The show opens with a video. Illustrator Michael Economy, who completed all of Delight’s album covers, illustrated each model, just like the opening credits of a TV show. This series is called “Fair”. I live between New York and Texas and our factory is in Dallas. The Texas State Fair lasts three weeks and I will be there many times! Between the people and the incredible Art Deco extravaganza, I just love the charm. The feel of the show drives the series, but like everything I do, it’s really just a ton of ideas that I can mix together in some way.
We started a few years before this and it was going very well, but it was still hard to customize fabrics. This is my first time working with a real factory willing to work with us. We found this British tie maker who has been making men’s ties for a century – that’s all the silk jacquard fabrics you’ll see in the collection. This was also the first season when I started to understand the possibilities of beading and embroidery. Many of our materials are unfathomable! We are using 200 year old lockrosens and 200 Oxidized aged gold bars. I have a whole new toolbox for this show.
Everything is so intricate. I know it looks simple but something like Veronica’s shirt [Weber, look ] wearing, that was two layers of black silk organza, we did harlequin gay stitching to bond the two layers, then hand trimmed one layer to make it more transparent. The level of madness in manufacturing is simply insane. It’s also the first time we’ve shown panties as a reasonable outerwear. Almost every female singer now performs in panties [laughs], but it did seem a bit surprising at the time.
We always land spaceships at fashion week. We somehow manage to be close to the trend, but we are always doing our own thing. My personal taste is modest, so it’s fun to work with designs when yours is narrow. I’ve never been so bold with form, more so than execution and proportions. The practicality of these shapes allowed me to really experiment and still have it land as something you can recognize. That article on Tyra [Banksy, look ] was just a button-down shirt, but we printed the harlequin on silk charmeuse, which was very popular with all executive ladies at the time. We printed it on the back of the [fabric] so the shiny, body-hugging part hugs your skin. I always design for the wearer, you’ll never see it unless it’s yours. This is all pre-digital, a computer has never touched anything I’ve done.
Oh, and models! Billy [Beyond, look ] Still one of my dearest friends. The first time I realized Billy was a model was in an interview with David LaChapelle for while filming him [in ]. When it came time for the show, there was no doubt about him. I want the model that fascinates me, it just happens to be a man, no political statement. He’s the exact same size as Christy [Trington]. Here he walks with Diane DeWitt. In the meantime, every store you enter has a model who looks like Diane and she’s a superstar of the whole
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