On Heather Dockweiler: ikat swing satin jacket and slim pants
On the eve of his return to Naples, one of the biggest powerhouses in fashion right now has an affinity for our town—and the feeling is mutual. By Jennifer Pfaff
82 NAPLES ILLUSTRATED
VANESSA ROGERS
AP ALEXANDER
AP ALEX
ANDER
IN THE
kors garden Marissa Hartington (above) and others, including Heather Dockweiler and her family (left and inset), embrace designer Michael Kors.
On a shelf in Marissa Collections on Third Street South, amidst a well-curated selection of Michael Kors apparel, sits a photo that captures a fond moment in Naples’ sartorial history. The aged image, clearly from the 1990s, shows a young, blond, curly-haired man laughing on a couch, surrounded by six stylish women. Some hold a glass of wine, and they all look as though they’re having the time of their lives. Twenty years later, his curls have been shorn, but the memory of that lively evening at a Naples cocktail party remains. “I remember giggling all night long,” Kors recalls. “I like a little good-humored gossip. I like a little naughty joke. And I have a feeling we were definitely that night telling probably a few naughty jokes and just having fun.” It’s a snapshot from Kors’ early years as an up-and-coming American designer in the 1980s and ’90s—a period spent mostly on the road, presenting trunk shows in cities like Los Angeles, Dallas and a tiny dot on the map called Naples.