So a lot of people have been asking me what I'm up to in NYC. During the week, I work for Nicholas Petrou, the creative director and head designer at Dennis Basso, the Liza Loving fur company. He's coming out with his own collection of couture level clothing --not fur exclusive---this fall, with jackets and dresses priced between 10-150,000$.
Even though I was hired to work on Nicholas' debut collection exclusively....I end up doing a lot of work with the fur company, love or hate me. I used to be obsessed with fur, as fur was making it's "comeback" during the period of my adolescence when I became interested in fashion. And then, years later, I realized that I loved cats, and cute foxes, and tried to get into more of a Stella McCartney "You Have to Be More Creative as a Designer Not Using Fur" route.
But fate often goes in circles, and now I work in the fabulously grotesque world of fur. It is THE highest price point in women's clothing in America, right below couture. When I am given an option as to how to finish a seam or trim, the first thing my superiors tell me is "do it the more expensive way." And hell, I'm fine with that.
Check out the Dennis Basso website, it's kind of fun and interactive. Just don't hate me because I touch the skin of dead animals all day long. It's really soft.
Dennis Basso
* Meryl Streep wears not one, not two, but three or four Basso coats in the Devil Wears Prada. The first is a brown sable, Ms. Streep's opening scene in the movie, when she gets out of the car and terrorizes the staff. The others are intermingled--a fox, and then a chinchilla coat. And then she dons a green mink in the last scene of the flick--not too shabby.
