Todayâs Inspiration: Arnold Scaasi Scassi asked Jackie to pay for designs heâd made for her âon specâ in 1961, the he didnât want to trade them for publicity that would be generated by the First Lady wearing his designs. âThat was probably the dumbest decision I ever made in my life!â Jackie would pick Oleg Cassini to be her official designer. Born Arnold Isaacs (Scaasi is Isaacs spelled backwards) in 1930, in Montreal. Dad was a furrier, mom an opera singer. Scassi said his earliest memory was instructing his mother on where she should pin her corsage. He studied design in Montreal then attended the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne, was an apprentice at Paquin. When Dior promised him a job âin 3 monthsâ, Scassi was too impatient, Dior said âWhy donât you bring fashion to America? America is the future.â He moved to NYC, worked (briefly) for Charles James, went off on his own in 1956. 2 years later he won a Coty for âfor greatest achievement in creative design by an American.â Scassi basically designed (mostly) formal evening wear, ball gowns. âI am definitely not a minimalist!â He did play around with some RTW, had a bunch of licences. But at heart, he was a couturier. By the early 1960âs, affordable fashion was becoming a world-wide trend. Price points dropped, there were more options for consumers than had ever been available before. Scaasi did the opposite- in 1964 he opened a couture salon, where he focused on creating decadent cocktail and evening wear, designs that dripped with beads, sequins, embroidery & feathers. He dressed Joan Crawford for Pepsi commercials, designed for Mamie Eisenhower, Hillary Clinton & Laura Bush, worked with Barbara Streisand for decades. His âScassi Girlsâ included Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, Catherine Deneuve, Brooke Astor, Shirley MacLaine, Elizabeth Taylor, and Mary Tyler Moore. In 1996 Scaasi was awarded the CFDAâs Lifetime Achievement Award. After decades of designing âexuberant creationsâ for generations of âfirst ladies, socialites and Hollywood starsâ Scassi died in 2015 following a heart attack, he was 85. âClothes with some adornment are more interesting to look at and more fun to wear.â https://www.instagram.com/p/B8PaRCQg6dt/?igshid=1bi5kqwws8h2r










