Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi debuts his line at Lord & Taylor
The world of fashion may be where Isaac Mizrahi hails from, but he’s managed to become a pop culture icon by crossing over into the worlds of film (Unzipped; Men In Black), television (Project Runway: All Stars; Ugly Betty) and even comics (Isaac Mizrahi Presents the Adventures of Sandee the Supermodel). But recently, Mizrahi debuted his exclusive IMNYC Lord & Taylor collection. While this kind of fashion in-store event is something the Brooklyn native has done countless times, it’s both enjoyable and a crucial element of the creative process.
“I like meeting the end-user a lot. It’s my favorite part. I like the idea of communicating. It’s one thing if you have a shop and you do your best to make it look incredible on the floor. But suddenly, you’re in the room with the people listening to their comments and that effects things so much,” he says. “It completely informs my brand and shapes what I do. Without it, I would be nowhere.”
That single-mindedness about fashion dates back to when Mizrahi boldly launched his own label, IS New York, when he was only 15 with the help of a family friend.
“I was designing the clothes and had a partner who was doing the business side. It was so instinctual. I was just doing the clothes that I thought were pretty. I was daring to do things,” the Brooklyn native recalls. “It doesn’t matter how many ideas you have. Unless you can get something made well—for me a concept is a concept. It has to represent something and then you have to get it made.”
As for IMNYC, it’s a line Mizrahi is rightfully proud of given that quality is the gold standard he’s applying to these clothes and accessories designed for a demographic that skews to 30 or 35 year olds, but will certainly have the kind of panache that can appeal to women on either side of this spectrum. Some of the current fashion trends that have caught Mizrahi’s eye can also be found in this collection, be it plaid coats, longer skirts, head-to-toe velvet or chunk-heel boots all embraced by a simple approach and cut.
“There were a lot of things that we could have done [with this line]. We could have done a dressy line or an evening line,” he explains. “But really, the clothes and accessories that we’ve created are for that woman who is urbane, works and has exposure to all these kinds of micro-trends. Busy clothes look very cheap to me. I think the quality of this collection is remarkably great and I think that’s something I would love to represent as one of the hallmarks of this line. The one major thing that sets us apart from other fast fashion brands is the thought that we try to trend as closely as possible and make clothes that fit right in. We do classic versions of these things that are very trendy.”
