Man Behind Klein Label Likes Simplicity

Louis Dell’Olio has produced three Anne Klein collections since his former design partner, Donna Karan, left the firm to go out on her own. Now that he holds the reins by himself, he finds life both changed and unchanged.

“The work is the same. You know, the everyday routine, the fitting of the clothes. But doing it on my own is exciting because I make all the decisions. It’s never a compromise.”

Karan’s departure, Dell’Olio says, “ wasn’t like a divorce, it was like leaving home.”

For Dell’Olio, remaining at “home” has resulted in rave reviews from customers and press for a style that is emerging as distinctly his own.

In an interview at Neiman-Marcus, Beverly Hills, where he recently showed his spring collection, Dell’Olio said he envisions his customer walking into a roomful of overdressed women (“and so many women are overdressed”) wearing “something so simple and sophisticated that she stands out in the crowd.”

Among his eye-catching spring designs is a variety of impeccable blazers (many are belted) combined with softly pleated trousers or slim, short skirts that end well above the knee.

There are simple, raj-inspired jackets, sarong-influenced skirts, unexpectedly curvaceous little black dresses in wool, silk and cashmere and a subdued group of matte-sequin evening essentials.

“Sleek clothes that move close to the body in the most luxurious fabrics I could find” is Dell’Olio’s official description of the collection. But he’s not sure his message is always heard correctly.

“I make my presentation a certain way. Then the buyer adds her point of view. Then the customer adds hers. It’s like the game of telephone. By the time the whispering has gone down the line, it’s a different message.”

Dell’Olio’s concepts are often undermined, he thinks, “by a woman’s hair, her makeup, her shoes. She can be wearing the best-looking clothes in the world, but if her hair and makeup are wrong, it won’t matter.”

After the Neiman-Marcus show, the designer received praise--”Everything was gorgeous, sleek, beautiful,” raved one Anne Klein-dressed fan--and a loaded question: “You don’t really want women like us to expose our knees?” one elegant matron asked.

“There are all different lengths, there are options,” the designer countered.

The woman who buys his options season after season and knows how to mix them “with vision and a sense of style” is what Dell’Olio calls “the true Anne Klein customer.”

Someone who wants to join the Klein ranks this season could start, he suggests, with a pair of tropical-weight gray flannel pants, a “fabulous ivory blouse that will work with everything she owns,” a red cashmere-and-silk sweater (“for color”) and a black wool crepe jacket.

The collection at Neiman-Marcus is priced from $145 to $1,500.