Job:12-29742 Title:RP-Fashion Design Ref and Spec Book
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6 0 THE FASHION DESIGN REFERENCE + SPECIFICATION BOOK
(Text)
Anybody that wants to be a good designer had better be able to conceive a garment, sketch it,
fabricate it, drape it, make the paper pattern, cut it out, sew it, and fit it. Too many designers
want to skip to being photographed arriving at a party with a dress on a starlet attached to
their arm. There’s been a big disintegration.
You are often described as a designer’s designer, much like Balenciaga in his day. How does
that impact your brand and in what ways does it allow you to connect with your customer?
Those who know who Balenciaga was and what he did—it’s a great compliment for me. I’m
stunned by it and I’m humbled because I haven’t even come close to the body of work that he
mastered. Does it impact my brand? No, because most people don’t know what he did for the
vocabulary of fashion. And when certain journalists draw the comparison I think they’re talking
about the rigor and the constant seeking of new ways of making clothes and cutting clothes. I
have a dear friend, Cathy Horyn, a brilliant journalist from the New York Times. When I showed
my first couture collection in Paris, it was very, very strict. I thought the collection was beauti-
ful—it was really an homage to the haute couture—and Cathy said, “I know what you’re doing,
but ease up a little bit.” Over the years I’ve agreed with her, I have taken that in. You can still
have the rigor, you can have all the black gazar, black velvet, and black faille that you want,
but really you also have to interject the work with enormous sensuality, because everybody
wants to be desirable. I’ve always adored the monastic element that Balenciaga brought to
fashion but what I also seek is to bring in the sexual aspect so that the woman feels desir-
able. Otherwise, very few women will want to walk around in a black gazar tent, which I find
the chicest thing in the world.
How does the issue of sustainability affect your design process?
I’ve always used natural fabrics. I don’t use synthetics, never did and don’t wish to. I’ve been
ecologically minded just because I like real fabrics.
What advice would you give designers starting their career or a business?
Continue to reinspire yourself. Keep a focus and a clarity and do not let go of your vision, no
matter how many people try to tell you that it’s not of the moment. Destiny provides the final
explanation, I think. And even though we’ve been in years of homogenized fashion, there are
sparks of brilliance all over the place.
It’s very difficult for young people now. When I entered the profession, individuality was so
respected and admired. You had the building of 550 in New York, you had Pauline Trigère, Nor-
man Norell, Bill Blass, and the great Geoffrey Beene, and you had Galanos on the West Coast,
and everyone had their own look. Today individuality is discouraged. We also no longer have an
American fashion industry where these kids can seek a job. There are very few design rooms
left. Most of these clothes are made in the Orient. The samples are not made with artistry,
they’re done with measurements and no life. I find that very disappointing and just depressing
for students.
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Job:12-29742 Title:RP-Fashion Design Ref and Spec Book
#175 Dtp:204 Page:60
052-063_30034.indd 60 3/5/13 6:22 PM