40 minute read
the militant moderniSt
A Q&A with alumnus Michael Kors, Fashion Design, a designer who needs no introduction
By Alex Joseph
Have you ever wished that one day you would answer the phone and hear a nicesounding lady say, “Hi, would you like to speak to Michael Kors?” Don’t hate me, but this happened to me the other day. The staggeringly successful sportswear designer, former Project Runway judge, and FIT alumnus recently endowed a $1 million scholarship for a Fashion Design student. He took some time to tell Hue about his plans for the lucky recipient, Michelle Obama’s style, and the future of fashion.
Kors grew up on Long Island and came to FIT in the late ’70s to study fashion design. Soon after arriving, he got a job at the upscale boutique Lothar’s, where he began designing and selling his first collection. He was discovered by a Bergdorf Goodman buyer, and launched his namesake line there in 1981. Over the years, he’s dressed numerous celebrities and won awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America for women’s wear in 1999 and menswear in 2003, and in 2010, a lifetime achievement award. The brand has grown to encompass a diffusion line, KORS (footwear and jeans). It was through his appearances on Project Runway, however, that his larger-than-life personality became generally known, particularly for his quips: Once, he described a contestant’s gown as “Mad Max rigatoni.” In our interview, he said, “I don’t know where I got those from,” and the wisecracking persona was nowhere in evidence. He was, instead, thoughtful and perceptive, an articulate businessman in charge of a flourishing career.
Kors described his fall ’13 collection as “urban athleticism meets uptown polish.” Left to right: Double-face melton wool shell jacket, $2,250, and matching zip pencil skirt, $1,450; double-gabardine chesterfield, $1,895, with royal cashmere pullover, $395, and black techno track pant, $295; double-face plush cashgora melton zip front shell jacket, $1,995, and matching zip pencil skirt, $1,450; tweed wool jacquard origami collar jacket, $1,595, and matching zip pencil skirt, $995. A self-proclaimed “militant modernist,” Kors first experimented with design on his mother’s dress for her second marriage. “I told her I thought it would look better with fewer bows. Before I knew it, she had the tailors come in and start to clip off the bows, and sure enough, it looked better!”
Couture Council Honors Kors
The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT will honor Michael Kors with its 2013 Artistry of Fashion Award on September 4 at a benefit luncheon at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. Past recipients are Francisco Costa, Oscar de la Renta, Alber Elbaz, Dries van Noten, Ralph Rucci, and Isabel Toledo. For more info, contact Vicki Guranowski at victoria_guranowski@fitnyc.edu.
Sketch by Michael Kors.
The stuff of (fashionable) life, according to Kors. Left to right: Classic aviator sunglasses, $195; Selma top-zip leather satchel, $358; gold-tone oversized curb-chain logo plate collar necklace, $295; Barbara runway heel, $395; Layton everyday bling watch, $350.
Hue: What’s it like to see your designs on Michelle Obama—in the official White House portrait, no less? MK: I’ve met her numerous times, though we’ve never had an official “fashion repartee.” What’s interesting to me is that, in my lifetime, other than Jackie Kennedy, first ladies were always more formal and buttoned-up. Mostly they disdained fashion. Mrs. Obama demonstrates how you can be smart and interested in fashion while keeping your hectic schedule. Traditionally, the first lady would wear a suit or something colorful for the White House portrait. I never thought we’d see a first lady in black matte jersey!
Who else wears your designs well? We have a huge range of clients of all ages and sizes. We also dress celebrities. Blake Lively, Jennifer Hudson, Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain— these women are all full of confidence. They want to walk in a room and be the person you look at. I think of myself as the framer; the woman is the picture.
Sounds like something Chanel would say. Well, like Chanel, I think about how clothes work in real life. Of course, celebrities—like Angelina Jolie, who’s been a client for years—have a heightened real life. But again, I think it’s really that confidence that’s the connective thread. Also the idea that good fashion doesn’t have an expiration date. The dress Michelle wore to the last inaugural reception was four years old. Do you have a muse? I have my mix of muses, just like women have different moods. It’s not one woman; it’s a cast of characters, like an Almodóvar or Fellini film. My mom has always been a bellwether. She likes simplicity, understatement, a laid-back look. My grandmother, on the other hand, was over the top. She loved beads and glamour. They’re two sides to one coin. I do a blend.
Last fall, you endowed a $1 million FIT scholarship. The student recipient gets a full ride, plus an internship at your firm. What’s the most important thing you have to tell them? Two things. One, they have to know the customer. They have to spend time watching people shop. But they also need to have a curiosity about what’s going on, past and present. Pop culture, film, music, TV, travel…. Even if you can’t afford to travel, in today’s world, you can sit in traffic and on a bus and go to Bali on your phone. You can’t be bottled up. You can’t say, “I’ve seen it all.” Fashion is the big picture. We tell the story of what’s happening in the world, so we have to know that story.
Over the years we’ve noticed that a lot of designers on Project Runway have vision, but limited technical skills. How important are they in today’s global fashion world? There’s no set way of doing things. I’ve been sketching since I was 4 or 5, but I am a disastrous sewer. I like to work fast. Sewing is like baking, and sketching is an impromptu stew. I am not a baker. You do need to know how clothes are made—the finishing, the fit. But I think more of the skills needed today are, Can you talk to the press? Do you know who the customer is? When you meet that customer, can you talk to them? Can you strike a balance between art and commerce? What’s different about young designers today from when you started out? In a word, the internet. It changed everything about fashion. I used to go to the FIT library and look at 1935 issues of Vogue. That’s not the same as putting Poiret into Google. Today, there’s a lot more sampling of styles. Back then, you could start quietly. For my first fashion show, we only had one TV show—Style with Elsa Klensch on CNN. Today, you can graduate from school, put a collection together, and suddenly there are a million blogs with all these opinions being thrown at you. Then, if you didn’t live in a big city, you didn’t have a chance, but now anyone can watch a show live stream from Manitoba. So you can get that attention very quickly, but you haven’t learned how to sustain things. You’re finding your way, but doing it very publicly. There’s more opportunity today than when I started because of a greater curiosity about new designers. But it’s much harder to work when the spotlight is blaring at you with such a high intensity.
What’s the future of fashion? We never thought fashion would be so global. Once, I had to learn about the customer in Texas; now, it’s Singapore. We’ll never go back to Kay Thompson in Funny Face saying, “Think pink!” and everyone’s suddenly wearing pink. We’ll definitely see more democracy of fashion, which began in the ’70s. More and more, individuals will dress for their own individual styles, their own group.
And the rest of it—who knows? We’ll see where the world takes us, and that’s where fashion will go.
Corbis
Celebrities in Kors, clockwise from top: Angelina Jolie in a black double-face stretch wool crepe column gown with lace detail (at the Producers Guild Awards, 2012); Blake Lively in a crimson stretch wool one-button blazer, black viscose ribbed tank, and crimson stretch wool skinny Samantha pants (at a Good Morning America appearance, 2012); Jessica Alba (with Kors) in a gold lamé oneshoulder goddess gown (at the Met Gala, 2012); Gwyneth Paltrow in a black double-face stretch wool crepe harness cutout dress (at the 2012 Golden Heart Awards Gala).
A Course in Kors
The designer recalls his time at FIT
Strange as it might seem now, New York in the ’70s was dangerous. You had to make sure you had ten dollars in your pocket to give to muggers. We would rush from 27th Street down to the deli on 23rd. Same thing going to Penn Station. We were scared.
There was exuberance about fashion then. I snuck into the COTY [American Fashion Critics’] Awards, which were held at FIT. American fashion came into its own at that time. It was the height of Halston, Calvin Klein, and Bill Blass. It wasn’t just about Paris couture.
I met Charles James, who was at the Chelsea Hotel. He was very eccentric; his whole place was full of cat food cans. He was bitter and angry, and couldn’t understand why, when he’d been a genius, he was living in this one-room cramped apartment in Chelsea.
I remember my first draping class. We had to do a classically tailored suit. But I thought, “Who wants shoulder pads? Who wants darts?” I was a militant modernist. I made a very soft version of the suit. And I didn’t want to see it on a dress form, so for the final presentation, there were all these suits on dress forms, and mine on a live model. I think the faculty saw it coming from a distance. I was very opinionated.
I worked part time at Lothar’s boutique. We had everyone from Jackie to Nureyev to Cher come in. They asked me to do an illustration, and it ran in the Times. I went to the FIT bookshop and bought up every copy.
When people see avant-garde fashion on the runway, they say, “Where would you wear that?” When I was in school, no matter how crazy it was, you’d see it at Studio 54. We’d go three times a week. We’d eat popcorn for dinner. We’d go to vintage stores, Army-Navy stores, buy something, dye it in the sink, pin it together, and create. When you’re in school, if you want to dress to express yourself, that’s the time to do it, and we did.
I remember Arlene Shore ran the dorm. She was the den mother of late ’70s insanity. We’d take our speakers and put them in the hallway at 5:30 in the morning for a runway show. She figured out a way not to crush that spontaneity while making sure the kids got to class and prospered.
Last summer, Macy’s hired an astounding 42 FIT graduates
into three Executive Development programs, and a similar number were hired this year. These programs, two in buying and planning and one in product development, prepare recruits for careers at the $26 billion company.
How do so many graduates get hired in one year? First of all, Macy’s reps guest-teach Fashion Merchandising Management classes to talk about their jobs and promote these EDPs. Second, FIT keeps programs current by consulting with industry, and the FMM curriculum was revamped based on suggestions from Macy’s and other leading retailers; students now choose a specialization: buying and planning, product development, or fashion management.
On these pages, recent hires and veterans talk about what they do. Their success is evident: in the time it took to produce this story, three of the women featured here were promoted.
Christina Klaffka
FMM ’03, vice president, merchandise manager, Millennial: Juniors and Impulse, Macys.com
Omnichannel is the wave of the future, and it’s a crucial part of driving millennial business. It’s serving the customer no matter whether she’s in-store or online, both bricks and clicks. For example, we just put almost 200 styles online that we didn’t own in the Macys.com warehouse. Instead, teams in most of our doors pull from store stock, box it up, and ship it out to the customer. Also, if a store doesn’t have what our customer wants, a sales associate can help her browse the online assortment—our site is smartphone- and tablet-enabled. And she can go to the store to return something she bought online. Chances are, she’s picking up something else on the way out.
The Stars of Macy’s
Josephine DiBisceglie
FMM ’01, manager, Learning and Development, Human Resources, Macy’s Merchandising Group
I’m responsible for the EDP in product development. It’s a 15-month program, and we train four squads a year. I help recruit for it, I make sure the speakers are delivering the right messages, and I coach the trainees through the process. They learn a lot of technical stuff—how to use our order-entry system, for example. A lot is about communication: it can be very difficult to understand what our overseas offices are saying in emails.
When they can stand up in front of a room and present a line, that’s when we know they’re ready to be promoted.
Olga Leykin
FMM ’06, buyer, Junior Dresses, Macy’s Department Stores
I go to showrooms at least one week a month and pull product. Back in the office, I arrange a style-out, where we lay everything out before we write orders. By bringing together items from different showrooms, we eliminate duplication, and we get a sense of what the retail floor will look like.
My dot-com counterpart comes with me during market weeks, and we talk through our assortments together. Online products need to make an impact visually, because the customer isn’t touching it and trying it on. The Macys.com buyer will pick something in a brighter color or more embellished. But she’s more flexible in terms of how many different things she can buy. A website can hold as much merchandise as you want, but a store has limited space.
Jocelyn Cullison
FMM ’07, planner, Activewear, Macy’s Department Stores
I do the planning for Nike, The North Face, and our private activewear label, Ideology. My buyer picks product, and I tell her how much she can afford. I decide which stores will get which assortments, based on lots of factors, including sales histories and climate. For example, for a winter buy, we’ll send short sleeves to stores in warmer regions when the rest of the country is bringing in long sleeves. I also analyze sales every week to see how each The Stars of Macy’s Alyssa Rinck store is selling, manage stock levels, and ensure we are allocating enough product to the stores. If something’s not selling, I dig down to the store level to find out why. Maybe a pant is just sitting in the stockroom. Maybe it’s on the floor and we need to take a markdown. Or maybe that pant didn’t work for one store, so I’m not going to give it to them next year. “A website can hold as much merchandise as you want, but a store has limited space.” FMM ’12, assistant planner, Boys 2-20, Macys.com
All the clothes have 3D elements.”
Jacquelyn Miranda
FMM ’11, associate product manager, Macy’s Merchandising Group, Epic Threads, Girls 2-6x
Epic Threads is one of Macy’s exclusive private label brands. We develop comfortable and trendy clothes for girls. A major role of mine is owning the submit approval process. Almost every day, our vendor, who acts as a middleman between Macy’s and the overseas factories, submits strike offs, which are samples of the garment in large swatch form. I comment on the many elements of the sample, and when all aspects are approved, the style goes into bulk production.
All the clothes have 3D elements: a bow, puff paint, or maybe lace. With kids’ clothing we have to avoid certain chemicals, like lead. We can’t have drawstrings, and if we have a bow, it needs to be just decorative—it can’t come undone. A large portion of the Boys business is driven by basic styles that we keep in stock all the time. I analyze seasonal spikes in demand, keeping in mind what marketing or calendar events might influence the need for more inventory, to make sure we never run out of these items.
I started here as an intern, and after graduation I came back to be a part of the Executive Development Program. We had guest speakers from every level of the merchant world. They weren’t training us to be assistants; they were training us to be future buyers, planners, and beyond. Jeff Kantor, chairman of Macys.com, came to speak to us. I mentioned a project I was working on, and by Friday I was sitting in his office, and he was giving me advice.
A veterAn romAnce novel illustrAtor reminisces About HArlequins, Hot clencHes, And (of course) fAbio
By Jonathan Vatner
The “hot clench,” the classic image on a bodice ripper, required a shirtless hunk ravishing the heroine, in any number of poses. This one features Fabio, whom Peck painted half a dozen times. She never totally understood his appeal, though: “His jaw was way wider than his temples,” she says. When the romance illustration business dried up a few years ago, Peck (right) segued into fine art. She’s best known for her animal portraits and still lifes.
Visit blog.fitnyc.edu/huetoo to see more of Peck’s fine art. HETHER OR NOT their dramatic poses and lurid landscapes set your heart afire, classic romance novel covers are arresting works of technical expertise. The scenes on these pages were painted by Leslie Pellegrino Peck, Illustration ’87, who created more than 700 romance covers over two decades. Often, the artist was better paid than the writer, because a “sleepworthy” cover—as in, “Would you want to sleep with that guy?”—sold the book.
All of Peck’s covers are closely based on black-and-white photographs. In fact, she got her start while assisting a photographer who specialized in shooting for illustrators in publishing—not just romance novels but science fiction and Westerns, too. Art directors for books wandered into the studio all the time; one agreed to let her illustrate an upcoming novel on spec. The result, an image of a nubile couple waist-deep in a moonlit lake, became the cover of The Rialto Affair, published in 1989. From there, assignments flooded in, for the gamut of romance publishers from Avon Books to Zebra/Pinnacle, and, of course, Harlequin.
For each cover, she would style a shoot for a dramatically lit, windblown photo, based not on the novel itself but on a one-page description of the characters and the setting (“I’m sure the authors would be horrified,” she admits). When painting, she kept within the genre’s rigid conventions; outside considerations such as historical accuracy, consistency with the plot, and the laws of physics were summarily ignored.
A few years ago, when the publishing industry’s coffers began to shrink, lush oil paintings were cast aside in favor of inexpensive photos (a glass of wine, a rose, an unmade bed), and digital watercolor effects were used to make a photographed scene look painterly. The genre is still publishing’s juggernaut though, racking up more than $1.3 billion in sales each year, giving it the largest share of the U.S. consumer market, according to a 2012 report.
Peck moved on, but she remembers her “romantic” career fondly. Hue invites you to luxuriate in some of her best work.
The covers of Gothic romances (stories descended from Wuthering Heights) were always the same: a young woman running away from a castle, with one light on in the top window. Peck loved these projects best, because it took ingenuity to come up with fresh variations.
A 1996 book jacket with a painting by Peck. Regency novels, Jane Austen–inspired genteel romances brimming with clever banter, often featured covers in which the hero would bend down to kiss the fully dressed heroine’s gloved hand. Rarely did he touch her below the shoulder.
Under the Covers
Tastes have changed since the heyday of bodice rippers and Regencies. Three FIT-affiliated writers talk about their contemporary romances.
K.M. (Kwana) Jackson
FashIOn DesIgn ’89
Jackson, who writes romances with AfricanAmerican characters, finds it hard to believe in the squeaky-clean virgins who populated her grandmother’s Harlequins and who still persist in the genre. “It drives me bananas,” she says. “Really, nobody’s ever got you hot?” In her second novel, Seduction’s Canvas (Crimson Romance, 2013), a bad-boy biker moves in across the hall from a painter with a dark past. Jackson’s third novel, about love in a not-so-glamorous corner of the fashion industry, is in the works. Kwana.com
Yael Kagan Levy
IllustratIOn ’92
In Brooklyn Love (Crimson Romance, 2012), three Orthodox young women, including one FIT student, find their way in New York while remaining true to their traditions. Levy, an Orthodox Jew originally from Brooklyn, says her work is about people from disparate cultures learning to see beyond their differences. She notes that the realistic endings, in which characters break off their engagements or choose security over love, don’t always match the mainstream conception of “happily ever after.” “Some people are disturbed by the endings, but I think I’m okay with that,” Levy says. “Everyone agrees that the books are a fantastic read.” YaelLevyAuthor.com
Roberta Degnore
aDjunCt InstruCtOr, psYChOlOgY, FIt
More than 30 years after paying her way through graduate school by writing romances and other novels under a pseudonym, Degnore is releasing updated versions under her own name. The major change? Nobody gets married. “If people want to marry, that’s great. But I want to make a statement that marriage isn’t necessary.” In Gold Digger! (Digital Fabulists, 2012), for example, a shrinking violet discovers a gold mine and falls for a dashing Spaniard. The “happily ever after” comes from the heroine’s newfound independence, not from any old diamond ring. RobertaDegnore.com
Nick Parisse ’09
Funny Business
How Caroline Hirsch, Fashion Buying and Merchandising ’72, became the doyenne of the comedy biz
By Christy Harrison
comedian Kevin Meaney asks a youngish man with a Gordon Gekko hairstyle seated in the front row of Carolines on Broadway. “No? Well, you look like you have a lot of money.”
This isn’t just a comedian’s typical crowd work. Tonight Carolines is hosting a benefit for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, and Meaney is emceeing the silent auction that will be followed by a comedy show (with short sets by Jim Gaffigan, Robert Klein, Lisa Lampanelli, and Hari Kondabolu). When a large-format print by Alice Dalton Brown brings in $1,300, Meaney tells the winning bidder, “Good for you—you’re going to be able to sell this when there’s no money left.”
While the club’s owner and namesake, Caroline Hirsch, fits in with this well-to-do crowd—she looks chic and puttogether in a little black dress, regularly attends other charity benefits, and spends time in the Hamptons—she was raised in a working-class neighborhood in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and is remarkably down-to-earth. “I’ve always had a very level head,” she says. “I’m not impressed by celebrities—everybody’s the same.”
That attitude serves her well, since celebrities are always performing at Carolines, or just stopping by. Hirsch recalls a memorable show about two years ago, when Jeff Garlin was headlining. Unbeknownst to Garlin and most of the crowd, Robin Williams was in the audience. “Someone starts heckling Jeff,” Hirsch says, “so Robin puts on an Irish accent and starts heckling the heckler. You should’ve seen the expression on Jeff’s face when he realized it was Robin!” The surprised Garlin invited Williams onstage, and the two did 45 minutes of improvised comedy together.
Hirsch never planned on becoming a club owner and had no show business experience when she helped found Carolines 30 years ago. After graduating from FIT, she worked as a buyer at several department stores, eventually landing a position as a market rep for Gimbels. In the early ’80s, the department store giant was struggling, and she was laid off. Two friends opening a cabaret convinced her to become a partner. “I wasn’t doing anything, so I put in a little bit of money,” she recalls. They named the place after her and opened in 1982 on Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, a block from FIT. (Hirsch is now the sole owner; her original partners own comedy clubs in Boston.)
Then, Carolines seated only about 100 people (the space is now a liquor store), but at the time there weren’t enough cabaret acts to sustain even a small club. Standup comedy, however, was on the verge of a major boom. Late Night with David Letterman had recently gone on the air, and Hirsch had seen Jay Leno’s act on the show, so she hired him to perform. Leno annnounced on television that he was appearing at Carolines, providing crucial PR. She began to book other rising stars—Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, Garry Shandling, and Sandra Bernhard—and those who appeared on Letterman and The Tonight Show mentioned Carolines, too. “And that kind of started the club on a national level,” she says.
While Hirsch attributes part of her club’s success to the explosion of standup comedy over the past three decades, the skills she developed as a fashion buyer certainly played a role. “A buyer and a producer are almost the same thing: You have to give people what they want. I knew what skirt was going to sell, and I know what comedian is going to sell—I have that feeling.” It’s a mixture of intuition and knowing the audience, which at Carolines is primarily a 30-something crowd. “You have to know what those 34-year-olds will buy a ticket for,” she says. “We know because we’ve groomed a lot of comedians from the start, and we know when they’re starting to click with the younger crowd.” She says that exposure through television (especially Comedy Central) and radio helps comedians connect with that demographic and helps to predict their ability to draw crowds.
Some acts surprise her with their success. In 1981, years before his popular children’s TV show Pee-wee’s Playhouse, comedian Paul Reubens was performing as manically quirky Pee-wee Herman at comedy clubs in Los Angeles. Hirsch reached out to Reubens around 1983, asking him to put together an act for Carolines. “It really popped,” she says. “There were lines around the block. Even Andy Warhol came in to see it, with a whole gang—they were all wearing pajamas.” Reubens’ show at the club was a proto version of Playhouse, Hirsch recalls. “The Playhouse TV show was conceived because the creators came in to see him at Carolines,” she says. “And when he was talking about doing the movie Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, we even talked about having it be a bicycle ride across the country to Carolines.”
Other early stars were Dave Chappelle and Jon Stewart. Hirsch recalls that Chappelle was very young—probably about 18—the first time he worked the club, which by then had moved to a bigger space at the South Street Seaport. Stewart was another opening act there, and Hirsch also had him do a children’s show (complete with costume) on Saturday mornings.
In 1992, Carolines moved to its current location on Broadway and 50th Street. Although large, it feels intimate and homey, with brightly colored accents throughout. The contro-
versial insult comic Lisa Lampanelli earned stage time by passing out flyers for the club in Times Square. “And Sarah Silverman was around for a long time before she headlined here,” Hirsch says. The Wayans brothers (Shawn and Marlon) were also regular performers, along with their brother Damon and his son, Damon Jr. Recently, some of the hottest young comedians Hirsch has featured include Anthony Jeselnik and John Mulaney. She attributes their success to both exposure and persistence. “These kids have put in over ten years already. When you’re good, you really do make it in the comedy business, but it doesn’t happen overnight.” To her, taking the time to develop material is what separates the great comedians from the mediocre ones. “Just because you have two minutes of material “a buyer anD a proDucer doesn’t mean you’re going to make it. You have to work to craft are almost the same a joke; Jerry Seinfeld said he works for a year to get a new hour. You have to get the wording right, do the fine tuning.” thing. i knew what skirt Hirsch’s first TV project, Caroline’s Comedy Hour, had a was going to sell, anD six-year run on A&E in the early ’90s, and she and her staff are i know what comeDian pitching ideas for another standup program. She also produces the New York Comedy Festival, a weeklong lineup of shows at is going to sell.” venues around the city. Ten years ago, Hirsch booked a show at Carnegie Hall to celebrate the club’s 20th anniversary; since then, the festival has expanded to nearly 60 shows in venues large and small, including Madison Square Garden. Last year about 60,000 tickets were sold. She is also developing a TV show with a cast of women comedians. “The networks don’t take a gamble with female comedians the way they would with male comedians,” Hirsch says, though she cites Inside Amy Schumer on Comedy Central as evidence that this is changing. “And now everybody’s on the Tina Fey–Amy Poehler bandwagon. They didn’t realize that Tina Fey was writing and producing Saturday Night Live for years before this all happened. But they’ll see. They saw what happened with Bridesmaids, Bachelorette. They’ll see it.” Hirsch says that if her gender affected her own career, it was in subtle ways. “I never took no for an answer,” she says, “so I don’t know if [being a woman] was a hindrance. Probably, but I still won out. I still did what I wanted to do.”
From left to right: Louis CK, Hirsch with Jerry Seinfeld, Joel McHale, Tracy Morgan, and Hirsch with Kathy Griffin.
news from your classmates
1969
Sugar Paws Photo Design
Travel necklace, $40.
kathY shaW BurnsIDe, FashIOn DesIgn, recently retired from teaching jewelry design at Lenoir Community College in Kinston, NC, crafts jewelry from recycled paper and sells it at The Baked Bead, a new jewelry-and-cupcake shop she runs with her daughter, a baker, in Mebane, 20 miles west of Durham. (The peanut butter cup flavor is a must-try.)
1970
prIsCIlla herDman, FashIOn DesIgn, is a retired folk singer who recorded more than a dozen albums over her 40-year career. She calls herself a “songfinder,” because she discovers and interprets others’ songs, occasionally writing her own tunes. She introduced the songs of Eric Bogle from Australia and Stan Rogers from Canada to an American audience; Anne Hills and Bill Staines have written songs for her, too. Although she doesn’t consider herself a children’s singer, she might be best known for Stardreamer: Nightsongs & Lullabies, her 1988 collection for her daughter, Suzanna, which has sold more than 130,000 copies.
1984
CassanDra tInDal, FashIOn DesIgn, opened Cassi’s Glory Couture, a Millville, NJ, accessories boutique that sells crowns, headdresses, and shawls of her own creation, along with blinged-out handbags and jewelry, for weddings and other special occasions. Instead of putting on a traditional runway show, she is working with a local historic theater to present her designs in a stage show about a royal kingdom.
Cassandra Tindal
Tindal’s wedding crown, $300, is a wire sculpture covered with beaded, sequined petals of organza.
Sexy Seaming
rOBert rODrIguez, FashIOn DesIgn ’86
The Cuban-born designer Robert Rodriguez, who celebrates the tenth anniversary of his collection this year, has made a name for himself with smoking-hot silhouettes that adorn youthful but sophisticated Hollywood A-listers like Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, and Eva Longoria. His line now sells in 385 top-shelf boutiques and department stores, such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, at prices ranging from $98 for a tank top to $1,500 for a leather coat. (Everything in his Robbi and Nikki label retails for less than $200.) In 2010, Rodriguez became a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Hue spoke with Rodriguez about his design process. Hue: I love the angles and shapes in your pre-fall collection. What inspired you? Rodriguez: I had a couple of black shopping bags in my office. One day I noticed that the Robert Rodriguez dress, cotton/nylon/elastane blend, squares and rectangles looked very architecspring 2013, $365. tural. I started cutting up the bags and creating silhouettes, color blocking, and seaming. From that I created a collection that was very geometric and modern. Why do women find your clothes so sexy? I pay close attention to the way I fit the garment. For me, a pencil skirt needs to fit like a pencil. I move the side seams forward a quarter of an inch to make them look even slimmer. I never like when pants sag in the back—that’s not sexy. So I either put a dart in the back or take out the excess fabric. You have to make sure the butt is perky. Do you have to be skinny to wear Robert Rodriguez? Not at all! Oprah has worn my stuff. We go up to size 14. If they’re above that, I’ll do something special. Three years ago, your business was acquired by Jones New York. How have things changed? It honestly hasn’t changed anything for me. But we are expanding, looking at doing shoes and handbags and opening Robert Rodriguez retail stores. We launch our first e-commerce site this summer.
Courtesy of Robert Rodriguez
1988
jOhn sICa, aDvertIsIng DesIgn, paints ordinary objects such as a bottle of Windex, a raw chicken, and a box of packing peanuts. He doesn’t work from photographs. Rather, when he notices the way light hits an object, he tries to re-create that effect in his studio. “Lighting is almost a spiritual thing,” he says. “The more you meditate on the subtle shifts of color between light and shadow, the more interesting they become.” Another reason he focuses on still life: he doesn’t need to hire a model.
Packing Peanuts, oil on panel, 24 by 27.5 inches, $5,200.
jennIFer sChlegel grOve, marketIng: FashIOn anD relateD InDustrIes, is president and creative director of Sky Blue Events in Baltimore. She designs fashion-forward dinner parties and weddings, as well as benefits with a built-in dress code, for example, “Tartans & Tidings,” “Oxfords & Oysters,” and “Pints & Pinstripes.” She started the company after enough friends asked her to help with their weddings. “At one point I was thinking, okay, I’m no longer a guest because I’m setting the table.”
1996
marIa rapsOmanIkI CasaBIanCa, marketIng: FashIOn anD relateD InDustrIes, recently opened Bianca Boutique in Westport, CT. The 1,200-square-foot shop sells clothing and accessories geared toward women ages 35 to 50 (which includes herself; she wears about 80 percent of the styles she sells).
The interior of Bianca Boutique.
1999
prItsana kOOtInt-haDIatmODjO, paCkagIng DesIgn, anD Chez BrYan Ong, aDvertIsIng DesIgn, are the creative directors of Spoon+Fork, a graphic design studio in Manhattan. They launched the business with another friend from FIT, Rika Koreeda, Advertising Design ’99, director of artist development. The agency has done brand-focused graphic design for the University of Southern California, Iman Cosmetics, and the New York International Latino Film Festival. For the National Women’s Business Council, for example, Spoon+Fork produced a series of infographics highlighting the disparities between men- and women-owned businesses, for use in the annual report, press releases, and event design. Because it’s a small operation, their responsibilities extend far beyond the creative. “Accounting, janitorial, you name it,” Ong says. “No egos involved. We just try to get it done.”
The cover of the National Women’s Business Council’s annual report, designed by Spoon+Fork.
HouSe of yeS
jOhanna saum almsteaD, InternatIOnal traDe anD marketIng ’97
With her left hand, Johanna Almstead is checking email on her BlackBerry. With her right hand, she’s busy exploring a website on her iPhone. “The original goal was to have a work phone and a personal phone,” she admits. “Obviously that didn’t work out.” Her job as the director of public relations for Kate Spade NY simply doesn’t fit into one phone—or one workday. Assisted by her “small but mighty” team of publicists, the selfAlmstead in Kate Spade NY’s offices. proclaimed “fashion lobbyist” keeps a confident hand in all of the company’s initiatives, from woman-focused philanthropy to launching the casual line Kate Spade Saturday to opening the company’s three-story flagship boutique on Madison Avenue in May. She fields requests from editors and pitches features. She ensures that celebrity “Kate Spade girls”—such as Reese Witherspoon, Taylor Swift, and Zooey Deschanel’s character on New Girl—are outfitted with the latest styles. And she orchestrates quirky celebrity events, like a rooftop bash at the chichi Hotel Fasano in Rio, which saw guests floating on inflatable swans in the pool. “I feel like this is a ‘yes’ company,” she says. “I throw out crazy ideas, and they say, ‘Sure, let’s try it. Why not?’”
Almstead works an 11-hour day; when she travels internationally, to host events and expand into new markets, that figure cranks up to 20. (She took about 30 work trips last year.) She has no idea how she’ll maintain her lightning pace when her first child comes later this year, though the answer probably lies in her double-handed phone prowess. “I can work anywhere,” she says.
Smiljana Peros
2000
nICk anguelOv, InternatIOnal traDe anD marketIng, joins the Department of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, this fall as an assistant professor. He researches economic development and foreign investments globally and domestically. For example, he is examining the impact of offshore wind turbines along the Eastern Seaboard on tourism and shipping. “There’s a whole big industry around the development of turbines,” he explains. Previously, he was assistant director of the MPA program at Clemson University in South Carolina, where he earned a PhD in policy studies last August. Before returning to school, he worked in site selection for corporations looking to expand internationally, and he ran his own importing company, distributing Eastern European folkloric artifacts to boutiques and galleries in the tri-state area.
mIChele levesQue, textIle/surFaCe DesIgn, runs a Mexican restaurant with her husband near Deer Isle, ME, an hour south of Bangor. She sources about half of the ingredients locally, including the lobster, crab, and other shellfish that find their way into burritos and tacos. She even contracted with a local farm to provide black beans. The restaurant is called El El Frijoles; not everyone gets the pun. (Hint: a major mailorder outfitter is based in Maine.) Levesque also creates stitched collage artworks, and she recently rejiggered a cigarette machine to dispense small pieces by 10 local artists, including herself, for $10 each.
Sailing Through Life, mixed media, 5 by 2.25 inches
news from your classmates
2002
erIn kuBaCh, graphIC DesIgn, an art teacher at Hoboken (NJ) High School, was named Hoboken’s District Teacher of the Year. In addition to developing classes in ceramics and set and display design, infusing art into other teachers’ curricula, and exposing students to viable careers in art, she oversees a dizzying range of extracurriculars including the ski club, the GayStraight Alliance, the Sierra Club, Harvard Model Congress, and boys’ and girls’ tennis teams. “I run around like a lunatic at all times,” she says.
2007
alI lazar, FashIOn merChanDIsIng management, founded Dogtails, a dog shampoo company. The product contains the oils of sunflower seeds, rosemary, grapefruit, and lime, and is free of dyes, artificial fragrances, parabens, and the harsh foaming agent sodium lauryl sulfate. The brand’s logo is based on her dachshund, which she adopted while studying at FIT.
2008
sever tamelYn WIlDe (jennIFer sneeD), FashIOn DesIgn, is launching a label with a spring 2014 collection of “prairie couture,” themed around horses and riders. Some of the dresses incorporate horse faces: the pockets look like nostrils, the bust like the eyes. Other designs bring in details from cowboy culture. “I’m trying to turn the dress into an embodiment of a horse,” the native Oklahoman says, “so you see the models coming down the runway like a team of horses.”
Carousel Horse, cotton/cashmere blend, spring 2014. Look closely to see a horse’s head in the bodice.
makerS’ mark
katIe COvIngtOn, jeWelrY DesIgn ’08, anD janet CrOWther, jeWelrY DesIgn ’09
The contents of a recent For the Makers craft box. Every month, crafting enthusiasts across the country are mailed a cardboard box just large enough to fit a pair of baby shoes or a tall stack of thank-you notes. Inside are the materials to create four small accessories, such as a necklace, bracelet, or key fob. Recipients go online for step-by-step instructions and, with just scissors, pliers, and glue, can begin crafting straightaway.
This is the concept of For the Makers, started in 2011 by Katie Covington and Janet Crowther, who have designed jewelry for Kate Spade, Marc by Marc Jacobs, and Banana Republic. They got the idea after seeing blog posts that explained how to make cheaper versions of their designs. This imitation was not only the sincerest form of flattery, but revealed that DIYers were hungry for step-by-step guidance—and might pay for craft kits by professional designers.
“We think of it as empowering people to make what they would otherwise buy,” Crowther says.
So far, it’s a cottage industry. The women scan the runways and the streets for ideas, then source trendy, commercial-quality materials domestically. Limiting the price is important, as each box sells for $29. Covington writes the instructions and Crowther photographs every step; these tutorials are posted at ForTheMakers.com. A fulfillment company handles most of the packing and shipping. Their marketing is entirely word-ofmouth, with platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter, though a holiday box sold at Anthropologie also gave the company top-shelf exposure.
The business has been a success, allowing Covington and Crowther to quit their jobs. But the two are most satisfied when they see their subscribers designing handmade gifts or even starting their own Etsy shops, using techniques they learned from For the Makers.
“The more people ‘making’ and sharing the skills they know, the better it is for our community,” Covington says.
2009
alexanDer suDalnIk, FashIOn DesIgn, works as a designer and knitwear consultant. He recently helped develop a knitted running shoe upper for Nike called the Flyknit, readying it for production and expanding the idea to other kinds of shoes. Because a knitted shoe comprises only two pieces, versus 30 or 40 in a traditional shoe, it produces less waste and is faster to make. Custom fitting is easier, too. “One day, you could have shoes programmed to fit your feet,” he says.
Nike’s Flyknit shoe.
sources of inspiration
Illustration by Amy Geller, MA ’10
market WatCh
Alina Gonzalez
Cosmetics and fragrance marketing ’95
Wherever I go around the world, one of the first things I hit is the grocery store. It may sound a bit strange, but the ways in which food is packaged often translate into the beauty sector. Avon develops 1,800 products a year—it’s an insane amount of innovation—so you have to look outside the industry for inspiration. The market is super-saturated, so it’s things like packaging that make a product stand out from the crowd.
Some years back I was in France, doing product innovation for a past employer, and I came across these little foil packettes of applesauce for children, with a twist cap that you could close back up if you weren’t finished. (Now you find that packaging all over the U.S.) We worked up a concept around this idea, for a facial cleanser refill that doesn’t create a tremendous amount of waste. For various reasons, mainly because developing the packaging would be cost-prohibitive, that product didn’t hit shelves. But the idea ended up being a success in unexpected ways. The packettes were used for single-use face cream and facial cleanser sold in India, where many people can’t afford a month’s supply. So the packaging introduced the brand in areas of the world where use of facial-care products is low, helping to develop new markets.
Gonzalez is the executive director of global product innovation for the skin care category of Avon Products, Inc.
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