When I was invited by Net-A-Porter to view Jason Wu’s Fall 2009 collection, I was honoured to have a one-on-one with the 26 year old designer.
As I introduced myself, Jason told me that he loved my blog. Surely he doesn’t have time to read blogs, when he’s dressing the First Lady, and producing collections.
He told me that a friend had forwarded the link of Katie Holmes wearing his Fall 2009 strapless dress, after he had trouble finding a full-length picture.
I was curious to know what had inspired Jason’s Fall 2009 collection. “Arthur Rackham; (think Alice in Wonderland and Tinkerbell) this is because his illustrations were very whimsical and fairytale like, yet mature and diverse”.
After Jason’s Fall 2009 presentation, some journalists had said Jason was deliberately moving away from his uptown aesthetic. “It wasn’t deliberate,” he said “but a natural progression. As I grow as a designer, so do my collections. If I kept to the same formula, I wouldn’t be challenging myself as a designer. But I’m a girlie girl designer, that will never change.”
I asked Jason which season he prefers to design for. “I find myself producing collections that are almost seasonless. When my Fall 2009 collection arrives at Net-A-Porter in August, customers will want to wear the clothes now. So I’m mindful of this when I design, producing pieces in a mix of fabrics.”
When I asked Jason who was his muse, I was expecting him to say an actress or old Hollywood legend, but he said “Chanel Iman. She’ such a sweetheart. She’s very elegant and tall. I also love Jourdan Dunn, and Karlie Kloss”.
With celebrities forming alliances with designers, I asked him how he felt about giving/loaning celebrities his clothes. “When it’s right, it’s right. I don’t feel the need to do this in order to promote the brand. Once a celebrity is loaned a dress, that dress will not be loaned out to anyone else”.
So we shouldn’t expect to see any celebs on my Who Wore It Better? polls I asked him. “Not unless the other person has brought it,” he laughed.
I didn’t want to spend the whole interview talking about Michelle Obama, but I had to get one question in, so I asked him how felt when he saw Michelle wearing his dress at the inauguration ball.
“I was amazed and awestruck. I had no idea. I found out with everyone else. It was the same with the Vogue cover.”
“She’s an amazing woman, and it’s fantastic that she’s the first First Lady to have supported new designers the way she does.”
The floor-length, one-of-a-kind ivory silk chiffon dress with organza flowers and Swarovski crystal rhinestones, is at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Jason has no plans to recreate the dress.
Jason Wu is now available on Net-A-Porter.com, but this is a partnership that had been in the works for a while. Net-A-Porter.com is known for adding new designers to their roster of international brands often, so they aren’t trying to jump on any bandwagon.
Check out Jason Wu’s current collection at Net-A-Porter.com.
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