Toledo Tells

Isabel Toledo has been on a roller coaster of a year.

She's gone from the high of designing for one of American's most esteemed brands, Anne Klein, to the low of losing that gig. She's on the rise again and set to receive F.I.T.'s Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion in September and her work will be subject to a retrospective in 2009 at The Museum at F.I.T.

In the aftermath of the Anne Klein debacle, she never really shared what went wrong to cause parent company Jones New York to so abruptly pull the plug. She was a bit more forthcoming at a cocktail party in her honor at her garment district penthouse last night.

"Let's just say that it was 'corporate,' which I am not," she told Portfolio.com. "Anne Klein was a great venture for me. When you design, you design, it doesn't matter what it's for.

"It was a very big beginning," she continued. "I knew I had to make it with an edge, but not too much of an edge. I was really walking a tightrope. They put together a nice studio that did a great job but it fell apart." She clarified, "They took it all apart."

The award from the Couture Council is a bit more up her alley.

"I've always been such a hand's on person - that's what couture means to me in a way. It's also a dress made by an artist and I pretty much fill that bill, oh yeah" she said gesturing to her artwork-in-progress apartment. "I love that they've chosen to give me this with the retrospective of 24 years of my work."

The retrospective will come from her own archives, which contains every piece of clothing she's designed, complete with patterns - a rarity in the fashion industry.

"I used to work at the Met when Vreeland was still there, so I recognize the value of seeing your own progression in work."

By Lisa Marsh

Photograph by Joe Kohen/WireImage
Isabel Toledo backstage at a fashion show