- 6 weeks ago
Anna Sui has built an empire on individuality—and four decades later, she’s still chasing the thrill of discovery. On this episode of The Good Buy, the legendary fashion designer joins Harper’s BAZAAR to reflect on the vintage treasures, designer obsessions, and pop culture icons that have shaped her signature style. From unearthing gems in London's flea markets, to bidding on Elizabeth Taylor’s caftans at auction, Anna shares the stories behind her most unforgettable buys, and the joy of finding inspiration in the most unexpected places. She looks back on her early days at Parsons, going dancing with famed photographer Steven Meisel, the lasting influence of the 1960s on her personal style, and the joy of chasing down long-lost pieces (including her own past designs!). Whether she’s adding to her collection of high-street blazers or searching for that one-of-a-kind find, Anna proves that personal style is a lifelong treasure hunt.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Hi, I'm Lynette Nylander, and I'm Lea Chernikoff, and this is Harper's Bazaar's The Goodbye,
00:06where we invite celebrities, designers, models, and tastemakers to talk shop.
00:10What they buy, where they got it, and why it matters.
00:16Lynette.
00:18Yes.
00:19Do you have a goodbye this week?
00:21I don't know why this always remains such a surprise, because this is the goodbye after all.
00:27It is the same question every time.
00:29It's the same question.
00:30Okay, I've been thinking a lot about socks.
00:33Okay.
00:33They're an afterthought, as they are, I assume, to many people.
00:36You know, I just throw them on.
00:38My socks can get really, really heinous.
00:40You know, whatever sports sock.
00:43Mismatched situation that I can find.
00:45You just throw them on.
00:46I just throw them on, but I've been trying to elevate.
00:47I was inspired.
00:49Work Fashion Week, all of the fashion set always go to Chavez, the famous shirt maker.
00:54It's notoriously really expensive.
00:56The socks are a nice entryway.
00:57They're still ridiculous for socks.
01:00There's something like $150 for socks, but I was reminded of them.
01:03I couldn't do that.
01:04Yeah.
01:04Completely fair.
01:05I was reminded of said Chavez sock yet again when I went to the Rowe store uptown, and they
01:11have like a small little selection of socks.
01:14I am not...
01:15Do they make their own socks?
01:16They do not, but I think, you know, Mary-Kate and Ashley traverse the world looking for the
01:22best sock, as you can come to believe in with all things the Rowe or Rowe curated, and they
01:29have Chavez socks in their stores.
01:31I see.
01:31I am not going to go all that way, though if anyone wants to buy me any Chavez socks, I'm
01:38available.
01:38I love these Maria La Rosa ones.
01:42They're a little Italian-run family company in Italy.
01:46They're just gorgeous and fab and still pricey for socks, but a lot nicer.
01:51I was in Somerset this weekend in England, and they had them in their like hotel store.
01:56I guess they are.
01:57Yeah.
01:58They're going that route.
01:59Very boutique.
02:00Very like, if you know, you know.
02:02And so Maria La Rosa socks.
02:04What about you?
02:04So I have like one goodbye quest, and maybe you can help me with it.
02:09Okay.
02:09I decided I really want a pink Chanel jacket.
02:14Oh, a classic.
02:15Yeah.
02:16This brings me so much joy.
02:18I've been searching, obviously, on the RealReal.
02:21But like, when I look for like a pink jacket, it's only Chanel.
02:25Like, all the tweeds are good.
02:27Like, all the shades are good.
02:28And I've decided that's my new kind of holy grail.
02:32Do you remember in Sex and the City where Stanford's, is it grandmother or mother, is
02:36like, only wear Chanel tweed jackets?
02:39And she goes, they never go out of style.
02:41I have them in pink, blue, black.
02:43It's such a point that I remember from that episode.
02:46But it's so true.
02:47So the only caveat I would say is buying a secondary Chanel tweed jacket.
02:54I've tried.
02:54I have bought one, in fact.
02:56And I never wear it.
02:57So you think I should just save up and buy?
03:00I'm almost pushing for that.
03:03I know it's a huge investment.
03:05But it's so hard to find one on a secondary market that's the right crop, the right sleeve
03:11length.
03:11That is all the things you want.
03:13And I think things like Chanel jackets are forever.
03:17You want the experience of going to the store and the champagne.
03:21And you'll remember it for the rest of your life.
03:22If you find a great one, if one stumbles upon you, then fine.
03:26Yeah.
03:26And I'm happy to help.
03:27But yeah, I am compelled for you to just have that experience.
03:36Today on The Goodbye, we have an American fashion legend.
03:40She has been an integral and influential part of New York's design community.
03:45You might even say the beating heart of it for over 40 years.
03:48And she's still going strong, a credit to her tenacity, business savvy, and her visionary
03:55approach to style.
03:56She is a designer's designer.
03:58Hers is one of the only shows where you will see other designers and celebrities in attendance
04:03just to support their friend, including Marc Jacobs, Sofia Coppola, and Debbie Harry.
04:09She's also a magpie.
04:11I'm a shopping disciple.
04:12She is my shopping hero.
04:13She is a collector of the beautiful, the rare, and I am so excited and can't wait to get
04:19into all of it with her.
04:21Please welcome to The Goodbye, Anna Sui.
04:24Good morning.
04:26It's wonderful to be here.
04:28Thank you so much.
04:29I really mean this.
04:30This is a particular design hero, shopping hero, collecting hero.
04:38We have to just dive in and get into your shopping philosophy because I know that you
04:43are not someone who's shy.
04:45When you see something that you want, you find a way to get it.
04:48Oh, yeah.
04:48Yeah.
04:49Can you take us back to your first show?
04:53So our first guest of season two of The Goodbye was Linda Evangelista, and I know she was a part
05:00of your first show.
05:01I know that you guys were friends and hung out, but tell me how that all came together
05:05and how those supers were a part of it, and I don't know how it felt, how it launched
05:09you, what was the effect of that?
05:11Well, I had never gone to the Paris shows, and I went with Steven Meisel, and to our first
05:17show, we stopped at the Ritz, and we picked up Madonna.
05:21Casual.
05:22Same.
05:22Yeah.
05:23In her hotel room, it was filled with shopping bags and racks of clothes from every Parisian
05:30designer.
05:30And I was so jealous and thinking like, oh my God, here's somebody that's having everything
05:34just thrown at her.
05:35And she came running out of the dressing room with her coat on.
05:38We ran into the car and got to the Gaultier show.
05:41And when she took off her coat, she said, Anna, I have a surprise for you.
05:44And she was wearing my dress.
05:47Amazing.
05:47And that was like something that just boosted my sense of worth like tremendously.
05:53Then by the time we got back to New York, Steven said, okay, it's time for you to have a show.
06:00And I'm like, how am I going to do this?
06:01And he said, don't worry, we'll help you.
06:03And so all my friends gathered together and really, really supported me through it.
06:07And Linda and Naomi and Christy were all friends socially.
06:11Maybe I did a styling thing with Linda because we did an Italian Vogue story of her, and it was
06:15a tribute to Diana Vreeland.
06:17So she and Naomi and Christy got me all the other supers.
06:22And so that was that first show.
06:25And Linda was so cute.
06:27She was backstage like helping the girls get dressed and saying, hurry, hurry, hurry.
06:31This is Anna's show.
06:32You've got to like get dressed and like get in that line.
06:34She was just like directing the whole thing.
06:36I love that.
06:36Yeah.
06:37And Linda told us too, like, you know, we think about shows today.
06:40There's like a girl for every look.
06:41But in those days, a girl was changing a lot and wearing several looks.
06:45Sometimes three times.
06:46Yeah.
06:47And from then to now, you know, you've had a career that's endured so much that you're
06:53now seeing your clothes have a second life on retail sites, on a new crop of celebrities
06:59who weren't even born the first time when these clothes were shown.
07:02And they want to borrow them for their tours.
07:04And they want to wear them in this like vintage 90s resurgence.
07:07What's that like?
07:08I mean, it's so exciting because it like was something totally unpredictable and unexpected.
07:14It started my nieces when they turned into their 20s and started borrowing their mom's
07:19stuff at like holiday, like Christmas time.
07:21They'd show up in all my 90s finery for Christmas dinner.
07:25And then suddenly we started getting phone calls and buyers wanting to revive things like
07:32Essence.
07:32And when opening ceremony wanted to support my exhibition, they revived like 10 outfits.
07:38So we were getting phone calls all the time and like Chaperone just called and wanted
07:43us to make some things for her.
07:45And, you know, they're always citing the baby doll dress, those like wrap sort of like 90s mesh tops that we did.
07:53And Marc Jacobs Heaven, I think about that collaboration that you did with your friend, who is obviously another design legend.
08:00And you both are so smart to evolve and give your audience that taste of nostalgia that they're desperate for.
08:10But in a way that moves it forward.
08:11And I just thought how nice, too, that you always look to musicians as inspiration and as like, you know, the people you dreamed of dressing.
08:19And now that's who's still wanting to wear everything, right?
08:22It's so fantastic.
08:24But, you know, Marc had decided to reproduce his grunge collection for his store.
08:30And he was so excited about it.
08:31He called me and he said, can we pick 10 pieces from your grunge collection and can you reproduce those for our store?
08:37And again, that was just in the beginning of like, all of a sudden, everybody was interested in this 90s thing.
08:43And I was so excited because there were a lot of pieces in Marc's grunge collection that I wanted and I was finally able to buy them.
08:49Yeah.
08:50I love that.
08:51And how does that kind of transcend into what you choose to wear?
08:54You have such a singular sense of style that you know what you like and you don't.
08:58How do you navigate that?
09:00You know, I wear a lot of my own clothes, which makes it easy.
09:03But then I love fashion.
09:05So I buy other people's designs.
09:07I wear vintage.
09:09And lately I've been like shopping in the back of my closet.
09:13Like there's so much stuff that I haven't worn for years, especially during those COVID years when you kind of just like didn't touch the back of your closet.
09:20And suddenly it all feels new again.
09:22Yeah.
09:22Let's talk about you and shopping and style as a young person because I've been lucky enough to hear stories from you growing up.
09:31And you are just such a sponge of everywhere you've been, everything you've listened to, everything you've watched.
09:37And it all shows up in the choices you make.
09:39And you knew so early, too, what you wanted to do and be.
09:44Yeah.
09:44I mean, I came to New York every year as a kid because my uncle lived here.
09:49But I knew like the first time I came here as a flower girl to his wedding that when I went back to Michigan, I said to my parents, when I grow up, I'm going to live in New York and I'm going to be a fashion designer.
10:01I had no idea what that meant.
10:02I had no idea how to do it.
10:04But that was my life goal.
10:06And everything that I did after that helped make it happen.
10:10I knew I had to start reading fashion magazines.
10:13And that's where I got so much information because they covered everything.
10:17And I would always hear about the latest designs, the latest stores.
10:21And so if it happened to be in New York, that would be my next summer visit, which is how I discovered Bergdorf's had a BG Biba department on the top floor.
10:30And that summer, I asked my mom, can we go to Bergdorf Goodman's?
10:34I have to see this Biba store.
10:36I've got a shout out for our listeners.
10:38Biba was a highly influential boutique on the King's Road in Chelsea that really was the epicenter of all of the amazing swinging 60s London style that was happening at the time.
10:50Barbara Hulenicki, who owned the store, is a fashion legend.
10:55And Anna, you're particularly influenced by the 1960s and London.
10:59Oh, definitely.
11:00I'm particularly proud of.
11:01What about that time and that music and that energy?
11:04Well, after seeing that movie, The Chimera, I thought, that's my Chimera.
11:09I wasn't able to be there.
11:11So everything that I search out, everything that I try to aspire to is really from that period.
11:18And what about the style in particular?
11:20Is it the cut?
11:21Is it the fabric?
11:23Is it the ruffles?
11:25Is it what about the particularly 60s silhouette is timeless to you?
11:31Well, I love the fact that I got to ask one of the Orange Vigore sisters, why were you wearing crushed velvet in Victorian?
11:39And they said that was the stuff you could find at Portobello so we could buy it for nothing.
11:44There was a huge sale of the Ballet Russe costumes at Sotheby's.
11:50So they went and they bought not the principal costumes, but the extras.
11:54Of course.
11:54Like the fairies and pixies and they wore pieces of that mixed in with their clothes.
11:59Oh, that's so cool.
12:00So it's like I always think about that and like, you know, like my crushed velvet, my ruffles.
12:06I look at pictures of Brian Jones and Anita and Keith.
12:09They just look cooler than anything I've ever seen.
12:12So I always keep that in mind when I'm designing, but also when I'm dressing myself.
12:17And I think that's like such amazing advice to give to people on a podcast like this.
12:23Really seek out and look in unorthodox places for your finds.
12:28I'm really always inspired by you and your love of auctions.
12:31And whilst I don't have the means of, you know, buying an Elizabeth Taylor caftan like Anna Swee has, guys.
12:39She owns Elizabeth Taylor's caftans.
12:42And I want you to talk about that story.
12:43So, but, you know, from Flea Market to Sotheby's, like it's all fair game for you.
12:49And talk about the kind of art of finding a thrill.
12:55Well, you know, again, Elizabeth Taylor was always my favorite actress.
12:59I loved the way she dressed and she spent time in London.
13:02So she wore a lot of Thea Porter.
13:04And for her auction, there were quite a few Thea Porter caftans available.
13:09And Sophia and I went to the auction.
13:11Sophia Coppola, ladies and gentlemen.
13:13Yes, yes.
13:14And we were so excited because, I mean, there were like 14 or 15 of those caftans.
13:19And we got so deflated so quickly because the prices that were quoted and estimated at a zero.
13:26We were bidding against Wendy Murdoch, who just had no limit.
13:31Wendy Dang Murdoch, another icon of mine.
13:33And then there was somebody bidding against us on some of the other things.
13:36And we turned around and it was Jennifer Tilly.
13:39Oh, my goodness.
13:39So we were like, okay, Jennifer, come sit with us.
13:42Let's divide and conquer here.
13:44You tell us what you really want.
13:46I'll tell you what I really want.
13:47At least we won't be bidding against each other.
13:49So it was fun.
13:50I love this.
13:51So I finally did not get a Thea Porter, but I got a Tiziano.
13:55And Elizabeth Taylor wore a lot of Tiziano.
13:58I think maybe the boutique was in Rome.
14:01And so Cleopatra.
14:03So I got this incredible Tiziano cut velvet with beading caftan.
14:09What a story.
14:10And camaraderie and shopping, guys.
14:12I love that.
14:14Okay, let's divide and conquer.
14:16You mentioned Elizabeth Taylor.
14:18Who else are some of your style inspirations?
14:20Well, it seems that they're reoccurring.
14:23Not only Elizabeth Taylor, but I love Baby Jane Holzer.
14:27I love a lot of designers, like the way they dress.
14:29My first apartment was on the block where Norma Kamali had her boutique.
14:34So my roommate worked at Kamali, and I would see Norma every day.
14:38So it was so amazing to see how she put herself together.
14:42I love Anita Pallenberg, just the fact that the Stones were so influenced by her,
14:47that she really taught them how to dress.
14:48She was so sophisticated and already well-traveled by the time she met them.
14:53And they were always borrowing her clothes and following her lead.
14:57But then when I asked Anita what inspired her, she told me that there were two men,
15:03Robert Frazier, who owned an art gallery that represented Peter Blake,
15:07and also Christopher Gibb, who was an interior designer,
15:10who did the sets of performance, who decorated all their apartments.
15:14And they were the style tastemakers.
15:18They traveled to Morocco before anybody.
15:20They came back with all that Moroccan jewelry and caftans,
15:24and they were the influencers.
15:27Wow. The origin.
15:28Yeah.
15:29Yeah.
15:29Very cool to track that down.
15:31And you have to travel.
15:32You have to get out there.
15:33You have to see different things and bring it all back.
15:35That's so exciting when you go somewhere and you discover something,
15:38and you adapt it.
15:41And I think that's the most interesting thing about traveling,
15:43when you find something new, something that's going to inspire you.
15:47I just got back from Copenhagen, and it was so interesting to see that design aesthetic.
15:54You know, I love the 60s modern, but now there's a whole thing going on there,
15:59and I think all of us are really inspired by it.
16:01You're not afraid of that.
16:03You've never been afraid of innovation and change and going against the grain.
16:07Like, before me and Leia were in our green room discussing you,
16:11and you were making fashion in a very pivotal time in American fashion history.
16:17You know, you had Calvin and Donna and Ralph, and we love all of that.
16:22That's part of the fabric of getting dressed.
16:26But you were like, I'm going to go out there,
16:28and I'm going to provide the world with something completely different,
16:32something completely your own.
16:34Well, I mean, that's always worked for me and against me,
16:38because when I first started, buyers didn't know where to put me.
16:41I ended up, like, next to the escalator on a rack.
16:44You know, there was not a department that fit Anasui fashion.
16:47And for years, that was really the case until Barney's Co-op came along,
16:53and there were, like, a designer look, but at a lower price,
16:56which I had always believed in.
16:58Like, I never did couture.
17:00I wanted affordable clothing, and I still strive to do that,
17:03and although it's harder and harder, because everything costs so much more.
17:08Dearly departed Barney's Co-op.
17:10It comes up a lot on the goodbyes every episode.
17:11I know, Barney's comes up probably every episode,
17:13because it was so integral in bolstering the careers of so many designers.
17:18This is the goodbyes.
17:19We've got to get into the byes.
17:20And Anna, you are the perfect guest.
17:22There is no shortage of byes.
17:24But we're going to start with your first buy.
17:26What was the first buy that you bought that made you feel like you had made it,
17:30and it was something that you coveted and you were able to get?
17:32Okay, my first job was owned by Genesco, who also owned Henry Bednals.
17:39So I got a discount there.
17:41And one day I went to look at the Zandra Rhodes shop where there was a sale rack.
17:45And so with my bad math, I kind of calculated, oh, I think I can afford this.
17:51So I bought a Zandra Rhodes silk jersey dress, like ruffly dress,
17:57with big trepento flowers on it.
17:59And, I mean, not that I had anywhere to go in it.
18:03That was my first purchase.
18:05And actually, Stephen Mizal and I ended up going to the Zandra Rhodes show when she had it here in New York,
18:11and I wore that to the show.
18:13So you bought it, and then you had somewhere to go in it.
18:16Yeah.
18:17The perfect destination.
18:18Yes.
18:19Should we take this moment also to, like, just go back a little bit in your history?
18:23Because you mentioned Stephen, and I know you were both at Parsons together.
18:27So can you take us back to, you know, how you guys informed each other's fashion sense at the time?
18:33Well, I remember walking into a drawing class and seeing Stephen dropping my box of pencils and paints and things,
18:42like, just with my mouth open, thinking like, oh, my God, this is the most beautiful man I've ever seen.
18:46And I didn't really get to meet him until one day I went to the lunchroom,
18:51which design students were warned not to go there and mix.
18:55But, of course, where did I go?
18:56The lunchroom.
18:57And he went.
18:59And so I went over and sat with him, and he's like, do you ever go out dancing?
19:03And I'm like, no, but I'd like to.
19:05He says, well, we're going out dancing tonight.
19:07You want to come with us?
19:08And so that's how we started hanging out.
19:10Amazing.
19:11And where would you go dancing?
19:12And I assume you guys all got dressed together, and that's most of the fun?
19:16Well, the thing is, back then, we weren't really old enough.
19:19There was a club called Tamburlain, which was the club at that moment.
19:24So we would go before 9 o'clock and hide in the bathroom and wait like an hour or two hours until the club started happening,
19:32and then we would come out.
19:33Just emerge.
19:33I love this story.
19:36I have an amazing picture of you online, of you at Mud Club.
19:40Someone was going around taking portraits, and they took a picture of you, and you're on a rooftop.
19:46And, guys, Google this photo.
19:48Anna is just beyond, like, club kid, gorgeous.
19:545 a.m., wearing a flea market fur piece over my jeans jacket and flea market jewelry.
20:01There was the requisite bow from the early 80s, but I had it in gold, fishnet.
20:10And then blame it on Sheba Chrome.
20:12It was, like, really, like, nobody looks bad with that kind of film.
20:16Yeah, yeah.
20:17And you don't.
20:18You look timeless.
20:20It's a lovely capsule of a New York that's kind of sadly, sadly gone.
20:25But we have all the pictures, and we have all the...
20:27We have some of the legends.
20:28What is your regret buy?
20:33Do you ever regret buying anything?
20:35I don't know, because sometimes I'll buy something not knowing what I'm going to do with it or how I'm going to wear it,
20:40and then eventually it comes around.
20:42My biggest regret buys are things that I think I have to get it because I'm going to this city,
20:47and I'm going to need something practical.
20:50And then those things, like, usually don't end up getting worn, like the practical things.
20:54I love that.
20:56Fashion, yeah, we were just talking about this.
20:58Should be a heart, gut kind of feeling.
21:01And if you feel like I should, then it's never going to work.
21:05Yeah, it doesn't work.
21:06Yeah.
21:07I love that also because I'd rather have swung for it, missed, and something look like an epic fail
21:15than the sort of, like, indifferent style of fashion that's kind of, like, no one remembers what you wore.
21:22I think there's something in it feeling impactful.
21:26Who are the designers that you...
21:28As you said, you obviously wear your own clothes, but who are the ones that you gravitate towards now?
21:33Is there anything...
21:34Like, I love Dries.
21:36Like, I have quite a few pieces from Dries.
21:40Some of the things that J.W. Anderson did for Loewe, like, when he did that William DeMorgan collection,
21:47I have, like, that dress that was, like, all patchwork-y.
21:50And first thing in the morning, I wake up and I look at, you know, all the shopping networks and see what's out there.
21:56Yeah.
21:57And so then in the back of my mind, I'm, like, filing, okay, what am I going to buy next?
22:01And sometimes it goes away and then it's fine, but sometimes it just sticks with me and then I have to, like...
22:06And then you have to act on it.
22:08Yeah.
22:09I love that.
22:10Everyone has their kind of rules.
22:11Like, I court things for a while.
22:13Yeah.
22:13But that's more...
22:14Yeah, or else you end up with just too much stuff that you'll never wear.
22:17Yeah.
22:18Yeah.
22:18But the thing is, now you can find anything.
22:21Yeah.
22:22And that's the incredible thing about vintage now, because you'll think about the Prada Ferry collection,
22:28and all of a sudden you just Google that, and there's things there.
22:32You can find that handbag that you didn't buy the first time.
22:35Yeah.
22:35And it's hard to not get things on the secondary market.
22:41Like, you can find things that you were a huge fan of in a way that, like, yeah, even 10, 15 years ago, if you missed it, yeah, you missed it.
22:50But you do have to know exactly that collection, that item, and I think that comes with, you know,
22:57this, like, incredible fashion history that you have to know, like, what you're tracking down.
23:04And that's the fun of, like, the hunt of it, too.
23:07Well, I think that it makes it even more valuable than having the latest from the last season.
23:14Yeah.
23:14You know, it's like, all of a sudden you're finding exactly that one that you wanted for the last 15 years.
23:20Mm-hmm.
23:20Makes it, takes it up another notch.
23:22Yeah.
23:22And I think that that's the amazing thing about vintage today, is that you can find those pieces and own them.
23:28Do you buy something, like, repeatedly or in multiples, even from, like, basics to beauty, whatever it might be?
23:36What is that thing that you always find yourself buying because it just works for you?
23:42Yeah.
23:42I mean, I buy the same jacket over and over again.
23:45It could be a little more shaped, a little oversized, but it's still the same jacket.
23:50I buy the same ruffle shirt over and over again.
23:53It could be cotton, it could be lace, it could be velvet, the same flare pant, the same beetle boot.
24:00You know, it's like, it's all those things are, like, the basics in what I wear.
24:04Like, when you find that perfect style that you like, just different variations of it are, like, lifesavers every day.
24:12Yeah.
24:13And where are these blazers from and where are these ruffle shirts?
24:16Is this ruffle shirt that you're wearing today, is that a fun of you?
24:19Yeah, this is an Anasui from probably at least 10 years ago, but we had this velvet left over from the last collection, and I like the color, so I asked them to make this for me.
24:30And the blazers?
24:31Yeah, we're returning to the blazers.
24:32I have a recent one from Dries.
24:36I have the Stephen Mizel Zara one.
24:38I have a Prada one.
24:39And, you know, so I have quite a few, and then I have them in different fabrics, too, like leather or gabardine, wool, lightweight, you know, so that you can wear them different seasons.
24:51I'm not a basic kind of gal.
24:53Yeah.
24:53You know, it's just not my look.
24:55Yeah.
24:55I feel too plain in it.
24:56I don't feel like myself.
24:58So there's always got to be a touch of something special.
25:02Yeah, I love that.
25:03I get to come back to when I was asking you what you seek out now and the thrill of finding something so precise that you remember from a collection in the past.
25:13Do you have something on that list now that you're looking for?
25:16Yeah, suddenly I have this obsession with the Prada, Halliday, and Brown prints.
25:23They were tie prints from the 60s, and they had a whole series of, like, kind of Art Nouveau, but they were colored very 60s in bright colors.
25:33And so I recently discovered that they have a little swatch book that you can choose from.
25:39Oh, wow.
25:39And you can order a shirt or a shirt dress.
25:41Excuse me?
25:42Look at that.
25:42That's mine.
25:43Guys.
25:44Struggling to compute.
25:45So this is the collection that is, I think it's in stores now.
25:49The jacket that comes to mind when you're talking about this collection, it was white, brown.
25:53You'll know how to describe that.
25:54It's like a mid-century geometric.
25:57Yeah.
25:58Geometric pattern.
25:58Like an ombraid.
25:59Yeah.
25:59Everyone was wearing it in Paris and Milan this show season.
26:05It threw you out of sorts a bit because it's so 60s.
26:08It's so precise.
26:09But yet in this modern way, and it was, and a lot of people started very modern.
26:16So let's just go back to, there's a book.
26:19There's a swatch book.
26:20And there's a lot of variations in the swatch book.
26:24But I particularly like the Art Nouveau patterns.
26:27They're very psychedelic 60s.
26:30There's an orange combination, like kind of teal and blue combination.
26:35And then there's more subtle ones.
26:36But, like, just the fact that you can order something in them.
26:41I think that the collection was about 2004 or 2008 that she introduced some of these patterns.
26:49And the fact that you can get them again, but I'm also searching them on resale.
26:55And I found a matching handbag to one of the shirts that I ordered.
26:59And so it's just, it's endless.
27:02Yeah.
27:03The fact that you can find it again and that it's there and not just in your mind or in a magazine.
27:09Yeah.
27:09Is there any other, like, holy grail piece, like, even that you've been searching for for years or that you would love to stumble upon?
27:17Knowing that some of the stuff now you can find, is there something that eludes you?
27:21Yeah, there's one piece.
27:23Because now I'm friends with Zandra, almost every time I go to London, I see her, we have dinner.
27:30And one time she was organizing her archives and there were a lot of pieces hanging in her apartment.
27:39And before dinner, I was trying on some of the pieces and there's this one pleated jacket that were shades of purple that I wished, wished, wished I would have said something to her then.
27:50But now she can't find it again.
27:53But, yeah, so that's kind of something that I'm always looking for.
27:58But I'm sure that was the only piece.
27:59This was her jacket.
28:00This was from her collections because she saved everything.
28:05Did you not?
28:07As much as I could.
28:08But we're trying to organize my archives now and there's missing things.
28:12Yeah.
28:13Either they disintegrated or they disappeared.
28:15There was that thing a couple of years ago where someone had something of yours that you had long been looking for and it became like a...
28:24Oh, we weren't sure if we had it in our archive.
28:27It was addressed from the fairy tale collection and somebody had posted it for sale.
28:32And so then it was like, oh, should we buy this?
28:35Do we need it?
28:36Let's look in our archives.
28:37And it's before we kind of really organized it.
28:40But we realized that we had it.
28:41But the fact that I wrote to this person and asked about it, then it kind of went viral.
28:47Yeah.
28:47Anna, we're at the end, but you can't leave us without telling us what your latest goodbye is.
28:54Something that you recently acquired, that you love, and you want to stole the virtues of here on the podcast.
29:00Well, as I mentioned, I recently went to Copenhagen.
29:03But of course, before I went, I had to do some research.
29:05And I remembered that there were some mid-century pieces that I liked.
29:10And I got obsessed with placemats.
29:12And there's a designer, Loret Lonsberg, that not only did very pop mid-century flower placemats,
29:24but also did these wooden kind of toys that were cats and mice.
29:29And the placemats and tablecloths and things that they did aren't available anymore, but those wooden toys still are.
29:36But of course, I had to buy every placemat I could find on Etsy and eBay before I went.
29:42So I have a little collection of that now.
29:45I have to look that up.
29:46Yeah, I'm like writing it down.
29:48Can you describe the place?
29:49Are they like colorful?
29:50Yeah, they're round.
29:52And then there's a peony or a rose or a sunflower, but very pop.
29:58Right.
29:58So like bright, hot pink and fuchsia, yellow and brown.
30:03If you're lucky, you can find the placemats as well.
30:07Mostly you find like these round coasters and then like a shape about that big that you can put a plate or a teacup on.
30:14But how do you stay so curious?
30:18It seems like you're always researching and finding.
30:22And I think that in an age where people are used to expecting kind of inspiration to like find them in a scroll,
30:30you've been seeking it out your whole life.
30:34So I wanted to ask.
30:35It's kind of scary with these algorithms.
30:38Yeah.
30:38Because then you're being fed.
30:40Right.
30:40And I like being able to discover and really like be taken by surprise.
30:46Yeah.
30:46And I think that that's what keeps me going.
30:49Like I love that surprise and that discovery.
30:52From Fortuny Silks to Vintage Finds, you are the consummate, shopper, goodbye, guests.
31:00And we are so grateful and happy that you decided to be on the podcast.
31:04Thank you so much.
31:06Such a treat.
31:07Thank you so much.
31:08It's been so fun to be here.
31:09This was Hopper's Bazaars, the goodbye.
31:11Goodbye.
31:12Goodbye.
31:12Goodbye.
Recommended
1:24:00
|
Up next
1:25:01
0:20
1:47:07
3:32
6:36
Be the first to comment