Question: Is there a global style?

Transcript: Yeah. The world . . . I think the world has become a really small place because it is. I mean you can see everything about anyone. The Internet has kind of really brought the whole world into . . . into everyone’s living room. So I think it is. It’s very universal. Everything has become very small.

Question: Will we see a resurgence of local styles?

Transcript: I don’t know. I think we’ve . . . I think we’ve passed the point of like returning, so . . . No. I think it’ll . . . I think it’ll always be accessible to everyone in regard to this . . . you know, the style of . . . I think in a way there will always be . . . I think the memories of that true American style that was, for me, that ‘50s and ‘60s sack suit from Brooks Brothers. I mean that was a true American style. But in a way there’s a lot of people that have adopted that right now. And it’s the same thing with designers here in America – you know the European influences. I think we’ve gone past the point of like . . . Unless you really pull back and wanna do it, I think the world has become very universal in that way.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: I mean thrift stores are always good. You know making sure that it’s just you keep it simple. And you . . . And maybe if you want to buy something, maybe you only need one of . . . you could buy something that’s good, you know. Just purchasing one as opposed to needing so much of it. And the most important thing is just keeping it simple.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: Well specifically the ‘50s and ‘60s, everything post-World War II . . . I mean everybody was more . . . it was more like a uniform, and there was something really refreshing about that. Going through the, you know, late ‘60s and ‘70s, more of everything easing up and, you know, the world of, you know, maybe fighting the establishment a little bit. So in a way there were all those kind of times that definitely fashion has changed along with those times. And now I think we’re . . . we’re in a time of people having so much and the resources to be able to buy so much that there are so many choices out there. Which I think sometimes isn’t always the best thing for . . . for people.

Hmm. I think in a way it . . . it does. And I think in a way sometimes that’s why when you look at kids and having school uniforms, I think that’s . . . that’s probably a really good idea. Because I think it’s . . . in a way it takes that . . . that burden and that preoccupation with . . . for . . . in the kids that don’t have control over what they actually can buy; of really focusing on what is more important for them while they’re at school as opposed to what they’re wearing. So it does contribute a little bit too much.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: Who dictates . . . I guess in a . . . in a way I . . . I guess it’s, you know, the consumer does, you know definitely dictate on how . . . on how big fashion ideas become. I mean definitely editors create either trends or say something is, you know, whatever . . . “in or out”, whatever that means. And then . . . but more importantly I would hope that fashion designers just do their own thing and don’t get caught up in who is dictating fashion. Because in a way, especially when I design my collections, I don’t think about that. Everybody kind of creates that after I do what I do because I’m not conscious of creating a trend of creating anything past what is true to me.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: So you know never say never; but in a way it’s the type of thing that when I finish a collection, I always think, “God how am I going to top this one? How am I gonna . . . What am I gonna do?” I do at the end of seasons think, you know, “What if? What am I gonna do?” Because at the . . . When I finish a collection, I always look back and I think, “This is something . . .” It almost evolves in a way that becomes better than I even thought of at the beginning. So yeah. There is that little bit at the beginning of each season; but in a way it just kind of . . . it does kind of happen. You know at the end of the day you’re having a drink and . . . And my . . . The guys that work with me – and girls – you know it’s a joke that there’s a lot of design ideas that are on cocktail napkins which is . . . (Chuckles) Which, you know . . . But it happens at times that, you know, I never plan on.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: And it’s not the type of thing that I ever sit down and go, like, “Okay I’m gonna design now.” I watch a lot of movies. I read a lot of books. I see people out on the street, which is a huge inspiration for me. And also I . . . You know sometimes I just lie on my bed and close my eyes and just think of crazy ideas that could become something interesting. Or . . . or even looking at old women’s couture designers and seeing how you can twist that in a way to make it interesting and look masculine for a guy. You know so there’s so many different ways, but I’m not typical in a way of, like, tearing things out of magazines and, like, putting things on boards and the . . . And I do challenge all my designers that work for me too like . . . I never want them to look in magazines. I don’t wanna see inspiration boards, because in a way I never like people to get too locked into seeing something right in front of them. If you . . . I always find like if you see something that’s inspiring, you should look at it and then almost immediately look away. Because the one thing that is the most important to you, you will remember. And then the rest of it will become yours because . . . because you won’t remember the whole thing. And I think too many . . . especially these days, I think too much of what designers do in a lot of fashion is literal translations of what has been done in the past. And in a way it’s great. I mean people can wear it, but it’s not that interesting. And I . . . I . . . I would never wanna fall into that kind of trap.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: I would hope. Because in a way, my collections and what I do, it’s a real representation and a true picture of who I am as a person. My collections are really personal, and I love everything about every collection and what I do. But I do really want people to personalize it and take it on their own. And you know I don’t really wanna see people, you know, almost become like a clone of what . . . you know, how I wear it. I like people to have their own kind of personality and give their own personality to it. And I would hope that they do.

I hope it doesn’t take too . . . it doesn’t play too much a part on who you are or your identity. In a way I feel like it should almost be something that you’re really comfortable wearing. It is the best for you, you look the best in it; but when you put it on it almost goes away. Because I don’t think that should be the thing that walks in the room before you. I think you should be the one that really walks into the room, and they happen to see that you look kind of good.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: Not really. I see it more as a craft. I really feel like when you do something and you, you pay attention to more, like . . . The quality of it is sometimes equally as fashionable as the actual ideas. I really see it more . . . more as a craft than an art. I think in a way how you present it can then become some type of installation kind of art, but I don’t think of what I do as actual art. I think that makes . . . I like to keep it . . . I think of it a little more simply because I really attribute the quality and how things are made a lot more to the fashion than I think a lot of people do.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: The only challenge is technical . . . you know technically getting it to fit differently. But my approach for women’s was really just approaching it exactly like my men’s. It was very menswear inspired, so I really started from the same . . . same place as my men’s. So it wasn’t . . . there wasn’t really that much of a challenge, because it was . . . it was the beginning, and it was started the same way I started my men’s – very classically inspired; but you know made for that young girl who I think couldn’t really get this. And so in a way it wasn’t so hard to start it.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: You know there’s nothing more inspirational than an old man walking down the street that looks like he’s had the same suit for 50 years. And there’s something so timelessly beautiful about that. And you know now with the age of everything being a little more casual – sometimes a little too casual – guys, you know, almost the establishment being jeans and t-shirts, as opposed to I really feel like with what I do is almost the anti-establishment, which has kind of, you know, turned everything upside down because a suit actually becoming the anti-establishment I think is . . . there’s something really cool about that.

I mean you look at . . . you look at old pictures of guys in, you know . . . at Yankee Stadium. And you look at the . . . almost the beautiful uniformity of that – of all the guys in ties, and jackets and hats. Or you look at, you know, iconic images of JFK before he became president, more . . . more like in his senatorial days. So I have those literal pictures in my head. But you know really my collections are based in almost the sensibility of that time; not literally what was done, because my jackets are significantly shorter, and it’s . . . what I do is significantly different; but it’s more the mindset of that guy back then; you know kind of when you look at Sean Connery in his early films, his early James Bond films. You know that guy that looks like everything was effortless; everything was . . . he was the coolest and the chicest guy; but the last thing he really thought about was actually how he was going to be looking. It was just the way he was. And that for me is what is the inspiration from that time.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: You know I’ll say I don’t really keep up with what’s going on in men’s fashion. I really . . . I do my own thing, and I almost do it in a way to . . . to keep it . . . keep it easy for myself. I always feel like if you know too much of what’s going on, you sometimes are subconsciously inspired. Or you know you’re maybe drawn in a direction that isn’t really yours. So in a way I think ignorance is bliss, because if you don’t know what’s going on, you pretty much just do what you wanna do, and it keeps it very pure to what you are, or who you are.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: I would hope that they are masculine in being fashionable. I mean for me the worst thing is actually seeing some guy that looks like he’s wearing fashion. And fashion for me is something is . . . that is vey timelessly designed; something that is . . . that is very masculine. So I think it should really go hand-in-hand. I think if a guy is looking fashionable and not masculine, then I think he should maybe go home and change. (Laughter)

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: in a bigger picture, I feel like more guys should just have more confidence with being more of an individual and not being so cookie cutter and being so . . . so almost commercial. And have a true sense of style as opposed to really having to open up a magazine and think like, “Oh I guess I . . . I’m supposed to look like this.” Like really a true . . . The most inspiring thing to me is to see somebody . . . even if I don’t even like what it is . . . somebody that really has a true sense of their own personal style. And that’s pretty much what I would . . . I would love to see in more guys.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

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

Transcript: Oh I think I’m one of those boring people that I do love it every day, because it is something that is . . . When I look back, I should’ve been doing this . . . or I should’ve wanted to do it really for my whole life, because it is something that I’m . . . I’m very . . . Or I love doing it, but I’m also very confident in actually being able to do it. And that’s a really . . . that’s a really good feeling. And then also too sometimes people ask, you know, what luxury is; and luxury is exactly that, I think – like really being able to wake up and do what you love doing and actually make a living at it.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: You know honestly I . . . I grew up swimming, and going to school, and that’s all I really worried about growing up. And then through college . . . I don’t know. I didn’t really know what I was going to do after school, so I . . . I went through school. And school wasn’t really my thing. You know I got through, but I knew there was something else that I wanted past what I was actually studying in school.

Honestly I don’t even remember, you know, when. Because my . . . talking to actually my mother, she says early on there were definitely things that I used to do that, you know, she remembers that sees how it actually has impacted what I’m doing today. You know past school, it was all like . . . You know I came to New York after school, and it was . . . the city was just the biggest eye-opening experience for me. So in a way, it kind of just evolved into something after I moved . . . I think after I moved really back from L.A. about 10 years ago.

Recorded on: 10/29/07

Transcript: My name is Thom Browne. And I am a designer. I’m originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Grew up in a large family – seven kids, seven of us. And a very . . . more conservative family. My parents were both attorneys. And actually I’m the only one in the family that’s not either an attorney or a doctor. So really being brought up by the type of parents that were always very nurturing in us wanting to do really what we want, or really wanted us to really experience everything and become . . . just become something.

Growing up in a large family, it’s always . . . I mean it’s the whole family in a way, because . . . And I was the . . . the middle out of seven. So always trying to not compete with the rest of them, but always trying to be noticed. And my mother and father were both competitive people in a way, but my mother was the more competitive person in a way – always making us . . . even for little things like art contests . . . making us practice in order to, you know, make sure that we would . . . it would all kind of work out well.

Recorded on: 10/29/07