Anne Johnston Albert Relaunches "Martin"

(Anne Johnston Albert in Harper's Bazaar)

Over the years I have lived many lives, each chapter totally different than the one that came before. People have come and gone from my life, not making them any less valuable or dear to my heart, but what comes with the ebb and flow of a life that has traveled down long and winding road. (Sounds like a bad James Taylor song.) I have recently reconnected with an old friend of mine - Anne Johnston (now Albert). We met as models in Milan, Italy - she just 17 and me not much older, although I thought I was so mature at the time. We both spent many years in Europe but both ended up in New York City, eventually living on opposite sides of Thompson Street in Greenwich Village. She was a wonderful friend in many ways, understanding what it was to live the life of a model, not all of it being particularly glamorous. But the thing that stuck with me - long after we had lost touch - was a period of six weeks in 1991. Anne was staying with me while in between apartments. I had just turned 30, retired from modeling, and been left by my husband - who had left a post-it note on my the kitchen table and gotten on a plane for London. (Long story I'm reserving for my life as a stand-up comic.) Anne was there for me - sharing my studio apartment, encouraging me to get out of bed in the morning and forcing me to push in my pull-out couch that I had been laying in more or less for weeks. She included me in her social life, letting me be third wheel while on dates with her boyfriend, encouraged me to eat three meals a day and put me on the path to healing. At the time I felt like she had saved my life. So enough about me...!
Several years ago before her daughters were born, Anne launched a clothing line named "Martin" (after her husband) out of a tiny store front in the East Village. She was the new trendy designer for the likes of director Sofia Coppola, model Gisele Bundchen and actress Sarah Jessica Parker. Her clothes were shown in Harpers Bazaar, Elle Magazine and British Vogue. A few years ago Anne and her husband decided to leave the big city to raise their two daughters in the country. Life with young children took precedent over trying to run a fashion business. Meanwhile, I had been searching for Anne - googling her name to death, trying to track down anyone who might know her whereabouts, when I emailed an old childhood friend of Anne's who is still in the New York fashion industry as editor at Lucky Magazine. Within a day I had a message from Anne in my inbox! We have plans to get together as we are now both living in the country, just an hour apart! Additionally, Anne is relaunching her own cottage industry, Martin from her country home. The fashion savvy of Manhattan can now breathe a sigh of relief...and me too, as little pieces of my life come full circle.

Model Gisele Bundchen in British Vogue wearing Martin

Gisele & Sofia Coppola in Martin

A favorite for Sarah Jessica Parker - US Magazine

Martin showing it's East Village Roots


Martin Redux!


Elle Magazine:"I make what I feel like wearing; clothes that look special and make you feel sexy, no matter what the trends are" - Anne