Oleg Cassini, fashion designer

NEW YORK – Oleg Cassini (92), who created a fashion powerhouse and helped make Jacqueline Kennedy America’s most glamorous first lady, has died in New York.

Born in Paris in April 1913 to an Italian countess and a Russian diplomat, Cassini was raised in Italy and began his career in Europe, operating a fashion boutique in Rome. He moved to the United States in 1936.”He arrived with a tennis racket, a tuxedo and talent and he made it into an empire,” said Marianne Cassini, a former model and now president of Oleg Cassini Inc.Cassini began designing costumes for Paramount Studios, taking advantage of a social contact he made at a tennis tournament, his wife said.He started with the film ‘I Wanted Wings’, starring Veronica Lake, and went on to dress some of Hollywood’s most famous actresses, including Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, to whom he was once engaged, and Gene Tierney, to whom he was married from 1941 to 1952.”He was a man’s man and a ladies’ man,” Marianne Cassini said.”He was a tremendous creator in women’s wear and tremendously creative in men’s wear.”After serving in the US Army during World War Two, Cassini opened his own design house in New York’s Seventh Avenue fashion district.His business grew to include two especially well-known clients – Jacqueline Kennedy and Johnny Carson, popular host of the ‘Tonight Show’.Marianne Cassini said her husband knew the future first lady before she married John F Kennedy in 1953.”They were very good friends,” she said.”He knew her when she was a debutante.She had something special and they recognised it in each other.They made magic together.”Cassini chronicled his days as couturier to the Kennedys’ ‘Camelot’ White House in a book titled ‘A Thousand Days of Magic: Dressing Jacqueline Kennedy for the White House’, which said he had designed more than 300 outfits for her.He said he was initially stumped on how to approach the job before falling back on his Hollywood experience.”Suddenly it came to me, this is like a film and you have the opportunity to dress the female star,” Cassini wrote.”This was not so different from my old job in Hollywood, designing for motion pictures …”Jackie reminded me of an ancient Egyptian princess – very geometric, even hieroglyphic, with the sphinx-like quality of her eyes, her long neck, slim torso, broad shoulders, narrow hips and regal carriage.”Cassini helped popularise the sheath dress, as well as the Nehru jacket and the turtleneck look for men.He was also a pioneer in licensing agreements that put his name on a range of products other than clothes.- Nampa-ReutersHe moved to the United States in 1936.”He arrived with a tennis racket, a tuxedo and talent and he made it into an empire,” said Marianne Cassini, a former model and now president of Oleg Cassini Inc.Cassini began designing costumes for Paramount Studios, taking advantage of a social contact he made at a tennis tournament, his wife said.He started with the film ‘I Wanted Wings’, starring Veronica Lake, and went on to dress some of Hollywood’s most famous actresses, including Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, to whom he was once engaged, and Gene Tierney, to whom he was married from 1941 to 1952.”He was a man’s man and a ladies’ man,” Marianne Cassini said.”He was a tremendous creator in women’s wear and tremendously creative in men’s wear.”After serving in the US Army during World War Two, Cassini opened his own design house in New York’s Seventh Avenue fashion district.His business grew to include two especially well-known clients – Jacqueline Kennedy and Johnny Carson, popular host of the ‘Tonight Show’.Marianne Cassini said her husband knew the future first lady before she married John F Kennedy in 1953.”They were very good friends,” she said.”He knew her when she was a debutante.She had something special and they recognised it in each other.They made magic together.”Cassini chronicled his days as couturier to the Kennedys’ ‘Camelot’ White House in a book titled ‘A Thousand Days of Magic: Dressing Jacqueline Kennedy for the White House’, which said he had designed more than 300 outfits for her.He said he was initially stumped on how to approach the job before falling back on his Hollywood experience.”Suddenly it came to me, this is like a film and you have the opportunity to dress the female star,” Cassini wrote.”This was not so different from my old job in Hollywood, designing for motion pictures …”Jackie reminded me of an ancient Egyptian princess – very geometric, even hieroglyphic, with the sphinx-like quality of her eyes, her long neck, slim torso, broad shoulders, narrow hips and regal carriage.”Cassini helped popularise the sheath dress, as well as the Nehru jacket and the turtleneck look for men.He was also a pioneer in licensing agreements that put his name on a range of products other than clothes.- Nampa-Reuters