Last weekend, The New York Times hosted its fourth annual Sunday with The Magazine, a series of conversations led by the editors and writers of The New York Times Magazine. The participants in the conversations–political and cultural newsmakers including Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman and special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke–were asked to give their insight into the first 103 days of the Obama administration and the new era in politics, media and fashion. Also included on the program (and slightly more relevant to my coverage brief) were conversations entitled Fashion Designers for The First Lady featuring Narciso Rodriguez, Maria Cornejo and Thakoon Panichgul and Design Leader with Marc Jacobs.
Led by Cathy Horyn, the conversation with Rodriguez, Cornejo and Panichgul compared Michelle Obama’s style with that of previous first ladies (she wins, duh!), and congratulated her for wearing pieces more than once, actually paying for her clothes, having an eclectic and modern style and for not ceding to detractors such as Oscar de la Renta (who recently suggested that The First Lady should be wearing more established designers).
The conversation also demystified the process surrounding how the designers’ garments find their way to The First Lady: Ikrama Goldman of Chicago’s Ikram boutique, Obama’s fashion guru, will contact the designers and ask them to create a look safe in the knowledge that she trusts their vision–the designers don’t know when, where or if their creations will be worn in public. For example, Panichgul revealed that he was visiting his elderly grandmother in Northern Thailand when he received word that Obama had chosen to wear his design during her recent meeting with style heavyweight Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (a move Panichgul described as Obama bringing her “A-Game”).
Notably absent from the conversation was any mention of the designers’ recent journey to Washington D.C. where they lobbied for greater copyright protection for the fashion industry. Given the recent attention that has been given to the issue (see here, here & here) and an admission from the designers’ that they have not noticed a discernible increase in sales as a result of their association with Michelle Obama, it would have been interesting to hear if advantages were being felt in other areas.
Later, in the early evening, T Magazine editor Stefano Tonchi was joined by Marc Jacobs to discuss his career and new directions in fashion. In a departure from the Obama-centric tone of the day’s proceedings (guess who’s not carried by Ikram?), the conversation instead focused on his early inspiration and the exponential rise of his fashion empire since his recruitment as Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton in 1997. Revealing that his shrink describes him as “the architect to an alternative appetite,” Jacobs also added that he was a sponge for the spirit of the 80s, despite admitting that he really can’t remember much from that decade (which included frequent patronage of clubs like Studio 54 and the Roxy while he was still in high school). I don’t know how you spent your high school years, but I have a lot of catching up to do.
Information and tickets for upcoming events in The New York Times’ TimesTalks series are available through their website.
