The first time Kal Ruttenstein visited Zac Posen’s studio, the wunderkind designer was so scared, he hid behind a door.
As the fashion director of Bloomingdale’s, Ruttenstein had the power to make or break careers. For more than 25 years, front-row seats at New York fashion shows were reserved for him; he cut a larger-than-life figure, both literally and figuratively, as journalists and fashion watchers lined up for his bon mots.
“I was a novice in the fashion world,” Posen says, who eventually came out from behind the door. “But he was so smart and so incredibly encouraging, he became one of my best friends and part of my family.”
From Sean John to Marc Jacobs to Posen’s old-school-glamorous fishtail dresses, chances are that if it was a trend in American fashion, Ruttenstein was responsible. He was as famous for his impeccable taste as he was for his eccentricities – friends say he wore Sean John pants nearly every day for the last four years of his life.
So it’s fitting that, tomorrow, a month after his death from cancer, Ruttenstein’s memorial service at Carnegie Hall will be one of the fashion events of the year – with Jacobs, Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren, among others, expected to speak in his honor.
Over 1,000 people will attend the public service for the man who, many agree, brought high fashion to the mass market by choosing what went in the Big Brown bags.
“Kal was, in essence, the teacher, mentor, and tutor – not just to young people and young designers – but to everyone in the store,” says Michael Gould, chairman and CEO of Bloomingdale’s. “He had the ability to encourage people, to develop people, and to recognize talent. As someone once said to me, Kal was a consistent beacon of quality and innovation even in the darkest days.
“He really cared about the people around him, but, on the flipside, you know, don’t get in his crosshairs,” Gould adds.A graduate of Princeton and Columbia universities, Ruttenstein joined Bloomingdale’s in 1977 following a two-year presidency at now-defunct department store Bonwit Teller.
Ruttenstein helped set Bloomingdale’s apart from other department stores by latching onto new talent, and bringing more high-end aesthetic to the general public.
“He embraced many designers, and he really understood what the youth market and mass market wanted, but in a very tasteful ways,” say Patricia Mears, research curator at the Museum at the Fashion Insitute of Technology. “He didn’t pander to the lowest common denominator and his very particular eye generated a youthful energy that we didn’t see from other retailers at the time.”
Catch Kal’s eye, and you instantly had an audience of millions.
“I met Kal many many years ago – pre-weight, when he was a thin man,” says Stan Herman, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. “He was born to be in fashion. Do you know how some people find themselves in the perfect place with the perfect job? Kal found that at Bloomingdale’s.”
“He had an amazing ability to have his own style but still understood what was important in the world and what the trends were,” says photographer Patrick McMullan. “The whole ‘Moulin Rouge’ thing? He was all over that. He is Bloomingdale’s. Bloomingdale’s is big and so is Kal.”
Ruttenstein was, perhaps, most famous for his tireless support of young designers and an uncanny ability to sniff out fresh talent.
“Whether it was at my fashion show when I was first starting out, in South Beach in the late 80s, or at Jean Georges’ Perry Street during the New York collections, Kal was always about being there first,” says designer Michael Kors. “He had an unquenchable curiosity about what is next and new.”
Mary Gelhar, fashion director of Gen Art, an organization dedicated to sponsorship of young artists and designers, remembers his unrelenting pursuit of the new.
“Ruttenstein was a true champion of emerging fashion talent long before the pursuit of new designers was widespread or encouraged,” she says. “Kal would show up to see unknown names – traveling to even the most obscure places for runway shows. He not only discovered designers but he was an important advisor to them.””I learned so much about the history of fashion from his experiences,” Posen says. “He really helped me understand designing in a commercial world – so many young designers are afraid of that. He explained the beauty of it to me – he was never jaded.
“We’d have dinner bi-weekly – towards the end of his life he loved eating at 66 and I always loved going to Balthazar with him. He had a grandiose presence and he loved the theatre of life.
“He was one of those rare people – an actual icon of New York. He was one of my best friends and he became part of my family.”
In an industry so redolent with snobbery and affectation, Ruttenstein’s warmth and humanness set him apart from the crowd.
“He was very even about it all and didn’t with the snobbery of the fashion industry,” says Finola Hughes, host of “How do I look?” on the Style Network. “I used to go up to him and ask him questions about how he chooses looks from the runways. He was very generous with his considerable wisdom and insights about the retail industry.”
“He really cared about the people around him,” Gould says. “The first week I was here [at Bloomingdale’s], I remember how comfortable he made me feel. The first time I went to his office, I can remember exactly what transpired throughout the whole meeting – he took the time to explore something I had worked on over seven years beforehand. It showed he really cared about me – and I was surprised that someone really took that time to look at something I had done so long ago.”
Despite suffering a stroke in 1997, Ruttenstein carried on.
“In the last few years, Kal was such a different presence,” says Fern Mallis, executive director of 7th on Sixth. During fashion week “we watched to make sure he was okay. Security would be really sensitive to helping him get in, adding a seat at the last minute – he worked so hard and people were so admiring of him going on and laboring through what was clearly a difficult time.”
“He was always very excited about the collections,” Herman says. “I remember looking at him at the last Proenza Schouler show – he winked at me. It was that wink and nod that meant he liked it.”
“He was so supportive of the designers,” Mallis says. “I think, quietly and behind the scenes he worked with them to help them with their lines and collections. He put designers in windows long before other people – it wasn’t just a job for him, it was his life. He was a friend of fashion – one of the icons out there leading the charge.”
“Above all, Kal had a tremendous passion for what he did,” says designer Oscar de la Renta. “He loved fashion and he loved promoting and recognizing new talent. He was a gift to the industry and he will be missed by us all.”Ruttenstein will be memorialized at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow at the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. and the service is open to the public.
Additional reporting by Farrah Weinstein and Lisa Marsh
KAL’S KREATIVE KLATCH
* Marc Jacobs – Jacobs’ Grunge collection at Perry Ellis in 1993 was panned by the mainstream press, but Kal Ruttenstein saw the raw vision and talent in the young designer. His unwavering support for Jacobs helped catapult the designer into the big time.
* Zac Posen – Ruttenstein’s faith in this young fashion-school dropout brought Posen’s talents to the attention of international press and buyers, almost single-handedly creating the international corseted fishtail dress craze of the early 2000s.
* Sean John – According to friends, Ruttenstein wore a pair of Diddy’s Sean John pants nearly every day for the last four years of his life. In the first years of the label’s inception, Ruttenstein could often be seen out wearing a Sean John logo T-shirt.
* The New Guard of American Design -The designers Ruttenstein supported have all been known for their “youthful, energetic, American, and somewhat eclectic style,” says Patricia Mears, a research curator at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “Still, there was never a lack of sophistication – he always pushed things to a high level, and his work continued to make Bloomingdale’s a relevant store with a unique fashion twist.”
* Theatrical displays – One of Ruttenstein’s signature department store innovations was his way of melding musical theatre and film into retail promotion. He was a great fan of “Rent” – which he saw over 30 times – and integrated the musical into thematic displays and merchandising in the store. Other shows he looked to for inspiration included “Mamma Mia,” “Moulin Rouge,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Hairspray.”