Q&A Archive – July 15, 2008
What are you reading this Summer?
I tend to read several books at a time - I just finished a fantastic book about iconic female singer/songwriters called "Girls Like Us : Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon -- and the Journey of a Generation" by Sheila Weller, also in play is "Nuryev: The Life" by Julie Kavanagh.
How do you begin to design a collection?
It all starts from the point of trying to think what my customer will want or need? Also, there are proportions and shapes that begin in one season and need to carry on in new ways to the next, so that can kick-start an idea. Sometimes a piece of fabric can get some juices flowing. But for the most part I get ideas from pop culture and what goes on around me. A few seasons ago it struck me that dance and dancing was taking the country by storm, and, unknowingly, I moved around the corner from the Joffrey Ballet school, and seeing these young women coming and going in their various layers and shapes helped me formulate the concept. For Fall it was a convergence of being glued to MAD MEN on TV, listening to tons of Amy Winehouse and seeing Hitchcock films on DVD which lead me to a return to a more tailored way of dressing -- but not so strict or referential to the 1960's, so in a newer more relaxed way.
