Hippie Gypsy

His leg was encased in plaster from his toes to his zebra-striped bikini shorts, but for all that, the happiest man in Milan last week was probably Expatriate designer Ken Scott. At the height of a wild discotheque party, one of Scott's patent-leather pumps flew off and Scott himself caromed off the raised dance floor on his way to multiple fractures.

The cause of the hazardous celebration was the overwhelming success of Scott's new spring and summer collection, which the week before drew applause from 700 international buyers and fashion writers gathered in Florence's Pitti Palace.

For the 37th show of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, Scott had sent 14 models swirling down the runway wearing flower-printed jersey in every shade of pink imaginable, from begonia, bougainvillea and poinsettia to lobster, raspberry, strawberry and watermelon. The designer called the look "hippie gypsy," and it included tiny bra tops covered by bolero jackets, Hungarian tunic blouses combined with tights or flowing midiskirts and curly hairdos bound up with kerchiefs. Jewels glinted from every ear, finger, neck, wrist, waist and ankle. Scott's version of this year's costume look was the hit of the show; it was also evidence that Scott, five years after he began designing clothes for his own Milan boutique, has moved up to rival Emilio Pucci in the flamboyant use of colors and prints.

Beard and Sandals. For an American, such success in the Italian fashion world is unprecedented, and Scott came a long way to achieve it. He was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father, an itinerant photographer and traveling salesman, died when he was twelve, leaving the family destitute. Scott worked after school dressing store windows, went to Manhattan in 1940 to study art with Painters Moses and Rafael Soyer. "I wore sandals and a beard," he says. "Oh, I was one of the early hippies." He switched to designing fabrics, took off for Paris in 1947, and has been an expatriate ever since.

Today, Scott employs 200 workers, twice as many as Pucci has, and each year uses up more than 50,000 yards of synthetic Ban-Lon--a silklike nylon fabric patented by Bancroft Division of Indian Head Inc. His clothes, which sell in the U.S. for $65 to $1,000, are worn by, among others, Christina Ford, Fleur Cowles, Audrey Hepburn, Betty Furness and Marella Agnelli, wife of the Fiat boss.

Nobody Dares. "Ken was doing psychedelic colorings before anyone even knew what psychedelic was all about," says Manhattan Fashion Illustrator Joe Eula. "Nobody dares to put color next to color the way he does." Scott also anticipated the Bonnie and Clyde look back in 1963, with clunky shoes and floppy beach pajamas. He was an early advocate of "unisex," designing his-and-her matching pants suits two years ago.

Like many another women's fashion designer, Scott is turning his attention increasingly to men's clothes. His vibrant, eye-popping print shirts at $55 each are only a beginning--he hopes. "The Medici, who invented banking, wore glorious colors," says Scott. "So why shouldn't your banker today dress in red velvet?"

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