Designer Musings
Just in time for New York Fashion Week, Lifestyle Mirror in collaboration with the luxury online boutique, thecorner.com, is launching Designer Musings—an exclusive series featuring three of fashion’s hottest designers and the women who inspire them. See below for an inside look into Phillip Lim, Erdem Moralioğlu, and Giles Deacon.
Phillip Lim photographed by Dylan Don
Erdem Moralioğlu photographed Raphael Lugassy
Giles Deacon photographed by Raphael Lugassy and Grant Thomas
PHILLIP LIM
What are some of your earliest fashion memories?
I think my earliest memory is when I was in the fourth grade—I had a white sweatshirt that had a Japanese kamikaze print on it, and I cut it off on the side. I wore white, high-waisted cotton pleated pants and sand-colored slouch boots with chains around the ankles. It was the time of MTV so I was a rock star.
How did you get into fashion design?
I never even knew it existed. It was just a love of clothes.
What was the inspiration behind your fall collection?
Fall 2012 was all about the superheroes and super heroines that exist among us every day. It was just the idea of these real people in this neo-noir urban setting and an abstract take on neo-noir comics.
Who’s your muse?
People always ask me about who my muse is, but it’s the toughest question because it’s an accumulation of many attributes of many people. But Lissy Trullie is truly a prime example. I love her music and her style.
What makes this an exciting time to be a fashion designer in New York?
It’s great to be in New York as a fashion designer at this moment because it’s constantly changing. Whenever I leave for a trip and come back one week later, I feel like I have to get to know New York again because it’s changed. For a fashion designer or anyone creative, it’s really inspiring. It really pushes you forward.
ERDEM MORALIOĞLU
What are some of your earliest memories of fashion?
My earliest memory is watching television in the basement and sort of eating fashion. I was really interested in what the codes of femininity were—the way women looked, the way women dressed, and what made a woman look beautiful.
Who do you design for?
She’s someone who marches to the beat of her own drum and is very independent in thought. She’s someone who isn’t dictated by seasons or trends, and she’s very much an individual.
What was the inspiration behind your fall collection?
My fall collection was very much inspired by women who collect fashion and art, like Peggy Guggenheim and Diana Vreeland. I was really interested in contrasts and taking very traditional fabrics like tweeds and covering them in latex, or taking a silk crepe and bonding it with a neoprene fabric. It was really about mixing and matching. I love the idea of really intense colors for fall, like chartreuse and purples—things that were almost a little bit off.
What’s your take on trends?
I don’t necessarily believe in the idea of trends, but I think that you certainly have movements where people are all on the same page. I think women look for pieces that feel individual and special—that make you feel like you’re the only person in the world who owns it.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
To be patient.
GILES DEACON
What are some of your earliest memories of fashion?
I was a huge fan of The Wombles when I was a child. I made a tweed jumpsuit for my favorite Womble, after coming to London and buying a Womble from Harrods. That was my first venture into fashion.
What was the inspiration for the fall collection?
The overall inspiration for our Autumn/Winter 2013 was to think of this character in an incredible, stately home that was set on fire. And, instead of going for the sentimental photographs as she runs out, she’s grabbing everything that’s of cultural and artistic importance—incredible tapestries, beautiful works, filigreed pieces. Then she breaks out from this burning house into this frozen garden landscape. It’s the contrast that I thought was really interesting.
Favorite piece?
I think it was Look 43—the Swarovski evening pieces that we did, which have maybe half a million hand-sewn Swarovski elements on it. It’s all been hand-burned, and it’s like an incredibly decadent couture piece, which I love doing.
What makes this an exciting time to be a fashion designer in London?
The thing that’s really great about London is that everybody has their really specific world and taste. It’s not like certain fashion capitals—which I won’t name—where you can see ten collections that look like they’ve been done by the same person. Everyone’s got their own path, and that’s what makes things really strong and unique.
What’s your take on trends?
I always try to avoid trends where at all possible. But if you’re going to go for trends, be a trendsetter, not trend follower.
