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Designer Profile: Michael Kors by Danielle Cohen Pop culture. Soccer moms. Paparazzi magnets. They’re the inspiration, perhaps surprisingly, behind one fashion designer’s drive to create sleek, casual wardrobes with mass appeal rather than trade on commonplace, passing fads. Michael Kors’ label debuted at Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue in 1981, and today he still maintains a strong hold on timeless luxury. Yet the award-winning, acclaimed designer (who has served as a judge for the television series Project Runway, nominated for seven Emmy® Awards in its four seasons on the air) is not ashamed to fess up. “I’m an admitted pop-culture junkie and can find inspiration from a film, photo, play or even a shot of the Olsen sisters in a celebrity tabloid,” Kors said. The beach-loving, Halston-admiring creator of real clothes for real women—from your next-door neighbor to Jennifer Lopez—indulges us with a peek into his own life, loves and lines. What about fashion appeals to you? It is just in my DNA. From as far back as I can remember, I was obsessed with clothes, sketching and all that goes along with it. My family was very stylish, and I was constantly surrounded by people who thought about clothes and style. What type of woman do you design for? I design for women on the go, with no time for gimmicks and tricks. She wants to look good without looking like she spent hours getting ready. My customer is a mother, businesswoman, A-list actor and so on. She wants clothes that go from the boardroom to the beach. She does not want to look like a child in a bubble dress, nor a fashion victim. I design clothes for her lifestyle, whether she is a mogul or a soccer mom. What was your inspiration for your Fall 2008 collection? It came from the idea of a return to dressing like a woman. I got so sick of the baby-doll dress and bubble [style] that had been circulating in the market the past few seasons. I didn’t understand why a thirty-five-year-old woman would want to dress like a child. I thought about a long, lean silhouette and realized I was channeling the look of the iconic Hitchcock blonde: great knits, slim skirts, lean lines, and tailoring, tailoring and more tailoring, but nothing too retro—the look updated for now. Think Grace Kelly as Amy Winehouse’s roommate and the two of them sharing each other’s clothes. |
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