It was in 1992 whenHamish Bowlescrossed the pond, swapping London andHarpers & Queenfor New York andVogue.
(Oh, sorry!
Is this an interview?
Photographed by Corey Tenold
I just needed to say hello, Hamish!)
When the hellos were over, he and I got down to the business of this conversation.
Congratulations on this recognition, Hamish.
Tonne Goodman, Grace Coddington, and Bowles at Fashion Week in 2005
How do you feel about it?
Hamish Bowles:I feel very nervous.
I have to write a speech, which I havent done yet.
We appreciate you taking the time to do this.
Did you know her?
Marc Jacobs is handing you the award, which is really fun.
I dont think hes been to a CFDA Awards ceremony in a few years.
Do you recall the first time you met him?
But hes won so many!
Tonne Goodman, Grace Coddington, and Bowles at Fashion Week in 2005
I dont remember [the first time I met him], but I remember everything around it.
He was the cool kid.
He did these great clothes when he just started, these giant sweaters that were actually great.
Yves Saint Laurent at his home in Marrakech, Morocco
But I saw him at the clubs, and he was very much the cool kid.
I have to ask about your archive.
Have you made any recent acquisitions?
Helmut Lang, fall 1994
I was leaving, but this woman was just arriving to set up her stand.
And she said, Oh, its not really for sale.
It was a Schiaparelli evening coat from 1937.
Helmut Lang, fall 1994
The buttons are fake bugs in metal.
Its got Lesage embroidered sleeves.
When did you start formally collecting?
Patou, spring/summer 1987 haute couture by Christian Lacroix.
My mother used to take me on adventures to the vintage stores.
She was buying furniture, which was the fashionable thing to do then.
I would collect purses and occasionally shoes, just bit by bit.
I was just finding these things incidentally in my day-to-day hunting for ice cream, which was rather strange.
Some things just find you.
Yes, I suppose so.
I wanted to ask about your transition fromHarpers & Queenin London toVoguein New York.
What was that like?
We did some quite marvelous stories.
She wanted me to do houses and people, so that was a change.
For the first six months, I suppose one could say I was depressed.
After six months, she transformed.
And then I was totally in, as it were.
I felt that my voice had some weight.
Is there a story that stands out for you that you did early on?
I remember writing about Madonna.
She was in her English moment.
We went to Ashcombe House, the house they had in Wiltshire.
That house was very special to me because it was where Cecil Beaton lived for 15 years.
It was the most magical place, and she, well, she was…
Madonna!
Yes, she was Madonna.
And she was in that house.
It was kind of incredible.
Those things were great.
Who have been your favorite designers to talk to?
Well, John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs.
Christian Lacroix was a real favorite.
I liked some designers for the persona they created for themselves.
Like Bill Blass, for instance.
He had this attitude of a successful Hollywood star, but he actually came from Fort Wayne, Indiana.
But there was not a trace of that.
[*Laughs.]
He had this marvelous apartment on Sutton Place.
All designers had their shtick then, and it was very amusing.
I feel like that has changed over the years with designers.
I dont know if you agree.
Perhaps theyre still characters, just different, more low-key versions.
They all have that going on.
Not everyone is so extreme, but when you look at Tom Ford, he absolutely has that.
But they are sweeter now than maybe 20 or 30 years ago.
I dont think I ever needed to.
But atVogue, when I arrived, it was so intimidating.
The fashion department was intimidating beyond because everyone was larger than life.
I remember one season, Candy Pratts Price said, Butterflies!
I see butterflies, I see them!
And she went on this mad spiel about butterflies.
But you could see her point.
Those sorts of things were just divine.
Id also be curious to hear your thoughts on the evolution ofVoguethrough the years.
Over the years, thats changed.
That was quite something.
On that note, I would love to hear your thoughts about the evolution of writing about fashion.
She just had such a way with words, and I always revered her.
She worked at BritishVogue, and then she went on to become the editor in chief ofVogueFrance.
Well, you lose something.
But you gain something too.
You have to think in a speedy way.
What do you make of the evolution of the runway shows?
You wrote about this at length for our October issue.
What do you make of this?
I remember my first Mugler show, actually.
He did it in this concert hall outside of Paris.
He was selling tickets, so we were all absolutely excited about it.
Everything was a spectacle.
Pat Cleveland, a fabulous young model then, was eight months pregnant.
She was Virgin Mary, and Stephen Jones made her hat.
She came from the ceiling!
At eight months pregnant, 50 feet from the ceiling.
John Galliano was a spectacle too.
He created a storybook fairy tale, and his women and men had that feeling.
They had to become the characters.
It was a totally different way of doing things.
Calvin [Klein] had seen a collection of his, and so American shows swiftly followed.
Now were used to digesting these shows as a girl on the page with a full-length front view.
You regret it sometimes.
Those shows were fabulous.
Christian Lacroix took 50 minutes to show his collection when he was doing couture.
Saint Laurent took two hours.
You were in this steaming-hot roomthere was lots of fanning of programsand it was special.
When you go to a couture show, you want to have that experience.
Its a bit sad that they rush past you now because so much work goes into that.
But people have to change.
And if everyone is looking at that fine little image on the screen, it makes you think.
When I started, elegance was something you would see in the couture shows.
It was really special being there because otherwise you would get one or maybe two outfits inVogueorHarpers Bazaar.
The general public wasnt given access, so I suppose there was an elegance about that.
I remember as a student at [Central] Saint Martins, there was a magazine published in Italy.
I dont remember the name, but it had these minute images of the shows with these little captions.
That was the one place you could see how this designer was thinking.
It was printed three months after the collections, and we got it a month after that.
Now, there are collections that are elegant, and there are people who are elegant.
Its a difficult thing.
That was really elegant.
Tina Chow was exceptional.
Now, its someone you probably dont know whos got that elegance.
You just see them at the showsthey haveit.
Is there a runway show thats etched in your brain forever?
John Gallianos [graduation] show at Saint Martins.
It was about five minutes long, and he had been given the last slot of the day.
They were made up in a special way.
That was theLes Incroyablesshow, and it was really astonishing, so that one I always remember.
They were very remarkable.
Some Saint Laurent couture things as well, and the Lee McQueen early shows were really electrified.
They were so incredible.
But there are always going to be remarkable people showing remarkable clothes.
You just have to find them.
