Kal still had the best seat in the house.
At Kenneth Cole’s show, which kicked off Olympus Fashion Week on Friday, the late Kal Ruttenstein was being remembered in a very fitting way — with a vacant seat dedicated to his memory.
Cole and 7th on Sixth’s executive director Fern Mallis had decided to honor Bloomingdale’s senior vice president of fashion direction, who died in December. Ruttenstein was a regular in the front rows of New York, Milan and Paris and rarely missed a show, even later in life when walking became more of a challenge for him.
The seat was located in a prime position in the front row and between his two bosses, Federated Department Stores’ chairman, president and chief executive Terry J. Lundgren and Bloomingdale’s chairman and ceo Michael Gould. Like other seats at the show, the chair had a T-shirt and a run of show placed neatly, as well as a tag with his name. Instead of his affiliation, the tag simply stated “In Memory of.”
“I said at his memorial that Kal had an innate ability to see the unseen,” Gould said. “Today, for one big moment, I have this quality. I can see him.”