FASHION ALERT: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT VERDI BY PEACHY DEEGAN IN THE TENTS AFTER CAROLINA HERRERA'S SHOW! ROBERT CHATS WITH PEACHY ABOUT CAROLINA, YOUNG DESIGNERS AND WHAT HE LIKES TO EAT AT SWIFTY'S!
Robert Verdi by Peachy Deegan
Robert you look like you should be holding The Peachy Deegan Express in your hand in this shot!
Peachy Deegan and Mover and Shaker Jennifer Dixon attended Carolina Herrera yesterday and we really loved it. We're going to tell you more about Carolina later! After the show, Peachy spotted Robert and he was quite cordial and took the time to chat with Peachy, and she enjoyed chatting with him!
Peachy Deegan: How did you like the Carolina Herrera show?
Robert Verdi: I love Carolina’s work. I think that there’s a phenomenal body of work that spans back many years and she actually has a very clear vision and it’s tied to her own lifestyle, the lifestyle of her customers, and I think it’s aspirational, glamorous, sophisticated, and it’s classic. I think she has one of the very few collections left in the United States that has a real sense of American luxury and style. And I love it!
Is there anything in particular you liked from the show?
I actually liked pieces. As a stylist you never look at the complete look, because a stylist brings together many different pieces from many different collections. So there’s always elements from collections that stay with me. I actually really loved the gloves she did. Gloves have been a trend in general on the runway this season, but she did these really dramatic gloves that were folded back; they were long gloves that weren’t fitted to the arm, but they had this big effect on the proportion of the clothes that felt fresh, exciting and new. And I think I grew up as a kid in the 80’s looking at all of these socialites in magazines and they’re the women that Carolina dresses so for me, it’s always a collection that connects me to my love of fashion.
Do you go to Swifty’s? I know that Carolina does!
Yeah yeah yeah [she does]. I’ve been to Swifty’s. I don’t go a lot.
What do you like to eat there?
I don’t think you can go wrong with anything there. I tend to order tuna because it’s the healthiest thing I can eat; I go for lunch.
Do you drink?
I don’t really drink and I’m not in rehab or recovery!
Next time you go to Swifty’s you can drink The Peachy Deegan Express there!
Really? I’ll try it!
What other designers have you seen this season?
Pamela Love’s collection…as I’ve gotten older the more established designers I wouldn’t say are less interesting, but they are much more developed businesses and I think with a lot of the emerging talent you see a lot more passion. So the Ecco Domani fashion foundation that awards these emerging designers a grant every year…
Yes, it’s an Italian line of wines…we work with Gallo and we recommend them. We love to combine fashion and alcohol! [How do you think Peachy wound up with a drink named after her at Swifty’s!]
They have this wonderful program called the Ecco Domani Fashion foundation and they really identified the most important designers working in the US over the last ten years. This is their 10th anniversary. All of those shows I’m excited to see. Bibhu Mohapatra who used to work at J Mendel is showing and he’s an Ecco Domani winner. It is exciting to see talent that is trying something new and has a voice.
What did you think of the Academy of Art-did you see that?
I didn’t go to that but that is one of those shows that is historically exciting because kids are thinking…
What shows haven’t you been to yet that you are looking forward to?
Michael Kors 30th Anniversary! I’m really excited to see that.
You’re a stylist. How do you define being a stylist? Stylist means different things to different people.
Stylist means you’re a curator of people’s taste. You’re a taste curator. You identify things that are tasteful or original and I think where form meets function and you curate clothing, home design materials-whatever you’re styling-you curate for the client.
What is the hardest thing about being a stylist?
That people don’t think of it as an area of expertise, that people don’t really recognize it. I think that everybody thinks that they could do it. But you have to have the eye of an editor and an art director. It’s a really unique skill set to have
Thank you Robert!
