Remembering L'Wren Scott

The tragic news that designer L'Wren Scott, had been found dead of an apparent suicide surely stunned everyone in the fashion industry. Like her clothes, which were often retro-inspired and at times, theatrical, she was both ethereal and playful. But like most women we admire, she was also whip smart and capable of being incredibly down-to-earth when the time called for it. Incredibly thoughtful about every design detail, her body-hugging clothes often pushed the boundaries of feminine opulence. The women who wore her clothes always commented on how perfectly they fit.

Related: L'Wren Scott Found Dead

Though her privacy was of great importance to her, it seemed a priority to L'Wren to make sure that those around her felt comfortable and warmly embraced, as if her mantra was rooted in that Henry James belief that the three most important qualities a person could possess were: To be kind. To be kind. To be kind.

Those of us who had been lucky enough to be invited to her shows and dinner parties, always commented on her warmth, affability, and genuine graciousness with which she presented herself and her collections. Though she was not in any way frivolous, she appreciated the importance of a naughty gesture. While she could converse on the benefits of the latest health craze, there were always fries and a bottle of wine on the table and a bag of take-away cookies at coat check. And she loved a dirty joke. When it came to L'Wren, you came for the clothes, but always left with a renewed sense of calm and well-being.

She was especially adept at navigating the potentially awkward moment when, leaving her shows (which for many years were luncheons at Larry Gagosian's gallery in Chelsea), you thanked not only her but also her longtime boyfriend, Mick Jagger. What struck me most the first time I met him wasn't his iconic status but how smitten he was in L'Wren's presence. He, like the rest of us, basked in her glow.