Women's

Conversation With: Diane von Furstenberg

Posted 03.15.13 by Ken Downing
DVF

Photographed by Erik Madigan Heck.

Oh, darling! Design legend Diane Von Furstenberg talks clothes, life, and love with Ken Downing.

Ken Downing : Do you know how much I love you? Do you realize what an enormous influence you have had on me from a very early age?

Diane von Furstenberg: Darling, you know I love you!

KD: Diane, you know my story of meeting you many years ago. It was 1974, perhaps 1976, when you were traveling the country launching your now famous wrap dress. My mother brought me to a department store in Seattle to meet you.

DVF: Darling, you must have been very young.

KD: I was very young—as were you.

DVF: The wrap dress was in jersey. I was not the first designer to create in jersey, certainly, but I loved how jersey molded to the body. It gave the dress a great sensuality, a sensual quality that makes the dress as modern today as when I designed it.

KD: I remember you in that wrap dress like it was yesterday. I might have been 8 or 9 years old at the time. You were the most glamorous and exotic woman I had ever seen—and, mind you, my mother was pretty glamorous in my eyes. You were like a feline behind a glass-top desk, with your long legs stretched to the side in suede boots.

DVF: I still wear suede boots, darling. [She kicks her legs from behind the desk to expose her suede boots.]

KD: Your wild mane of hair, that frosty eye makeup, that accent, and that wrap dress! I had never seen or heard anything like you! I was mesmerized.

DVF: That is so sweet you remember, darling.

KD: My mother pushed me to the edge of the desk. I was so nervous, so intimidated, yet captivated by your beauty, your presence. In that gorgeous accent, you asked me “Darling, darling, what are you doing here?” I replied, “I want to work in fashion.” You told me “Darling, you will! You can be anything you want to be.” I realized that day I had to work in fashion and be surrounded by people like you.

DVF, Spring 2013.

DVF, Spring 2013.

DVF: And look, darling, today you are a famous fashion director and we all work together.

KD: I don’t know about famous, but my destiny was certainly set because of your encouraging words—and, of course, a determined mother.

DVF: I am so happy we are friends—I love that I encouraged you.

KD: You encourage so many in our industry, not just me. You are like the Fairy Godmother of Fashion. When you became the president of the CFDA [Council of Fashion Designers of America] in 2006, you were the perfect choice. You are such a nurturing and loving individual. Your caring spirit is contagious.

DVF: We are all one big family in fashion, darling. Yes, we are competitive, but we are a family. I want for everyone to feel welcome. I want everyone to succeed. When I became the president of the CFDA, the first thing I did was to welcome many more designers to the CFDA. There is nothing like the CFDA anywhere else in the world. We are very fortunate to have such a great organization to support our American talents, to nurture emerging designers, and to help designers in so many ways. I am very proud of the talents that are in America.

KD: You being one of them! Your love of the industry, your love of life, your love of people is so inspiring.

DVF: Love is life, darling. That’s what I believe.

KD: And your shows—I love, love, love them! Your shows are one of the most exciting moments during New York Fashion Week. Your front row is the Who’s Who of the worlds of fashion, literature, art, news media. There is a chaotic, joyous pandemonium that fills the tent. So much anticipation and so much love for you, your show. It really is like being with family.

DVF: It is family, darling. I surround myself with love—people I love, the things I love, work I love. I always tell the girls, “Smile, be happy, joyous!” No one ever tells the models to smile. I want the show to be fun and filled with love. I want people to feel the love of DVF and the happiness my clothes can bring.

KD: Your spring runway show was full of color and confidence; it was intoxicating.

DVF: The theme was “Palazzo,” inspired by my travel and faraway places.

Ken and Diane at DVF's studio in NYC.

Ken and Diane at DVF's studio in NYC.

KD: I don’t know how you do all you do. You are always on a plane, off to China, Brazil, Bhutan…

DVF: I find inspiration when I travel, the cultures, the people.

KD: You are the original bohemian!

DVF: I love to wander the world and find inspiration. Nature always inspires me as well.

KD: And you love color, it is one of your trademarks and, of course, your love of prints. I was crazy for the combinations of turquoise blue, the bright greens, and how you mixed pale apricot with bright orange. Aqua with orange, outrageous! You know how insane I am for orange this season—it is my new neutral.

DVF: And black and white! Black and white is very DVF, especially with pink. Black and white is such a perfect base of a women’s wardrobe. It’s graphic, and color plays so wonderfully against it.

KD: There is nothing more chic than black and white. And, of course, I adore hot pink always!

DVF: Every shade of pink, darling. Color is so inspiring to me. I find inspirations everywhere.

DVF

KD: Your studio here in New York’s Meatpacking District is visual stimulation at every turn.

DVF: It is very eclectic, full of many memories and souvenirs.

KD: Do you find you are inspired to create by what is missing in your own wardrobe?

DVF: I was told by a dear friend, a fashion designer who is a man, this is why I am comfortable saying this to you: “Men design costumes, women design clothes.” I am always thinking about what I want to wear next, how to make my wardrobe, a woman’s wardrobe, easy, effortless. When a woman opens her closet, she should see her friends—clothes she loves and loves to wear. That is what DVF is all about. Great clothes. Great color. Clothes that make her confident, that make her seductive, that make her beautiful!

KD: What more could a woman want?

DVF: Love is life, darling!

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Women's

Conversation With: Peter Copping

Posted 02.28.13 by Ken Downing

Ken Downing and Peter Copping.

Ken Downing sits down with Nina Ricci’s creative director Peter Copping in Paris.

Ken Downing: The opening of your spring show was absolutely beautiful, so ethereal. The white petals—possibly to resemble snow?—quietly fluttering from above set such a beautiful mood.

Peter Copping: It could be petals or snow. The soundtrack of the show was Sometimes It Snows In April, which, as you know, sometimes it does, especially in Paris.

KD : It created such a feminine, romantic spirit to the collection—soft, serene, very much your vision of the Nina Ricci woman.

In Peter Copping's studio.

PC: Yes, I always think of the femininity of a woman. For me, being an Englishman designing for a French house, I want to always be sure I have a very French sensibility to the collection. . . . This season, femininity with strength was most important to me. I wanted her to be a woman of great confidence. I had been thinking about the book Fifty Shades of Grey.

KD : That has been a theme on many runways for spring.

PC: When I was on holiday, everyone was reading the book. I liked the idea of a woman with a slightly subversive sense to her—very pretty, but subversive. I used zipper details that could be left unzipped to expose lace and mesh. Some of the looks had harnesses for an accessory, or fishnet stockings and garter belts that you could faintly see under the chiffons. Just a little subversive. Not too much, just a little.

KD : Zippers, chains—all a departure for you. There were still many of the lingerie details that you favor, but definitely a tougher edge to the collection.

PC: I took references from street culture. A bit of zip, a bit of chain, the occasional harness for runway drama. It was a slightly punk attitude without looking punk.

KD : Were you a punk when you were growing up?

PC: [laughing] No, I was pretty boring. I wore drain-pipe pants, but was never a punk.

Peter's inspiration board.

KD : Rather unusual for a boy growing up in Britain, where it is like a right of passage to be a punk, no?

PC: I was always interested in clothes, but didn’t experiment on myself. My parents were always very supportive of my love of fashion. They were a bit hippie-ish. My grandmother was very inspirational to me growing up as well.

KD : The strips of chiffon that were macrameÅLd to resemble lace gave a hint of that hippie upbringing.

PC: I was shredding chiffon to create fringe for my resort collection. I decided for runway to macrameÅL the strips and let it become lace.

KD : It was spectacular! I loved that you created a new idea of lace, but also use traditional lace, often in gorgeous color. Did you macrameÅL when you were a kid?

PC: I did macrameÅL as a kid.

KD : So did I. I have always embraced a crafty moment. But you certainly elevated the macrameÅL by translating it in chiffon.

PC: Again, feminine, but feminine with an edge.

KD : To say I am insane for the aqua dress of chiffon strips with the lace underlay would be an understatement! The chiffon strips fluttered like the soft snow drifting from the top of the tent where you held your show. And the color! The aqua was almost beyond description.

PC: I love color; I’ve never been afraid of color. Turquoise like a swimming pool is what I was thinking about.

KD : And the deep pinks, and the lavender! . . . The dress in pale pink with navy polka dots was unforgettable.

Nina Ricci, Spring 2013.

Nina Ricci, Spring 2013.

PC: I didn’t want to do flowers, but I wanted a print. I liked how the polka dots gave the effect of a petal without being a true flower.

KD : The polka-dot gown with the asymmetrical sleeve was so romantic, yet thoroughly modern. I can only hope that we see that dress on a red carpet soon. I would toss one of your great jackets over the shoulder and call it done.

PC: I love a jacket. It is such a part of Parisian dressing.

KD : You’ve always been an advocate of the jacket—the jacket and the cardigan, but not just any cardigan, a cardigan with attitude.

PC: I always include cardigans in my collection. I like that a woman has a finishing piece she can add to a dress or to a top and skirt. Cardigans with interesting and unexpected details are throughout the collection. Special details make them more than just a sweater.

Nina Ricci, Spring 2013.

Nina Ricci, Spring 2013.

KD : Now that the spring runway is but a memory, albeit a glorious one, are you already thinking about your early fall collection?

PC: Oh, of course! I’m always designing and thinking about what’s ahead. I’m very much liking the idea of a jacket for fall, but a jacket with a bit more structure than in seasons past. I am thinking about tailoring and shape, with a bit of a shoulder pad. Not a big ’80s shoulder, just a hint of shape to give structure.

KD : And can I count on you for color?

PC: Color? Absolutely!

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