Oleg Cassini (11 April 1913 – 17 March 2006) was a fashion designer born to an aristocratic Russian family with maternal Italian ancestry. He came to the United States as a young man after launching his career as a designer in Rome, and quickly secured a position with Paramount Pictures. Cassini established his reputation by designing for films.

He became particularly well known as a designer for Jacqueline Kennedy while she was First Lady of the United States. The "Jackie Look" was to become highly influential and much admired. Among Cassini's inspirations were sports and Native American culture. the elder son of Countess Marguerite Cassini and her husband Count Alexander Loiewski, a Russian diplomat, thereby obtaining the title of Count. His maternal grandfather Arthur Paul Nicholas Cassini, Marquis de Capuzzuchi di Bologna, Count Cassini, had been the Russian ambassador to the United States during the administrations of William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Count Arthur Cassini signed the treaty ending the war between Japan and China. His mother's family claimed Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini as an ancestor. In 1918, the Russian Revolution caused the Loiewski family to flee for their lives, leaving behind their wealth, lands, and homes. As a young child, Oleg saw his cousin shot to death. The family arrived in Denmark and then relocated to Switzerland. The Greek Royal family invited them to Greece, but while traveling through Italy, a revolution also began in Greece. They got off the train in Florence, eventually settling there. In Italy, the children started using the surname of Cassini.

In his early youth, Cassini suffered a significant accident, almost losing his leg. He spent nearly a year in bed recovering, during which time he studied history and read extensively, including works by American James Fenimore Cooper. He developed a love of history and the mysticism of Native American tribes.

His reputation developed as a result of his genius for original spontaneous design and in 1953, shortly before her marriage to John Kennedy, Cassini met Jacqueline Bouvier, named by his brother, society columnist Cholly Knickerbocker as "Queen Deb of the Year" in 1947. "We are on the threshold of a new American elegance thanks to Mrs. Kennedy's beauty, naturalness, understatement, exposure and symbolism," Cassini said when his selection as the couturier to shape the entire look of the First Lady was announced.

Utilizing the technique and high fashion fabrics of French couture, Cassini's unique designs for Jacqueline Kennedy ushered in a new era of timeless simplicity based on clean lines and crisp forms and opulent and luxurious fabrics. Cassini brought American design to the world stage as the First Lady's identity became synonymous with sophistication and taste. The "Jackie look" that he created was copied by women all over the world. Cassini visualized her as an American Queen and Mrs. Kennedy acknowledged that "Oleg dressed me for the part". The popularity of the leopard-skin coat, worn by Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962, led to a surge in demand for real leopard fur, contributing to the deaths of an estimated 250,000 leopards. Cassini blamed himself for their deaths and became an advocate for animal rights, promoting faux fur alternatives, including the introduction of micro-fiber synthetic furs in 1999.

In 1961, Eugenia Sheppard announced in the New York Herald Tribune, "According to Tobe's most recent coast to coast survey, the best known name in American fashion is Oleg Cassini." He was the recipient of a Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1989.

His name adorned everything from luggage to nail polish, as well as special luxurious coupé versions of the 1974 and 1975 AMC Matador automobile. Outside, striping, rub rails, wheel covers and a crest mark the Matador as Cassini's. He helped promote the car in AMC's advertising. The special Oleg Cassini Matador was positioned in the popular and highly competitive "personal luxury car" market segment. The "distinctive" styling of the Cassini "designer editions" merit collector interest

Recognition

Milestones

In 1960, with his younger brother, society columnist Igor, Oleg opened Le Club in Manhattan, which becomes a leading private club with such members as Gianni Agnelli, Stavros Niarchos, Aristotle Onassis, and Ray Stark. In 1960 Oleg Cassini was named personal couturier by Mrs. Kennedy, launching the Jackie look in 1961. He was awarded the Chicago Gold Coast Award for Excellence in Design. In 1962, he was awarded the National Cystic Fibrosis Distinguished Service Citation. In 1968, the peacock revolution is hailed by Newsweek, wherein Cassini is credited with leading a revolution in men's fashion worldwide. The "Competitors" Collection menswear campaign was also launched by Cassini. It featured icons of sport wearing Cassini including: Ted Turner for sailing, Bob Hope and Raymond Floyd for golf, Michael Jordan for basketball, Mario Andretti for racing, Gary Carter for baseball, Lynn Swann and Lawrence Taylor for football and Charlton Heston, Regis Philbin, and Kenny Rogers for tennis.

In 2003 The Council of Fashion Designers of America Board of Directors noted Cassini's extraordinary design achievements with their first ever, Board of Directors Special Tribute. The presentation was made to Oleg by President Stan Herman and Diane von Furstenberg.

In 2003, Cassini was crowned King of the Beaux Arts Ball.

Sportsman

Oleg Cassini excelled at tennis and competed seriously since his early days as a ranked Italian Junior Davis Cup player. His skill at tennis led to a fortuitous design connection. Recounted in his autobiography, newly arrived in Hollywood, Cassini played tennis at the prestigious West Side Tennis Club which led to a doubles game with the head of Paramount Pictures. Cassini also participated in the ABC TV Superstars Competition.

Humanitarian

Oleg Cassini received the James Herriot Award (All Creatures Great and Small) as the Man of the Year from the Humane Society of the United States for his work and care for animals. He created collections of manmade fashion fur, the 'evolutionary furs'.

In 1999, he was awarded the Humanitarian Award at a fashion show and Gala at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, honorary chairpersons Eunice Shriver and Senator Ted Kennedy, show hosted by Montel Williams. Among the 40 models were movie star Tippi Hedren. In his own words "What we're designing is as elegant and attractive as fur and eliminates the enormous cruelty that goes on in the killing of animals for fur."

In his autobiography Cassini claims to have suggested to President Kennedy that he take steps to organize the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the action which led to the American Indian Movement. Cassini and his brother Igor, under the pen name of society columnist Cholly Knickerbocker, threw the "Knickerbocker Charity Balls" to raise money for the tribes. which is a tribute to Jacqueline Kennedy and reflects the "Camelot Era" and the "Jackie Look"; and Oleg Cassini: The Wedding Dress. Their daughter, Antoinette Daria, was born on 15 October 1943, blind, deaf, and with severe brain damage. She died on 11 September 2010. The couple separated on 20 October 1946, and entered into a property settlement agreement on 10 November 1946 in which Cassini's fifty percent share of the marital estate was dedicated to the ongoing care of Daria. Tierney won an uncontested divorce in California on 13 March 1947, and the divorce would have been finalized one year later, on 13 March 1948. However, according to Cassini's diary, they reconciled some months before that. They announced that they were back together in April 1948. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper reported the news in the Los Angeles Times on 9 April 1948.

Susanna Moore claims that she was raped by Cassini.

Cassini and Tierney remained cordial until her 1991 death, when she bequeathed one dollar to their daughter Daria and the residual to Christina.

In 1971, Cassini married model Marianne Nestor. Beginning in 1971, Marianne operated the licensing and public relations portion of the brand, Their marriage was kept secret until after his death. Christina sued Cassini's widow Marianne Nestor for one quarter of his estate, based on the agreement in the divorce settlement with Tierney, but Nestor argued that the divorce decree was overridden by the will. Nestor claimed the provision was unenforceable as it had been made more than 60 years previously. Despite the New York Surrogate Court ruling in favour of Christina, she did not receive her inheritance before she died in poverty in 2015.

In September 2018, Newsday, updated the history of the legal battle. At the time, Nestor was in jail for refusing to comply with a court order. Cassini's estate was auctioned by Doyle in June 2019.

See also

References

  • New York Times filmography
  • Entry on Oleg Cassini in Columbia Encyclopedia