TOSCA NEW YORK.

530 Seventh Avenue in the heart of the Garment District of New York City.

When Marion and I decided to start our own company ,she felt very strongly that we should be in the 530 Seventh Avenue Building. It is the young designer building next to the 550 Seventh Avenue building that host most of  the top designers like Oscar De La Renta .

Marion Milenovic

As my other love in life is opera- it was exciting to know the old Metropolitan Opera was located diagonally across from this 530 Seventh Avenue building .A  friend told me that he remembered standing in his office in 550 Seventh Avenue  looking down into the auditorium of the Metropolitan Opera after they removed the roof and started breaking down the walls.

The old Metropolitan Opera taken from Broadway and 39th street.

550 Seventh Avenue in the background.

The same block today- 39th street and 7th Avenue NYC .

We wanted a easy name for the company .My own name was too difficult to spell and pronounce.

We wanted it to be easy to remember . As we both  loved opera the name of the Puccini character Tosca came up. We loved Tosca as she personifies a woman that is an independent  working woman and a star in her field. A opera diva that  loved her man so much so killed to save his life .

A very modern woman - not a wall flower at all - so Tosca became our muse.

Maria Callas as TOSCA.

The rent was high so we tried to find someone to share their  space with us. One woman agreed for us to share and the day before we were to move in she left a late night message for me -drunk out of her mind- that is might not be such a good idea!  I had to cancel the  movers and took a very long walk down the river to sort out my head .We have not even opened the doors and we had problems already!

Eventually we met up with a Nira that had  a beaded collection and we moved in with her.She two collections complimented each other so it was a good marriage. Nira moved out about two years later and we stayed on. We have been here for 9 years.

Peter, a Chinese man who was a contractor ,gave me a space to work in his factory .I  left Chrysoula and started working on the new collection from there. He also sewed the garments  for me. We decided to work with a contractor and not employ sewers to work directly with us .In this way we kept the overhead low. We then could pay piece work and not a full salary. I took a loan on my credit card for $15,000.00 and bought the fabrics and paid Peter to sew it for me. I lived on bread and water for 6 months. Marion stayed on with Chrysoula for another few months. Chrysoula decided to close her business and get married. Luisa - Chrisoula's  supervisor - came to us for a few days a week after we opened .She wanted to retire so it suited us all.

At last Marion was free and we opened TOSCA NEW YORK  on September 1 2002.

 One of the top private shoppers promised us a lot of business.
Marion and I set her down and told her that the first rule of the new company is a 50% down payment on each order ,and before the garment leaves the premises, it must be paid in full. She was very upset about this. She would always charge her customer's 100% upfront,  plus  her commission. She  would take the money and play the stock market with it. She would then make the manufacturers wait for their money for months. She  owed Chrysoula a lot of money and she really had a problem getting paid. We did not want to run into  the same problem with her. Something like that that could put us out of business overnight. She was furious and refused to support us. This was a big blow , but we could not take that chance.

We moved on slowly. It was not easy. We were both full time on the payroll with a big rent to pay so we did have many sleepless nights. Waking up at 2:00 am in a cold sweat and having a panic attack it part of having your own business. One hopes it will get better, but every now and then it happens once again. As we were in the top price bracket, very few stores would buy the collection.

We concentrated on some day wear for private customers and then started a gown collection as well. The American women are very open to wear American designers and are not snobbish about it at all. Even if they wear Paris Couture, if the like a outfit they would order it. They have very high standards and as long as the clothes fit well and they are beautifully made -they are happy -and became regular customers.

Charlize Theron on the cover of the American Vogue.

We decided to design a collection with a "real woman" in mind  .So many designers design a collection for other designers or to impress Anna Wintour of " Vogue." We had to pay the rent so I could not design a dress that would be on a cover of a magazine being worn by an actress that gets the gown for free .We had to make money. We started listening to what women needed in their wardrobes.

This turned out to be the thing that made TOSCA NEW YORK stand out, and become successful.



For more information on TOSCA NEW YORK  look at our website at:-

www.toscanewyork.com

Gerhard Kokt.

Gerhard Kokt.

Peace sign.

After Gerhard returned to South Africa ,  I saw him very often as he traveled to Europe and the USA at least twice a year. He would go to Italy and England for business and then come to the New York by Concorde. He had a very glamorous life style. He had a beautiful home in South Africa and enjoyed the good life .Traveling ,good restaurants, theater etc. He lived life to the full.
I think he felt safe in our friendship to be himself and relax. He could stay in one of the  top hotels in NYC  but preferred to sleep on the sofa in my living room, when he came to New York.

He would meet Bob Learmonth in Milan and they will go shopping for his wardrobe at Armani.
Gerhard was tall and thin and any designers dream. When he walked in at Armani they would rub their hands. He did not buy a lot but he bought quality and was always impeccably dressed.

One day we were walking on Fifth Ave ,near St Patrick's Cathedral.
We were waiting at a traffic light when we overheard a woman say to her friend in Afrikaans;-
" Dit is seker die mooiste man in New York"
 ( That must be the best looking man in New York.)
 She almost fell over when he thanked her in Afrikaans.....

His business was doing very well and he was very successful .Gerhard made a very big name for himself in South Africa and was one of the top interior decorators in the country. His work was covered in magazines and on TV .He loved color and used it very effectively.

Here is Gerhard Kokt  in a interview on South African Television.

Me and Gerhard in his apartment in New York.

His home in South Africa.

He  worked with Mrs. Bridget Oppenheimer on their  Brenthurst Estate ..Her husband was the CEO of De Beers and Anglo America. David Hicks originally designed some of the home's interior .After Andre Louw returned  to South Africa he worked for the Oppenheimer's as well. Gerhard took over when Andre died.

   

Mrs. Bridget Oppenheimer.

"The Brenthurst Estate"- Johannesburg.

The Oppenheimer Residence.

Gerhard was very friendly with  David Hicks and saw him --  as well as Lady Pamela -- when he went to London .When India Hicks visited South Africa he hosted her and took her around.

 

David Hicks and his daughter India Hicks.

During one of his visits to New York in the late 80's he was  looking rather pale and thin. I was rather shocked to see him like this but he told me that he was working very hard and that the Dr. had him on a tonic to boost his immune system.

I went to South Africa the end of 1992 for Christmas and saw Gerhard for a week there. He was leaving to go to Phuket in Thailand and after that spend Christmas in my apartment in New York.

I would meet up with him and Cyril when I got back to New York in January.

He was not looking well when I got to New York.

The last night here we went to a seafood restaurant and he spoke about getting an apartment  in New York again, and how nice it will be to live part of the year here. I was surprised at that as it did not make sense to me. He left to go back to South Africa late January 1993.

In late February he told me his was going to hospital .He said the doctors did not know what it was and they were going to do tests. After spending a week in the hospital he was sent home . Dorothy took care of him  if he was her flesh and blood.

Dorothy + Henry posing for Gerhard taking the photo.

I would speak to him twice a week. Some days his mind was clear and we could have a good conversation .The next time he would tell me he had to leave for school and had to say goodbye.

On another occasion he asked me  where I was because he never see me anymore. Dorothy would answer the phone -- and later the nurse -- and they would warn me what to expect. I tried to stay calm  while talking to him  but would break down once I put down the phone .I know it was very selfish of me but I  was very grateful that I was spared seeing his daily deterioration. I don't think I would have been able to handle that .He was so good looking and so proud.

Wini, Gerhard and Paddy.

Cyril and Gerhard.

Gerhard's sister got married and I did the wedding gown as well as his mother's dress. Here the three of us pose before the wedding.

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 Gerhard -early photographs.

 

Mercifully he passed away on April 1 1993 - He was 39 years old.

May he rest in peace.

 

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In New York I had an interview planned with Sandra Prinsloo for the same  evening that Gerhard passed away.. She  was in New York doing a series of interviews for South African Television. We arranged to meet at my studio on the Avenue of the Americas at 6:00 pm with her camera crew. I told her that Gerhard passed away that afternoon .She was shocked as she knew him very well but did not realize that he was ill. She  asked if I was OK to do the interview. We agreed to keep going as planned.

We were sitting on either side of at a big table that had a beveled 2" thick glass top .The interview was going  well and  they had the lights on and the camera was rolling. All of a sudden we heard a sound like a canon shot and the glass top cracked in two - crashing  to the floor between me and Sandra. We were all stunned. Thank heavens  nobody was hurt.

As soon as we calmed down I said to Sandra that was Gerhard saying goodbye.....I really still do believe that. One of the  crew had opened a window as it got very hot with the lights on and he thought a draft that came through the open window  caused  the glass to  crack. It was April and not that cold outside. Be as it may- I still believe it was Gerhard saying goodbye. He did not like being ignored. Gerhard had an enormous drive that would trouble me many times. He was very competitive and driven. I am sure this was why he was so successful. He was very charming and knew many people, but  close to very few. I think he was a better friend to me than I was to him. Cyril told me later how upsetting it was for Gerhard when I left South Africa for New York .

 I understand his drive better now .I think he knew he did not have a long life ahead of him and he had to fit a whole lifetime's experience into 39 years.

I met Gerhard through Christo de Jongh -- they worked together. We shared an apartment for a while and Gerhard would turn up with arm loads of flowers that he plucked  from Joubert Park. He would take some and leave the rest to us. We were young and poor so I am sure he was forgiven.

I still miss him and think of him very often. He would have loved to see New York today. He enriched my life. I remember his love of flowers and everything beautiful. He would put money down on a painting or a statue that he loved. He would  pay some money every week until he could take it home. We would visit all the antique stores in Melville and Rosebank over the weekends and he got so excited when he found something he loved. Before he could take it home he  would drive me there at night -just to go and look at it if it was displayed  in the window.

He owned a Art  Deco vase that ended up with me. It was one of the first things he bought It is dirty green glass vase with yellow broken glass daffodils on it. I always hated it .....but now it reminds me daily of one of the best friends I ever had.

SEPTEMBER 11 2001

Tuesday morning the 11 of September 2001 was a beautiful sunny day in New York City -- perfect with low humidity .I lost my father the same month a year ago and this September morning brought back memories of that day .We were waiting for a customer to arrive for a fitting at 9:30 am ,when she called and said she was stuck on the New Jersey  side of the tunnel .A  small plane flew into the World Trade Center and they would not let the traffic enter the tunnel  into Manhattan. I put on the radio and a few seconds later they said that a second plane hit.......!

I kept it to myself as we had some workers who had family and friends working in the WTC. It did not help much- soon the cell phones started ringing- and the word was out. Raymond call me from his car in South Africa as he heard it on the radio and wanted to know of we are OK. 30 minutes later the phones lines were overloaded and we could not receive or make calls anymore. The radio said that they did not know how many planes were in the air and there were rumors that NY will be hit again -- as well as Washington DC. It was so frightening as every news station that one listened to had another story to tell .People who were trapped in the World Trade Center,  were calling radio station telling stories of the horrors they were experiencing.Chrysoula's studio was located three blocks from Time Square -and I was sure that the Square and the Empire State building were going to be the  next to be attacked.We were working on the 7th floor so that was not too high up if we had to evacuate the building..

Luisa fitting Renee Fleming- the opera diva.

Luisa - out supervisor in the work room was a dear Italian lady who's daughter- in -law worked in the WTC . Every morning she would travel by train with Luisa and her little boy of 3  to NYC from Chester upstate in New York .They had a day care center at the WTC and the boy will stay there until it was time to go catch the train home with his mom and grandmother.Luisa was fit to be tied as she could not get her son, daughter- in -law or husband on the phone -- and we expected the worse.

Grounded planes at Halifax Airport Nova Scotia- awaiting orders.

By this time they stopped all trains, buses and planes .The tunnels and bridges were closed and the whole city was in lock down. I could walk home but did not want to leave before we knew what happened to Luisa's family. Some people starting walking home and it took some 5 hours to walk all the way home to Queens and Brooklyn. They left devastation behind.........They would allow people to walk over the bridges out of the city but not to come back into Manhattan.

After about 5 hours of suspense, Luisa's son called and told her he was trying to get hold of his wife but she just called him from home and she and the boy were safe. What happened was that her grandson was not feeling well .When his mother left to go upstairs into the tower -the teacher called her back and told her he was crying and she should calm him down before leaving. By the time he was calm the first plane hit the building and she decided to wait downstairs and to see what happens .Just then the second plane hit the second tower and they immediately knew this was no accident. An  elderly couple asked her where she lived and as they were also from upstate they told her to come with them .They got into their car and drove out of NYC as fast as they could.

We were all so thankful for Luisa sake .Her son asked her to meet him down in the Village where he was with a friend .At least the two of them could work out a way to get home or else stay with his friends. As I live in the Village the two of us started walking the 50 blocks south -closer to the World Trade Center. I live on 12th street but at 14th street the cops stopped us. You had to have a reason to go further south .As I had my ID with me they allowed us to walk further. By this time both Towers had collapsed and they estimated that 30,000 people were killed.

We passed St Vincent's hospital on 12th street in the Village where they were ready and waiting for the injured. They never came...... They all died when the buildings collapsed. They waited there through the night .Never was a night so quiet in NYC. All the traffic stopped and even the sirens stopped. All we heard were the fighter jets in the air -and they never stopped their patrolling the airspace over the city for weeks.....

Overhead dozens of USA fighter jets were thundering over the city very low and one realized very soon that this was a war zone. As we were walking down people came  towards us from the WTC covered in white dust. It looked like a horror movie .The sky was dark with the smoke and the closer we got the stronger the smell became as well.

One felt dead inside. The horror of  up to 30,000 estimated people dead in all that rubble about a mile from us -was unthinkable. You thought about people that had loved ones, friends and family that worked there. Firemen and Police ...How many were dead? 

Cell phones were not working .When the towers fell it also knocked out the communication systems that were on the roofs of those buildings. It took days for people to realize that their loved one would not be coming home. All around the St Vincent hospital  people posted photos of their  missing loved ones- just in case they were still alive in the  hospital without any identification.

When I got to my apartment the thin layer of white dust was all over the furniture and in the cupboards . It settled on every surface and we were told to turn on our air conditioners when we went to bed. My neighbor Barbara heard the planes as they flew over our house on the way to the WTC.T he house was situated right on the flight path .

One could not stay indoors. Below 14 street -where I live- no cars were allowed, so the streets were deserted of traffic. It was very ,very quite even with hundreds of people walking around aimlessly .You did not want to be alone in your apartment and most people were outside - sitting on the steps of their homes- or walking around. As night fell over the city, it was if even nature was in mourning. America grew up this night and one knew this was the end of innocence for the American people .

Union Square.

I walked to Union Square and there were hundreds of people -many young students from NYU  - holding a candle vigil .On my way back on 14th street a  truck load of bottled water arrived from Canada at the Salvation Army's headquarters. Within minutes passersby unloaded the truck. Everyone wanted to do anything to help- but we all felt so helpless.

The Salvation Army headquarters in NYC.

The next day came after a restless night. We all tried to pick up the pieces and get back to normal. New York City's , Mayor Rudy Giuliani asked the people of New York to keep going, and  to keep the city's economy up .He asked people to keep supporting Broadway theaters and restaurants. The subway was back in about two days and he urged people to get back to work. We were all back at work the next day. Every day we learned more and fortunately the number of missing became less and less and at the end the number were around  2977- way down from the 30,000 they expected .

We lost all 9 members of the Fire Station in the West Village. It took months to re-open.

Two cops who use to have lunch at our diner on 12th street and 6th avenue  - also died.
We also lost 8 members at Marble Collegiate Church.

The morning of the 12 of September as I was walking to work  I  met  Louis-- one of the owners of the Greek diner "Joe Junior". He was looking down 6th Avenue towards toe WTC and the tears were streaming down his face. He said to me:-

 "When I came to America I saw those buildings going up- never, ever did I think I would see them go down......Yesterday I stood here and watch them fall !"

Soon after the funerals started - for months on end...... .One felt it would never stop. They would discover parts of bodies that were identified by DNA testing and then given to the families for burial-sometimes only  a piece as small as a finger -or even less.

Four days later the smoke was still rising from Ground Zero

A smell started coming from ground zero as well that lasted for months. It was a sweet /sour smell that I could not identify.One could only imagine what it was. It turned cool soon after that so that helped a bit. We slept with out air conditioners on for months.

This is where they use to stand. Looking south down the Avenue of the Americas  from 12th street.

It has been already 14 years later- but those horrors are still in every New Yorker's mind that was here on that day.

2014 Replacement of the twin towers.