Andre Leon Talley: the fashion guru gets to the bottom of what makes the fashion maven tick

Interview, Nov, 2003 by Andre Leon Talley

MP: Okay. So let's play a little game with the past. Let's look at some recent decades in terms of the changes in what is understood as being elegant. What was elegance in the '50s?

ALT: In the '50s, elegance was dictated by one place: Paris. And it was based on social strata, social position.

MP: The '60s?

ALT: Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, the youth, the Pill. Liberation. The miniskirt. The elegance was London, and London represented a kind of liberation of the mind and spirit. The Beatles, Mary Quant, the whole change of society. For me, the '70s was about a kind of indulgence of elegance. Elegance was Diana Ross. Elegance was the music people, but in a different way than today. Today elegance in the music world is different--in the '70s, people in music were more elegant. There's nothing more elegant than Marvin Gaye--not only his voice but the way he dressed. For me, in this country, elegance was about the culture of soul music. It's Diana Ross, James Brown, Marvin Gaye--and disco, disco, disco was a big factor. I'm not saying that disco dressing was the most important thing, but there was elegance in disco clothing. Although today you might look back and think it's horrible, but then it was fantastic. Men were very pivotal and important--John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977), that white suit.

MP: The "80s?

ALT: Mass appreciation of exuberance and affluence. Flashiness, new money, people were making money. The '80s were about consumption in another way than the '50s. Your label on your back made you think you were elegant, especially if you dressed in that world of high style. Does that make sense to you what I'm saying?

MP: Absolutely--the "90s?

ALT: More probing, more contemplative, a reaction to the '80s and mass consumerism and vulgarity. In the '90s there was a return to a kind of intellectual elegance, a sensibility about clothes being a vary important part of your life, but it was a pragmatic chic.

MP: And now?

ALT: Now? Well, after September 11, 2001, fashion went into a very dark period. In the last year it's come out of that period and it's going back into what fashion should be--desire. Women are wanting to get dressed up again with more attention to a kind of glamour. Maybe it's the '40s, maybe it's the '50s, maybe it's the '30s, but it's glamorous without just being Hollywood flamboyance. And it's back again to the thing that I grew up with--the glove, the handbag, the shoe. The most important thing for a woman to me is her eyes, her hands, her feet, her ankles, her legs. Not the breast or the derriere. I mean, those are erotic zones that most people universally consider the sexy part of a woman. But it's the turn of her hand, the way a woman wears her shoes, the turn of her ankle, the pivotal way the ball of her feet move within her shoe.

MP: I think I hear the next book. [both laugh]

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION (required by 39 U.S.C. 3685). 1. Publication title: INTERVIEW. 2. Publication no. 972 320. 3. Filing date: Sept. 8, 2003. 4. Issue frequency: monthly including combined Dec./Jan. issue. 5. No. of issues published annually: 11. 6. Annual subscription price: $14.97. 7. Complete mailing address of known Office of publication: 575 Broadway, New York, NY 10012; Contact person, Donald Liebling; Telephone, 212-941-2822. 8. Complete mailing address of the headquarters of general business offices of the publisher: 575 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. 9. Full names and complete addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor: Publisher, Sandra J. Brant, 575 Broadway, New York, NY 10012; Editor, Ingrid Sischy, 575 Broadway, New York, NY 10012; Managing Editor, Erik Meers, 575 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. 10. Owner is Brant Publications, Inc., 575 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. Stockholder, through intermediate corporations to INTERVIEW, Inc., Sandra J. Brant, owner, Peter Brant, owner. 11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning of holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: NONE. 12. N/A. 13. Publication title: INTERVIEW. 14. Issue date tar circulation data below: September 2003. 15. Extent and nature of circulation, A. Total no. of copies (net press run) for average no copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 227,928; No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 235,063. B. Paid and/or requested circulation, 1. Paid/requested outside-county mail subscriptions: 186,482 for the average and 193,093 for the actual number closest to filing date, 2 Paid in-county subscriptions: none. 3. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and other non-USPS paid distribution: 16,762 for the average and 16,140 for the actual, 4. Other classes mailed through the USPS: none. C. Total paid and/or requested circulation (sum of 15B1, 15B2, 15B3, and 15B4) for the average is 203,244 and for the actual is 209,233. D. Free distribution by mail (samples, complimentary, and other free); for the average is 3,244 and 3,201 for the actual. E. Free distribution outside the mail (carriers and other means); for the average is 4,243 and 5,613 for the actual. F. Total free distribution (sum of 15d and 15e) for the average is 7,487 and for the actual is 8,814, G, Total distribution (sum of 150 and 15f) for the average is 210,731 and for the actual is 218,047. H. Copies not distributed; for the average is 17,197 and for the actual is 17,016. I. Total (sum of 15g and 15h) is 227,928 for the average number of copies and 235,053 for the actual number of single issues published nearest filing date, Percent paid and/or requested circulation (15c/15g x 100) is 964% for the average and 96.0% for the actual. 16. Publication of Statement of Ownership: November 2003. 17. I certify that the statements made by me above me correct and complete. Sandra J. Brant, signature of Publisher.