Stanley Kohlenberg, the veteran beauty executive, died in Florida on Saturday. He was 90 years old.
Kohlenberg was known for working with some of beauty’s biggest names of the 20th century, including Charles Revson, Helena Rubinstein. He also helmed Coty U.S. and Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Klein’s first stab at the beauty business. He was also the chief executive officer of Alfin Inc.
The cause of death was old age, according to the family. He is survived by his wife, Ruth Kohlenberg, and their two children, Howard Kohlenberg and Robin Tottenham, as well as his four grandchildren. Arrangements for a service in New York will be announced at a later date.
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Tottenham described her father as a vivid storyteller. “He used to tell a very funny story about Madame Rubinstein. They used to come for marketing meetings around her bed, and when they wanted to get something past her that they didn’t think she would like, they closed the windows so it would get stuffy in the room and she would fall asleep,” Tottenham said. “When they came to get her sign off, they’d open the window again.
“My father could talk to anyone, he could entertain anyone, he was quite a showman,” Tottenham continued. “He really was an entrepreneur rather than just an executive, that was what distinguished him. He would go and go what he meant to do, then go onto the next thing.”
A 1998 feature in WWD, which detailed the opening of his later venture, Le Petit Spa, described him as “one of the cosmetics industry’s most colorful and loquacious executives.
“Kohlenberg has a résumé so well traveled that he can tell tales of working for two industry titans: Charles Revson and Helena Rubinstein,” the article continued. “One of his favorite anecdotes involves running into Madame Rubinstein as she angrily shook her fist and yelled across Fifth Avenue in the direction of Revson’s office. The founder of Revlon had aroused her wrath by introducing a new skin care line.”
Allan Mottus, industry expert and former WWD reporter, said, “Stanley was not a B-school exec and was an old-fashioned product person equipped to deal with entrepreneurs such as Charles and Esteé [Lauder]. I will miss him and the wild and fun business style of that period.”