"He's a mensch! He's just extremely altruistic; he's been mentoring a lot of designers and helping them with their business model," Barneys creative director and Observer columnist Simon Doonan told the Transom. Mr. Socol's mentees include Narcisco Rodriguez, Philip Lim and L'Wren Scott.

Mr. Socol has also been helping out on the real estate front. According to a deed filed recently in city records, he purchased a $2 million apartment at 771 West End Avenue. Carey Socol-Kregsman and Jonathan Kregsman, Mr. Socol's daughter and son-in-law, appear on the deed as well. Corcoran's Susan Neirenberg had the four-to-five-bedroom listing-with a claw-foot tub in the maid's room bathroom and an eat-in kitchen with a Sub-Zero refrigerator-which was sold in an estate sale. "I certainly can't comment on the buyers," Ms. Neirenberg said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Doonan and his husband, power potter and Top Design judge Jonathan Adler, have just put their summer getaway, a 1,800-square-foot Shelter Island A-frame cottage, formerly owned by a 1960s Pan Am pilot, on the market for $1.795 million; they are completing work on a larger oceanfront property on the island with Connecticut-based architect Gray Organschi. The cottage features a 75-foot swimming pool, three bedrooms, a naughty outdoor shower, a Ping-Pong court and lush landscaped gardens by Buttercup Design Group-and the couple will probably throw in a couple of crocks to the lucky buyers!

"We bought it 12 or 13 years ago when we first started dating," Mr. Doonan said, sounding a bit wistful. "If I wasn't an orphan or if I had more family, I'd wish that someone in the family would buy it so I could visit. I just love the house so much."