Inside Paris Fashion—Michael Kors - French fashion designer - Brief Article - Interview

Interview, Oct, 2001

INGRID SISCHY: Michael?

MICHAEL KORS: [coming to phone] Ingrid. How are you?

IS: Very good, and you?

MK: I'm well, thank you.

IS: The reason I'm calling you is we're doing this entire special issue on Paris and we wanted to talk with you not only as the designer of Celine, but also as an American who seems to have a love of fashion in your blood. Tell us about your early awareness of Paris. Did you at a certain point somehow consciously recognize that Paris symbolized the center of it all? Did you start a romance about it?

MK: Absolutely. When I was growing up, I had a fascination with things French. "I want to go to La Crepe. I have to go to La Crepe. All the waitresses are French."

IS: [laughs]

MK: And "I want to have onion soup, and quiche lorraine." It was that whole moment of croissants and Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. You know? I was 12, and I was dreaming of going to Paris and to Club Sept. I wanted to see Grace Jones dance on a table with [illustrator] Antonio Lopez.

IS: When did you finally get to Europe?

MK: The first time I went I was 18, and the first stop on that trip was Paris. Actually, I met a friend there who was German. And she had suggested this [in German accent] rrreally cheap und vell located hotel. Well located meant Saint-Germain, the middle of boutique and cafe heaven. There I was staying in a hotel that was probably at the time maybe 20 dollars a night, and I was running out to Hermes and buying wallets! [both laugh] You know it's funny, that was also the first time I ever saw a Celine store, by weird coincidence. It was on the Left Bank. That was probably the last time there was this kind of moment in Paris that we're having again right now.

IS: So you don't think Interview is nutty to say that Paris is so culturally alive right now that it's worth devoting a special issue to, not the past, but to the present?

MK: Oh no, I agree. Totally. I started working on Celine in 1998, and when we first started going [to Paris], we'd say, "Well, is there a new restaurant? Is there a new club? Is there a new store?" And everyone would respond, "Noooooo." And then suddenly, everything accelerated to the point where today there's a real curiosity about what's next and what's new in Paris.

IS: How do you explain it?

MK: I think you're talking about a whole cultural shift. Now you have the children of a conservative regime, who I think are much hipper, less xenophobic, coming up--that's a huge change for Paris.

IS: Tell me something. A number of designers who we have spoken to for this issue have basically said that there is no other woman, other than the Parisian woman, who has a certain kind of allure and attitude.

MK: Oh, I agree. Americans often will say, "What do they have that we don't have?"

IS: What is the answer?

MK: The biggest element is confidence. There's a confidence in the French way of life, and their way of dressing and eating. If it's overly confident, then people can get stuck; but when people find the happy medium--it's a culture comfortable in its own skin. Americans, on the other hand, are always a little bit insecure.

IS: What about Paris makes it that if you're a young designer working in the world, you've somehow got to end up there for a period of time. What is it? Why?

MK: You know, there's still this puritanical thing in the back of a lot of Americans' minds. You're not even supposed to admit that you like fashion, let alone are willing to play with it and indulge in it. For the French, especially those in Paris, it's a birthright. You're talking about the only city in the world where a cab driver says, "Oh, I heard the Saint Laurent show today was terrific." Everyone will be talking about the shows! It's part of the heritage there. Whereas many Americans just think of fashion as . . . well, body covering. Shopping. Same thing as lunch.

IS: When you go to work at the Celine atelier in Paris, is there something in your unconscious that gets really thrilled by the idea that this is where you are designing?

MK: Oh, totally. We're also talking about the fact that there no one will ever say, "No. That's impossible. We can't do that. We can't make that."

IS: If I were to call you up, and say, "Look Michael, I've never been to Paris before, and I want to understand why Paris equals fashion. Please take me somewhere that will explain it." Where would you take me?

MK: Where would I take you? Hmm . . . I think the first stop would have to be my first stop in Paris: Saint-Germain, to sit in a cafe and watch the ultimate fashion show.

IS: Why in a cafe?

MK: Because in New York, we all avert our eyes. Whereas in Paris, it's a full stare down. And I think that that makes you dress differently than you would here. In New York it's like, [gasps] "Oh, God! Why is that guy staring at me? What does he want?" And in Paris it's half the pleasure, it's "Ooooh. Please look at me." I think that just sets the whole tone. There is no better place for street theatre than Paris.

Michael Kors is co-chairman and Design Director of Michael Kors and Creative Director of Celine.