Saturday, July 25, 2020
A Life in Fashion, in her own words…
“Martha”, The Most Glamorous and Prestigious Dress Salon in The World!
Many years ago, I recall passing the Martha establishment located on Park Avenue and the corner of East 58th Street, New York City, pausing in front of the glass window facade, encased with exquisite mannequins, dressed in gowns of incredible beauty, thinking of how I would love to enter the famous portals and feast my eyes on the glamorous designer clothes being modeled, informally by lovely models.
Little did I know that someday I would be Directrice of the Salon and become an integral part of the wonderful world of fashion.
My experiences at Martha were of wonder and amazement. It was my duty to arrange Fashion Shows, every week, with a famous designer who would bring his collection to be shown at “Martha”. The designers would not only be from America, but also from Europe. Namely, Paris, France, Rome, Milan and Genoa, Italy, as well as London, England.
In doing so, I met the designers which included James Galanos, Bill Blass, Pauline Trigere, Oscar de la Renta, Arnold Scaasi and others from our country. Yves St. Laurent, Christian LaCroix, Emanuel Ungaro, Gianfranco Ferre, Valentino, Andre Laug, and Andrea Odicini are a few of the European designers I made contact with.
I was also instrumental in calling and sending invitations to customers, notifying them of the arrival of the designers with their collections.
The roster of clients names were among the most glamorous and wealthiest women of the world. They included the wives of heads of government, as well as royalty.
Over the years, one develops a rapport with each lady that is equal to none. Each woman of quality and wealth would order at least 3 or 4 times a year from her favorite designers. The collection would be modeled informally in our salon, while tea and finger tip sandwiches, as well as dainty cookies would be served by our maids.
Our patrons would select the design of her choice, try it on and place an order. Many of the ladies would special order 3-6 designs from one designer alone, at a cost of $5000 to upwards of $10,000 or above per design.
I was in awe of all this splendor, it was exciting, and I loved the people, the designers and their creations.
My employer, the famous “Grand Dame of Fashion”, Martha and her daughter Lynn, were the owners of 3 Dress Salons in New York CIty, and 3 Dress Salons in Miami and Palm Beach, Florida. I accompanied them to Fashion Shows in the famous hotels in New York, and discussed the buying of the clothes before placing orders for our stock for each Salon.
Working hard for my employer, as well as each designer, to meet our goal for each show required a great deal of effort on my part. I had to be instrumental in having each salesperson on as the French would say “Vendeuse”, to call her clients and make appointments so that our beautifully furnished dressing rooms would not be unoccupied for long.
Helping each salesperson consummate a sale and having to be called into every dressing room for my opinion before madam would make her selection, required honesty, patience, and expertise. Consequently, a great number of our ladies relied on my judgment in their selections of dresses, gowns or suits. Diplomacy is a requisite one needs to execute in dealing with fragile and sensitive women. One has to have a natural love for people and an innate desire to please the clientele.
It was my extreme pleasure to meet the following famous notables, who graced our Salon over the years: Ivana Trump, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, her sister Lee Radziwill, Rose Kennedy and the Kennedy daughters, Maria Shriver, Brooke Astor, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Mrs. J. DuPont, Her Highness the Princess of Thailand, Imelda Marcos, all of the wives of the Arab Monarchs and many of the distinguished stage, opera singers, and actresses of the world too numerous to mention.
After working for Martha ¼ of a century, I am now retired and still keep in contact with the lovely clients who have become my friends.
The designers are still part of my world, for they call me and keep in contact with me.
I am delighted to say that my assets for my diligence with each designer was their gracious and generous gift to me of choosing a design which would be made for me. I adore all my lovely and exquisite clothes, which I treasure and treat as rare gems. They are timeless and when I wear them I am always complimented!
Work has its rewards in many ways, gratification when a deed is done, a smile on a satisfied customer's face, the glint in her eyes is happiness personified to me, and a reflection of a job well done!
Mary Coppola
