floors housed the costume making facilities. The London years were far more prosperous than Paris. They costumed ballet, musical revue, Shakespeare, and cinema while still attending to Louis Jouvet back in Paris. Together with Bérard, Karinska and Vladimir experimented very successfully with new materials never before used in theater. Here Karinska began her long collaborative relationship with Cecil Beaton. But war was in the making and early in 1939, Karinska abandoned her London empire, on short notice, and moved permanently to the United States, leaving her nephew to close the business with honor; evacuate Reynolds's House and liquidate his aunt's accumulation of costume sketches and antiques. Irène came to London immediately to sign all release documents in her mother's place. Karinska appeared in New York early in 1939 of her own volition and quickly resumed work that began in London with the New York manifestation of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo directed by Serge Denham who helped her to immigrate and provided working space where she launched her American career with BRMC's “Ghost Town,” with costumes designed by Raoul Pêne de Bois and Salvador Dalí’s “Venusberg” from “Tannheuser” — both presented in New York in the fall of 1939. England and France declared war on Germany in September 1939, and Vladimir, feeling greater allegiance to France than to England, returned to Paris and enlisted in the French army. Wounded, captured and escaping from a German POW camp in August 1940, made his way to the South of France where he received the Croix de Guerre for Bravery. Karinska's sister, Angelina, was living near the military base where Vladimir was billeted. She had just received Karinska's address in New York from Irène in Paris and put aunt and nephew in touch. United States Nephew Vlady's and daughter Irène's involvement Through a Spanish dancer, Karinska made friends with the Spanish Consul and confided to him her nephew's case. Vladimir received instructions to make his way to the Spanish border where he would be provided safe transit to a ship leaving Lisbon for New York, via Havana. Emaciated and sickly, he arrived to New York in January 1941 where he was smothered by his aunts hugs and kisses. His new apartment awaited him at the mansion that Karinska was renting on E. 56th Street. Karinska at that time was ridding herself of her partners, “The Princess and the Baron”, from a fly