Meet Michael Kors in the middle–a land where luxury doesn’t carry any commas in its price tag, and where age 35 is the new “10.” Those are two of the reasons he calls his new, more affordable Michael line “carpool couture.” He took a minute from the frenzy of New York’s Fashion Week to chat about a few others with Q reporter Wendy Donahue, before he heads to Chicago this week. “Because of the amount of information at people’s fingertips today about fashion, we’re seeing a much more sophisticated customer,” Kors said. “Ten years ago, I don’t know there was as big an audience out there that was so hungry for great-looking things at the right price. Today you have people who would love to wear designer clothes but maybe their wallet doesn’t go along with their aspirations.” He’ll introduce them to the new Michael line at Marshall Field’s State Street store Tuesday.
Q. With your new Michael line, are the soccer mom and dad finally getting some respect?
A. I wanted the idea that we can feel luxury in our everyday life. So, kid-ding around, I call it carpool couture, but I really think that for the majority of Americans, men and women, you can’t swing the pendulum backwards and say everyone’s getting dressed up again. The plain, simple truth is we all lead busy lives, the majority is living out of a car, so there is an inherent casualness to how Americans need to dress. I wanted you to run errands and go to work or go to the movies on a Friday night and be comfortable but look polished. In the past it’s been one or the other.
Q. So give me an example of how Michael differs from your Michael Kors collection.
A. We’re playing with fabrics. Instead of a 10-ply cashmere sweater that’s handknit, we do a cotton/cashmere blend that feels terrific and looks similar, but, no, it’s not handknit, it’s not 10-ply, and now it’s $89 instead of $900.
Q. Do you worry that Michael might detract from your higher-end collection?
A. There’s always going to be a customer who loves unabashed luxury and frivolity. And more of our customers now are comfortable with the idea you can mix every price point. You can wear the sable coat with jeans, and carry a croc bag with khakis.
Q. And Michael isn’t just for women. Tell me how you translate your aesthetic to men.
A. Many said casual Friday was the death knell of the men’s industry. I am the most casual person on the planet. If I could, I’d be in flip-flops all year.
For guys, what’s fun is it’s a whole new idea that there are clothes that can go to work if you wear them a certain way and they can be disassembled and worn on the weekend too. Men in the past have always had a separate wardrobe for work and for weekend. Now, a guy can put the jacket on today and wear it with a tie, and tomorrow wear it with a great pair of cords and a cash-mere turtleneck. When he travels, he can wear the jacket over a T-shirt with jeans.
Men’s clothes in the past have been either very traditional in styling and fit and very Americana, or very European and very fast and, for many American men, very frightening. I think there’s something in the middle today. Just because a man is 50 doesn’t mean he wants to dress like Grandpa. And a guy who’s 25 doesn’t have to dress like a clubkid.
Young Hollywood is dressing up more. Old Hollywood is dressing younger. They’re saying let’s not dress 20 or 60, let’s dress 35, and it works.
Q. What would you suggest men or women think of buying this fall?
A. For a guy, a shorter overcoat that’s a little narrower, something he can wear over a suit or with a pair of jeans. It’s a great season for tweed–a shorter, trimmer tweed overcoat is something great for a guy. I love, for men, wearing a great pair of ivory jeans or cords with a dark sweater. [Ivory pants are] something you think, oh, God, not for winter. But it makes every man look a little like Steve McQueen–there’s something kind of dangerous about it.
For women, some of my favorite pieces have great hardware on them. Skirts with metal clasp closures, coats with turnlocks, zippered pockets. It’s ornamentation that’s functional, which is very American. We’ve got a lot of great suede and leather pieces. You can wear them to work, you can wear them on the weekend. And, in many cases, you can wear them 10 months out of the year.
Q. Do you think your line will have particular resonance in the Mid-west, where the stereotype, at least, is one that emphasizes pragmatism?
A. Especially in a city like Chicago, a lot of people think everyone wants really heavy clothing. The fact is everything’s overly heated in winter and overly air conditioned in summer. Clothes you wear under your coat almost need to be seasonless, then you just need a fabulous warm coat and the right boots and you’re ready to roll.
Q. Are you also sort of knocking off yourself? As in, taking hits from previous seasons’ collections and reproducing them for Michael?
A. Definitely. The reality is fashion moves so quickly today I don’t need to wait for chain stores to do [the knock-offs].
Q. Compared with many other so-called “better,” “bridge” or moderate lines of designers, yours differs in that you aren’t licensing it out to someone else to produce.
A. I’m of the belief that the more you can control something the better at the end of the day it works. It doesn’t mean we don’t have certain things we license, that they’re going to be able to do it better than I can. But we’re pretty old hands at making great clothes; we wanted to do it ourselves.
