I see him backstage in New York, every season, and I love how cool he looks- even before the show, and how nice he is with everyone around him.
He just exudes positive energy and happiness, and so does his show.
This time, I had to meet him in his office… So imagine how excited I was…. Very!
Hayat Ammouri: Where do you start with your inspiration
Michael Kors: I really always think about a kind of a connective thread. My clients appreciate quality and appreciate things that last. So she has Things in her closet from me and other designers, but particularly I think about my collection. I think it’s a journey. Where did I take her before, and now with each season what could she add to her wardrobe that will change the things that she owns already.
I always think about a kind of connected journey as a start. Then we spend a huge amount of time developing textiles and yarns, and leathers, and a lot of that could determine the silhouette.
Is it a part of your job that you enjoy?
Oh, I love it! It’s very interesting. If I think about clothes by themselves, unless they are meant for museums, I am not a designer for that. It’s the fabric, the proportions, that’s how things evolve.
Then I travel a lot, for work, for pleasure. It could be the color or the mood in a certain place that I fell in love with. It also turns into just people watching. I also love pop culture so much, so it’s music, it’s theatre, television… I even love tabloids.
Do you ever get stuck?
No. It’s terrible to say that, but I am consistent. I have a little bit of ADD. Too many things going on at once. So I try to focus myself.
It’s like a Fellini film, I have the women float in my head. Some of them are clients who are famous, some are not; friends, women I work with, family, Women I have never met that I see a photograph of. I think about this group of women.
Do they have anything in common?
I think they are opinionated, which I like. I think they know themselves, they know their life. I think they are interested very much in style and fashion, but I don’t think they want it to rule their life. They are dealing with so many things, so they want to look great, feel glamorous, but they still need to be comfortable, and they still need things that travel well.
The common point is not an age, we have young girls who are thirteen and fourteen, we have women in their seventies; we have every size women, tall, small… But in general, they are all opinionated and they know themselves.
How do you balance comfort with glamour?
I think what I am really all about is yin and yang.
I look at it and I think it should be one thing familiar and one thing unfamiliar, combined. If it’s fully familiar, I am bored. And if it’s totally unfamiliar, I think it’s great to look at, but I don’t know how it works in life.
I also think that luxury or glamour should not be thought of as precious. I love a crocodile bag when it gets old, it’s the best, nothing is better. I love a woman going out with a long dress, and then when she’s cold, she tells her husband “can I borrow your jacket”.
I think I am always playing with the yin and yang, and I think those are the women who are the most interesting to look at. They always were and they always are: if you look at Catherine Hepburn in the 40’s she played, Kate Moss today she plays, Mrs. Obama, she plays.
Then the sketching begins…
Do you do your own sketching?
I do my own doodles. I do them on a plane, on the phone. I don’t lock my self in a room, it doesn’t work like this. Then I sit down with my team.
How would you describe your team?
Our creative director is also my life partner, so fashion is not a job, it’s a life. We are always talking about it, looking at things, and we love to have a lot of young people around us.
What do young people bring you?
Well, no matter how plugged in I am, a 22 year old sees things differently than a 51 years old; they have a different life experiences. I think it’s important for designers to be “in the world”. I think too many designers live in a box. I need to be “in the world”.
You do “live in the world”, we see you, you love life!
I enjoy it, I enjoy people, I have fun with people, I like street life.. If someone is sad, it’s not the place for them to work with me.
I also always push people. Women right now expect everything. In the past, maybe you gave something up: Maybe you bought something pretty but not comfortable, or comfortable but not glamourous.
Women also used to dress for other women, or for men, or they dress for themselves. My clients want all 3.
And they have children, and they travel?! She is a juggler, she’s pushing and I have to push. But like the challenge. I think it’s interesting.
After I talk to the team, we start making the prototypes everywhere in the world. We travel to Italy 6 times a year for the collection. We don’t make any clothes here in New York, everything happens outside of Milan.
When we do the prototypes, you see that sometimes you have a great idea that doesn’t work, so we make changes. Then we also see something is fabulous, then we think it’s more fabulous, so you get more ideas and you add to the collection.
Then I really start thinking about how do I tell the story. In our fashion show, we produce everything you see in the show. Many designers don’t. We make everything that walks down our runway.
But also in 11 minutes, I want to tell a story; So here it is, which is fun, the storytelling. The right proportion, the hair, music, make up, set, models, how we cast it. It’s like being a theatre producer. There are some designers where the show is really theatre, and some of them it’s just about the clothes. I want to show things that people really want to wear and live with, but at the same time, I do want it to be entertaining.
How many looks do you usually present?
It’s 63 or 64, men’s and women’s combined.
When you are casting the models, who is the one who has the Michael Kors attitude?
It changes depending on the collection. But I like personality. When a girl comes in and she is expressionless, I don’t care how beautiful she is. I like someone who has power with the walk, someone who has personality, and again, I think the best accessory is confidence. Sometimes, when the models are too young, they are beautiful but they lack confidence.
Do you like the idea of having young models in the show?
I like a mix of bodies, ages, coloring, ethnicities, shorter, taller, that’s the world. I don’t understand the idea of having one look. That’s old fashion.
And then the show ends, and you do your catwalk, which is my favorite part; you enjoy it so much! I see you happy, proud, tell me what do you feel, what goes inside your head at that time? Because seriously, some of the designers barely go outside, or they just peek, but you do the whole runway..
I do the whole thing, because honestly, it’s a joyous experience, I do feel like a dad…
A dad to who?
A dad to the collection. The collection is my baby.
Oh, I thought a dad to the models!
Sometimes, sometimes! I ask all the models how old their father is. and still most of the time, their dads are still older than me.
How do you keep yourself young?
I think I am just curious.
The Collection- Michael Kors/ Spring 2011
I am seeing a lot of white lately, is it going to be this summer’s trend?
Yes, you will see a lot of white tomorrow. We have no black in this collection.
Camel is almost your color, no?
Definitely. Always has been. Our shopping bags are camel, etc..
How do you feel now that everyone is doing Camel?
It’s complimentary. I actually think in general that my favorite thing is always a kind of convergence of nature and luxury. When you see something as beautiful as a camel hair, and I see the color, the texture, it’s the best of both.
Michael Kors: To The Women in the Middle East:
I think what I love about Middle Eastern women is that there is such joy in getting dressed and enjoying fashion, which for a designer is so exciting. I hear women constantly complaining about fashion; I also love that Middle Eastern are curious about what’s next, what’s new; they appreciate the quality and the hard work that the designer puts into their collection.
Must Have- In Every Closet:
I love cashmere, I am addicted. So I think every woman should have a “cashmere closet”. Even in the Middle East, a woman will still use it, because air conditioning is crazy, or because they travel.
And now I am crazy for white jeans, white trousers. I also like crocodile, so “crocodile closets”!
Just A Joke!
I just have one favor to ask you.
Sure.
When on the runway, would you tell Noah, the model, to come and give me a hug.
He’s not here this season!
Oh, then sorry I can’t make it to your show!
He is still recovering.
About Gwyneth Paltrow…..Her Pictures in his Office:
She is the juggler, the ultimate juggler. She’s got an incredibly busy career, and she is talented, and she is always doing one million things.
She is a great wife, a great mother, and she travels a lot. She always looks great but never makes it look that she tried too hard.
