"When someone passes who's led a wonderfully long life, you hear the news and immediately think of his beloved wife and friends and, in this case, all those who work in his studio. The reality of his absence means a momentous shift. There are wonderfully talented designers, emerging and upperclassmen, but he really was singular, and he has left a vacuum. Others will come along and will eventually make ball gowns with pockets in them — with stripes and polka dots, garden party gowns. But nobody is meant to fill the void. They can't. All I can think today is, 'That's it. That's done, that extraordinary moment in time that he created.' When I think about the last 10 or 15 years and the way he figured out how to marry his rock-hard foundation of the world of socialites and Nancy Reagans with a different generation — it's wildly impressive.
"It also needs to be said that there was no one more handsome."
