Socialite and style icon Zelda Kaplan has died after collapsing during a show at New York Fashion Week on Wednesday (15Feb12).
The 95 year old, who shot to fame as a party circuit regular in the 1960s, slumped forward in her front row seat during the Joanna Mastroianni catwalk show at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan.
She was carried out of the auditorium by security guards and given Cpr by paramedics, who failed to resuscitate her.
Kaplan was subsequently transported to Roosevelt Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Fashion writer Ruth Finley, who was sitting next to the star, says, "I was sitting right next to her. She flopped over in my lap. The show was just starting. I thought she fainted."
Designer Richie Rich tells New York Post gossip column Page Six, "Passing away in the front row was how it was meant to be. Zelda loves fashion, so she died for fashion. She would have wanted to go out in style. Zelda always said, 'Live, live, live and have fun'... I hope the angels are holding her right now."