Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli and the newly platinum blonde Maria Grazia Chiuri sat down with New York Magazine’s Amy Larocca for exactly 53 minutes at The Pierre hotel to reflect on their meteoric rise to fashion fame and that Zoolander moment, which is as memorable as their breathtakingly beautiful collections. As it turns out, the design duo watched the first Zoolander when they were still accessory designers working under Valentino Garavani—a passion still evident in Chiuri’s ring collection, which includes what looks like a pricey Codognato skull ring. And yes, like everyone, they feel the pace and demand of the industry is a bit out of hand. Below are some highlights from the piece.
On the fashion advice Piccioli gave to Ben Stiller:
“[I said to Ben Stiller] If you have socks, you are not fashion. He said, ‘why?’ And I said shush. I said, ‘You don’t try to understand. You just do not wear socks.’ “—Piccioli
On their backstage moment pre-Zoolander:
“We didn’t tell anyone but, oh my God, we were laughing so hard. No one knew what was going on. It was such a moment of freedom.”—Chiuri
On what their kids think about their jobs:
“My daughter, she says, ‘I don’t really like what you do with Pierpaolo.’ But then, of course, she says, ‘May I borrow your dress?’ ”—Chiuri
“With children you really have to stop and go into their world.”—Piccioli
On reinventing Valentino:
“Ideas of beauty change over time, and perhaps what we have done is take a picture of the same landscape from a different angle. Perhaps we have shown the deepness of that kind of beauty.”—Piccioli
“Everybody paints the same Madonna, but there is a big difference between Caravaggio and somebody else.”—Chiuri
And The Daily’s favorite quote, on the pace of the fashion industry:
“Can you imagine if a writer had to write a best seller several times a year?”—Chiuri
Read the interview in full at NYMag.com.
