Anne Klein has been moving so quickly since the abrupt departure in January of designer Richard Tyler that the episode may go down as a bump in the road for the 26-year-old design firm.
On the heels of installing Patrick Robinson as its new designer, Anne Klein has signed up jewelry designer Robert Lee Morris to accessorize the signature collection and London-based shoe designer Patrick Cox to create the footwear for Anne Klein II and A Line, its two lower-price collections. Both collaborations begin with fall 1995.Cox was in New York to open his first U.S. store in New York City. He has designed runway shoes for Anna Sui and Vivienne Westwood, and his Wannabe loafers are among the footwear of choice for the under-40 fashion set.
Morris, whose arrangement with Anne Klein may extend to overseeing all Anne Klein jewelry, designed jewelry for the house in the early 1980s and later for Donna Karan.
The line for Anne Klein "will be very precise, using a lot of silver," Robinson said.
"It's bringing people in who are expert in their field," said Andrew Rosen, president of Anne Klein & Co. "I intend to do more of it."