The Designs of Thom Browne

Description: Thom Browne discusses the silhouette and design of his clothing.

Question: Probably actually the silhouette of what I do – the silhouette of my . . . my clothing.

Transcript: When I initially started, I wanted to re-introduce handmade clothing to guys – to young guys, because I really felt like so many of them were . . . were somewhat running away from it because it was always done either for their father in a . . . in a more conservative way . . . So I wanted to really re-introduce it in a way that it . . . that felt . . . it really felt like it was for them. And that was ‘50s, ‘60s inspired clothing that just fit very specifically – the jackets being shorter; the trousers, you know, narrow and slimmer. And just like changing the mentality of what was, you know, up until now I think regarded as a very . . . like a suit. Like they didn’t wanna become . . . they didn’t wanna be a suit. And I wanted to do the suit in a new way that made them feel like it was for them in a cooler way.

When I lived in L.A. and I used to buy a lot of vintage clothing, and you know I would tailor it in a way for myself that was exactly this. And that was, you know, over 10 years ago. So in a way it’s . . . it’s been longer than actually how long my business has been open; but it’s something I really knew that if I . . . if I wanted it, I knew that there would be somebody else that would be interested in . . . in this type of thing.

Recorded on: 10/29/07