October 27, 2023 • 41 mins
This week, Rachel Zoe is joined by the incredible fashion designer and entrepreneur Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger, who also happens to be married to designer Tommy Hilfiger. Together, they speak about Dee's childhood as a first generation American, her life in Monte Carlo and her passion for working and maintaining a creative outlet. And how could we forget her crazy and amazing blended family!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
As a CEO in fashion authority, I know it's the
details that truly matter, and when it comes to luxury,
every stitch must be perfectly tailored. At Genesis, they've delivered
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(00:22):
in the details. Hi everyone, I'm Rachel Zoe and you're
listening to Climbing in Heels. The show is all about
celebrating the most extraordinary superwomen who will be sharing their
incredible journeys to the top, all while staying glamorous. Today
(00:44):
with me, I'm joined by someone I know and love
dearly for a very long time. She's an incredible fashion
designer and entrepreneur, d Ocleppo, who happens to also be
married to my very dear friend, Tommy Hilfiger, who fun
fact gave me my biggest career break and I would
argue to say helped launch my entire career journey. Anyway,
(01:05):
d speaks with me today about her childhood as a
first generation American, her life in Monte Carlo as a
single mom, and her incessant passion for working and maintaining
a creative outlet. Together, we also talk about her crazy
and amazing mixed family. I'm so excited for you all
to listen, and I hope you enjoyed this one. First
(01:29):
of all, you grew up here in the US, right.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yes, I grew up in Rhode Island.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
You grew up in Rhode Island.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I grew up in Rhode Island and my parents became
naturalized citizens. My father immigrated from Turkey and my mother
immigrated from England.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
But I grew up American, first generation, amazing, And I
had one little you know, I had one sister, one sibling,
younger sister. And you know I was super, super shy
and super really insecure as a little kid.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I could see that just knowing you, I could see that.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, And I think part of it was like I
was kind of embarrassed that my parents were like different.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Yeah, you know, as you would when you were young,
of course.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
And you know, my dad had this like crazy accent,
and you know, looked different and was very strict. So
I and you know, my mom was like very sweet
and also like shy and that, so I kind of
grew up in this household where I was just kind of,
you know, wanted to just be in the corner and
(02:41):
not noticed so much.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Interesting And what was your sister like? Was she the opposite?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
My sister was also quite shy. But my sister was
like really into books and like got really into her
her hobbies. Like she was really into horrors and really
into books. So that was kind of like her you know, outlet.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
And so like. So when you were growing up, were
you just okay, so you were shy? You were in
Rhode Island, which is very small. It's so small, very
special but very small, and so you had immigrant parents
from two different places, and so here you are and
you're like, okay, So were you a student?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I wouldn't say that I was a great student. I
was like really placed importance on grades, and I found
myself like I was a very distracted student. I feel
like I daydreamed a lot.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
And were you boy crazy? Because I was fully boy crazy.
I was funny crazy.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I wasn't that boy. I started to become a little
boy crazy like h later, like after I got because
I went to an all girls school. Like when I
went to college, then I started getting a little boy crazy.
But I was actually kind of like I didn't think
I was pretty enough to have boys like me, and
so I was kind of like a tomboy.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
You were probably tall, skinny and stunning and just now
you're like, oh my god, why did I hate myself?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So I had the worst haircuts. I mean I look
at my haircuts and I'm like, I mean I would
have like bangs up to here and then like short hair.
I mean, I don't know what was going on, but
my mom and the hair thing. It was like literally
like I think she put like gave me one of
those bowl cuts, and I don't know who was cutting
my hair, but it was like the bangs. It was awful.
(04:39):
It was awful.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
But you grew up there d until like you stayed
in Rhode Island all the way through till you went
to college. I stayed in Rhode Island, Okay, so you
didn't move around.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I didn't, but I can tell you by the time
I got to college, I was ready to get out.
I was like where you know, when it came to college,
I was like looking at the map, and I was thinking,
my first choice was Pepperdine. I don't know if I ever
told you this toy. I was dreaming of being in California,
(05:09):
being on a beach with a surf and I found
Pepperdine and I went to my dad and I gave
him the booklet, like this is my first choice is
where I went college? And he looked at it, he
flipped through it, and he said, that is not a college.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
That is like a country club.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Yes, that's a country club. You are not going there.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
That's a fair point, by the way, fairpoint up from dad, fairpoint, fairpoint.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
And he's like, you're not going there. I'm not paying
for that, absolutely not. And he's like, and furthermore, you
are not going to California. My parents said that too,
And no, He's like, that's you're not going there. So
he kind of drew a line on the map and
it was like it ended at Texas. So I was like, okay,
what's in Texas, Like that's the farthest point. And I
(05:55):
went up going to SMU Southern Methodist University.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Okay, okay, And it.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Was great, and it was at the time, it was
like eighty four eighty five. So that was like the
time if you remember of the show Dallas with Jay.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Do I remember? Do I remember? It was like life.
I was telling my kids about it the other day,
Dallas and Dynasty, and they were like, what was it like?
It's like the most glamorous Like all right, so it's.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Like, if I can't go to California, if I can't
go to La, what's the next best thing? Dallas? You know?
So yeah, that's how I wound up.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
WHOA Okay? So all right, so the all right, so
this is all piecing together. Okay, so now what Okay,
so you graduate college. You did well in school, well enough,
well enough, well enough.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I mean I was probably like a B solid C plus.
But I'm you know, I wasn't like all a's and
four point zero average. No, my sister was.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
My sister is usually one.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, it's like that, you know, do you know what meant?
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah? Of course my niece is like.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
And I am not like I'm the dumb one.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
In the fast stop it, stop it. But I think
we know now, And I would argue to say that
you know as well as anybody that every child is
their own kind of intelligent, right, and that we all
learn differently, and we all find our path, and you know,
it takes some longer than others. And I find that
(07:29):
everyone who has been on my podcast, no one knew
their path. No one knew their path. And I would
say argue to say that ninety percent said I was
the dumb one in the family. So I'm going to
say a common thread here, you know, another common thread
is there's been a lot of single moms raised by
single moms. But I would say that My next question
(07:51):
is sort of like, did you know at that point
you were not that you are a creative person. Were
you like, Okay, I'm not this kind this is not
my calling school. I need to like I need to
do act or like I'm obsessed with this or were
you just like I don't know what the hell I'm
doing and like I'm going to figure it out when
I graduate kind of person.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I was, Yeah, I was that I loved all like
creative things. And you know, but my my dad, being Turkish,
my dad doctor, I'm strict and very strict, was like,
you know anything in the creative field. Like if I
ever said to him, you know an actress, like that's like,
(08:33):
that's not a living he used to say to me,
you need a skill, and you need to go to school.
And school was very important to him. I mean, the
grades were super important to him. Education was super important
to him. So to say something like that I would
want to do anything in the creative field was you know,
he was already like he didn't even understand what is
(08:54):
a liberal arts degree?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Bullshit. I to.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Studied communications right at SMU, but you know, I took
a lot of fun courses in that. But at that time,
like I really, I really didn't at all know what
I wanted to do or what I would do, like
even even in college. And I think that that's kind
(09:21):
of where the modeling Like when I was I was
modeling in college, and I had traveled on the summers
when I wasn't in school. I traveled the summers and modeling,
and then I thought, well, you know, I wound up
getting a contract to go to Paris. So that was
(09:42):
like all I really wanted to do when I was
young is travel In my world, Yes, my parents used
to get National Geographic magazine delivered to the house and
we had like all you know, we had a book
bookshelf with them all lined up, and I used to
look through them, and I loved the pictures and seeing
(10:04):
these people like indigenous people and far away places. And
my dream I actually did. When I was a little girl.
I wanted to become a marine biologist because I loved
the ocean and I loved dolphins, and I was like,
I you know, I went to SeaWorld one day and
I was like, that's what I want to do. Yes, yes,
(10:26):
I'm a biologist. You know, That's what I wanted to
be when I was little.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I mean, listen, I mean, I'm going to argue to
say that you've spent the better part of the last
you know, ten twelve years in water on water, in water.
I but here's the thing. You know, you're extremely intelligent,
You're very driven. You are not someone that sits down
(10:53):
and says like, let life happen to me. And you know,
I don't think that you're like if at least what
I know of it has just been like la la la.
And so, so I want to talk about a little
bit like so you graduate college, you're like, Okay, you're modeling,
(11:13):
obviously beautiful, making money, traveling the world, right, I imagine
there's challenges with that because there's a lot of rejection
that comes with modeling, that kind of crushes your soul.
That for a shy girl that's insecure, I imagine, not
the easiest thing, right, But I do think in a
weird way that rejection that comes with acting, modeling and
(11:38):
all of these things, I do think in a weird way.
As horrible as it is and as much as it's
not tolerated today, which I love, I do think in
a weird way, it prepares you for life, right, I
mean it does.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
It toughens you up. And you know, I think that
part of the problem with maybe like a lot of
younger people, I think because of social media, everything looks
so easy on social media, everybody gloss yeah, hey I'm here,
I'm there, and like everything looks so easy, and you know,
(12:19):
it's not. No, just not for anybody, Like I don't know,
tell me, show me a profession or a job or
a career that's easy. I'll sign me up. I'll tomorrow.
Just it doesn't matter. You know, what area you know
you go into or what fields you go into. It's
you have to work hard. It's just and I think
(12:39):
young kids don't, I mean not all, but I just
know they're not understanding.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
That.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
And you know, a lot of us who have been
more successful than you know, have maybe indulged some of
our kids, you know more maybe we were, and that
doesn't help. But you know, it's just you have to
be passionate and you have to work hard no matter
what it is to.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
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(13:31):
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I want to talk about. So you got married, you
(13:52):
must have been pretty young.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I married at twenty seven.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Oh okay, I feel like that's I mean, that's like
a great. I mean, it's funny now because when I
see people getting married at twenty seven, I'm like, oh,
you're so young, but that's completely normal. You got married. Yeah,
we got married. I think I was. I think I
might have even been twenty five. But we were together
for like seven years before that. So but even still,
(14:18):
I'm like, I can't believe I got married at twenty five.
To me, twenty five now feels like sixteen, you know,
So it's it's weird how that happens. But okay, so
you got married and you were living in Monte Carlo.
Is that correct? Okay, See, that is the most glamorous
thing ever. I don't know if it actually was, but like,
if I lie awake and my kids know that, my
(14:40):
end goal is living in the south of France and
sitting on a beach making jewelry like that is my
and I have this beautiful chateau and all my kids
and grandkids are there. That's my likee goal, that's my
end goal. So so tell me about that. So, okay,
so your first husband you were Okay, so you were
twenty seven twenty I.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Had my first we married at twenty seven. I had
my first child, twenty eight. And you know, when I
met my husband, I you know, through modeling, i'd been
you know, i'd been around so a lot of how
can I put this.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Don't filter trust me, no, no, no, nothing's nothing's wrong.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
These all you know, horrible men.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Same by the way, a lot.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Of drugs, a lot of guys that.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Had no respect for women, no respect for.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Women, substance abuse issues, all that kind. So when I
met my first husband, who was an athlete, test player,
yes player, never never did a drug in his life. Beautiful,
he spoke, I don't know, he spoke five languages, he
dressed great athlete, you know. I was like, yes, I
was like, this is great, this is great. You know,
(16:03):
upon reflection, we probably you know, we dated a while
before we got married. But I think that when you're younger,
you're so myopic, you know, like I can't really see.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
You know, you see the trees, but you don't see
the behind, and you don't care to be honest at
that point, right, you care about the like, how do
I feel now? This makes me so happy and fulfilled?
There's no there's no pragmatic thinking when you're young, in
my opinion.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
No real like I don't know, I look at all.
It's all a.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Journey, of course, but that's the point. And you have
two incredible children.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And that marriage we were married. I think we divorced
after nine years.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
That's pretty real.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Nine years of marriage.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Not a blip.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
No, it's not a blip. And my kid's quite young
when we divorce, so like I kind of divorced before
they they were teenagers, which is maybe a good thing.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to go with yes. I'm going
to go yes on that. I'm definitely going to go
with yes on that.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
The problem was I, you know, it was a really
hard time because I was now divorced, I was now
the mother of two kids. I had not been working
when when I right, And you know, Monaco is a
difficult place in the sense that like most people that
live in Monaco have kind of already made it.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
And it's not like it's like it's like plan like
it's it's phase three of your life. It's it's like
Palm Beach a little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Right, like like, yeah, not the place where you can
start a career or you know, it's not.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Like this it's the end game place.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
It's the end game. It's not a place you go
to develop the dream ambition. So I was really miserable.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
And miserable living in Monte Carlo.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah, basically that was me. And I really didn't know.
I didn't know do I turn right, do I turn left?
I felt blocked. I was like, what am I going
to do? Like, you know, I was stuck. I felt
literally stuck. And you know, I I shared custody with
(18:30):
my husband. We you know, we I would go out
with friends in that but I was really not ever
thinking because I was so traumatized from my divorce. I
was kind of like, on this thing where I already
have my kids, I will never get married again. I
mean never say never. But I literally was like, no,
I will, I will never ever do that again. That
(18:51):
was a terrible experiment and wound up horribly. And you know,
divorce is horrible even the best circumstances, and we have
fairly easy divorce, I would say, but I was just like,
I'm not going to go through that again. And then
cut to I'm with my kids in centrepe for holiday
for the bestial Day, and this is three years after,
(19:14):
and you know that's when I, you know, serendipitously met
Tommy and.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
You know, the sweetest man to ever live.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Greatest man to ever live. And you know, my life
changed dramatically after that. And you know, he was so
wonderful to my kids and you know, but we were
living on two different continents, so which was challenging. Yeah,
especially you know you're dating. It was definitely challenging. It was.
(19:46):
It was challenging, but we got through it.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
And can we talk about how one of the things
that connected you. I know that both of you are
very open and very active in something you're very passionate about,
because I think it's important to talk about it. But
so between the two of you, let me just be clear.
(20:09):
When I say it out loud, I like, trip over it?
You have seven children?
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
You really when you say that out loud, do you
trip over it? I'm just wondering.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Yeah, people just are like, wow, that's you know, that's
a lot, and uh.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Seven seven children?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, his mind and ours and yeah. But I mean
I think that when I met Tommy, what we really
bonded on it was it was interesting. We really we
were talking about our kids and Tommy was separated, I
was divorced, and we just got on the subject of
(20:52):
our kids and we sort of talked around it because
we both kind of figured out that he had a
daughter with autism that was and I had a son.
So it was like an immediate like I get you moment,
like I understand, and so we really bonded about that
and we have actually three of the seven kids are
(21:13):
diagnosed with autism, and they're different degrees and they're all verbal,
and you know, thank god, not severely autistic, very loving.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Sweet, they're incredible children.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Incredible kids, incredible kids, and so that's our family. I
have a crazy, fun, very diverse family.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
And so much love in it and so much love
in it. But I actually think, like listen, I've spent
a lot of time with both of you, and both
you and Tommy, and you know, I have had the
privilege of meeting your kids, and you know, every child
is special and every child is unique, and you know,
(22:01):
at this point, I would argue to say, I don't
know a family that is special or unique in some way,
because I think that's just real life and what we are.
And I love that we all talk about everything now,
because nothing should not be talked about, you know, or
hidden or anything. But I do think that you know,
(22:22):
you and Tommy are very involved in obviously championing you know,
treatment of autism, and it's called what do You Just
to refresh my.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
We're involved in a couple of organizations Autism Speaks, Autism
Speaks With and then we're also involved with another organization
called Next for Autism, and Next for Autism deals with
sort of like later on in life, you know, finding housing,
finding jobs, you know. I think that the the difficult
(22:59):
part I find with autism. It's not like when your
children are living in your house and you know they're
young and you know they're with you and you can control.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Things and protect them.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
And protect them exactly. I think the struggle, the biggest struggle,
at least for me, is like, who's going to protect
them when I'm not here or they're older.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
And an adult living with autism.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yes, because there's still for the most part, super vulnerable
and you know, of course easily be you know, mishandle
taken advantage of. And so that's the thing where, you know,
I think that's the thing that's the hardest.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
I so on top of this of this big life
that you have and that you've built and that you
really are so close to your family on every level.
You also work a lot, and you do, and I
want to talk about that because you know, it's funny.
(24:08):
When I first met you, you know, and I've told
you this before, Tommy grabbed my arm because Tommy and
I are friends for I mean since I was, since
I since I started, you know, and I always talk
about this. He you know, screaming at the top of
Mount Everst if I ever get there. But he gave
me my first big break in my career, and I
would say, help really launched my career. So in love
(24:29):
with you and when you first met and I'll never
forget I was. I was in the Mercer Hotel lobby
at a big party and he came running over and
grabbed my arm and said, you have to come EETI.
I'm so in love. I'm going to marry this woman.
You have to meet her. You are going to love her.
And I met you, and I remember you were so
tall and I was wearing my huge platforms and you
(24:50):
were towering over me, and I was like, really tell me.
I was like, really, but you have always been the kindest, sweetest,
and you know, I would say, somewhat shy until until
until like you're comfortable, I think, right, I think less
so now. But you know, I've been to so many
things that are honoring you and celebrating you, and you're
(25:12):
so active in so many different things from breast cancer
and obviously autism. But like, I also think that you're
just besides being this special extraordinary person. You know, you
really are this your own person. You are to me
like you're Dan. You used to say, oh, I'm Tommy's
wife from missus Helf. I was like stop it, like
(25:32):
I'm gonna literally knock you over. And you know, and
you have such a fan club of your own, and
now you've built like such an incredible you know, you
have your hands in a lot of things, right, so
you've started different businesses. But now I want to talk
about Judith Lieber and I want to talk about what
you're doing, and I want to talk about dia Kleppo
because the products are beautiful. But like my question to
(25:54):
you is why, like why, Like you know how hard
it is launching a brand, right, I mean you know
that I know I think.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
That I have to give at most of the credit
honestly to Tommy.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Because it's your biggest cheerleader.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
He's my biggest cheerleader. He's the one that helped me.
And you know, I love to work. I've always loved
to work. I've worked since I'm thirteen. You know, I've
had so many crazy different jobs and I've always worked.
And the one thing that my one lesson that I
(26:32):
learned from my divorce was that I wanted to always work.
I never wanted to be put in that situation again
where I have some form of my own independence. And
although I cherished that time that I spent with my
first two kids when they were young, mat you know,
(26:52):
I find now as a working mom, I still have
the most amazing time with Sebastian. I still always have
time for Sebastian.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
So it does I have to be in either or no.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Absolutely, I mean, you know, I just can't imagine like
and I know you too, like I can't imagine you
not working ever. I mean, I just I love to work,
and I think work gives me, like, you know, not
only a creative outlet, but I get to meet great
people and you.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Know, to purpose. It's a purpose. It's a purpose for
getting up every day, right, other than I have to
make sure my kids are okay, right, because that's always
for for you.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Yes, of course, it's something for you that makes it's
you know, good for it makes me feel good for
my self esteem. So you know, I'm grateful that Tommy
helped me and encouraged me to you know, launch my
own line, and then we bought a percentage. We own
(27:57):
twenty percent of Judith Leber, and then I came creative
director of it. You know, I wanted to get that
brand a new life, you know, a new life, and
it needed it. And so now I kind of have
these two jobs. Plus I have my Missus Hill figure
job where I you know, I go on his arm
(28:19):
and you know, I go to all his events and
do that. So it's kind of like it's kind of
like three jobs.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
You are the cutest though, and that mom thing to
seven kids that are all different ages, with all different
like with all different I mean, listen, I argue to
say that being a mom is the forever job, right,
Like I look at my parents now, they still parent
us so hard, different but still you know, it's it's wild,
(28:48):
it's wild.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
I'm lucky enough to have like my parents, and you know,
it's there always your parents, always your parents. You'll always worry.
The day that you, you know, give birth or you
have children is like the you know, that's the day
where you will worry the rest of your life.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
It's true. And I say that to people very honestly.
They're like, what's the biggest difference. I'm like, you don't
breathe the same way. You never truly breathe the same
way once you become a mother. It's like that inner.
I don't know how else to explain it. It's like,
it's just your heart and your soul is just this
and it's the best thing. There's nothing you trade it for, right,
(29:27):
but like, there's nothing more rewarding but it. It is
a forever job. It's the forever job. And my kids
always go, mom, the one that doesn't pay you. I
was like, exactly, and you have to keep paying me
with love.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
We get paid in different ways.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
We do, we do, we do.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Yeah, I get cute things from school that he makes me.
The best thing ever, grammis and the necklace Macaroni necklaces places.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
It's the best thing ever. And listen, I think you
know your journey has not been the easiest. I wouldn't
say you know. I think you've been met with a
lot you've been but like you know, you're a survivor,
my friend, and I think the life that you live now,
you know, I think you're very grateful for it, but
(30:15):
I think you've also worked for it. I think you,
I think you've worked for it.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
We're grateful for it. And you know it hasn't always
been easy. But you know, I don't think anybody's life
is always easy, and we all face different challenges. My
challenges are different than other people's. But you know, as
I would say, my divorce was really difficult. But you know,
(30:41):
like I never I see other people, I always try
to you know, if you look around like I've never
dealt with, yeah, a serious illness like cancer. You know,
I just I always consider myself incredibly, incredibly lucky. So
even at my worst moment, you can always look around
(31:02):
and say, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
What, this sucks, But I do the same.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
You know, this person has it so much worse. Were
I mean, we're above ground, we're alive. We're not you know,
in a war. We're good. We're good even on a
bad day, Like you know, the bad days don't exist
for me anymore.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
You know what I mean, It's not Yeah, I agree,
and I check myself that way, and I'm like if
I'm melting and just I just go stop stop. And
it is all relative. But I think at the end
of the day, every day you have to you have
to compare what your what your worst day is to
someone else's like best day, you know what I mean
if that makes sense, you know.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
I literally like I I lay in bed every morning
before I get out of bed, like I don't ever
like just jump out of bed. I just kind of
take a minute to be like, okay, you're yeah, you're
you're good, Like you got your arms, you got your
you're healthy. And I just start out like every morning
(32:04):
with that gratitude, and you know, it changes everything. And
I literally feel so blessed and lucky every single day.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
I'm just starting to do that, you know. Irena Metavoi, right,
So yeah, So Irena said this thing at her birthday
the other night. She said, every morning I wake up,
I look at myself. I'm good, I'm here, I'm alive,
I'm breathing. I turned to Mike, and Mike's I'm alive.
And they go in every morning they look at each other,
(32:35):
go love you, We're good. Like literally like we're breathing,
we're alive, we're healthy, everything's intact. We're good. Let's get up,
like and it made me laugh so hard and I
and I woke up the next day going, Okay, my
kids are here, they're next to me, Roger's here, We're
all good. Okay, we can move on with our day.
Great as it's wild. Literally back to the getting of.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
A conversation about what's going on world today. I mean,
imagine being somewhere there or not knowing where your children
are whatever, Like you know, our little challenges are not
they're they're.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
They're they're not. They're not they're not.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
We're really really lucky.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Well, I am grateful to have you as my friend.
I love having you on. I'm excited to see sort
of what's next for you, because I feel like you
always have something brewing, Like I don't know, do you
ever think about like what's next, or you just like
I'm overloaded and I'm good right now, or do you
have like all these things cooking in your in your
(33:39):
world right now?
Speaker 2 (33:41):
I always have been cooking, I told Tommy the other day,
you know, like when Snoopy has like a cloud above
his peda one cloud I have like twenty thousand clouds
that are floating over me at all time. I got
to do this, got to do that.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
And does he go oh, because Roger looks at me
like Lucy. We're like Lucy and Ricky and I'll just
be like babe. They'll be like Lucy, Okay, what what what?
Or just Tommy, let's talk about it. What? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (34:16):
I know, Well, Tommy's the same, and we're always we
always have a million ideas and I'm always looking forward.
I'm always excited to do more. And you know, I'm
always looking ahead. I have to look ahead. And the
fashion business you have to look ahead because you're designing,
you know, twenty four and five, twenty three. You know,
(34:36):
I'm forced to look ahead. And I'm working on licenses
for my business for clothing. We're trying to open up
some stores in Dubai. So I've got a long way
to go. I've got a long way to go. I
look at Tommy as like, you know, and he's thirty
years on me. I'm like, I've got a long I've
got a lot of work to do. I've got a
(34:57):
lot of climbing to do. But it's fun.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
In your heels I might add yes.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
On heels and platforms and you.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Don't even need them in all fairness, by the way,
but you are always kind to me. You do always
duck down for pictures, which you know I have a
handful of my tall friends. Dude like squat down for me.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
It's very I don't know where I think this is
in your head.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
I never I'm little, you as vertically challenged. Never, I've
never never, because I'm always in like a freaking seven
inch platform or something.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
And the only time that I ever became aware, but
when you came on the boat, you like, yes, your work,
I'm not taking them off, and I was like, oh,
And then I saw it. And when I say you shoes,
you're like, only platforms. And I started to put it together.
But I never, I never see you as I It
was like a tall glass of water.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
I love you. You're the sweetest. When people describe me as tall,
they're like, yeah, she's tall and blonde. I'm like, thank you,
it's the nicest thing you could have said. Really, just
describe me as tall. That's the craziest thing. I love it.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
In your head, I tell you, that's not a pressure.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
I think it's tall I think tall. I think tall. Yes,
it's tall. I stand on apple.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Boxes and very tall. Oh.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
I love you very much. I'm so happy to have
you on. I love talking to you. I'll see you
a lot in pump Beach. I realize we're always passing
in the night, Like I'll literally text you on landing
and you guys are like, we left this morning. Literally.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
I probably would say, like, when you're coming, we're going
to be in LA or something. Yeah, I don't know
yet what our December things in, but you know I
haven't seen you in Palm Beach. I know, I know
that I've missed you, but I would love you to come. See.
The house is crazy and we have lots of rooms.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
So if you guys.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
All invited, you're all invited to stay.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
I love you, we would love it. We would love
it all right. So I love to Tommy and kiss all
those children, the ones that you see and Sebastian little Cutie,
give them a hug.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
And I can't wait to see you in person.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
I know I will soon, hopefully in the next month.
It's that time in the show and I answer to
listener questions. So let's see what we have today, Okay,
what fall winter fashion would you advise for someone living
in Florida. Okay, well, not to be specific to Florida,
(37:31):
but any any place that's warm all year long. I
would say you could still have so much fun because
you still need, you know, like a very lightweight jacket
instead of wearing like a faux fur coat, maybe just
do like a lightweight metallic trench or something like that,
or like a very thin, you know, cool jacket that
you can you know, layer over whatever you have on because,
(37:53):
by the way, the air conditioning everywhere in Florida, I
literally have to wear like a coat everywhere I go
because it's freezing. But I would also say you could
absolutely wear like boots, just keep them a little bit lighter,
not so heavy and clunky, and I wouldn't necessarily wear velvet.
So I think it's like you can still absolutely have fun.
I think you've seen all sorts of hosiery is back,
(38:17):
like fish nets. You know, that's something you could absolutely
add to any look to just sort of keep it
on trend and you know, just have a little bit
of fun that won't sort of affect you know, the
weight of your outfit, but still make it a bit
more interesting and accessories in general would always be helpful. Okay,
next question, would you discourage your sons from being in
(38:38):
the entertainment industry? That's a very good question. I think
it depends what part of the entertainment industry. I think
if it means what, I discourage them from being an actor.
You know, it's hard because I have so much respect
for actors. I think the problem that I have around
the industry on that side being in front of the camera.
(38:59):
It's a world that's terrifying when you're very young, So
I would say to that, and it's also success at
a young age very often ends in a very bad, dark,
lonely place, as illustrated over and over and over. But
not always, and there are exceptions. And I find that
the people with parents that stay very close to their children,
(39:20):
those are the kids that typically don't get lost and
don't lose their way. But I think in terms of
being in the entertainment industry on the other side, whether
it's being an agent or a manager or you know,
someone building brands. You know, I mean, sure, whatever they
love to do, you know, I would get behind. But
I would say if they were in front of camera
as talent I would never leave their sides. So hope
(39:41):
that helps. Hope that answers everybody's questions. Don't forget to
submit your questions for next week's episode. All you have
to do is dms your questions to at Climbing in
Heels pod on Instagram and I might just answer your question.
(40:01):
I want to thank d so much for coming on
the podcast. She is truly one of a kind. She
is one of the truly nicest people I've ever met
since the day I met her, and she's exceptionally talented
in what she does, although very humble about it and
does not speak loudly enough about herself, but I so
loved having her on. I think she undersells herself a bit.
(40:24):
She's been through quite a lot, but she's a very grateful,
very humble, very kind, very generous person. She's a tremendous friend,
a mother and stepmother to seven children and as she mentioned,
three that have different levels of autism. Between her and
Tommy Hilfiger, her husband, and I think that in and
of itself is a job. But she also continues to
(40:47):
launch other careers and other businesses, and you know, I
don't see any sign of her stopping. But she's just
an incredible person and I love her very much and
I loved having her on. So I hope you enjoyed
this episode and if you want more Climbing in Heels content,
follow me on at Rachel Zoe and at Climbing in
Hills Pod on Instagram for more updates on upcoming guests, episodes,
(41:07):
and all things Curetor. I will see you all next week.
Come on,
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(00:22):
in the details. Hi everyone, I'm Rachel Zoe and you're
listening to Climbing in Heels. The show is all about
celebrating the most extraordinary superwomen who will be sharing their
incredible journeys to the top, all while staying glamorous. Today
(00:44):
with me, I'm joined by someone I know and love
dearly for a very long time. She's an incredible fashion
designer and entrepreneur, d Ocleppo, who happens to also be
married to my very dear friend, Tommy Hilfiger, who fun
fact gave me my biggest career break and I would
argue to say helped launch my entire career journey. Anyway,
(01:05):
d speaks with me today about her childhood as a
first generation American, her life in Monte Carlo as a
single mom, and her incessant passion for working and maintaining
a creative outlet. Together, we also talk about her crazy
and amazing mixed family. I'm so excited for you all
to listen, and I hope you enjoyed this one. First
(01:29):
of all, you grew up here in the US, right.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yes, I grew up in Rhode Island.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
You grew up in Rhode Island.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I grew up in Rhode Island and my parents became
naturalized citizens. My father immigrated from Turkey and my mother
immigrated from England.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
But I grew up American, first generation, amazing, And I
had one little you know, I had one sister, one sibling,
younger sister. And you know I was super, super shy
and super really insecure as a little kid.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I could see that just knowing you, I could see that.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, And I think part of it was like I
was kind of embarrassed that my parents were like different.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Yeah, you know, as you would when you were young,
of course.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
And you know, my dad had this like crazy accent,
and you know, looked different and was very strict. So
I and you know, my mom was like very sweet
and also like shy and that, so I kind of
grew up in this household where I was just kind of,
you know, wanted to just be in the corner and
(02:41):
not noticed so much.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Interesting And what was your sister like? Was she the opposite?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
My sister was also quite shy. But my sister was
like really into books and like got really into her
her hobbies. Like she was really into horrors and really
into books. So that was kind of like her you know, outlet.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
And so like. So when you were growing up, were
you just okay, so you were shy? You were in
Rhode Island, which is very small. It's so small, very
special but very small, and so you had immigrant parents
from two different places, and so here you are and
you're like, okay, So were you a student?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I wouldn't say that I was a great student. I
was like really placed importance on grades, and I found
myself like I was a very distracted student. I feel
like I daydreamed a lot.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
And were you boy crazy? Because I was fully boy crazy.
I was funny crazy.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I wasn't that boy. I started to become a little
boy crazy like h later, like after I got because
I went to an all girls school. Like when I
went to college, then I started getting a little boy crazy.
But I was actually kind of like I didn't think
I was pretty enough to have boys like me, and
so I was kind of like a tomboy.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
You were probably tall, skinny and stunning and just now
you're like, oh my god, why did I hate myself?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So I had the worst haircuts. I mean I look
at my haircuts and I'm like, I mean I would
have like bangs up to here and then like short hair.
I mean, I don't know what was going on, but
my mom and the hair thing. It was like literally
like I think she put like gave me one of
those bowl cuts, and I don't know who was cutting
my hair, but it was like the bangs. It was awful.
(04:39):
It was awful.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
But you grew up there d until like you stayed
in Rhode Island all the way through till you went
to college. I stayed in Rhode Island, Okay, so you
didn't move around.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I didn't, but I can tell you by the time
I got to college, I was ready to get out.
I was like where you know, when it came to college,
I was like looking at the map, and I was thinking,
my first choice was Pepperdine. I don't know if I ever
told you this toy. I was dreaming of being in California,
(05:09):
being on a beach with a surf and I found
Pepperdine and I went to my dad and I gave
him the booklet, like this is my first choice is
where I went college? And he looked at it, he
flipped through it, and he said, that is not a college.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
That is like a country club.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Yes, that's a country club. You are not going there.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
That's a fair point, by the way, fairpoint up from dad, fairpoint, fairpoint.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
And he's like, you're not going there. I'm not paying
for that, absolutely not. And he's like, and furthermore, you
are not going to California. My parents said that too,
And no, He's like, that's you're not going there. So
he kind of drew a line on the map and
it was like it ended at Texas. So I was like, okay,
what's in Texas, Like that's the farthest point. And I
(05:55):
went up going to SMU Southern Methodist University.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Okay, okay, And it.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Was great, and it was at the time, it was
like eighty four eighty five. So that was like the
time if you remember of the show Dallas with Jay.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Do I remember? Do I remember? It was like life.
I was telling my kids about it the other day,
Dallas and Dynasty, and they were like, what was it like?
It's like the most glamorous Like all right, so it's.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Like, if I can't go to California, if I can't
go to La, what's the next best thing? Dallas? You know?
So yeah, that's how I wound up.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
WHOA Okay? So all right, so the all right, so
this is all piecing together. Okay, so now what Okay,
so you graduate college. You did well in school, well enough,
well enough, well enough.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I mean I was probably like a B solid C plus.
But I'm you know, I wasn't like all a's and
four point zero average. No, my sister was.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
My sister is usually one.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, it's like that, you know, do you know what meant?
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah? Of course my niece is like.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
And I am not like I'm the dumb one.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
In the fast stop it, stop it. But I think
we know now, And I would argue to say that
you know as well as anybody that every child is
their own kind of intelligent, right, and that we all
learn differently, and we all find our path, and you know,
it takes some longer than others. And I find that
(07:29):
everyone who has been on my podcast, no one knew
their path. No one knew their path. And I would
say argue to say that ninety percent said I was
the dumb one in the family. So I'm going to
say a common thread here, you know, another common thread
is there's been a lot of single moms raised by
single moms. But I would say that My next question
(07:51):
is sort of like, did you know at that point
you were not that you are a creative person. Were
you like, Okay, I'm not this kind this is not
my calling school. I need to like I need to
do act or like I'm obsessed with this or were
you just like I don't know what the hell I'm
doing and like I'm going to figure it out when
I graduate kind of person.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I was, Yeah, I was that I loved all like
creative things. And you know, but my my dad, being Turkish,
my dad doctor, I'm strict and very strict, was like,
you know anything in the creative field. Like if I
ever said to him, you know an actress, like that's like,
(08:33):
that's not a living he used to say to me,
you need a skill, and you need to go to school.
And school was very important to him. I mean, the
grades were super important to him. Education was super important
to him. So to say something like that I would
want to do anything in the creative field was you know,
he was already like he didn't even understand what is
(08:54):
a liberal arts degree?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Bullshit. I to.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Studied communications right at SMU, but you know, I took
a lot of fun courses in that. But at that time,
like I really, I really didn't at all know what
I wanted to do or what I would do, like
even even in college. And I think that that's kind
(09:21):
of where the modeling Like when I was I was
modeling in college, and I had traveled on the summers
when I wasn't in school. I traveled the summers and modeling,
and then I thought, well, you know, I wound up
getting a contract to go to Paris. So that was
(09:42):
like all I really wanted to do when I was
young is travel In my world, Yes, my parents used
to get National Geographic magazine delivered to the house and
we had like all you know, we had a book
bookshelf with them all lined up, and I used to
look through them, and I loved the pictures and seeing
(10:04):
these people like indigenous people and far away places. And
my dream I actually did. When I was a little girl.
I wanted to become a marine biologist because I loved
the ocean and I loved dolphins, and I was like,
I you know, I went to SeaWorld one day and
I was like, that's what I want to do. Yes, yes,
(10:26):
I'm a biologist. You know, That's what I wanted to
be when I was little.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I mean, listen, I mean, I'm going to argue to
say that you've spent the better part of the last
you know, ten twelve years in water on water, in water.
I but here's the thing. You know, you're extremely intelligent,
You're very driven. You are not someone that sits down
(10:53):
and says like, let life happen to me. And you know,
I don't think that you're like if at least what
I know of it has just been like la la la.
And so, so I want to talk about a little
bit like so you graduate college, you're like, Okay, you're modeling,
(11:13):
obviously beautiful, making money, traveling the world, right, I imagine
there's challenges with that because there's a lot of rejection
that comes with modeling, that kind of crushes your soul.
That for a shy girl that's insecure, I imagine, not
the easiest thing, right, But I do think in a
weird way that rejection that comes with acting, modeling and
(11:38):
all of these things, I do think in a weird way.
As horrible as it is and as much as it's
not tolerated today, which I love, I do think in
a weird way, it prepares you for life, right, I
mean it does.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
It toughens you up. And you know, I think that
part of the problem with maybe like a lot of
younger people, I think because of social media, everything looks
so easy on social media, everybody gloss yeah, hey I'm here,
I'm there, and like everything looks so easy, and you know,
(12:19):
it's not. No, just not for anybody, Like I don't know,
tell me, show me a profession or a job or
a career that's easy. I'll sign me up. I'll tomorrow.
Just it doesn't matter. You know, what area you know
you go into or what fields you go into. It's
you have to work hard. It's just and I think
(12:39):
young kids don't, I mean not all, but I just
know they're not understanding.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
That.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
And you know, a lot of us who have been
more successful than you know, have maybe indulged some of
our kids, you know more maybe we were, and that
doesn't help. But you know, it's just you have to
be passionate and you have to work hard no matter
what it is to.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
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(13:31):
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I want to talk about. So you got married, you
(13:52):
must have been pretty young.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I married at twenty seven.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Oh okay, I feel like that's I mean, that's like
a great. I mean, it's funny now because when I
see people getting married at twenty seven, I'm like, oh,
you're so young, but that's completely normal. You got married. Yeah,
we got married. I think I was. I think I
might have even been twenty five. But we were together
for like seven years before that. So but even still,
(14:18):
I'm like, I can't believe I got married at twenty five.
To me, twenty five now feels like sixteen, you know,
So it's it's weird how that happens. But okay, so
you got married and you were living in Monte Carlo.
Is that correct? Okay, See, that is the most glamorous
thing ever. I don't know if it actually was, but like,
if I lie awake and my kids know that, my
(14:40):
end goal is living in the south of France and
sitting on a beach making jewelry like that is my
and I have this beautiful chateau and all my kids
and grandkids are there. That's my likee goal, that's my
end goal. So so tell me about that. So, okay,
so your first husband you were Okay, so you were
twenty seven twenty I.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Had my first we married at twenty seven. I had
my first child, twenty eight. And you know, when I
met my husband, I you know, through modeling, i'd been
you know, i'd been around so a lot of how
can I put this.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Don't filter trust me, no, no, no, nothing's nothing's wrong.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
These all you know, horrible men.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Same by the way, a lot.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Of drugs, a lot of guys that.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Had no respect for women, no respect for.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Women, substance abuse issues, all that kind. So when I
met my first husband, who was an athlete, test player,
yes player, never never did a drug in his life. Beautiful,
he spoke, I don't know, he spoke five languages, he
dressed great athlete, you know. I was like, yes, I
was like, this is great, this is great. You know,
(16:03):
upon reflection, we probably you know, we dated a while
before we got married. But I think that when you're younger,
you're so myopic, you know, like I can't really see.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
You know, you see the trees, but you don't see
the behind, and you don't care to be honest at
that point, right, you care about the like, how do
I feel now? This makes me so happy and fulfilled?
There's no there's no pragmatic thinking when you're young, in
my opinion.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
No real like I don't know, I look at all.
It's all a.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Journey, of course, but that's the point. And you have
two incredible children.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And that marriage we were married. I think we divorced
after nine years.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
That's pretty real.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Nine years of marriage.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Not a blip.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
No, it's not a blip. And my kid's quite young
when we divorce, so like I kind of divorced before
they they were teenagers, which is maybe a good thing.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to go with yes. I'm going
to go yes on that. I'm definitely going to go
with yes on that.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
The problem was I, you know, it was a really
hard time because I was now divorced, I was now
the mother of two kids. I had not been working
when when I right, And you know, Monaco is a
difficult place in the sense that like most people that
live in Monaco have kind of already made it.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
And it's not like it's like it's like plan like
it's it's phase three of your life. It's it's like
Palm Beach a little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Right, like like, yeah, not the place where you can
start a career or you know, it's not.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Like this it's the end game place.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
It's the end game. It's not a place you go
to develop the dream ambition. So I was really miserable.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
And miserable living in Monte Carlo.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah, basically that was me. And I really didn't know.
I didn't know do I turn right, do I turn left?
I felt blocked. I was like, what am I going
to do? Like, you know, I was stuck. I felt
literally stuck. And you know, I I shared custody with
(18:30):
my husband. We you know, we I would go out
with friends in that but I was really not ever
thinking because I was so traumatized from my divorce. I
was kind of like, on this thing where I already
have my kids, I will never get married again. I
mean never say never. But I literally was like, no,
I will, I will never ever do that again. That
(18:51):
was a terrible experiment and wound up horribly. And you know,
divorce is horrible even the best circumstances, and we have
fairly easy divorce, I would say, but I was just like,
I'm not going to go through that again. And then
cut to I'm with my kids in centrepe for holiday
for the bestial Day, and this is three years after,
(19:14):
and you know that's when I, you know, serendipitously met
Tommy and.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
You know, the sweetest man to ever live.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Greatest man to ever live. And you know, my life
changed dramatically after that. And you know, he was so
wonderful to my kids and you know, but we were
living on two different continents, so which was challenging. Yeah,
especially you know you're dating. It was definitely challenging. It was.
(19:46):
It was challenging, but we got through it.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
And can we talk about how one of the things
that connected you. I know that both of you are
very open and very active in something you're very passionate about,
because I think it's important to talk about it. But
so between the two of you, let me just be clear.
(20:09):
When I say it out loud, I like, trip over it?
You have seven children?
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
You really when you say that out loud, do you
trip over it? I'm just wondering.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Yeah, people just are like, wow, that's you know, that's
a lot, and uh.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Seven seven children?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, his mind and ours and yeah. But I mean
I think that when I met Tommy, what we really
bonded on it was it was interesting. We really we
were talking about our kids and Tommy was separated, I
was divorced, and we just got on the subject of
(20:52):
our kids and we sort of talked around it because
we both kind of figured out that he had a
daughter with autism that was and I had a son.
So it was like an immediate like I get you moment,
like I understand, and so we really bonded about that
and we have actually three of the seven kids are
(21:13):
diagnosed with autism, and they're different degrees and they're all verbal,
and you know, thank god, not severely autistic, very loving.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Sweet, they're incredible children.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Incredible kids, incredible kids, and so that's our family. I
have a crazy, fun, very diverse family.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
And so much love in it and so much love
in it. But I actually think, like listen, I've spent
a lot of time with both of you, and both
you and Tommy, and you know, I have had the
privilege of meeting your kids, and you know, every child
is special and every child is unique, and you know,
(22:01):
at this point, I would argue to say, I don't
know a family that is special or unique in some way,
because I think that's just real life and what we are.
And I love that we all talk about everything now,
because nothing should not be talked about, you know, or
hidden or anything. But I do think that you know,
(22:22):
you and Tommy are very involved in obviously championing you know,
treatment of autism, and it's called what do You Just
to refresh my.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
We're involved in a couple of organizations Autism Speaks, Autism
Speaks With and then we're also involved with another organization
called Next for Autism, and Next for Autism deals with
sort of like later on in life, you know, finding housing,
finding jobs, you know. I think that the the difficult
(22:59):
part I find with autism. It's not like when your
children are living in your house and you know they're
young and you know they're with you and you can control.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Things and protect them.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
And protect them exactly. I think the struggle, the biggest struggle,
at least for me, is like, who's going to protect
them when I'm not here or they're older.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
And an adult living with autism.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yes, because there's still for the most part, super vulnerable
and you know, of course easily be you know, mishandle
taken advantage of. And so that's the thing where, you know,
I think that's the thing that's the hardest.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
I so on top of this of this big life
that you have and that you've built and that you
really are so close to your family on every level.
You also work a lot, and you do, and I
want to talk about that because you know, it's funny.
(24:08):
When I first met you, you know, and I've told
you this before, Tommy grabbed my arm because Tommy and
I are friends for I mean since I was, since
I since I started, you know, and I always talk
about this. He you know, screaming at the top of
Mount Everst if I ever get there. But he gave
me my first big break in my career, and I
would say, help really launched my career. So in love
(24:29):
with you and when you first met and I'll never
forget I was. I was in the Mercer Hotel lobby
at a big party and he came running over and
grabbed my arm and said, you have to come EETI.
I'm so in love. I'm going to marry this woman.
You have to meet her. You are going to love her.
And I met you, and I remember you were so
tall and I was wearing my huge platforms and you
(24:50):
were towering over me, and I was like, really tell me.
I was like, really, but you have always been the kindest, sweetest,
and you know, I would say, somewhat shy until until
until like you're comfortable, I think, right, I think less
so now. But you know, I've been to so many
things that are honoring you and celebrating you, and you're
(25:12):
so active in so many different things from breast cancer
and obviously autism. But like, I also think that you're
just besides being this special extraordinary person. You know, you
really are this your own person. You are to me
like you're Dan. You used to say, oh, I'm Tommy's
wife from missus Helf. I was like stop it, like
(25:32):
I'm gonna literally knock you over. And you know, and
you have such a fan club of your own, and
now you've built like such an incredible you know, you
have your hands in a lot of things, right, so
you've started different businesses. But now I want to talk
about Judith Lieber and I want to talk about what
you're doing, and I want to talk about dia Kleppo
because the products are beautiful. But like my question to
(25:54):
you is why, like why, Like you know how hard
it is launching a brand, right, I mean you know
that I know I think.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
That I have to give at most of the credit
honestly to Tommy.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Because it's your biggest cheerleader.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
He's my biggest cheerleader. He's the one that helped me.
And you know, I love to work. I've always loved
to work. I've worked since I'm thirteen. You know, I've
had so many crazy different jobs and I've always worked.
And the one thing that my one lesson that I
(26:32):
learned from my divorce was that I wanted to always work.
I never wanted to be put in that situation again
where I have some form of my own independence. And
although I cherished that time that I spent with my
first two kids when they were young, mat you know,
(26:52):
I find now as a working mom, I still have
the most amazing time with Sebastian. I still always have
time for Sebastian.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
So it does I have to be in either or no.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Absolutely, I mean, you know, I just can't imagine like
and I know you too, like I can't imagine you
not working ever. I mean, I just I love to work,
and I think work gives me, like, you know, not
only a creative outlet, but I get to meet great
people and you.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Know, to purpose. It's a purpose. It's a purpose for
getting up every day, right, other than I have to
make sure my kids are okay, right, because that's always
for for you.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Yes, of course, it's something for you that makes it's
you know, good for it makes me feel good for
my self esteem. So you know, I'm grateful that Tommy
helped me and encouraged me to you know, launch my
own line, and then we bought a percentage. We own
(27:57):
twenty percent of Judith Leber, and then I came creative
director of it. You know, I wanted to get that
brand a new life, you know, a new life, and
it needed it. And so now I kind of have
these two jobs. Plus I have my Missus Hill figure
job where I you know, I go on his arm
(28:19):
and you know, I go to all his events and
do that. So it's kind of like it's kind of
like three jobs.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
You are the cutest though, and that mom thing to
seven kids that are all different ages, with all different
like with all different I mean, listen, I argue to
say that being a mom is the forever job, right,
Like I look at my parents now, they still parent
us so hard, different but still you know, it's it's wild,
(28:48):
it's wild.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
I'm lucky enough to have like my parents, and you know,
it's there always your parents, always your parents. You'll always worry.
The day that you, you know, give birth or you
have children is like the you know, that's the day
where you will worry the rest of your life.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
It's true. And I say that to people very honestly.
They're like, what's the biggest difference. I'm like, you don't
breathe the same way. You never truly breathe the same
way once you become a mother. It's like that inner.
I don't know how else to explain it. It's like,
it's just your heart and your soul is just this
and it's the best thing. There's nothing you trade it for, right,
(29:27):
but like, there's nothing more rewarding but it. It is
a forever job. It's the forever job. And my kids
always go, mom, the one that doesn't pay you. I
was like, exactly, and you have to keep paying me
with love.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
We get paid in different ways.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
We do, we do, we do.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Yeah, I get cute things from school that he makes me.
The best thing ever, grammis and the necklace Macaroni necklaces places.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
It's the best thing ever. And listen, I think you
know your journey has not been the easiest. I wouldn't
say you know. I think you've been met with a
lot you've been but like you know, you're a survivor,
my friend, and I think the life that you live now,
you know, I think you're very grateful for it, but
(30:15):
I think you've also worked for it. I think you,
I think you've worked for it.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
We're grateful for it. And you know it hasn't always
been easy. But you know, I don't think anybody's life
is always easy, and we all face different challenges. My
challenges are different than other people's. But you know, as
I would say, my divorce was really difficult. But you know,
(30:41):
like I never I see other people, I always try
to you know, if you look around like I've never
dealt with, yeah, a serious illness like cancer. You know,
I just I always consider myself incredibly, incredibly lucky. So
even at my worst moment, you can always look around
(31:02):
and say, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
What, this sucks, But I do the same.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
You know, this person has it so much worse. Were
I mean, we're above ground, we're alive. We're not you know,
in a war. We're good. We're good even on a
bad day, Like you know, the bad days don't exist
for me anymore.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
You know what I mean, It's not Yeah, I agree,
and I check myself that way, and I'm like if
I'm melting and just I just go stop stop. And
it is all relative. But I think at the end
of the day, every day you have to you have
to compare what your what your worst day is to
someone else's like best day, you know what I mean
if that makes sense, you know.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
I literally like I I lay in bed every morning
before I get out of bed, like I don't ever
like just jump out of bed. I just kind of
take a minute to be like, okay, you're yeah, you're
you're good, Like you got your arms, you got your
you're healthy. And I just start out like every morning
(32:04):
with that gratitude, and you know, it changes everything. And
I literally feel so blessed and lucky every single day.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
I'm just starting to do that, you know. Irena Metavoi, right,
So yeah, So Irena said this thing at her birthday
the other night. She said, every morning I wake up,
I look at myself. I'm good, I'm here, I'm alive,
I'm breathing. I turned to Mike, and Mike's I'm alive.
And they go in every morning they look at each other,
(32:35):
go love you, We're good. Like literally like we're breathing,
we're alive, we're healthy, everything's intact. We're good. Let's get up,
like and it made me laugh so hard and I
and I woke up the next day going, Okay, my
kids are here, they're next to me, Roger's here, We're
all good. Okay, we can move on with our day.
Great as it's wild. Literally back to the getting of.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
A conversation about what's going on world today. I mean,
imagine being somewhere there or not knowing where your children
are whatever, Like you know, our little challenges are not
they're they're.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
They're they're not. They're not they're not.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
We're really really lucky.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Well, I am grateful to have you as my friend.
I love having you on. I'm excited to see sort
of what's next for you, because I feel like you
always have something brewing, Like I don't know, do you
ever think about like what's next, or you just like
I'm overloaded and I'm good right now, or do you
have like all these things cooking in your in your
(33:39):
world right now?
Speaker 2 (33:41):
I always have been cooking, I told Tommy the other day,
you know, like when Snoopy has like a cloud above
his peda one cloud I have like twenty thousand clouds
that are floating over me at all time. I got
to do this, got to do that.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
And does he go oh, because Roger looks at me
like Lucy. We're like Lucy and Ricky and I'll just
be like babe. They'll be like Lucy, Okay, what what what?
Or just Tommy, let's talk about it. What? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (34:16):
I know, Well, Tommy's the same, and we're always we
always have a million ideas and I'm always looking forward.
I'm always excited to do more. And you know, I'm
always looking ahead. I have to look ahead. And the
fashion business you have to look ahead because you're designing,
you know, twenty four and five, twenty three. You know,
(34:36):
I'm forced to look ahead. And I'm working on licenses
for my business for clothing. We're trying to open up
some stores in Dubai. So I've got a long way
to go. I've got a long way to go. I
look at Tommy as like, you know, and he's thirty
years on me. I'm like, I've got a long I've
got a lot of work to do. I've got a
(34:57):
lot of climbing to do. But it's fun.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
In your heels I might add yes.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
On heels and platforms and you.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Don't even need them in all fairness, by the way,
but you are always kind to me. You do always
duck down for pictures, which you know I have a
handful of my tall friends. Dude like squat down for me.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
It's very I don't know where I think this is
in your head.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
I never I'm little, you as vertically challenged. Never, I've
never never, because I'm always in like a freaking seven
inch platform or something.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
And the only time that I ever became aware, but
when you came on the boat, you like, yes, your work,
I'm not taking them off, and I was like, oh,
And then I saw it. And when I say you shoes,
you're like, only platforms. And I started to put it together.
But I never, I never see you as I It
was like a tall glass of water.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
I love you. You're the sweetest. When people describe me as tall,
they're like, yeah, she's tall and blonde. I'm like, thank you,
it's the nicest thing you could have said. Really, just
describe me as tall. That's the craziest thing. I love it.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
In your head, I tell you, that's not a pressure.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
I think it's tall I think tall. I think tall. Yes,
it's tall. I stand on apple.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Boxes and very tall. Oh.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
I love you very much. I'm so happy to have
you on. I love talking to you. I'll see you
a lot in pump Beach. I realize we're always passing
in the night, Like I'll literally text you on landing
and you guys are like, we left this morning. Literally.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
I probably would say, like, when you're coming, we're going
to be in LA or something. Yeah, I don't know
yet what our December things in, but you know I
haven't seen you in Palm Beach. I know, I know
that I've missed you, but I would love you to come. See.
The house is crazy and we have lots of rooms.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
So if you guys.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
All invited, you're all invited to stay.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
I love you, we would love it. We would love
it all right. So I love to Tommy and kiss all
those children, the ones that you see and Sebastian little Cutie,
give them a hug.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
And I can't wait to see you in person.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
I know I will soon, hopefully in the next month.
It's that time in the show and I answer to
listener questions. So let's see what we have today, Okay,
what fall winter fashion would you advise for someone living
in Florida. Okay, well, not to be specific to Florida,
(37:31):
but any any place that's warm all year long. I
would say you could still have so much fun because
you still need, you know, like a very lightweight jacket
instead of wearing like a faux fur coat, maybe just
do like a lightweight metallic trench or something like that,
or like a very thin, you know, cool jacket that
you can you know, layer over whatever you have on because,
(37:53):
by the way, the air conditioning everywhere in Florida, I
literally have to wear like a coat everywhere I go
because it's freezing. But I would also say you could
absolutely wear like boots, just keep them a little bit lighter,
not so heavy and clunky, and I wouldn't necessarily wear velvet.
So I think it's like you can still absolutely have fun.
I think you've seen all sorts of hosiery is back,
(38:17):
like fish nets. You know, that's something you could absolutely
add to any look to just sort of keep it
on trend and you know, just have a little bit
of fun that won't sort of affect you know, the
weight of your outfit, but still make it a bit
more interesting and accessories in general would always be helpful. Okay,
next question, would you discourage your sons from being in
(38:38):
the entertainment industry? That's a very good question. I think
it depends what part of the entertainment industry. I think
if it means what, I discourage them from being an actor.
You know, it's hard because I have so much respect
for actors. I think the problem that I have around
the industry on that side being in front of the camera.
(38:59):
It's a world that's terrifying when you're very young, So
I would say to that, and it's also success at
a young age very often ends in a very bad, dark,
lonely place, as illustrated over and over and over. But
not always, and there are exceptions. And I find that
the people with parents that stay very close to their children,
(39:20):
those are the kids that typically don't get lost and
don't lose their way. But I think in terms of
being in the entertainment industry on the other side, whether
it's being an agent or a manager or you know,
someone building brands. You know, I mean, sure, whatever they
love to do, you know, I would get behind. But
I would say if they were in front of camera
as talent I would never leave their sides. So hope
(39:41):
that helps. Hope that answers everybody's questions. Don't forget to
submit your questions for next week's episode. All you have
to do is dms your questions to at Climbing in
Heels pod on Instagram and I might just answer your question.
(40:01):
I want to thank d so much for coming on
the podcast. She is truly one of a kind. She
is one of the truly nicest people I've ever met
since the day I met her, and she's exceptionally talented
in what she does, although very humble about it and
does not speak loudly enough about herself, but I so
loved having her on. I think she undersells herself a bit.
(40:24):
She's been through quite a lot, but she's a very grateful,
very humble, very kind, very generous person. She's a tremendous friend,
a mother and stepmother to seven children and as she mentioned,
three that have different levels of autism. Between her and
Tommy Hilfiger, her husband, and I think that in and
of itself is a job. But she also continues to
(40:47):
launch other careers and other businesses, and you know, I
don't see any sign of her stopping. But she's just
an incredible person and I love her very much and
I loved having her on. So I hope you enjoyed
this episode and if you want more Climbing in Heels content,
follow me on at Rachel Zoe and at Climbing in
Hills Pod on Instagram for more updates on upcoming guests, episodes,
(41:07):
and all things Curetor. I will see you all next week.
Come on,
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