He may be designing his own line for Target and a more upscale line at Bergdorf Goodman, as well as hosting his own TV show on the Style Network, but at heart, Isaac Mizrahi is a
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Mizrahi: I think it's too late to be considering that. The damage seems to be done. You walk around the streets and you see so many girls with eating disorders, based, I think, on the pressures from advertising and from models. I think this should have been done a long time ago.
Stylelist: Do you think there will be any more supermodels or if there are so many models now that the culture is over-diluted?
Mizrahi: Yes, but then there are really great models out there who are just right, and who ascend to stardom in some way. I don't know about supermodel-dom, it seems like a paradigm has shifted in that area. There are a few girls out there who I really admire who just look so perfect and really wear clothes really well. Like, there's this girl Agyness out here, who's just really perfect.
Model Agyness Deyn walks the runway at Isaac Mizrahi's Fall 2007 Collection in New York.
Courtesy Dan Lecca
Stylelist: Do you think there's ever going to be a day where designers are sending looks down the runway for women of average height and weight?
Mizrahi: Yes, I do. I've tried, and it hasn't worked to this point, so I decided to stop trying because you really do have to get your clothes noticed. It's a very competitive world out there, so you have to use girls who are kind of in the zeitgeist at the moment.
Stylelist: Were you inspired to start designing for Target because it was something you heard from your audience? Or was it just something that came out of your own brain?
Mizrahi: It was really something that came out of my own brain.
Stylelist: Do you find that what you do on the side -- namely, music -- actually makes your trademark item more vibrant?
Mizrahi: I think so. Some don't agree with that thought, but I don't care about those people. I only care about myself and what I really like doing and what amuses me.
Isaac Mizrahi interviews actress Mandy Moore on his Style Network show, 'Isaac.'
Courtesy Style Network
Mizrahi (con't): There are retailers who don't want my clothes in their stores because I have clothes in Target. It freaks me out. These retailers who are just prejudiced because I have clothes at Target.
Two flirty dresses from Isaac Mizrahi's Spring/Summer 2007 Target Collection
Courtesy Target
Stylelist: It seems that you really had an eye for it and knew what would work.
Mizrahi: It's a matter of balancing it properly and doing it, and creating the right culture for it. As far as I'm concerned, the world has enough fashion. I don't feel like I need to create more fashion. I love designing clothes, at all different levels.
Stylelist: Do you think that had anything to do with growing up in
Mizrahi: Yes, I do think that partly had to do with growing up in
Isaac Mizrahi fits a model in his New York studio.
Courtesy Jason Frank Rothenberg
1. It's a fact...you don't have to spend a lot of money to look great. I'm glad that Isaac Mizrahi has upset the market and created a line of clothing with style at a great price point.
Target has always had a great line of products for your home that color coordinate.
Saving money and buying quality is the wave of the future.
Ask Mi-Ling at 1:48PM on Jun 30th 2007