hello! below are cuts from a business interview a few weeks back with a beautiful friend in London who’s doing a little something on the line and she kindly agreed to send us the outtakes for anyone who’s into that kind of thing. and you know i cut some out of it, it was too long. for anyone who’s not into a read its going to be a zzzzz so just bypass it!.
A. well I’d say sit down in the quiet one afternoon and ask yourself questions and then answer them. ‘what are you meant to be doing 5 years from now’. the answers will come and why not go for the ones that put you on the edge of your seat. those are the good ones. this one life’s only happening once so might as do something that makes your heart leap on a regular basis. that’s my very best advice.
Q. What do you like most about your job?:
A. I like that I get to make beautiful clothes and see them on beautiful women around the world
and for me clothes are not a superficial thing. they enhance your experience of life so directly. so you may as well dress for the moments you wish to have. slide into a silk summer dress, running errands around town is better. wear some slim fitting jeans with the right jacket and cross the street in a pair of stilettos. you know what I’m saying. Which of course is why the coming shoe line is so heavy on stilettos. It feels like we’ve been in a terrible stiletto recession and we’re finally coming out of it. I plan to do my part for the revival.
Q. Where do you get your inspiration?:
A. with what women are doing today, running all over having lives globally for their professions, going from coast to coast, across the pond and back- good lord women are so busy doing it all, having jobs, having babies, making it all happen so buying heels and doing shopping for that life is sort of a nice little breather isn’t it. it allows one to slow down and give a gift to yourself occasionally. it’s a way to enjoy the moment and plan for the next. enhance the things coming. And so I like to think about what I can give her for that
Q. What is the design process like for you?:
A. it is absolutely enjoyable and i would not do any other thing. of course its challenging, but if everything were easy where would we be. we’d be zenning around all day and you know that actually doesn’t sound like such a bad idea does it. maybe we can figure out a way to both i’ll look into it.
Q. What are the 5 must haves for a woman’s wardrobe?:
A. well #1. is of course good jeans. Something you can do an inside roll to make ankle length or push down and make them hit the top of the stiletto to make that long clean line all the way down the leg.
#2. the simple modish dresses we have coming up. yes yes I’m talking about what we have coming up here! because that’s all i do is think about this in constance. anyway modish dresses- Not only do they absolutely go from day to night, because they are such clean unfussy shapes you can transform them totally with your choice of footwear. do stilettos and you can get out to the party in them. low Sandals and you can run errands in them. If someone snaps your photo on either occasion you look really chic but in an effortless way. Bestly they are absolutely comfortable and show off those long legs and gorgeous arms of yours while letting you breathe and live
#3. a 1920s style linen mens suiting jacket because they are a bit longer and they give that long leanish thing to the leg. and of course that’s the decade when women really started to take ownership of the trouser, well ownership of it all really thank god. Anyway why not do the whole suit because you like to wear the jacket and the pants separately.
#4. Having some breezy knee skirts that you can tuck a slim fitted T shirt into, put on a pair of stilettos, grab your clutch, slide jewelry onto the hands, draw a dark line of coal over the eyes, spritz something wonderful on your wrists and and muss up the hair a little bit in the elevator and hail the cab and by the way you look great lets get a picture
#5. our marvelous perfume we’re doing for you next year
#6. well look we have to put a #6 here to top off! so top off all that sensibility with something absolutely beautiful and unnecessary. something that is the opposite of a must have. you’ve got to have at least one of those things a quarter. but i can’t tell you what that is in the line because those have to be surprises for later
Q. Who writes for you/does your blog?:
A. This is such a strange question we are getting so frequently these days. Are other people having someone write for them? I suppose they are but I couldn’t do it simply because it wouldn’t work. What would I tell them to do: “so and so, go pen me something about fruit flies in the wine glass?” how the hell would they even know where to start. And well i’d just end up rewriting the whole thing myself. If other people are having people write for them I don’t know how they deal with the inaccuracy.
and of course i write for Pedro because i can tell what he’s thinking and honesty how can you trust that dog with the responsibility. he’s just not capable, I’m just going to be frank.
Q. Is there anything you would have changed about your business looking back?:
A. No. I never look back in that way. what a waste of time! I only think of things as they apply to the present. the past is of absolutely no concern to me.
Q. What are you most excited about going forward?:
A. well i’m excited about everything really but one nice thing is we’ve spent the last 365 days working day and night to secure the production capabilities we have now and get everything up to the point and one great reward is looking ahead to expand the line to include some pieces that keep me up at night. these are beauty for beauty’s sake pieces and i just have to throw price point concerns out the window so they can live in the fullness of what they need to be. so anyway we’ll make a few of these pieces for women who need things like that in their lives.
but in general I want to have a range of prices because you know how it is when you want to give yourself the gift of a gorgeous thing but can’t blow everything on it. And let’s face it when you collect coats and heels like some of us do – well you’ve got to make that money spread across an expansive wardrobe collection
it’s why i decided early on – which many people thought was crazy- not to do wholesale. because in the department store/boutique market most of our 2012 dresses are going to be in the $800+ range. you have middle man mark up when you sell through wholesale channels. selling direct puts our prices far less than that. and I don’t do that for a business thing. it’s a heart thing. I want the girl who loves the coat to have the fucking coat. as you can see i get flamed up about it.
maybe i’ll change my mind later and go into the wholesale market but for now lets just keep the prices better for her and sell to her direct.
Q. Do you think you’ll stick to online vs having brick and mortar shop?:
A. Well we’re currently looking for shop spaces in nyc and london for our women there. but online, we love it because if there’s one thing we’ve learned about our collectors is she’s a busy woman who needs to shop for the things happening in her life at all hours, whenever she can squeeze it in. and we love to see our customers ordering from all over the world. it’s a lot of fun to have that connection to beautiful women around the world.
Q. What would your advice be for women in business today?:
A. well I’d think its the same as being a man in business today. you’ve got to know why you’re doing things and be absolutely invested in reality.
and wear some heels once and awhile to remind them who’s boss.
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thank you S.P.!
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hello there! did you make it all the way to here, to the end of the out cuts!? how did you do it!! well done!
ok i hope you have wonderful holidays! catch you on the flip side!
Emerson
