Dries van Noten talks to Suzy about his more than 30-year career, which launched in 1986 with his own collection of menswear. Since then he has flourished, and is celebrated around the world for his sophisticated and poetic shows, presented in Paris, in which he marries art and craft.
Suzy with Dries van Noten outside his studio in Antwerp
Dries reminisces with Suzy about being one of the “Antwerp Six” – the group of star students who graduated in 1980 and 1981 from the strong-minded school, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, under the tutelage of its Head of Fashion, the intellectually rigorous Linda Loppa. Together with fellow “Sixers” Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Van Saene, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs and Marina Yee, the seeds of contemporary style were planted in Belgium and gained an international cult following and hugely influential reach.
Known for his vibrant prints, floral inspiration and painterly use of colour, Dries van Noten’s collections are a balance of dreams and reality, and many of his collections – such as the magnetic collaboration with haute couture genius Christian Lacroix for Spring/Summer 2020 Ready-to-Wear – mark fashion history.
Catch up with the boundary-breaking creative here.
Our dear friend Alber Elbaz passed away on the 25th April, another victim of Covid-19. Over the next few weeks, so much will be written about this exceptional and thoughtful designer, who genuinely loved and supported women. As a tribute to Alber, and as a gesture to the remarkable person he was, we are re-issuing the podcast we recorded together nearly a year ago.
When we decided to launch a series of podcasts during the first lockdown, Alber, with his usual sweet and generous enthusiasm, offered himself as an interviewee. Yes, he would be happy to discuss ideas together.
Suzy and Alber Elbaz relax in a Paris park after the Maria Grazia Chiuri show for Dior (October 2016). Photograph by Soren Jepsen
A sense of fun and absolute dedication to his work were the cornerstones of Alber’s life. Witty, whimsical and wise, he put women first. From 2001, for 14 powerful years he reinvigorated and illuminated the French house of Lanvin as its Creative Director, dressing Meryl Streep in gold lamé for her Best Actress Award at the 2012 Oscars for her role as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady”. He was ahead of his time in using an eco-certified fabric. In Meryl Streep’s words, “Alber’s dresses [for Lanvin] are the only ones, when I wear them, that I feel like myself in, or even a better version of her.”
He dressed so many stars for the Academy Awards. He glamourised, in a modern way, Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore and Gwyneth Paltrow. But I saw less “go-go Hollywood” and more of Alber’s dedication to his work – always with a funny side. When we went to his favourite restaurant in Paris on the Left Bank with his partner Alex Koo, I always ended up dabbing my eyes from tears of laughter.
Now, I am crying for Alber himself, taken away so cruelly by Covid-19, when he was so health conscious and a self-styled hypochondriac. This was such a tragic end, just as he was starting an exciting new project, “Alber Elbaz, AZ Factory”, with Swiss luxury group Richemont.
Johann Rupert, Chairman of Richemont, said in a statement: “We are devastated. I have lost not only a colleague but a beloved friend. Alber had a richly deserved reputation as one of the industry’s brightest and most beloved figures.”
In 2020, when Alber re-emerged with AZ Factory, he continued to win our hearts and minds by offering easy clothes, bold jewels, bags and shoes – all suited to a varied audience of women.
Everything Alber became involved in was a hive of creativity and charm. When he generously accepted the challenge of designing the front cover of a book of my writings for Vogue, to be presented at the 2019 Condé Nast International luxury conference, he illustrated me as a rather rotund version of the Mona Lisa.
My deepest condolences to Alber’s family, and to Alex Koo, his partner for life.
I hope you will listen to our podcast with Alber and think of all he achieved and how much he adored and supported women. The best way to remember Alber is to hear him speak – he was such joyous company.
Michael Kors is celebrating his 40 years in fashion, and I just had a preview of his special anniversary collection from across the pond: It features a specially curated selection of iconic pieces of the Michael Kors label.
Kors is marking his four decades with a thoughtful reappraisal of his “greatest hits”, which include dressing stars from stage, screen, and state, from Jennifer Lopez to Angelina Jolie and Michelle Obama, whose bare shoulders the designer brought to the fore.
Michael Kors with Suzy in 2019
Michael spoke to me about building his own label in the 1980s and designing for Celine in Paris from 1998 to 2004, before expanding his brand in the US, and ultimately across the world. He has not only built a fashion business but also a powerful luxury accessories empire, under the name Capri Holdings Limited. This conglomerate includes his own mighty label as well as Jimmy Choo and Versace.
The Covid pandemic has brought a thoughtful response from Michael Kors, who is the first American designer to miss the September timetable of New York Fashion Week shows and move his own presentations to October/November. His insightful vision on reducing the speed and amount of fashion in a post-Covid era is enlightening.
Our talk is a chance to hear the real Michael Kors, and to learn that feeding the hungry is as important to him as dressing the famous. Tune in here for more.
To mark Fashion Revolution Week and celebrate the first anniversary since the launch of the Creative Conversations podcast series, the first episode of Season Four opens with Orsola de Castro, the fashion activist who founded the Fashion Revolution campaign in 2013, which has led the global movement for change within the fashion industry – from sustainability to working practices.
For Orsola de Castro, all you need is love. Love for fashion, and love for all beautiful things – that last. Talking to us in 2021, the last year has been a lesson about lasting. Or, as she puts it, “Re-wearing your clothes can be a revolutionary act.”
Orsola de Castro, fashion activist and founder of the Fashion Revolution movement
Her new book is titled Loved Clothes Last (Penguin Random House) and is a passionate ode to the rebirth of our old fashion friends, lurking in closets and stuffed into drawers. Up-cycling is so much more than a fashionable trend. For Orsola, it was triggered by the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh in 2013, when an eight-storey building filled with clothing workers collapsed and caused 1,134 deaths.
A shocked Orsola asked herself why people demand ever-cheaper, disposable clothes, and what could be done to make a lasting difference. Her response was to found fashion‘s largest global activism movement, Fashion Revolution, to change the way the industry works and change ur attitude to clothes.
April 19th-25th marks Fashion Revolution Week, when more than 100 countries come together to take responsibility, remember the lives lost, and demand that no one should die in service of the industry.
In our conversation, Orsola’s urgent enthusiasm reminds us that we can all be fashion revolutionists. Our clothes deserve new lives, instead of being thrown away.
Her book is a mix of practical repair with thoughtful and passionate commitment to fabric and treatment that prolongs their life.
To participate in the eighth Fashion Revolution week, wherever you are in the world, spread the word and educate yourself. Let’s believe that today’s fashion and textile industry can change, evolve, and become more transparent.
