“I came to New York when I was twenty years old. At night I’d...

“I came to New York when I was twenty years old. At night I’d sleep at the YMCA, and during the day I’d go around to all the fashion houses and show them my portfolio. I was so shy that I could barely muster up the courage. I’d stand outside for thirty minutes before I even walked in the door. But somehow I got a job as an illustrator for Oleg Cassini. He was a major designer in the movies. I’d been working there for six months when he asked me to sketch a collection of five dresses. They were just rough outlines to show where the seaming would be. He never told me what they were for. Then a few weeks later I was riding on a train, and I saw my sketches in the newspaper. They were for Jackie Kennedy to wear in the White House.”