Kim Steele

I met Willi in the eighties through Laurie Mallet, whom I met through the art dealer Holly Solomon. Holly’s gallery was near my loft at 640 West Broadway. Willi was always very warm but a bit distant. He encouraged my work and often invited me to his studio in the Garment District and to parties at his home on Horatio Street. Each February for my birthday, he sent a messenger to my studio with a tall, spring branch of flowering cherry blossoms with a sincere note. He always remembered.

After I proposed to MaryAnne Levesque, Willi wanted to contribute to our union and offered to design our clothing for the wedding. MaryAnne went to fittings in a loft near Union Square, across from Andy Warhol’s Factory. I’m not sure who owned the place, but it was pretty vacant. I joined them a few times. He had a vision to dress this blond, blue-eyed beauty in a tight-fitting, satin-buttons-up-the-back, shoulderless silk dress, with a lovely, short train. It was expensive even in today’s dollars but worth every penny. It was regal.

The wonderful part was that Willi attended the wedding and reception in 1985, in the countryside of New Hampshire, with Laurie. They added a rich and storied dimension to our wedding in MaryAnne’s hometown.