Joyeux Anniversaire to "Le Smoking".
An iconic look turns 60 this year.
As the story goes, in 1966, Nan Kempner — Swan extraordinaire and seminal social X-ray — arrived with the legendary American sportswear designer Bill Blass as her date— to dine at New York’s La Côte Basque.
Or was it the 21 Club? Or Le Cirque? There remains some confusion in the re-telling. But I have always believed it was La Côte Basque.
No matter. What all of New York society can agree on is that Nan Kempner, on the arm of Bill Blass, was rejected at the door. Because in 1966, women “who wished to be seated at their table,” were forbidden from wearing pants.
And our Nan was wearing pants. And not just any old pair of pants. Instead she arrived, top-to-toe, in the avant-garde Le Smoking by Yves Saint Laurent.
When informed at the front door that she could not come in — since she was wearing pants — Nan simply removed them, declared her “top half” now a dress, et le voilà, Madame Kempner was delivered to her table, by an ashen Maître d’hôtel.
It was one heck of a stylish strike for women’s rights. Thrown down by one of le plus ultra of American establishment types. And a Republican no less.
What a GOP contrast in studies to today, against the cowardice and conformity that we see on full display by the Fox & Friends — and fans — crew. We’re forced to watch them waddle around Washington, D.C., kitted out in Tuckernuck, as sartorial clones of one another, united in their daily distortion of truth, their hourly assaults on the U.S. Constitution, and gleeful commitment to ending human decency. It’s hard to tell them apart, perhaps by design.
But I digress.
Who was Nan Kempner?
“There is no such thing as a chic American woman. The look is always too contrived, it doesn’t come naturally. The one exception is Nan Kempner.” — Diana Vreeland
Born Nan Field Schlesinger in San Francisco, Kempner was the only child within a wealthy Jewish family. Her father, Albert “Speed” Schlesinger, who owned the largest car dealership in California, reportedly told his daughter, “You’ll never make it on your face, so you’d better be interesting.” So Kempner started collecting couture clothing when she was a young woman living in San Francisco.
After marrying Thomas Lenox Kempner in 1952, Nan raised three children. And then evolved into a permanent presence at Studio 54, had her portrait was painted by Andy Warhol, and almost never missed an Yves Saint Laurent catwalk for 55 years (she did miss one, the year her father died).
When she died from emphysema on July 3, 2005, aged 74, Nan Kempner owned one of the foremost private fashion couture collections in the country, featuring classic designers such as Mainbocher and her favorite designers Yves Saint Laurent and Bill Blass. And over the course of 30 years, she helped raise more than $75,000,000 for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Two months after her passing, her family held a memorial service in her honor at the auction house Christie’s, with more than 500 in attendance.
Then, in December 2006, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute exhibited “Nan Kempner: American Chic”, showcasing selections from her couture collection.
In 2007, the exhibition was displayed at San Francisco’s De Young Museum from June 16 to November 11. Much of the collection went to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, including Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, and the house of Christian Dior.
Recalling her pre-eminent position in New York, it was said at the time: “an invitation to Nan’s famous Sunday-night spaghetti dinners has always been unturndownable, partly because you never know who might turn up (at her exquisitely decorated apartment at 79th Street & Park Avenue). Princess Di? Nancy Reagan? Well, hello, my darling.”
What is Le Smoking?
From Le Musee Yves Saint Laurent in Paris:
“In his Autumn-Winter 1966 collection, Yves Saint Laurent introduced his most iconic piece: the tuxedo. This garment, which was meant to be worn in a smoking room to protect one’s clothing from the smell of cigars, was reserved only for men.
Saint Laurent’s tuxedo, however, was not an exact copy of the men’s tuxedo. He used the same codes but adapted it to the female body.
For a woman, the tuxedo is an indispensable garment in which she will always feel in style, for it is a stylish garment and not a fashionable garment.
Fashions fade, style is eternal.
Yves Saint Laurent’s tuxedo proved too ahead of its time and was initially snubbed by his haute couture clientele. Only one was sold.
Paradoxically, the Saint Laurent rive gauche version was a success. The label’s younger clientele was quick to purchase it, making the tuxedo a classic.
Saint Laurent would go on to include it in each of his collections, until his last one in 2002.”
Pulling off Le Smoking requires putting one’s own stamp on it. The silhouette of the pant leg, the choice of shoe, the selection of the shirt underneath (or the decision to forgo), plus one’s choice of accessories such as jewelry, pocket square, etc. All demand thought.
In 1966, Nan Kempner understood fashion’s ability to make an immediate impact, shift thinking, and bring about change.
She understood refinement as resistance, elegance as advocacy, and inclusion as always impeccable.
Nan Kempner reminds us that the pillars of great style are courage, conviction, and confidence; that individual thinking is everything; and that those who express their thoughts, through constructive action, are well remembered.
Happy 60th birthday to Le Smoking. Your magical powers are much needed — now, more than ever.
David Kibbe: Superb! (Not just the smoker, but your celebration of it!) 🫡