Elsa Klensch, fashion face of CNN, dies at the age of 89

She was one of the early stars of the cable channel, covering designers, models, and trends in the weekly shows that propelled the industry to large television audiences.

Elsa Klensch, who produced also hosted the fashion news show CNN Style with Elsa Klensch for two decades and became one of the cable channel's early stars, died March 4 at her Manhattan home. He is 89 years old.

The death was confirmed by his friend and lawyer, Jane Kurzman.

The weekly show Ms. Clench debuted in 1980 the same day the Cable News Network first aired providing groundbreaking coverage of haute couture designers, models, and shows to mass television audiences.

With his trademark peanut and distinctive Australian accent, he became a well-known figure, reporting with interviews and video collections of travels from London, Paris, New York, and Milan. She has appeared on thousands of CNN shows, and designers such as Marc Jacobs, Carolina Herrera, Anna Sui, Karl Lagerfeld, and Miuccia Prada regularly appear on her schedule.

In a 1999 New Yorker profile, Ms. Clansch is described as "reporting design developments, fabric innovations, and stitch changes simply, as if mirroring the State Department."

When Mr. Jacobs won the 1993 American Women's Fashion Designer of the Year award for her now-famous "Grunge" collection, "Style With Elsa Klensch," drawing cable viewers into the ceremony.

"Your show has had a tremendous impact on the public's perception of the fashion industry," said Valerie Steele, director also chief curator of the museum at the Manhattan Fashion Institute. "Before fashion shows were industry events, or you had to be a personal fashion client to see them. 

Airing primarily before the advent of social media, YouTube, fashion blogs, and sites like Vogue Runway, Ms. Clench reflects a time when the industry went from being less of commerce to a lifestyle and pop culture provider. Supermodels like Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Christy Turlington have made headlines. Designers like Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and Mr. Jacobs suddenly appeared in front of the camera in an unprecedented way.

"You can look at the various designers and know not only their names but also their faces and the footage from their tracks that are now everywhere," Steele said. Klensch, he continued, has taken on the role of a mediator between the natural world and the fashion world. "He looks comfortable, but not 100%," he added.