BRIDAL issue
aRUDE comment
ONLINE content
ART & ARCHITECTURE
Questions for Bassam Fellows interview Iké Udé
BON APPÉTIT
Lucien interview Danielle Brown
BUSINESS OFF THE WALL
Questions For Aaron Schwartz
FASHION
Badgley Mischka interview Iké Udé
La Vie En Rose photography Andrew Matusik
FASHION LINGERIE
Suite 1940 photography Ben Oliver
KULTURE & ART CINEMA
Anthony Hopkins Not Brain Surgery interview Brandon Judell
KULTURE & ART PAINTING
talking with Marlene Dumas interview Odili Donald Odita
Johan Falkman A Dance-Macbre Around The Autopsy Table interview Magnus Sjöholm
KULTURE & ART PHOTOGRAPHY
Daniel Malcolm interview Koan Jeff Baysa
SHELTER & DESIGN FLORAL DESIGN
Questions for Olivier Guigni
TRAVEL & LEISURE
"Brazil? With my hair? Never!!" Diane von Furstenberg
aRUDE comment
bridal_issue_bmis.php
ONLINE content
ART & ARCHITECTURE
Questions for Bassam Fellows interview Iké Udé
BON APPÉTIT
Lucien interview Danielle Brown
BUSINESS OFF THE WALL
Questions For Aaron Schwartz
FASHION
Badgley Mischka interview Iké Udé
La Vie En Rose photography Andrew Matusik
FASHION LINGERIE
Suite 1940 photography Ben Oliver
KULTURE & ART CINEMA
Anthony Hopkins Not Brain Surgery interview Brandon Judell
KULTURE & ART PAINTING
talking with Marlene Dumas interview Odili Donald Odita
Johan Falkman A Dance-Macbre Around The Autopsy Table interview Magnus Sjöholm
KULTURE & ART PHOTOGRAPHY
Daniel Malcolm interview Koan Jeff Baysa
SHELTER & DESIGN FLORAL DESIGN
Questions for Olivier Guigni
TRAVEL & LEISURE
"Brazil? With my hair? Never!!" Diane von Furstenberg
BADGLEY MISHKA
interview Iké Udé
Badgley Mishka click image to enlarge Iké Udé Did you realize that the combination of your two names, forming your company name, would be so intriguing?
Badgley Mishka: It certainly was not because it was easy to pronounce or spell! In the beginning, everyone thought it was a Russian woman, not two American guys.
IU: How did it all start?
BM: We were both working for other designers – Mark was at Donna Karan, and James was at WilliWear WilliSmith – and we both thought we were working too hard not to have our own collections. We had no idea how hard work really could be, but we found out!
IU: What area of your business did you commence with when you first founded in 1988?
BM: Badgley Mischka started out as both women’s and men’s wear—clothes for our friends to wear to dinners and clubs. We never wanted to just do another collection of sportswear.
IU: Since then, what has changed or evolved?
BM: The men’s collection did very well in Japan, but then the women’s collection started growing so quickly that we had to allocate all of our energies and resources to that part of the business, and so we closed the men’s division. Since then, we have been lucky enough to develop into what some people refer to as the “go-to guys” for glamour, and we have added many other categories to what we design – beauty, shoes, handbags, eyewear, jewelry, and our first fragrance that launches this Fall. We have also added our Platinum label of eveningwear to the collection, with more democratic pricing than our Couture collection.
BM: It is natural that as you figure out how to do one thing, if you truly love it, you would want to apply what you have learned. In our case, we have developed a certain aesthetic and design vocabulary, and we are expanding it to other parts of our customers’ lives.
IU: What talents or experiences did you each bring to bear in your collaboration?
BM: As well as our passion for clothes and design, we both had made it our business to try to learn as much about the rest of the companies we worked for as possible – how the p.r. people did their jobs, how you calculate fabric yields, how you decide what stores to sell. We both had business educations as well as design degrees, which helped tremendously when we were the only two employees, as well as throughout the rest of our careers.
IU: What is the biggest problem that a company such as yours, run by two people of such equal talent, has to negotiate?
BM: In the beginning, we both had to go to every fabric appointment, every fitting, every everything. But as our visions developed and merged, we could eventually be in two places at one time! There is so much to do that we are often in different parts of the company and making decisions without being able to put our heads together, but we always review things and we are usually in agreement.
IU: No power struggles?
BM: It sounds almost too simple, but when it comes to differences of opinion, we never have any ego when it comes to each other – we are both totally open to the other’s point of view.
IU: What are your favorite design mediums/materials and why?
BM: It is definitely safe to say that we like things that are shiny! We are total magpies. At the same time, we prefer materials that have an age or a history to them, even if it’s one that we invent, by distressing or corroding them.
IU: Is it fair to say that the Beauty collection is somewhat auxiliary in stature compared to, say, Couture or Sportswear, etc.?
BM: The Beauty collection is certainly smaller than Couture, or our Platinum Label collection, but it’s very important to rounding out our product lines. It is a luxury for us to be able to be a part of that amazing day.
IU: Is there a logic behind your different lines?
BM: We have a real interest in, and reason for, having each of our lines. We would never just add a line in order to have more product with our name on it.
IU: And you personally design everything?
BM: We either design everything or oversee it closely. We have been able to get together with terrific partners – people that do the most special eyewear, the best-fitting lingerie, and the most beautiful shoes – and we are intimately involved with all of the product design.
IU:
Would you say that, in general, one of you is more hardworking, or more smart-working?
BM: You have to be both, but it is a huge advantage having a partner whose every decision you can trust. It’s almost like having one mind in two bodies.
IU: What is the most singular, most rewarding collection you have done thus far?
BM: Our favorite show was one that Women’s Wear Daily dubbed “Tweeds and Beads,” in 1998. It had a set made of real trees that we beaded, to create a fantasy winter forest, and we threw heavy coats over the gossamer gowns.
IU: Do you find that price affects the variety of your clientele? How about the average-income, hardworking bride?
BM: We see more and more brides realizing that her wedding really is her opportunity to be a star, and she is more willing than ever to invest in a dress that she looks gorgeous in and will remember forever.
IU: What informed your two-season hiatus?
BM: We made a change in the ownership of our company nearly two years ago, and we missed the seasons that fell during the transfer. As hard as that was, it was very gratifying to see the response when we were back.
IU: You’re quite a hit with Hollywood and celebrities in general. What accounts for this?
BM: We have always made clothes that are red-carpet-friendly, and we have always had a lot of them. We don’t just add a few gowns for the finale of the show; we treat the entire collection as a finale.
IU:
Who is the one person, dead or alive that you would cherish most to do an evening or
Beauty gown for?
BM: Bette Davis, no question about it. We would have loved to have worked with her around the time she filmed Now, Voyager – she was so beautiful! And an amazing talent.
interview Iké Udé
Badgley Mishka click image to enlarge Iké Udé Did you realize that the combination of your two names, forming your company name, would be so intriguing?
Badgley Mishka: It certainly was not because it was easy to pronounce or spell! In the beginning, everyone thought it was a Russian woman, not two American guys.
IU: How did it all start?
BM: We were both working for other designers – Mark was at Donna Karan, and James was at WilliWear WilliSmith – and we both thought we were working too hard not to have our own collections. We had no idea how hard work really could be, but we found out!
IU: What area of your business did you commence with when you first founded in 1988?
BM: Badgley Mischka started out as both women’s and men’s wear—clothes for our friends to wear to dinners and clubs. We never wanted to just do another collection of sportswear.
IU: Since then, what has changed or evolved?
BM: The men’s collection did very well in Japan, but then the women’s collection started growing so quickly that we had to allocate all of our energies and resources to that part of the business, and so we closed the men’s division. Since then, we have been lucky enough to develop into what some people refer to as the “go-to guys” for glamour, and we have added many other categories to what we design – beauty, shoes, handbags, eyewear, jewelry, and our first fragrance that launches this Fall. We have also added our Platinum label of eveningwear to the collection, with more democratic pricing than our Couture collection.
We see more and more brides realizing that her wedding
really is her opportunity to be a star.
IU:
Would you say that these changes have been natural, logical evolutions, in the grand scheme
of things?
BM: It is natural that as you figure out how to do one thing, if you truly love it, you would want to apply what you have learned. In our case, we have developed a certain aesthetic and design vocabulary, and we are expanding it to other parts of our customers’ lives.
IU: What talents or experiences did you each bring to bear in your collaboration?
BM: As well as our passion for clothes and design, we both had made it our business to try to learn as much about the rest of the companies we worked for as possible – how the p.r. people did their jobs, how you calculate fabric yields, how you decide what stores to sell. We both had business educations as well as design degrees, which helped tremendously when we were the only two employees, as well as throughout the rest of our careers.
IU: What is the biggest problem that a company such as yours, run by two people of such equal talent, has to negotiate?
BM: In the beginning, we both had to go to every fabric appointment, every fitting, every everything. But as our visions developed and merged, we could eventually be in two places at one time! There is so much to do that we are often in different parts of the company and making decisions without being able to put our heads together, but we always review things and we are usually in agreement.
IU: No power struggles?
BM: It sounds almost too simple, but when it comes to differences of opinion, we never have any ego when it comes to each other – we are both totally open to the other’s point of view.
IU: What are your favorite design mediums/materials and why?
BM: It is definitely safe to say that we like things that are shiny! We are total magpies. At the same time, we prefer materials that have an age or a history to them, even if it’s one that we invent, by distressing or corroding them.
IU: Is it fair to say that the Beauty collection is somewhat auxiliary in stature compared to, say, Couture or Sportswear, etc.?
BM: The Beauty collection is certainly smaller than Couture, or our Platinum Label collection, but it’s very important to rounding out our product lines. It is a luxury for us to be able to be a part of that amazing day.
IU: Is there a logic behind your different lines?
BM: We have a real interest in, and reason for, having each of our lines. We would never just add a line in order to have more product with our name on it.
IU: And you personally design everything?
BM: We either design everything or oversee it closely. We have been able to get together with terrific partners – people that do the most special eyewear, the best-fitting lingerie, and the most beautiful shoes – and we are intimately involved with all of the product design.
IU:
Would you say that, in general, one of you is more hardworking, or more smart-working?
BM: You have to be both, but it is a huge advantage having a partner whose every decision you can trust. It’s almost like having one mind in two bodies.
IU: What is the most singular, most rewarding collection you have done thus far?
BM: Our favorite show was one that Women’s Wear Daily dubbed “Tweeds and Beads,” in 1998. It had a set made of real trees that we beaded, to create a fantasy winter forest, and we threw heavy coats over the gossamer gowns.
IU: Do you find that price affects the variety of your clientele? How about the average-income, hardworking bride?
BM: We see more and more brides realizing that her wedding really is her opportunity to be a star, and she is more willing than ever to invest in a dress that she looks gorgeous in and will remember forever.
IU: What informed your two-season hiatus?
BM: We made a change in the ownership of our company nearly two years ago, and we missed the seasons that fell during the transfer. As hard as that was, it was very gratifying to see the response when we were back.
IU: You’re quite a hit with Hollywood and celebrities in general. What accounts for this?
BM: We have always made clothes that are red-carpet-friendly, and we have always had a lot of them. We don’t just add a few gowns for the finale of the show; we treat the entire collection as a finale.
IU:
Who is the one person, dead or alive that you would cherish most to do an evening or
Beauty gown for?
BM: Bette Davis, no question about it. We would have loved to have worked with her around the time she filmed Now, Voyager – she was so beautiful! And an amazing talent.
