Michael Kors is celebrating 30 years in fashion with a new LA store opening in October. Over the past 3 decades, Kors has witnessed immense changes in fashion through technology and culture, but has maintained a focus on classic, luxurious American sportswear. The article profiles Kors' charismatic personality and gratitude for his successful career through interviews with Kors and actress Rene Russo, who has long worn and admired his designs.

1. American
Dreamer
From his widely acclaimed fall collection to a new LA store slated to open in October,
Michael Kors is having a grand time celebrating 30 years
of crafting the ultimate in classic luxe.
By Laurie Brookins
H
e wouldn’t typically be the first person to hit the while plastic surgery has totally changed how we design, because people
dance floor, but Michael Kors just couldn’t help don’t have rules about how they look at a certain age anymore.” And yet
himself. “Fashion folk can sometimes get a little self- the essence of what Michael Kors is all about—classic luxe that largely takes
conscious, but right away I was out of my seat at the its cue from the highest ideals of American sportswear—has altered little.
table,” he recalls. Schizophrenic collections can plague a designer as he or she gets older,
It was a perfect spring night in March, and Kors was always rooted in the pressure to remain relevant and current to ever-younger
throwing a party to celebrate his just-opened store audiences who are not only discovering you, but often doing so online,
in Paris; the guest entertainer was Mary J. Blige, who was belting out her making snap judgments mere seconds after you’ve sent a collection down
rendition of “Stairway to Heaven.” “She was pouring her heart into this, and the runway. But not Kors: Ask him to describe the essential elements of
I just thought, I’m going to rush the stage and turn this into a mosh pit,” says his first show in 1984—which was presented in an art gallery in New York’s
Kors. “I think I was doing some sort of demented bar mitzvah Watusi, but I Chelsea neighborhood—and he might as well be talking about his Fall 2011
didn’t care. She was singing for me, and I was going to dance for her.” collection. “The clothes were superluxe and laid-back,” he says. “I’ve always
Blige wasn’t the only Grammy Award winner to serenade the designer believed it’s about the woman who wants to wear them, making sure she feels
this year, but more on that in a moment. If it sounds like Michael Kors leads glamorous and yet comfortable and answering the call of what people are
a bit of a charmed life, he does—especially this year: 2011 marks the 30th looking for in their wardrobes. That essence will always be there.”
anniversary of his eponymous label, and Kors has turned the milestone into Actress Rene Russo believes she may know an equally essential secret to
a 12-month party. “It’s been an amazing whirlwind of a year,” he says, noting Kors’ success. “It seems to me Michael is a naturally happy guy; he certainly
the celebratory mood was sparked by two events that occurred in 2010: exudes that,” she says. “He also always strikes me as a very kind person who
Kors turned 50 in August of last year. “I admit it, though no one in fashion really enjoys his life. All of that shows in his clothes.”
ever turns 40, let alone 50,” he says. “We’re all 38 or 39 forever.” And two When she met Kors in the 1980s, Russo was a young model, freshly
photograph by TK; illustration by TK
months earlier the Council of Fashion Designers of America awarded him transplanted from her native Burbank to New York, and he was a kid with
photograph by Inez + Vinoodh
its Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award. “Those two things made a cherubic face and untamed curly hair. “I didn’t know anything about the
me stop and breathe and say, ‘Wait a minute, we’re almost at 30 years,’” says business at all, and I would go to these offices with my portfolio, and people
Kors. “I’m not one to reminisce, but those moments did make me start to were so dismissive of me,” remembers Russo. “Then one day I went to
reflect and think about what I’ve seen, the people I’ve met, the experiences Michael’s studio, and he walked in like sunshine. He was so young himself,
I’ve had, and how much fashion has changed.” and I don’t know if he could feel that I was awkward or insecure, but he really
He indeed has witnessed a wealth of change in those three decades. “Of put me at ease, and I loved him for that.”
course the Internet has revolutionized fashion and how we think about it, While she’s worn his clothes consistently on red carpets over the years,
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2. Russo most famously worked with Kors when she wore pieces from his ‘Just wait, you don’t have to know everything.’” watching is a big part of what inspires me and turns me on, and I think the
collection in 1999’s The Thomas Crown Affair, a film that has attained When he finally was allowed to greet Midler, she had a ukulele in hand ultimate spot for people-watching in LA is Robertson, because it’s one of the
something of a cult status among fashion lovers for the styling of Russo’s and launched into a rousing chorus of “Happy Anniversary.” “I grew up few places in the city where there’s a walking culture. You see everyone on
character. “I’ve got a few of those pieces to this day, and I still wear them enraptured by her music, so that was a big moment for me,” says Kors. “You Robertson—from teenagers cutting class and grande dames to the Hollywood
because they’re just as amazing now as they were then,” she says. “There’s a hear designers complain all the time about how hard our jobs are, and I set and tourists. It’s a fabulous mix of people.”
beautiful black sheath, a coat and a few turtlenecks. Everything he did was
so perfect for the character; she needed to be strong and all business, but
always think, Why would anyone complain? You get to do what you love to
do, and you get to experience things some people only dream about. And I
“My customer insists on clothes that are The store will be Kors’ 11th in the LA area and will be an amalgam of
his three labels: the Michael Kors Collection, as well as the more lifestyle-
also beautiful and sexy, and the clothes really helped make that statement. think about that when I think about the morning of that show, and how my versatile, indulgent and glamorous, with influenced and lower-priced MICHAEL Michael Kors and KORS Michael
I don’t know any other movie I’ve done in which the clothes defined the
character the way Michael’s did.”
day started with thinking, Why is Bette Midler carrying a ukulele?”
Michael Kors’ Fall 2011 collection is undeniably a celebration of what he
the kind of opposing idea that they’re also Kors lines. “I think a lot of Hollywood will still deal with special-occasion
and red-carpet clothes [on Rodeo],” he says. “This store is going to be a
Russo was among the star-studded lineup that turned out to commemorate loves, and what women like Russo and Midler love about him. “I didn’t want relaxed and easy.”—michael kors
Kors’ 30th anniversary during the debut of his fall collection, shown at New it to be a reminiscence of 30 years; I wanted it to say what I’m about as a
York’s Lincoln Center Theater in February. The A-list front row included designer,” he says. That was translated into exquisitely tailored menswear-
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Anjelica Huston, Debra Messing, influenced suits in deep charcoal and ankle-length cashmere coats in Kors’
Angie Harmon, Patti Hansen, Emma Roberts and Bette Midler, who had a beloved camel, juxtaposed with divinely draped dresses in silk charmeuse
plan of her own for the designer. “The show day was full of surprises, and and jersey, as well as a splash of effortless one-shoulder gowns and some
normally I’m not good with that—for my 30th birthday I redid the guest list for cunning jumpsuits—many woven through the thread of a glam ’70s Studio 54
my surprise party,” says Kors. “All the celebrities normally come backstage moment. The overall effect was precisely that balance of yin and yang—hard
before a show starts—you get a second to catch up a little, and they try to take vs. soft, structured vs. supple—at which Kors quite simply excels.
a sneak peek at the racks before the show. But Bette had not arrived, and “First off, I’m outerwear-obsessed and tailoring-obsessed, and somehow
she’s always unbelievably on time. Then I heard she was there, but everyone I think we’ve lost the idea of tailoring in fashion,” says Kors when asked
said, ‘No, you can’t say hello yet, just wait here.’ I asked why, and I was told, about the roots of the collection. “I don’t like thinking there’s a whole
“I’m consistently inspired by LA, and
what the world thinks of as American
style finds its roots here. It’s laid-back and
eclectic and all about mixing the seasons,
and those are things I love and always
find inspiring.”—michael kors
photographs by David X. Prutting/BFANYC.com (midler); ivan mathie (blige); billy farrell/bfanyc.com (russo)
generation of women who don’t understand one simple truth: When you above: Looks from Kors’ Fall/Winter 2011 collection.
put on a beautifully tailored coat, and it’s cut a certain way, it not only does
wonderful things for your body, it also lasts for years, and it doesn’t have
to be masculine—it can be very sexy.” And while those cashmere jumpsuits
are also a nod to the notion that Kors came of age, as he puts it, “in the great place to grab and go; there will be collection pieces there, but it’s
beginning of the paparazzi era, with all those great Ron Galella photos of not meant to be about evening gowns. I want to offer things people can
people in real life, of seeing Jackie Kennedy in her T-shirt and pants, of throw on and go out to dinner. It’s about a great dress or jacket and a lot
Lauren Hutton and Ali MacGraw,” he’s likewise passionate about their of sweaters. People forget LA gets cold at night, so to me it’s a fabulous
purpose. “I love a long, lean line, and the challenge of how do you give cashmere town and a great leather-jacket town.”
photographs by dan and corina lecca (runway)
someone an extra six inches of leg,” he says. “That’s such a big part of who Not unlike that Paris boutique in March, a party likely will take place
I am as a designer. And no matter what time I’m in, I’ve always known to commemorate the Robertson store’s opening. Three decades after
what I stood for: Every woman wants to look taller and leaner; everyone founding his label, Kors has launched stores around the world (two stores
wants to look sexy but be comfortable. My customer insists on clothes that in Istanbul recently opened their doors) but for him, it never gets old—that
are versatile, indulgent and glamorous, with the kind of opposing idea that moment of experiencing the energy of people in a new store, and LA is far
they’re also relaxed and easy. That’s ultimately Michael Kors.” from an exception. “I’m consistently inspired by LA, and what the world
Next month Kors extends that ideal and his anniversary celebration with thinks of as American style finds its roots here,” he says. “It’s laid-back and
the opening of a 2,000-square-foot boutique on North Robertson. “A lot of eclectic and all about mixing the seasons, and those are things I love and
people don’t realize that because my grandparents moved to LA when I was always find inspiring.”
from left: Kors with Rene Russo; Mary J. Blige performing at Kors’
party in Paris; Bette Midler serenading Kors backstage at his fashion a teenager, and because my mom has lived there for years, I consider LA a All of which is to say: Michael Kors will no doubt once again be in the
show; Blake Lively with the designer. second home,” says Kors, who was born and raised in New York. “People- mood to dance. LAC
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