Calvin's New Foe: The Lawyer Who Thinks He Has Taste
Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen may have been willing to support Calvin Klein's plan to tear down his Southampton castle and build a more modern home on the site, but it seems their enthusiasm isn't shared by all of Calvin's neighbors on Meadow Lane. Bill Williams Jr., who recently retired as a partner at the white-shoe law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, filed a letter of complaint with Southampton's Architectural Review Board in advance of a public hearing earlier this week. Williams' objection to Klein's proposal, however, doesn't have anything to do with any interest in preserving the gaudy castle. He just doesn't care for Calvin's taste.
If approval of the proposal is inevitable, I wonder whether Mr. Klein might be persuaded to have the buildings be sand-colored to fit in with the dunes behind and wetlands in front, instead of in-your-face white, which makes the buildings look like a hospital clinic or Florida office building.
Florida office building? Hospital clinic? Ouch. Guess we know one person who won't be sitting front-row at Fashion Week this year. Perhaps the two will get a chance to debate minimalist aesthetics face-to-face when the board reconvenes on January 26 to make a final decision?
More review before potential Dragon's Head demolition [East Hampton Press]
Previously: Calvin's Teardown in Southampton, The Future Home of Calvin Klein