Los Angeles- The Bride of Wildenstein is back – with a new look and a new man more than two decades her junior. Jocelyne Wildenstein, 59, famous for her feline features created through millions of dollars worth of plastic surgery, made international headlines in one of New York’s dirtiest divorce cases.
She split from her billionaire art dealer husband in 1997, claiming her incredibly lavish lifestyle meant she needed $200,000 a month to live on.
Public appearances by Wildenstein, dubbed “Catwoman,” have been few since the settlement.
But, in a rare interview, she told international journalist Daphne Barak how she has picked up the pieces of her life – and found love with fashion designer Lloyd Klein, 37.
“Because of the past, I am careful to talk about the future,” said Wildenstein, who has changed her trademark dark curls for a straight, blond look.
“Things can change by the moment but my story with Lloyd is very different. I love his creativity. I love his energy. I love his projects and his drive. I love a lot of things about him.”
Her divorce proceedings began when she allegedly returned to her exclusive upper East Side townhouse and found her husband of 20 years, Alec Wildenstein, in a tryst with a 19-year-old model.
Dressed only in a towel and brandishing a pistol, he chased her from the room.
The legal arguments were incredibly public. The press became fascinated by her lavish lifestyle – which she claimed left her unable to boil an egg or turn on a kettle – and her love for the surgeon’s knife.
“For me, it is difficult to talk about that,” she told Barak. “I am very private. During my divorce, everything became public.
“It’s a shame it did happen like this. If it could have been my choice, I would have had it happen extremely discreetly. But it did happen, so it’s nothing you can change.
“I think, if you want to be truly yourself, you cannot care what people say about you. You have just to be yourself and try to do what you think is right for you.
“You learn from the situation, definitely, but your insides, your structure, what you feel, I don’t think I will ever change.”
Wildenstein met Klein at a fashion show.
“You never know how it starts,” she said. “It was a fascination about his personality, the way he makes his creations. I was taking the plane the next day for Florida. He was also, by pure chance, taking the plane. There were a lot of coincidences.
“I am now looking to buy a house in L.A. because Lloyd is there right now. We need to be together.”
“How much do I think our love story would last?” asked Klein. “You can never tell but it’s a long-term one.
“I always shoot for the real thing and I hope it will last forever. I have not met anyone like her. Like me, she is a loner. We are like two loners who were meant to be together.”