AP News, October 3rd, 2007
Nan Kempner was a clotheshorse extraordinaire: closets and closets full of haute couture. During a three-day auction, many would-be fashionistas were able to snatch up some of the socialite's fineries, paying from $125 to upward of $11,000.
The more than 60 pieces of wardrobe, featuring Kempner's style and chic over the past 40 years, were auctioned to benefit The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The majority of items sold for between $200 and $800.
Kempner, who died in 2005 from emphysema, worked for both Harper's Bazaar and French Vogue, and was an international representative for Christie's.
A Louise de la Falaise short fur jacket with black satin lining fetched $11,250, the highest price at the auction, while two black leather, two-piece ensembles including a Calvin Klein sweater and Skin jeans, brought the lowest price of the sale at $125.
Kempner's signature style, finely tailored menswear-inspired pieces, was also a hallmark of Yves Saint Laurent and her closet was flooded with garments from the fashion house. An Yves Saint Laurent camel cashmere and sable trim coat went for $3,000.
Cathy Elkies, Christie's director of iconic collections, said that when she first went to inventory the wardrobe, she was amazed at the sheer quantity of clothes _ with some garments even hanging from the shower rod in the bathroom.
Among other garments in Kempner's collection were a lilac cashmere sweater dress and coordinating caramel suede jacket with purple mink lining by Michael Kors from 2004.
But Kempner also had a playful side. She loved Levi jeans which Christie's paired with a short jacket covered in chartreuse rabbit-fur applique.
The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum had the first selection of pieces after Kempner's death, followed by Christie's and then Sloane-Kettering for its own sale and the de Young Museum in San Francisco.
The auction ended Tuesday. All prices include the auction house's commission.
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