TAXING THE TAXIS
Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, the jetsetting German aristocrat
who hijacked the social pages in the eighties, defamed the family of her
late husband, Prince Johannes von Thurn und Taxis, in 1992 when she sold
heirloom jewelry and silver to help pay off more than $350 million in
debts and taxes.
MEAN GIRL
Patrizia Gucci (above) was sentenced to 29 years in jail in 1998
for conspiring to murder her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci. She took
umbrage at her estranged spouse when he sold the family leather-goods
house—which has since seen a $3 billion influx of cash from
François-Henri Pinault—for $120 million. The “black widow,” as she is
known in the Italian press, who once said, “I’d rather cry in a Rolls
than be happy on a bicycle,” refused a parole offer in 2011. She seems
content to stay behind bars with her plants and pet ferret.
PLEASE HOLD
A day after dressing the award-winning Hilary Swank at the 2000 Oscars,
designer Randolph Duke (above, with models)was hit with a
sexual-harassment suit filed by his former personal assistant, Maureen
Walsh. Among Walsh’s allegations was being forced to hold Duke’s hand
during a botched penile enhancement surgery.
SPLIT DECISION
After Prada Group took a 75 percent stake in the house that Jil Sander
built, the queen of nineties minimalism resigned in 2000, allegedly over
creative disputes with Prada chief executive Patrizio Bertelli.
Bertelli, who is married to Miuccia Prada, told WWD that a “brand that’s
as strong as Jil Sander doesn’t need to rely on the name of a designer.”
Still, the label’s eponymous designer would have a second coming in
2003—as well as a third in 2012, when she replaced Raf Simons, who ended
up at Dior.
J’ACCUSE!
Blonde bombshell Karen Mulder(above), who modeled for every major designer in
the nineties, appeared on the French television show Tout Le Monde en
Parle in 2001, claiming that she had been raped by a host of men ranging
from executives at her modeling agency to Prince Albert of Monaco and
even her own father. After subsequent hospitalizations, including one
after an attempted suicide, Mulder kept a relatively low profile until
2009, when she was arrested for threatening to assault her plastic
surgeon.
AGENT PROVOCATEUR
The undercover reporter Donal MacIntyre rocked the fashion world with
his 2002 BBC documentary exposé on drug use and alleged sexual abuse
inside the storied Elite model agency.
BASKET CASE
Shortly after selling his company to Phillips–Van Heusen, Calvin Klein
made headlines in 2003 when he walked onto the court and interrupted a
basketball game at Madison Square Garden (next page). A stumbling Klein grabbed the
Knicks’ Latrell Sprewell’s arm and struck up a conversation before being
escorted back to his seat. New York City later passed a “Calvin Klein
bill” that increased the fines for fans who disrupt games.
