art Museum. She has since passed on and I purchased the dress from her daughters (for a lot more than $12.50).
5. Which dress is the most unique?
The Harem Pants Suit. I purchased it here in Los Angeles from a lady who procures clothing for the film industry.
6. Where do you store your dresses? How do you care for them?
The collection stays at my home, in the boxes in which they were returned from the Fortuny Museum in Venice, completely wrapped and surrounded by acid-free tissue paper.
7. What's the connection between Los Angeles and Fortuny? Can you tell us about the history of Fortuny gowns in Hollywood?
The Costume Council of the Los Angeles County Art Museum has a huge collection of Fortuny articles. The movie stars were great collectors of these items and they, or their families, have been very generous in giving these to the museum. The Countess was here for the opening of the Museum, which the present building was built in the early 1960s. She gave them several pieces, both clothing and textile samples.
8. Has anyone ever asked to borrow one of your gowns? Have you ever lent a dress out?
I do not lend these out and no one has worn one since I have owned them, but yes, they do ask, and beg!
View more photos from the exhibition here.
During Mickey's most recent trip to Venice, he paid a visit to the lovely Sant'Eufemia Church on the island of Giudecca. Luckily for us, he took photos!
First built in the ninth century, Sant'Eufemia Church has undergone a number of restorations, the last of which was in the mid-18th century. The Church is worth visiting to see the Byzantine influence in its foundation, despite its many renovations over the centuries.
Isabella Penzo explains, “It is one of the most ancient churches in Venice, dedicated to S. Eufemia, oriental virgin and martyr; also for this reason it demonstrates the deep link between ancient Venice and the Byzantine world. The church we see today is still the one erected in the XI century: a typical Veneto-Byzantine building with a basilical plan, with a nave and two aisles divided by two lines of four columns. These columns and their Byzantine capitals are still the original ones of the XI century.”
Besides the ceiling frescoes by Venetian artist Giambattista Canal, one of the main highlights of this Church is the Fortuny fabric that covers the interior columns every year between Easter and Christmas.
Mickey even managed to snap a photo of a note from 1965, which someone at the Church had written to identify the gift the Countess had given them. Countess Elsie Lee Gozzi had given the fabric to the Church as a gift from Fortuny, since the original column coverings had been damaged.
The note translates, courtesy of Giuseppe, to, “New decoration on the columns with Fortuny fabrics, kindly offered by the Countess Elsie Lee Gozzi. Year 1965.” (Click the photo above for a larger version.)
The fabric is Glicine in red & gold texture. The gold has completely oxidized by now, but the fabric is still as beautiful as ever.
This week's New York magazine features photos of some of Hollywood's most legendary stars in their Manhattan homes.
There's Lucille Ball, taking in the breathtaking view of the city from her terrace at the New York Hilton in 1965.
There's also Julie Andrews, relaxing in the Park Chambers Hotel apartment in 1955. Julie's rent back then was $275 a month. And check out that TV set!
Then there's Greta Garbo's apartment at 450 East 52nd Street, which was the recluse's home for 37 years. She designed the carpet, which was custom-made by V'Soske. Recognize the fabric on the chair and curtains? That's our Ashanti in bittersweet & gold.
Click here to see the rest of the vintage photos.
Last month, 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic, RR Auctions auctioned 180 pieces of Titanic memorabilia from their website. One of those pieces - and the most controversial - was a silk kimono, which was revealed last week to have been sold for $75,205.
RR Auctions insists that Titanic survivor Lady Duff Gordon wore the intricately beaded kimono during her escape to safety. A British fashion designer known as Lucile, she later gave a detailed account of her escape, and particularly, of her attire:
“I took off my nightgown which was underneath my padded dressing gown, put on my chemise and my thick silk drawers and my woollen drawers. Then I put on a warm silk vest with long sleeves. I deliberately thought I would not put my corsets on in case that if I got into the water I should not be able to swim, and put back my warm dressing gown and on top of that…my warm purple dressing gown, and then I put on my little warm motor hat.”
Edith Rosenbaum, another Titanic survivor, wrote in a Women’s Wear Daily article on April 19, 1912 how Duff Gordon had “made her escape in a very charming lavender bath robe, very beautifully embroidered, together with a very pretty blue veil.”
Lady Duff Gordon
Not entirely convinced? Neither are Duff Gordon’s descendents, Lady Clare Lindsay and Caroline Blois, who argue that the kimono was never aboard the ill-fated ship and actually belonged to their grandmother (and Duff Gordon’s daughter), Esme, Countess of Halsbury. They say that a textiles expert identified the pattern on the kimono as one used by Mariano Fortuny after World War I, which was several years after the ship sank.
Was the kimono a Fortuny (or Fortuny-inspired) creation? Or is the kimono indeed a remnant from the infamous Titanic? It’s difficult to determine from the photo whether it’s a Fortuny design, but one thing’s for sure - it’s a beautiful garment that remains shrouded in mystery.
Last Wednesday evening, we hosted a gathering in celebration of Lutyens Furniture and Lighting. It isn’t a Fortuny party without beautiful products and amazing drinks! With special guest Candia Lutyens in attendance, guests admired the Lutyens lighting in our showroom while sipping on wine and Pimm’s Cups.
Sir Edwin Lutyens
During the celebration, Candia spoke about the many accomplishments of her grandfather, Sir Edwin Lutyens, known as one of the greatest architects in British history. He is perhaps best known for his work in New Delhi, where he was responsible for much of the city planning as well as the design of the city’s principal buildings. These include the India Gate, which is the national monument of India, and the Viceroy’s House, a resplendent building now known as Rashtrapati Bhavan and used as the official residence of the President of India.
Viceroy's House
India Gate
Candia announced that she’d embark on a tour of New Delhi next March. She explains, “The idea of the New Delhi tour is to bring architects and designers on a structured tour of Lutyens’s Delhi, to explore his designs for the City and its principal buildings and to look in detail at what was perhaps his greatest work.”
Overall, the party was a success and it was an honor to celebrate both Sir Edwin Lutyens and the latest additions to the collection of Lutyens Furniture and Lighting. Candia states, “It was a wonderful celebration of the coming together of the two great names of Fortuny and Lutyens. I thought the turnout was marvellous and that with the Lutyens lights looking so great in the Fortuny showroom, we were able to give a great flavour of what our cooperation means to us.”
Accordion, box, knife, Fortuny - what do these have in common? They’re all types of pleats! Familiarize yourself with these terms; bright colors are a fashion staple every spring, but pleats are also big this season.
Town & Country, May 2012
Fashion buffs will already know about Mariano Fortuny’s timeless Delphos gown. The crisp, little folds of this form-fitting gown were made by a process that remains secret to this day. Town & Country covered the Fortuny pleat in their May 2012 issue.
Fortuny Gowns, Photo Credit: Steve Freihon
What isn’t a mystery is Fortuny’s influence in the world of high fashion. Fortuny pleats have been captivating audiences with their recent runway appearances.
Alexander McQueen
Oscar de la Renta
Issey Miyake's Pleats Please in SoHo
Issey Miyake's Pleats Please
More than a hundred years after the first Fortuny dress revolutionized fashion forever, his influence is still just as inspiring, fresh and prevalent.