Michael Kors on a roll

SHANGHAI - In the fickle fashion industry where trends come and go in a flash, Michael Kors' classic luxury American sportswear designs are a rarity.

The 55-year-old American designer's aesthetic has largely remained the same since he started the brand in 1981.

Over the years, Kors has built up a huge celebrity following for his jersey dresses, luxurious cashmere sweaters and form-flattering coats. A-listers such as Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow are often spotted in his easy-breezy designs on both the red carpet and in paparazzi shots.

Even the United States' First Lady Michelle Obama chose to make a daring statement with a sleeveless black shift dress from the designer for her first official portrait in 2009.

However, Kors almost gave up on his signature American sportswear designs when he had to file for bankruptcy protection in 1993 after a manufacturing deal fell through.

The business met with financial difficulties when the company which the Kors brand was licensed to went bust.

Already a designer with more than a decade's worth of experience then, he started to doubt himself.

"My initial reaction was that I have to change what I make and design," he shares in an exclusive interview with Urban earlier this month in Shanghai, where he opened his first flagship store in China.

Kors, affable and animated throughout, is dressed in his signature get-up: a pair of black pants paired with a black T-shirt, a black blazer and a pair of black crocodile loafers.

"I didn't do anything for evening then. I thought maybe I should make lots of fancy evening clothes and started sketching crazy cocktail dresses," he recalls.

Fortunately, his customers told him: "We like what you do, stick to your guns."

He says: "It was then I realised I have to be true to myself. When the ground moves under you, you have to stay firm. Don't let the ground take you."

According to fashion website Vogue.com, the brand was given a shot in the arm in 1999 when luxury conglomerate Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton bought a 33 per cent stake in the company.

FORTUNES TURNED AROUND

In 2003, Michael Kors' fortunes were turned around when Hong Kong-based Sportswear Holdings, owned by tycoons Lawrence Stroll and Silas Chou, who have made a name for themselves acquiring and selling fashion brands, such as Tommy Hilfiger and Pepe Jeans, acquired an 85 per cent stake in the company for about US$100 million. They remain controlling shareholders of the company.

Last year, Kors made it to the 2013 Time 100 Most Influential People list and is arguably one of the most financially successful fashion designers around today.

To mark the opening of his China flagship store - a double-storey 6,000 sq ft space at the swanky Jing An Kerry Centre mall in Shanghai - Kors threw a jet set-themed private party held in a hangar at Hongqiao International Airport.

On the list of 1,000 guests were celebrities who included Hilary Swank, Frieda Pinto, Miranda Kerr, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Carina Lau.

Parked in the centre of the venue was Michael Kors chairman and chief executive John Idol's gleaming private jet.

Against holographic projections which featured snow-capped alps, a Mediterranean resort and an urban landscape, models strutted the runway in one-off pieces such as a white and gold strappy swimsuit and a slinky red jumpsuit topped off with a scarlet fur jacket. They were created for the event to link Kors' designs with the glamour of a jet-setting lifestyle where one is clad in luxe yet easy-to-wear clothes.

The designer, who travels six months in a year, sums up his design ethos: "In today's world, everyone lives that fast life, even when they don't actually get on a plane. You live the fast life just by living on the Internet. What I do is fast, glamorous, practical and indulgent."

At the end of this year, Kors will be opening an even larger boutique - 9,000 sq ft - in the upscale Huamao shopping district in Beijing.

It has been a good year for the designer, who is married to Lance LePere, the brand's executive vice-president and creative director of women's design.

In February, Kors made it to Forbes magazine's The World's Billionaires list, where his fortune is estimated to be worth US$1 billion (S$1.25 billion).

According to the company's latest financial results for its fiscal year which ended in March, its total revenue rose by 51.8 per cent to US$3.3 billion, from US$2.2 billion in the last financial year.

The business is made up of two main lines: the high-end Michael Kors; and the more affordable masstige label Michael Michael Kors, which was launched in 2004.

The company - which sells clothing, accessories and fragrances - has 555 stores worldwide at last count.

The company has been on a roll since it was taken public on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2011, where it went down in history as one of the biggest initial public offerings for an American fashion business. According to CNN Money, the move raised US$944 million after 47.2 million shares were sold to the public.

That, says Kors, was the proudest moment of his career.

"When I started the business, I never thought there was such a thing as global fashion. Things were divided by country. I never dreamt that people would be able to share in the world of Michael Kors."

He also adds that while his job is more stressful now that the company has gone public, he is equipped to handle it.

"In fashion, you have to be an athlete. I've been doing this for a long time. Now, I have the endurance and I still have the energy and curiosity."

When it comes to keeping his designs relevant to a larger audience, he says there is not much of a change in his approach.

"I've always had my eye on the customer because I started my career in a retail shop. The only difference is when I started at 19, it was just one shop in New York. Now, the shops are all around the world. It is not that I suddenly said we are going to be a public company and I have to keep my feet on the ground.

"Whatever I show on the runway, I'm excited only when I see it worn on the street. I want to know that the handbag is one which you can actually carry to the office, that the shoes can be walked in and that you can sit in the dress."

A LIFE OF FASHION

The only son of a one-time Revlon model who later remarried an entrepreneur, Kors says he grew up in a family that was obsessed with fashion.

His grandmother "travelled with lots of luggage filled with wigs, furs and shoes which were enough for three outfit changes a day".

His mother often dressed with a sporty and casual easiness. She preferred gowns which were interpretations of the T-shirt or men's shirt. His aunt turned up in a floral bikini top and matching pants for his bar mitzvah.

When they were all on the beach during family holidays, the conversations revolved around what they were going to wear to dinner.

"Even as a child, when I looked at the people on the beach, I did makeovers in my head," he remembers.

"This is the life that I was meant to live."

At 18, he enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, but soon dropped out.

"I can sketch beautifully, but I cannot sew. I'm disastrous. At school, I realised I wouldn't be a brilliant seamster."

But he was clear about the women he wanted to design for - sexy, sporty and glamorous - and one of his teachers recognised his talent.

"She told me I was ready and that I should get a job in the world," he recalls.

He did just that and was soon employed at a boutique in New York called Lothar's, where he learnt to listen to the customer, design and sell. He also learnt about merchandise.

Kors was first discovered by renowned retailer Dawn Mello. After spotting his designs in Lothar's window, Mello, who was then a Bergdorf Goodman executive, invited Kors to show her his first collection when it was ready.

Encouraged, he started his own label that year at the age of 22. It debuted at Bergdorf Goodman within a year.

In 1997, he took on a designing role at Celine. The seven-year stint proved to be one of the turning points of his career.

Credited by fashion insiders for reviving the French house by putting his luxe laid-back touch on the ready-to-wear and accessory collections, Kors says he learnt to design with a global perspective there.

"Till then, Michael Kors was something you could buy only in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

"Suddenly, I was in a company where what was happening in Singapore was as important as what was happening in New York. It opened my eyes to the world."

For instance, he realised that while women in New York are practical and want only black coats, Parisian women want white coats.

"At Celine, I learnt about indulgence."

He left Celine in 2004 to focus on his own brand.

By then, Kors was already an icon in the fashion industry for his wearable, streamlined and sporty pieces.

LESSONS FROM PROJECT RUNWAY

However, he became a household name when he took on a judging role on the reality TV show Project Runway alongside model Heidi Klum that year.

Kors, a former child actor, entertained millions of viewers with his snarky, to-the-point comments. He left the show after 10 seasons in 2012.

"I loved it. But I don't have time. It is the only reason I stopped," he says.

On what he learnt from Project Runway, he says: "The show made me feel what it is like to be a journalist sitting in the audience at a fashion show. "In today's world, nobody has an attention span. It definitely taught me about editing. I tell all the designers to edit, edit, edit and I do the same thing."

His shows were already getting shorter and they became even tighter after Project Runway. He used to present more than 100 looks in 25 minutes. Now, he sends out just 54 in seven minutes.

Up next, he says he will be focusing on his menswear range, which was launched in 2002.

Later this year, he will be devoting an entire floor in his Soho boutique in New York to menswear. As for his Beijing flagship, there will be two floors dedicated to menswear.

"It is an exciting time to design men's clothes. Men have finally realised that there is something in between dressing like a club kid and a conservative banker," he says.

After all these years, the designer says he can still count on his mother - "who wears head-to-toe Kors" - to push him in the right direction.

He says: "A few years ago, I had a show where the models wore very short skirts.

"When the show was over, my mother said it was perfect and fabulous. Although she wears only trousers, she said the show made her want to put on the skirts. That helped me realise that a show should make people who don't wear the clothes want to wear them.

"My mother is my best critic. She tells me the truth."

gladysc@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on May 30, 2014.
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