Fashion Q&A

In 1981 when then-22-year-old designer Michael Kors was starting his own label, Naples’ Marissa Hartington traveled to New York to view his first collection. "It was black and ivory," she says. "It was so beautiful. I fell in love with it, and his bubbly personality." The two were instant friends, and have kept close ever since. Now Marissa is opening a 400-square-foot Michael Kors boutique inside her Old Naples store, and Kors flew down to celebrate with the Hartingtons and 250 adoring fans—dressed in Kors, of course—at a cocktail party. We spoke with Kors before the doors opened.

Your spring collection is very comfortable, with soft fabrics. What was the inspiration?

Nan Kempner, who passed away last year, was a client of ours, and she was really the ultimate shopper. It is said that she never put her clothes in storage because she traveled constantly. She might need ski clothes and the next week need a bikini and the following week she’d need a suit. And for us, this spring, one of the things that I wanted to do was make clothes that have no season. Our customers really do spend probably two thirds of the year on the go. So without comfort, I don’t think people can look good.

What’s your opinion of the way women dress around here?

The customers who spend a lot of their time here really are big travelers. So they need a wardrobe that is not just summer clothes. You know, everyone thinks that American fashion is just about New York. But I think the two hot spots in America that have really changed the world are Florida and California. Because New York still looks to Europe. All the things that we take for granted in fashion—sandals in the winter, boots in the summer, mixing up the seasons—all of those rule-breaking things, come from Florida and California. Give me laid-back glamour any day.

Your men’s collection is doing well. What’s it like designing for guys?

Men are the great unwanted in fashion. With guys, when you hear the word "classic," it turns a man into a real grandpa. I think most guys don’t want to be so pigeonholed, and the whole age thing for men has changed a lot. You have men now who are in their 30s, 40s and 50s who want to look plugged in but not ridiculous. And that’s been our focus. It’s nice; I get to play guinea pig on myself.

As a judge on TV’s Project Runway, how do you think the show has changed the fashion industry?

Perhaps in real life designers don’t make clothes out of garbage bags and leaves, but Project Runway is really the first time that the public is getting to see the process of what a designer goes through. I have to figure out who wants what, when, how, how to fit all of that. I think it’s exciting for people to see that process. For the first time, people who weren’t interested in fashion watch the show and they’re like, ‘Oh my God these fashion people are wacky.’ And quite honestly, fashion people are just a very dramatic bunch of people. They make for good television.

Do you think that our culture is getting fashion obsessed?

Now people realize fashion always has been part of pop culture. [Before,] only the insiders knew that it was; because whatever happens in the world is reflected in clothes. As you get to be older, and you see pictures of yourself in another decade, and you’re like, ‘Oh my God look at my hair, look at this.’ And it tells you the times that you were in.

What are some of the big mistakes women make in fashion?

Not having alterations and not going to a good dressmaker. People buy too many clothes. Buy less; buy better quality. Have a three-way mirror, and go to the tailor!

—Rebecca Loveridge