ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Isaac Mizrahi - Fashion designer
Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi mixes high fashion and the mass market, with a line of haute couture and a line for Target. Plus a talk show, a cabaret act, a movie, a new book ...

Why you should listen

Design-wise, Isaac Mizrahi is best known for bridging the gap between high and low -- creating gorgeous couture confections for the likes of Eartha Kitt and others, as well as a hugely popular, groundbreakingly affordable line for Target.

His design mission comes wrapped in endless charisma. He's a talk-show host, he's performed his own one-man show Off-Broadway, he was the subject of the hilarious documentary Unzipped, and he does regular cabaret nights at Joe's Pub in New York City. His new book is called How to Have Style .

More profile about the speaker
Isaac Mizrahi | Speaker | TED.com
TED2008

Isaac Mizrahi: Fashion and creativity

Filmed:
1,094,176 views

Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi spins through a dizzying array of inspirations -- from '50s pinups to a fleeting glimpse of a woman on the street who makes him shout "Stop the cab!" Inside this rambling talk are real clues to living a happy, creative life.
- Fashion designer
Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi mixes high fashion and the mass market, with a line of haute couture and a line for Target. Plus a talk show, a cabaret act, a movie, a new book ... Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:18
I have, like, a thing about sleeping.
0
0
2000
00:20
I don't sleep that much,
1
2000
2000
00:22
and I've come to this thing about, like, not sleeping much
2
4000
3000
00:25
as being a great virtue, after years of kind of
3
7000
2000
00:27
battling it as being a terrible detriment, or something.
4
9000
2000
00:29
And now I really like sort of sitting up, you know.
5
11000
3000
00:32
But for years I've been sitting up
6
14000
3000
00:35
and I think that, like, my creativity is greatly motivated by this kind of insomnia.
7
17000
6000
00:41
I lie awake. I think thoughts. I walk aimlessly.
8
23000
5000
00:46
Sometimes I used to walk more at night.
9
28000
2000
00:48
I walk during the day and I follow people who I think look interesting.
10
30000
4000
00:52
(Laughter)
11
34000
2000
00:54
And sometimes -- actually, once it was on Page Six in the Post,
12
36000
4000
00:58
that I was cruising this guy, like, sort of, whatever,
13
40000
3000
01:01
but I was actually just following because he had these really great shoes on.
14
43000
3000
01:04
And so I was following this guy.
15
46000
3000
01:07
And I took a picture of his shoes,
16
49000
1000
01:08
and we thanked each other and just went on our way.
17
50000
2000
01:10
But I do that all the time.
18
52000
1000
01:11
As a matter of fact, I think a lot of my design ideas
19
53000
4000
01:15
come from mistakes and tricks of the eye.
20
57000
4000
01:19
Because I feel like, you know, there are so many images out there,
21
61000
4000
01:23
so many clothes out there.
22
65000
3000
01:26
And the only ones that look interesting to me
23
68000
2000
01:28
are the ones that look slightly mistaken, of course,
24
70000
4000
01:32
or very, very surprising.
25
74000
2000
01:34
And often, I'm driving in a taxi
26
76000
2000
01:36
and I see a hole in a shirt, or something
27
78000
2000
01:38
that looks very interesting or pretty or functional
28
80000
3000
01:41
in some way that I'd never seen happen before.
29
83000
4000
01:45
And so I'd make the car stop, and I'd get out of the car and walk,
30
87000
4000
01:49
and see that in fact there wasn't a hole, but it was a trick of my eye,
31
91000
3000
01:52
it was a shadow, you know.
32
94000
2000
01:54
Or if there was a hole I'd think like, oh damn,
33
96000
2000
01:56
there was actually someone thought of that thought already.
34
98000
2000
01:58
Someone made that mistake already so I can't do it anymore.
35
100000
4000
02:02
I don't know where inspiration comes from.
36
104000
3000
02:05
It does not come for me from research.
37
107000
4000
02:09
I don't get necessarily inspired by research.
38
111000
2000
02:11
As a matter of fact, one of the most fun things
39
113000
2000
02:13
I've ever, ever done in my whole life,
40
115000
2000
02:15
was this Christmas season at the Guggenheim in New York.
41
117000
4000
02:19
I read "Peter and the Wolf" with this beautiful band from Juilliard.
42
121000
4000
02:23
And I did like, you know, the narrator, and I read it.
43
125000
2000
02:25
And I saw this really smart critic who I love.
44
127000
3000
02:28
This woman, Joan Acocella, who's a friend of mine,
45
130000
2000
02:30
and she came backstage and she said,
46
132000
1000
02:31
oh, you know, Isaac, did you know that, talking about Stalinism
47
133000
3000
02:34
and talking about, you know, like the '30s in Russia.
48
136000
3000
02:37
And I said, how do I know about Stalinism?
49
139000
3000
02:40
I know about a wolf and a bird and, you know,
50
142000
2000
02:42
he ate the bird, and then in the end you hear, you know,
51
144000
3000
02:45
you hear the bird squeaking, or something, you know?
52
147000
2000
02:47
So I don't really know that. I don't really --
53
149000
3000
02:50
actually I do my own kind of research, you know.
54
152000
3000
02:53
If I'm commissioned to do the costumes for an 18th-century opera, or something like that,
55
155000
5000
02:58
I will do a lot of research, because it's interesting,
56
160000
3000
03:01
not because it's what I'm supposed to do.
57
163000
2000
03:03
I'm very, very, very inspired by movies.
58
165000
3000
03:06
The color of movies and the way light makes the colors,
59
168000
4000
03:10
light from behind the projection,
60
172000
2000
03:12
or light from the projection, makes the colors look so impossible.
61
174000
5000
03:17
And anyway, roll this little clip, I'll just show you.
62
179000
3000
03:20
I sit up at night and I watch movies
63
182000
3000
03:23
and I watch women in movies a lot.
64
185000
3000
03:26
And I think about, you know, their roles,
65
188000
3000
03:29
and about how you have to, like, watch what your daughters look at.
66
191000
4000
03:33
Because I look at the way women are portrayed all the time.
67
195000
4000
03:37
Whether they're kind of glorified in this way,
68
199000
3000
03:40
or whether they're kind of, you know, ironically glorified,
69
202000
5000
03:45
or whether they're, you know, sort of denigrated, or ironically denigrated.
70
207000
6000
03:51
I go back to color all the time.
71
213000
2000
03:53
Color is something that motivates me a lot.
72
215000
4000
03:57
It's rarely color that I find in nature,
73
219000
6000
04:03
although, you know, juxtaposed next to artificial color,
74
225000
6000
04:09
natural color is so beautiful.
75
231000
2000
04:11
So that's what I do. I study color a lot.
76
233000
2000
04:13
But for the most part, I think, like, how can I ever make anything
77
235000
7000
04:20
that is as beautiful as that image of Natalie Wood?
78
242000
3000
04:23
How can I ever make anything as beautiful as Greta Garbo?
79
245000
4000
04:27
I mean, that's just not possible, you know.
80
249000
3000
04:31
And so that's what makes me lie awake at night, I guess, you know.
81
253000
4000
04:35
I want to show you -- I'm also like a big --
82
257000
3000
04:38
I go to astrologers and tarot card readers often,
83
260000
4000
04:42
and that's another thing that motivates me a lot.
84
264000
2000
04:44
People say, oh, do that. An astrologer tells me to do something.
85
266000
4000
04:48
So I do it.
86
270000
1000
04:49
(Laughter)
87
271000
1000
04:50
When I was about 21, an astrologer told me
88
272000
4000
04:54
that I was going to meet the man of my dreams,
89
276000
2000
04:56
and that his name was going to be Eric, right?
90
278000
3000
04:59
So, you know, for years I would go to bars
91
281000
2000
05:01
and, sort of, anyone I met whose name was Eric
92
283000
2000
05:03
I was humping immediately, or something.
93
285000
3000
05:06
(Laughter)
94
288000
2000
05:08
And there were times when I was actually so desperate
95
290000
1000
05:09
I would just, you know, walk into a room and just go like, "Eric!"
96
291000
2000
05:11
And anybody who would turn around I would, sort of, make a beeline for.
97
293000
2000
05:13
(Laughter)
98
295000
3000
05:16
And I had this really interesting tarot reading a long time ago.
99
298000
4000
05:20
The last card he pulled, which was representing my destiny
100
302000
3000
05:23
was this guy on like a straw boater with a cane
101
305000
2000
05:25
and you know, sort of spats and this, you know, a minstrel singer, right?
102
307000
4000
05:29
I want to show you this clip because I do this kind of crazy thing
103
311000
2000
05:31
where I do a cabaret act.
104
313000
3000
05:34
So actually, check this out.
105
316000
2000
05:36
Very embarrassing.
106
318000
1000
05:38
(Video): Thank you. We can do anything you ask.
107
320000
3000
05:41
The name of the show is based on this story
108
323000
6000
05:47
that I have to tell you about my mother.
109
329000
1000
05:48
It's sort of an excerpt from a quote of hers.
110
330000
3000
05:51
I was dating this guy, right?
111
333000
1000
05:52
And this has to do with being happy, I swear.
112
334000
4000
05:56
I was dating this guy and it was going on for about a year, right.
113
338000
6000
06:02
And we were getting serious,
114
344000
1000
06:03
so we decided to invite them all to dinner, our parents.
115
345000
2000
06:05
And we, you know, sort of introduced them to each other.
116
347000
1000
06:06
My mother was, sort of, very sensitive to his mother,
117
348000
4000
06:10
who it seemed was a little bit skeptical about the whole alternative lifestyle thing.
118
352000
5000
06:15
You know, homosexuality, right?
119
357000
2000
06:17
So my mother was a little offended. She turned to her and she said,
120
359000
2000
06:19
"Are you kidding? They have the greatest life together.
121
361000
3000
06:22
They eat out, they see shows."
122
364000
3000
06:25
They eat out, they see shows.
123
367000
2000
06:27
(Laughter)
124
369000
2000
06:29
That's the name of the show, they eat out, they --
125
371000
1000
06:30
that's on my tombstone when I die.
126
372000
2000
06:32
"He ate out, he saw shows," right?
127
374000
3000
06:38
So in editing these clips, I didn't have the audacity
128
380000
3000
06:41
to edit a clip of me singing at Joe's Pub.
129
383000
4000
06:45
So you'll have to, like, go check it out and come see me or something.
130
387000
2000
06:47
Because it's mortifying, and yet it feels ...
131
389000
6000
06:53
I don't know how to put this.
132
395000
1000
06:54
I feel as little comfort as possible is a good thing, you know.
133
396000
6000
07:00
And at least, you know, in my case,
134
402000
4000
07:04
because if I just do one thing all the time,
135
406000
3000
07:07
I don't know, I get very, very bored. I bore very easily.
136
409000
6000
07:13
And you know, I don't say that I do everything well,
137
415000
6000
07:19
I just say that I do a lot of things, that's all.
138
421000
3000
07:22
And I kind of try not to look back, you know.
139
424000
4000
07:26
Except, I guess, that's what staying up every night is about.
140
428000
3000
07:29
Like, looking back and thinking, what a fool you made of yourself, you know.
141
431000
4000
07:33
But I guess that's okay. Right?
142
435000
4000
07:37
Because if you do many things
143
439000
1000
07:38
you get to feel lousy about everything,
144
440000
2000
07:40
and not just one, you know.
145
442000
2000
07:42
You don't master feeling lousy about one thing.
146
444000
3000
07:45
Yeah, exactly.
147
447000
3000
07:48
I will show you this next thing,
148
450000
3000
07:51
speaking of costumes for operas.
149
453000
1000
07:52
I do work with different choreographers.
150
454000
2000
07:54
I work with Twyla Tharp a lot,
151
456000
2000
07:56
and I work with Mark Morris a lot,
152
458000
2000
07:58
who is one of my best friends.
153
460000
1000
07:59
And I designed three operas with him,
154
461000
4000
08:03
and the most recent one, "King Arthur."
155
465000
3000
08:06
I'd been very ingrained in the dance world
156
468000
2000
08:08
since I was a teenager.
157
470000
1000
08:09
I went to performing arts high school,
158
471000
2000
08:11
where I was an actor.
159
473000
1000
08:12
And many of my friends were ballet dancers.
160
474000
3000
08:15
Again, I don't know where inspiration comes from.
161
477000
3000
08:18
I don't know where it comes from.
162
480000
3000
08:21
I started making puppets when I was a kid.
163
483000
2000
08:23
Maybe that's where the whole inspiration thing started from, puppets, right.
164
485000
4000
08:27
And then performing arts high school.
165
489000
3000
08:30
There I was in high school,
166
492000
1000
08:31
meeting dancers and acting.
167
493000
2000
08:33
And somehow, from there, I got interested in design.
168
495000
4000
08:37
I went to Parsons School of Design
169
499000
3000
08:40
and then I began my career as a designer.
170
502000
3000
08:43
I don't really think of myself as a designer,
171
505000
2000
08:45
I don't really think of myself necessarily as a fashion designer.
172
507000
3000
08:48
And frankly, I don't really know what to call myself.
173
510000
2000
08:50
I think of myself as a ... I don't know what I think of myself as.
174
512000
5000
08:55
It's just that.
175
517000
1000
08:56
(Laughter)
176
518000
4000
09:00
But I must say, this whole thing about being slightly bored all the time,
177
522000
4000
09:04
that is what -- I think that is a very important thing for a fashion designer.
178
526000
3000
09:07
You always have to be slightly bored with everything.
179
529000
3000
09:10
And if you're not, you have to pretend to be slightly bored with everything.
180
532000
3000
09:13
(Laughter)
181
535000
2000
09:15
But I am really a little bored with everything.
182
537000
2000
09:17
I always say to my partner, Marisa Gardini, who books everything --
183
539000
4000
09:21
she books everything and she makes everything happen.
184
543000
2000
09:23
And she makes all the deals.
185
545000
1000
09:25
And I always tell her that I find myself
186
547000
2000
09:27
with a lot of time on the computer bridge program.
187
549000
3000
09:30
Too much time on computer bridge, which is, you know, like that's
188
552000
5000
09:36
so ... somehow, like, about ten years ago
189
558000
3000
09:39
I thought that the most unboring place in the world
190
561000
3000
09:42
would be like a T.V. studio,
191
564000
2000
09:44
like for a day show. Some kind of day talk show.
192
566000
2000
09:46
Because it's all of these things that I love
193
568000
4000
09:50
all kind of in one place.
194
572000
1000
09:51
And if you ever get bored you can look at another thing,
195
573000
2000
09:53
and do another thing and talk about it, right?
196
575000
4000
09:57
And so I had this T.V. show.
197
579000
2000
09:59
And that was a very, very, very big part of my process.
198
581000
3000
10:02
Actually, could you roll the clip, please?
199
584000
2000
10:04
This is one of my favorite clips of Rosie.
200
586000
2000
10:06
(Video) Isaac Mizrahi: We're back on the set.
201
588000
2000
10:08
Hi there.
202
590000
1000
10:09
Rosie O'Donnell: Hello, Ben.
203
591000
1000
10:10
IM: Look how cute she looks with this, just a slick back.
204
592000
1000
10:11
Man: Her grandmother says, "Delish!"
205
593000
2000
10:13
IM: Ah, wow, delish. All right. So now where should I position myself?
206
595000
6000
10:19
I want to stay out of the way.
207
601000
1000
10:20
I don't want to be -- okay. Here we go.
208
602000
2000
10:22
Do you get nervous, Ashleigh?
209
604000
2000
10:24
Ashleigh: Doing what?
210
606000
1000
10:25
ROD: Cutting hair.
211
607000
1000
10:26
A: Cutting hair? Never, never.
212
608000
1000
10:27
I don't think there was ever a day where I cut hair I was nervous.
213
609000
3000
10:30
IM: You look so cute already, by the way.
214
612000
1000
10:31
ROD: You like it? All right.
215
613000
1000
10:33
IM: Do you have a problem with looking cute? You want to look cute.
216
615000
1000
10:34
ROD: Of course I want to look cute.
217
616000
2000
10:36
IM: Just checking, because some people want to look, you know,
218
618000
1000
10:37
aggressively ugly.
219
619000
1000
10:38
ROD: No, not me, no.
220
620000
1000
10:39
IM: You read about all these people who have a lot of money
221
621000
4000
10:43
and they have kids and the kids always end up somehow, like,
222
625000
3000
10:46
really messed up, you know what I mean?
223
628000
2000
10:48
And there's got to be some way to do that, Rosie.
224
630000
3000
10:51
Because just because if you're fabulously rich, and fabulously famous,
225
633000
4000
10:55
does that mean you shouldn't have kids,
226
637000
2000
10:57
because you know they're going to end up getting messed up?
227
639000
1000
10:58
ROD: No, but it means that your priority has to be
228
640000
2000
11:00
their well-being first, I think.
229
642000
3000
11:03
But you have to make the decision for yourself.
230
645000
2000
11:05
My kids are seven, who the hell knows.
231
647000
2000
11:07
They're going to be like 14 and in rehab.
232
649000
2000
11:09
And they're going to be playing this clip:
233
651000
1000
11:10
"I'm such a good mother."
234
652000
2000
11:14
My God, this is the shortest I've ever had.
235
656000
2000
11:16
IM: It looks good, yeah?
236
658000
1000
11:17
A: I was going to ask you, has your hair ever been --
237
659000
1000
11:18
ROD: No! It's all right -- go crazy.
238
660000
2000
11:20
IM: I feel like it needs to be a little closer down here.
239
662000
2000
11:22
A: Oh no, we're just staging,
240
664000
2000
11:24
ROD: We're just staging it.
241
666000
1000
11:25
IM: Are you freaking out? You look so cute.
242
667000
1000
11:26
ROD: No, I love it. It's the new me.
243
668000
2000
11:28
IM: Oh, it's so fabulous!
244
670000
1000
11:29
ROD: Flock of Rosie. Wooo!
245
671000
2000
11:33
IM: So by the way. Of all the most unboring things in the world, right.
246
675000
5000
11:38
I mean, like making someone who's already cute look terrible like that.
247
680000
4000
11:42
That is not boring. That is nothing if it's not boring.
248
684000
4000
11:46
Actually, I read this great quote the other day, which was,
249
688000
4000
11:51
"Style makes you feel great because it takes your mind off the fact that you're going to die."
250
693000
5000
11:56
Right? And then I realized, that was on my website,
251
698000
5000
12:01
and then it said, like, you know, the quote was attributed to me
252
703000
2000
12:03
and I thought, oh, I said something, you know, in an interview.
253
705000
2000
12:05
I forgot that I said that. But it's really true.
254
707000
4000
12:09
I want to show you this last clip because it's going to be my last goodbye.
255
711000
4000
12:13
I'll tell you that I cook a lot also. I love to cook.
256
715000
3000
12:16
And I often look at things as though they're food.
257
718000
3000
12:19
Like I say, oh, you know, would you serve a rotten chicken?
258
721000
3000
12:22
Then how could you serve, you know, a beat up old dress or something.
259
724000
2000
12:24
How could you show a beat up old dress?
260
726000
1000
12:25
I always relate things to kitchen-ry.
261
727000
5000
12:30
And so I think that's what it all boils down to.
262
732000
4000
12:34
Everything boils down to that.
263
736000
1000
12:35
So check this out.
264
737000
1000
12:36
This is what I've been doing because I think it's the most fun thing in the world.
265
738000
3000
12:39
It's, like, this website.
266
741000
1000
12:40
It's got a lot of different things on it.
267
742000
2000
12:42
It's a polymathematical website.
268
744000
2000
12:44
We actually shoot segments like T.V. show segments.
269
746000
4000
12:48
And it's kind of my favorite thing in the world.
270
750000
3000
12:51
And it just began like in the beginning of February. So who knows?
271
753000
2000
12:53
And again, I don't say it's good, I just think it's not boring, right?
272
755000
4000
12:57
And here is the last bit.
273
759000
2000
13:02
(Video) IM: I have to tell you, I make buttermilk pancakes or buttermilk waffles all the time.
274
764000
4000
13:06
Chef: Do you?
275
768000
1000
13:07
IM: Yeah, but I can never find buttermilk, ever.
276
769000
2000
13:09
Chef: Oh.
277
771000
1000
13:10
IM: You can't find buttermilk at Citarella; you can't find buttermilk.
278
772000
2000
13:12
Chef: You can't?
279
774000
1000
13:13
IM: It's always low-fat buttermilk.
280
775000
1000
13:14
Chef: No, but that's all it is.
281
776000
1000
13:15
IM: Is that all it is?
282
777000
1000
13:16
Chef: Oh, you don't know? Let me tell you something.
283
778000
2000
13:18
Let me tell you something interesting.
284
780000
1000
13:19
IM: You know what? Stop laughing. It's not funny.
285
781000
1000
13:20
Just because I don't know that whole -- that there's no such thing as whole buttermilk.
286
782000
5000
13:25
Sorry, what?
287
787000
1000
13:26
Chef: Well, here's the deal. Let me tell you the deal.
288
788000
1000
13:27
In the old days when they used to make butter,
289
789000
2000
13:29
you know how you make butter?
290
791000
1000
13:30
IM: Churns?
291
792000
1000
13:31
Chef: For cream?
292
793000
1000
13:32
IM: Yeah, exactly.
293
794000
1000
13:33
Chef: So you take heavy, high-fat milk, which is cream,
294
795000
3000
13:36
and you churn it until it separates into these curds and water.
295
798000
5000
13:41
The liquid is actually that clear liquid.
296
803000
2000
13:43
If you've ever overbeaten your whipped cream,
297
805000
1000
13:44
it's actually buttermilk.
298
806000
3000
13:47
And that's what it was in the early days.
299
809000
1000
13:48
And that's what people used for baking and all sorts of things.
300
810000
3000
13:51
Now, the buttermilk that you get is actually low-fat or skim milk.
301
813000
3000
13:54
IM: Excuse me, I didn't know. All right?
302
816000
2000
13:56
Chef: The reason he thought that is because buttermilk is so wonderfully thick and delicious.
303
818000
5000
14:01
IM: Yeah, it is, exactly.
304
823000
1000
14:02
So who would think that it was low-fat?
305
824000
2000
14:04
Well, that's it. Thank you very much.
306
826000
3000
14:07
Happy TED. It's so wonderful here. I love it. I love it. I love it.
307
829000
3000
14:10
Thanks. Bye.
308
832000
1000

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Isaac Mizrahi - Fashion designer
Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi mixes high fashion and the mass market, with a line of haute couture and a line for Target. Plus a talk show, a cabaret act, a movie, a new book ...

Why you should listen

Design-wise, Isaac Mizrahi is best known for bridging the gap between high and low -- creating gorgeous couture confections for the likes of Eartha Kitt and others, as well as a hugely popular, groundbreakingly affordable line for Target.

His design mission comes wrapped in endless charisma. He's a talk-show host, he's performed his own one-man show Off-Broadway, he was the subject of the hilarious documentary Unzipped, and he does regular cabaret nights at Joe's Pub in New York City. His new book is called How to Have Style .

More profile about the speaker
Isaac Mizrahi | Speaker | TED.com