Along with Isaac Mizrahi, Michael Kors is one of the two designers I’ve always been enamored with. Not necessarily because of their fashion design talents, but because of their personalities – or at least what I have seen from interviews and their television shows. They both have a wonderful ebullience and optimism to them that I’ve always admired, so it’s comes as little surprise that Vogue UK is reporting that Michael Kors’ new favorite word is “optimistic.”
Fittingly, the Long Island native has just opened a boutique on London’s New Bond Street this week – on April 27th to be exact. The designer insisted that in these times we all must be upbeat, saying “Michael Kors is an investment-oriented label – you really don’t tend to see past season pieces in vintage stores. Customers buy a piece and wear it until it’s worn out. We are not what you would call a ‘one night only’ brand.”
Given his philosophy, the designer’s boutique is sunny and bright with high-shine white marble, a metal sitting area, dark wood, and muted furnishings. The walls are adorned with black and white prints of some of Michael Kors’ style icons – including Robert Redford, Princess Caroline, Goldie Hawn, Jackie Kennedy, and Jack Nicholson.
The designer says that he wanted those coming into his boutique to feel they could spend some time there, adding that he loves Claridges “and the first thing you see as you walk in the door is Jackie – so we have a little of that feeling here now too. I chose snapshots rather than posed photos because I felt that these stylish men and women, looking glam but casual, really summed up our ethos.”
