November 2009

I remember when I first starting looking at Vogue in the 1970’s. I was in junior high school, living in Miami (which was super sleepy, almost a hick town, honestly) and living on my mother’s seamstress salary. Obviously, I wasn’t shopping for anything in Vogue, but I was dreaming. And here’s the thing, it wasn’t all about the clothes. The 70’s was a pretty dismal time economically, gas lines, etc. Vogue was an escape, especially for a young girl who had a desire to “get to the big city.” And that big city would be New York, of course. Oh, and throw Paris in while you’re at it. There were plenty of sexy, cool images (think Helmut Newton) and there were exotic locations and SUPER skinny models and everyone seemed to be dating a glam rocker (like Bryan Ferry). It was cool, and far away and UNDERGROUND. Because there was an underground then. Word of mouth was it, back then. If you weren’t connected you were out.

True, we often look back on our life and think it was better back then... Everyone does it, and ultimately it was never much better and often it was worse. But if I was a fashion magazine I’d work toward making things a bit more surreal, a lot more out of reach and as underground as possible. This concept may fly in the face of current thinking — we are all citizen reporters, aren’t we? Everything is accessible, right? BUT, that’s what made those books interesting in the bad old days. Or, I guess fashion can just accept that their bibles are on the way out. I sure do hope not, ‘cause there are still a lot of dreamers out there. Little girls, and big girls.

I’ve been watching Oprah on and off since she launched a million years ago. Back then Phil Donahue had the lock-up on daytime talk shows… And before that there was Dinah Shore and Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin. Well, I was pretty darn young then (elementary school), but I used to stay home as often as I could. We had a television on and off in those days. My Mom was against it. She would pull it out once a year to watch “The Wizard of Oz.” A movie I’ve never really taken to, those flying monkeys were scary! But when the television was in vogue in our home I’d watch it. And when it wasn’t there, there was always the neighbor’s house.

But back to Oprah… I liked her then. She was real, she was working to help people see real people. A lot of her content then was scandalous, because that was the vibe—a bit of shock, shock of the real. She was always overweight and I honestly think that helped her because everyone could SEE she was normal. She had her own struggles. She wasn’t perfect. And then the year came when she made the announcement (I’m sure I don’t have this right, but the essence is there) that she was going to showcase stories that could actually help people, inspire people, give people something to work toward. Real – in a new way. It was the zeitgeist of the times and it really worked. Then came her magazine. And that really worked. Oprah, we may or may not love you, but we have to admit you’re a maverick. And if you’re done with daytime TV there has to be a real good reason. Wonder what you’ve got up your sleeves this time. Because we know, it’s gotta be something.

This is a week of memories… I remember when. Well I do remember when I saw my first pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. Beverly Hills, Oscar week, L’Ermitage Hotel. One of my colleagues popped out to buy a pair because they “looked great and are SO comfortable.” The look then was sling back, not so high heel and yep, kinda fabulous.

I’ll tell you something, I don’t think making a name for yourself in the shoe department is the easiest thing to do. From a PR standpoint, getting great press on shoes can be a challenge, because they are on the feet after all. When we get one of our fashion clients shot on the red carpet, it’s all about the dress. We work pretty hard to make sure our jewelry is covered. But shoes. Wow.  

We did a big to-do a few years ago when our client, Kwiat, partnered with Stuart Weitzman and did a pair of “million dollar” slippers for the Academy Award red carpet. I give his PR people credit, they did an incredible job getting press, and it’s just not easy. BUT here’s the thing. Of all our personal fashion items I think it’s safe to say that shoes rank pretty darn high. And Jimmy Choo broke out and made it happen, on the red carpet and off. They are a success story that other brands should consider studying. And now they are partnering with H&M to bring fabulous to the masses (not unlike other brands that have gone before, Stella, Karl Lagerfeld and Matthew Williamson). I think it’s a good thing. I’m a fan!