One Bell's Fashion

Joe ZEE - Creative Director of Elle

1.As the new creative director of Elle what direction are you looking to take?

Really, basically, to take it back to what it represents. So I like the history of the brand, the name, Elle, and what is used to mean when it first launched in America and also when it first started in France, which is where it originally came from. It was so much about a strong sexy woman, being trend driven, being very directional and showing great fashion and great ideas, and all that. So everything really just jumps off the page at you.

2. You are working again with your design director from Vitals, Paul Ritter. Can you describe how you guys work together?

Yes! Well Paul Ritter was my art director at Vitals when we did that at Fairchild and at Conde Nast. We have a great working relationship as we both think alike and have the same sort of mind and we understand what the magazine is about and of doing it in a new way or interesting way or innovative way and having a really specific strong sensibility that will come across so in a way we work really well because sometimes we argue but sometimes we see something exactly the way that it is and we try to move it all in the right direction.

And it's nice having that history with him there too, working together at Vitals..

Yeah, we have a good working history together and we don't have to hold back, we can say exactly what we really think and sometimes we're so busy we need someone who can think alike and have a like mind to be able to move on.

3. How are you planning on decorating your new office at Elle?

(Laughter) We're going to have hardwood floors, dark wood floors, and have plenty of bookshelves over there to hold all my magazines and reference books. And we're going to have fabric walls so I can put up the pages. It'll just be functional.

Window treatment?

Well this office has an amazing view of Times Square but when those blinds come up it gets really hot in here so they stay down most of the day to keep it cool.

4. How did you get started in the styling business and what would you recommend to a young stylist looking to get started in this field?

How did I get started? Well, I just feel like I've always been working, I've always done this, so I don't really remember how I got started. The best advice I always say is really try to be yourself and not somebody else, and not try to be too influenced by other things that you see that aren't really who you are. That doesn't really make sense. You just really have to do what you believe in and once you can really do that then it'll start to show through in the work that you do.

Right, so be focused.

Be focused, but also have your signature and know what you can do and know what your forte is and doing it in the absolute best way.

5. What inspires you?

What inspires me? Everything, anything, almost. I love pop culture, so that is the number one thing that inspires me. Television always inspires me, music, movies, art, books, film, fashion...the internet, multimedia. And it's also a meld of all those things, television on the internet and fashion and movies, everything becomes one thing for me in a way. Everything that is current.

6. You worked with Annie Liebovitz on the Gap Red Campaign, can you talk a little about how it was working with her?

Oh well I love working with Annie Liebovitz and I worked with her on a number of things for Vanity Fair and on the Gap Red Campaign. She's really good in terms of images and knowing exactly what she wants and seeing the picture. She's also really good at working with celebrities and to put all those things together in combination...she's really good at sussing out the particular trait in a celebrity's personality and being able to enhance it and bring it out of them in a picture, so whether it's the zany, kooky, comedic talent of a Chris Rock, or the like the sexy, manly seriousness of a Jennifer Garner, she's really good at pulling all those things out of a celebrity.

And that campaign was really interesting, because it featured different talents like Steven Spielberg and Penelope Cruz

And using the red clothes to find the personality and having it be really about the picture at the end of the day, so Annie was really good at drawing out the casual sexiness of a Penelope or the seriousness of a Spielberg.

7. Lets get a little more personal now. We are also curious to find out how you organize your personal closet at home.

Oh god. Everything is a mess. It's only a mess because I never really care. It's organized because I mostly only have basics. It's all white shirts, and brown shirts, and black shirts, all black sweaters. I mean, everything is folded but I don't have a lot of crazy items. Just my basics, all my suits, my jeans...totally basic, all basics. Totally uniform.

A lot of the same things too? Do you have the same types of jean, or do you get different styles?

No, it's all the same blue jean. It's all the same white shirt. I have a million white shirts..I love white shirts.

8. And is there something about you other people wouldn't guess or know? Something that is not commonly known, maybe something someone really close to you would know, like you talk to yourself, something quirky.

Um, I don't know..

9. The question came out when I was watching Akeelah and the Bee if you've seen that movie, and she has to do the letters in her mind and she pats on her side.

Yeah, yeah. I have to do a lot of things to focus. I love to have a lot of stimuli around me constantly. So when I'm at home the TV is on, the computer is on...everything is on for me to work. I might not even be paying attention to any of it. I need a lot of stimuli for me to focus.

Like when I was in college people would be at the library reading their textbooks and I would be reading the same page over and over again and when I'd get home I'd turn the TV on and the book would be finished.

10. To date, what would you consider your grandest achievement? What would you be most proud of?

Oh god. I always wanted to do stuff that would make a difference, so when people would come up to me and say I saw your work in this, or in that. Or that is inspires them in some way. It gives a bit more validity to it.

Is there anything specific?

Not one specific thing, just over time. I want to leave a body of work behind that made a difference, made an impact.

11. Who is someone you would really love to work with again...anyone from a photographer to an editor?

I don't know there are so many people I would want to work with again, for so many different reasons. I love Dennis Freedman, my old boss, because he was so great and so smart and so artistically adventurous. You know but then I'd love to work with Madonna again because she's so great and so interesting..she too is like, risk taking. Just people who are excited and interesting and love to take chances.

12. Do you see anything in men's or women's wear coming out that you think would be big this season?

For women, this return to elegance. For both men and women it's really about having an individual style statement, rather than following a trend. And just doing their own thing...that's the thing that really inspires me..people doing their own thing whether they're aware of it or not.

13. What are your pet peeves? Personal, professional..?

Oh god..pet peeves. Negative naysayers. I get so many obstacles that I have to hurdle all the time so for me it's "Ok. Next." So my biggest pet peeve are people saying "that's not possible". Solutions versus problems.

14. Ok, one last question. What is your horoscope sign?

Sagittarius.

Do you think you follow suit for a Sagittarius?

Totally. Because they are happy-go-lucky, care-free, optimistic types who go with the flow and that is totally me. I just go with the flow, do stuff and get stuff done.

Kate Lanphear - Style Director of Elle

1. Who are your favorite designers?
I collect old Helmut Lang and Margiela. Although my new thing is Azzedine Alaïa — the boys seem to dig it.

2. What’s the first designer item you ever bought?
A Calvin Klein black sheath.

3. Where do you like to shop in New York?
The vintage stores and small shops on St Mark's Place [in the East Village].

4. How would you describe your personal style aesthetic?
"Is it clean?"

5. What trends are you appreciating right now?
Religion: I'm fond of Catholic iconography.

6. What's one item you're saving up to buy, fashion or otherwise?
An [Attilio] Codognato ring.

7. What's something you never leave the house without?
Turning off the straightening iron, and my keys, I hope.

7.What and/or who inspires you?
The iPad.

8. What's the best part of your job?
Collaborating with creative personalities.

9. You look stunning in the new Eddie Borgo campaign. How did the whole thing come about?
Eddie and Keegan [the stylist] are dear, dear friends. I'd do absolutely anythingfor them — no questions asked. I was honored to be asked; I'm a huge Borgo bijoux devotee.

10.You have something of a cult following. What do you make of this?
I'm completely humbled by it. I mean, I am just your average redneck from Virginia.

Alexis Bryan Morgan - As the former fashion director of ELLE magazine and the current executive fashion director of Lucky magazine

1. How do you describe your style?
I never wear anything that feels even the tiniest bit forced. I have to love it, and it has to feel natural. I would rather look completely boring than wear something that makes me feel a little uneasy.

2. What inspires your style?
I get inspired by flipping through magazines—the “old-fashioned” way!

3. What are you wearing this week?
I’m having a baby in a week and there are only three remaining outfits that I can get my body into. They are all black stretchy numbers.

4. What is your fashion motto?
“You can’t have everything; where would you put it?” —Steven Wright. I say this absurd quote to myself every time I feel a sense of regret about anything coming on.

5. What’s your most treasured possession?
Photographs of family.

6. And finally, The ____(s) you couldn’t live without?
I recently acquired a forest-green suede Balenciaga messenger bag. I am so enamored of it at the moment, and I would be depressed if I had to live without it.

Robbie Myeres - Editor-in-Chief of Elle

1. Designers must be feeling an incredible amount of pressure these days. What are you expecting to see this season?
It's going one of two ways with the financial crisis: The designers either become very safe and commercial or very innovative and creative.

2.Where does the celebrity designer fit into the scheme of things right now?
It's interesting; I just read the story in the Times on the Olsens' line. It's very easy to sneer at celebrity lines, but I have found that a lot of creative people can be creative in more than one medium. I've heard the Tom Ford movie is really good.

3. What about the whole idea of packing the front row of the shows with celebrities? Do you think there will be less of that this go-round?
Fashion has been fairly democratized. I don't think we're going back to when it was just a handful of people sitting in ateliers. The celebrity-fashion connection in the way that we consume culture is undeniable and here to stay. I do think that often these designers are genuine friends of their guests.

"When we did Project Runway, some people were like, 'Oh no, it's reality TV.' My feeling at the time was, it's a different medium... It doesn't hurt the integrity of the magazine."

4. Did you always know you wanted to be in fashion?
I didn't. I took the LSAT and was going to go to law school. I was one of those people who wanted to be a First Amendment lawyer and fight the good fight. Then I fell in love with magazines, particularlyRolling Stone, because it was what I read in college, and I worked there in my first job out of college.

5.What did you learn working at the magazine?
It was amazing. Here's what happened at Interview: You worked until 10 o'clock every night. Everybody did. Then you would go out because that was part of the culture of the magazine. I was at Rolling Stone first, and I learned a lot about reporting, journalism and celebrity culture there. Then, I went to Interview where it was all about the image. I remember the art director taking fake copy. He would do the layout with the art the way he wanted it to be, and then he would cut off whatever was hanging over the bottom of the layout. He'd throw it at me and say, 'Cut that much.' [Laughs] I learned very early on about the importance of image and the importance of journalism and reporting.

6.Okay, so how was it playing a fashionista on television?
[Laughs] I will say I admire the amount of time and effort it takes to shoot 40 seconds of television. I really appreciate what they do.

7.For another interview last year, when we discussed Elle's involvement in the past seasons of Project Runway, you told me that TV has played an integral part in building the Elle brand. What role does the medium play in your current and future strategy?

Next up, we're doing The City on MTV. Our head of public relations [Erin Kaplan] is the central character from Elle. When we did Project Runway, some people were like, 'Oh no, it's reality TV.' My feeling at the time was it's a different medium. If a person turns it on in their home, they're complicit and they want to be there. There was a lot of debate about this. It doesn't hurt the integrity of the magazine -- meaning the fashion stories are still going to be great and cutting edge, the writing is still going to be top notch, and the reporting is going to be strong. Project Runway was quite a phenomenon -- not just for us, but for the business.

"The one thing magazines know how to do is make money: We're making less of it, but we're actually operating at a profit."

8. Stylista wasn't the hit Project Runway was.
My attitude is, it's done. I looked at it and thought, 'What did we learn from it?' What do we now know that we didn't know?' It's a different medium for us.

When I did my interview with [Elle creative director] Joe Zee for this column, he talked about how so many interns and young staffers come in with more of a sense of entitlement than an enthusiasm for the work. Do you see that a lot?

Yes and it's maddening. When I interview somebody I always ask, 'Do you have any questions for me?' That's always the moment where people show themselves. Invariably, about 85 percent of the time it's, 'When can I get promoted? When can I write?'
The person that I hired as my assistant jumped on a plane from Colorado. I said, "I'm sorry I can't pay you back for your trip," and he said, 'I'm coming anyway' and showed up on Monday morning. I went through a stack of people who had mint educations, and they were all lovely and all very polished, and completely disinterested in what we did. They were only interested in their own thing. I get that it's your first job, but where's the passion for what we're doing?
When I got to the point in the interview where I asked [my future assistant], 'Do you have any questions for me?,' he was the only one who asked me a question about what had recently happened at the magazine and what our editorial plans were about something specific. He was the only one that read the magazine.

And he's your current assistant?
Yes, he is.

9.What advice would you give to candidates coming to Elle?

Know something about what we do and have a point of view on it. I can't tell you how many times I've asked people, 'What magazines do you read?' and they say, 'Umm, let me think…' Enthusiasm counts for a lot. Motivation counts for a lot. You can tell the ones that have the attitude, 'I will do anything to work here,' versus the ones who say, 'I really need to get to work because my dad is going to cut me off any minute.' The lesson that I've learned from this is that my kids are going to have boring, tedious jobs when they're teenagers.

10. What do you consider your greatest success?

The staff that I've been able to assemble around me, for sure.

And biggest disappointment?

I was heartbroken when Mirabella folded. It was a small, energetic staff, and we were all very attached to it.

11. How would you say you've gotten to where you are?
There were many serendipitous moments, but I hope that I've worked hard in between them.

Andre Leon Talley- Contributing Editor for Vogue

1. How does one stay fashionable in college?

Look at you: I don’t know who made that skirt but I think it’s wonderful, and I don’t care where it comes from, but it’s different and you matched it with sort of a rugby-esque sweater. There are no rules. In college there are no trends. You are the trend.

2. You speak a lot about history and references to the past and past clothing. During the talk, an audience member questioned the relevance of Vogue, saying the magazine isn’t “cutting edge.” What is cutting edge, and how do you connect that with history?

Well, I was being very polite to the young lady because cutting edge can be today. As I said, the past is always here, the past is not gone. So what she is considering cutting edge is avant-garde, something she’s never seen. But Vogue has cutting edge. It is cutting edge in its approach to photography. It’s cutting edge in its models. It’s cutting edge in the choices of clothes. She said it’s “too safe.” If you pick up this month’s Vogue, they are showing long clothes for spring, long skirts. When was the last time you saw women being told by a fashion magazine you can wear a long skirt in the day. I think the cutting edge thing, it’s subjective and I was trying to be very polite to the girl.

3. You speak a lot about fashion and history, of fashion being a portal. Do you have a favorite fashion fantasy that you escape to?

No. That’s why I have to watch movies. It depends on who I’m into right now, like right now I’m really into [Akira] Kurosawa and I just purchased his 25-volume set of DVDs. I don’t encourage you to do it — it costs $300. The biggest fantasy that I have at the moment is getting into my Ralph Rucci tunics. The fantasy that I live through every day is my own ability to entertain myself in my head, and it gets more difficult the older one gets. But when I was your age I was off the charts, and I think Andy Warhol saw that.

5. They just said it’s changing from editor-at-large to contributing editor. What does that change mean?

That change means that I’m going on a contractual basis, I’m still at Vogue, I’m still doing the same things that I do. But because I’m going to be on “America’s Next Top Model” it gives me the freedom to do what I want.

6. On the subject of “America’s Next Top Model,” who’s the tougher boss? Anna Wintour or Tyra Banks?

Both, honey. Both. Both women are very strong powerful women and they inspire me. Anna Wintour is an extraordinary lady and so is Miss Tyra Banks. She has her standards too, and I have to raise myself to that standard.

7. In these tough economic times, is luxury still important?

Very, but luxury isn’t just clothing. You have to understand that what makes me tick is not just what I’m wearing. Luxury is the luxury of seeing the green outside in nature. Luxury is the smell of fresh sheets on a line, which no longer exists because nobody’s washing their sheets and hanging them on lines. You can’t hang them on a line in New York because there’s too much dirt. Luxury: it’s not about going and buying the most extraordinary set of luggage or the most extraordinary ring or 6-ply cashmere sweater — that’s luxury too — but luxury can also be you having lunch with your best friend Karl Lagerfeld. Luxury can be a bouquet of flowers that you pick out of your own garden. You know, Voltaire says cultivate your garden.

8. What’s your greatest luxury?

The greatest luxury is to be a kind, good person and to impart to humanity something that will enrich their lives, to have a moment with someone that you’ve imparted richness. And the greatest luxury in my personal life is my four poster bed and the sheets on them. If I’m going to spend money today, it’s on the most extraordinary sets of sheets. I think your bed is important.

9. Looking back on your many years in fashion, what are you most proud of?

There are many things I’m proud of. I’m proud of my memoir. I’m proud of having been on the stage with Martha Graham doing “The Owl and the Pussycat.” Did you know about that? Did you do that research? I’m very proud having been in “Sex and the City” in a cameo. I’ve very proud of my texts on Michelle Obama. These are moments when I have been very proud. I have also been proud of my career. I’ve been very proud of maintaining my friendship with Karl Lagerfeld and other great designers, world class designers. I have many things to be proud of. But the thing that I am most proud of is that I constantly get up and inspire myself to get on with it and keep going.