NEW YORK — John Anthony likes to quote George Stavropoulos: “As long as you make made-to-order clothes, you’ll never starve.” And while you could certainly say Anthony has eaten relatively well during his nine years in the business, he’s decided it’s time to do more.
On Monday, the designer introduced a collection of ready-to-wear as part of the fashion show he presented during the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Neurology Fund Luncheon at the Rainbow Room. And he showed the same sure hand he’s always had with made-to-order.
There was no debating hem lengths and no mad mixing of neons, mohairs and plaids. These were timeless, elegant fall clothes: a persian lamb-trimmed brown wool A-line coat, a navy mandarin-collared pantsuit and little wool jersey dresses with full, above-the-knee skirts.
For evening, the elegance continued in lace dresses with sheer insets, taffeta evening gowns in navy and black and an off-the-shoulder column trimmed with feathers at the wrists and neckline. Wholesale prices for the collection start at around $600 for a jacket and go over $1,000 for an evening gown.
Anthony then showed his spring made-to-order looks. Many of the shapes echoed those of the rtw collection — A-line dresses in red silk for day, evening columns in white taffeta and silk and two stunning ballgowns, one a whirl of strapless tulle, the other a pale pink silk gown overlaid with black lace.