THEY TOLD WWD
FROM THE SERIOUS TO THE ABSURD, FASHION’S PERSONALITIES HAVE A WAY OF PUTTING THINGS. HERE’S A COLLECTION OF QUOTES THAT APPEARED IN THE PAGES OF WWD IN 1999.
“It’s better for me than Prozac.” — Courtney Love, on kundalini yoga at a benefit for Gurumukh Kaur; Jan. 12
“I love these pants. Saw them loved them, coveted them, had to have them — happy.”
— Rita Wilson, on her beaded pants by Gucci at the Golden Globes Awards; Jan. 26
“It might be the hubris of youth. When you get into something for the first time, you don’t know the pitfalls.”
— Matt Nye, before his first runway show; Feb. 19
“This completes the outfit for us.”
— Sidney Kimmel, Jones Apparel Group chairman, on acquiring Nine West; March 4
“I was very uptight, and really nervous about my sexuality. I decided pretty early on that I should stay a virgin until I got married.”
— Lisa Kudrow, March 8
“This was not just a rent-a-crowd. There were the right nobodies and the right somebodies.”
— Simon Doonan, on the opening of “Unforgettable: Fashion of the Oscars” exhibit at Christie’s London; March 11
“I am 76 you know, and one day I am going to leave you. Of course, I could leave the company to someone, but I prefer to handle the sale myself while I am lucid.”
— Pierre Cardin, on the prospects of selling his empire; March 17
“We don’t have that size.”
— Karl Lagerfeld, when asked what he would say if Monica Lewinsky called wanting a post-Oscar party dress; March 18.
“Some of those outfits for Cher will follow me to my grave.”
— Bob Mackie, March 22
“I feel like I’m having a fashion orgasm. I just put this on, and it fit like a glove. This is all a bit surreal. I feel like I’m acting and playing me.”
— Cate Blanchett, in a gown by John Galliano at the Oscars; March 22
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“As Barry Diller said to me in his wonderfully cryptic fashion, ‘Enjoy it. You’re only a success till you fail.”‘
— Tina Brown, at the Talk launch party; March 22
“A mistake was made here, your honor. I made the mistake. I’m ashamed to have all these people here having to say I’m stupid.”
— Irwin Schlacter, prior to receiving sentencing in a federal racketeering case; March 23
“I don’t mind being connected with glamour, because that’s fun. I could have been connected with something much worse, like denim, and that’s not nearly as interesting.”
— Bob Mackie, April 20
“She was clearly a great talent and we all knew it.”
— Calvin Klein, referring to Liz Tilberis; April 22
“A rolling stone gathers no moss, or whatever. But it’s tiring. I need a vacation.”
— Stella McCartney, on her hectic schedule, at the DKNY store opening in London; May 5
“[Bernard Arnault] is a genius but he has his weaknesses — and that, in my opinion, makes him truly simpatico.”
— Giorgio Armani, June 1
“I wouldn’t be happy if my house was bought by Japanese or another country, even America. I prefer that my house stay French, in France.”
— Yves Saint Laurent, June 2
“I did say in the fifth hour that I was curious to find out who was the president [of the United States]. You felt an entire era had passed.”
— Fran Lebowitz, on the long, long night of the CFDA Awards; June 4
“It was quite extraordinary.”
— Prince Charles, at a Versace fashion show in London to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and The Prince’s Trust; June 11.
“He’s so cool.”
— Donatella Versace, about Prince Charles on the same night.
“Now I have realized that if we don’t get bigger, there is nowhere to go but down.”
— Jean Paul Gaultier, when Hermes bought a 35-percent stake in his company; July 9
“What the future of architecture is, I think, is sculpture. If you have sculpture, you can have all kinds of things. The kind of architecture I’m most interested in is biomorphic shapes… as if it’s been made of clay.”
— Philip Johnson, July 23
“I’m Asia de Cuba. I don’t know how I would have gotten there, but I’m a girl from Hong Kong who somehow wound up in Havana.”
— Vera Wang, on her costume at Nina Griscom’s Cuban-themed party; Aug. 5
“If I never see another salmon in my life it will be too soon.”
— Calvin Klein, after a six-day trip to Alaska aboard Barry Diller’s boat; Aug. 17
“It’s going to be big. It’s going to be beautiful. My daughter’s going to be in it.”
— Donald Trump, on the NYC2000 fashion show; Sept. 10
“I’m Thierry Mugler! No more questions!”
— Thierry Mugler, to star-crazed tourists at the NYC2000 fashion show; Sept. 15
“It wasn’t one of our suits. That’s for sure.”
— Tahari’s Rory Green, on a navy pantsuit worn by Hillary Clinton to the Saks Fifth Avenue Fashion Targets Breast Cancer launch; Sept. 24
“Yes, I imagine I’m on the mailing list.”
— Bernard Arnault, responding to speculation that he might be a potential buyer for Calvin Klein’s business; Oct. 7
“I’ve enjoyed my freedom so much, that to be tied down to some old fogy doesn’t appeal to me. I mean, I suppose that if little Derek Jeter — who has made overtures — really came across with the goods, I might say yes.”
— Dame Edna, after the opening of her Broadway show; Oct. 26
“The word ‘original’ does not exist in fashion.”
— Allen B. Schwartz, Nov. 2
“If I were Miuccia Prada, I’d take a gun and shoot everyone in the shoe industry.”
— Vera Wang, Nov. 2
“I had a realization which ruined the whole thing: Is Gwyneth Paltrow going to be there? I mean, is anybody else sick of Gwyneth Paltrow? As far as I’m concerned that girl needs a cheeseburger and a vacation.”
— Gwyneth Paltrow, on Gwyneth Paltrow at Premier magazine’s Icon Awards luncheon; Nov. 18
“Everyone’s having fun. But do people really have as much fun now as they did in the Seventies?”
— Bianca Jagger, at the Christian Dior boutique opening; Dec. 6
“Why does he call himself Fluffy?”
— Henry Kissinger to Pat Buckley, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala, asking about rapper Puff Daddy’s name; Dec. 8
“My Calvins.”
— Alexander McQueen to Elton John, when asked what he wore under his kilt to the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards, Dec. 10.