Karl Lagerfeld Segment and Fashion Designer Teddy VonRanson

This week we bring you an interview with fashion designer Teddy VonRanson and
fashionreverie.com associate editor Sydney Yeager talks about her article “How Mysterious was the
Mysterious Mr. Lagerfeld?”

Episode Transcript

(00:17):
Welcome to Fashion Reverie Talks. Iam Cecily Daniels and I am Tianna Ibrahimovic.
Fashion Reverie takes you from the frontlines of fashion to the front row.
All of Fashion Reverie Talk segments arebased on published content found on Fashion
reverie dot com, so remember,if you want more information on the segments,

(00:39):
go to fashion reverie dot com.So this week we bring you an
interview with fashion designer Teddy Van Ronsonand Fashion Reverie Associated editor Sidney Yeager who
talks about her article how Mysterious wasthe Mysterious Mister Lagerfeld. If you like

(01:00):
this episode, and I'm sure thatyou will, don't forget to click the
subscribe button. We start every episodewith our fashion news. All of our
news segments are based on the fashionnews alerts found on Fashion reverie dot com.
Okay, so let's get jumping intothe current events in fashion this week
I will start us off. Sofor those who are not aware, obviously,

(01:27):
Calvin Klein is always having great newcampaigns, but right now they have
a new campaign celebrating the LGBTQI Aplus community, and they launched this past
Tuesday. The brand dubbed let ItOut, and the campaign was shot by

(01:47):
Kareem Sadly and had famous actors celebratingindividuality and authenticity. And it's a highlighting
that this is love collection which featuresunderwear styles with rainbow colors and bold colors
and mush fabrications. And as weall know, Calvin Klein has been a

(02:07):
long supporter of the lgbt QIA pluscommunity and they have committed over two hundred
and twenty thousand dollars to NGOs thathelp support these causes. And so we're
excited for their new new campaign.Sounds good. I think those pieces will
also be fun as an intro tothe summer because obviously they will be useful

(02:34):
for the warmer weather with the colorsand everything else. So we have another
stunning cover that we have to talkabout, which is Ryan Gosling's GQ cover.
He is the new Ken. Youknow, the Barbie movie comes out

(02:55):
July first, so Ryan is actuallyplaying Ken and so um he had a
little bit of a funny like remarkrelated to Ken, how Ken has always
been neglected and not paid enough attentionto in comparison to Barbie. Um.
So he emphasizes in his um,as reported in a Daily front row that

(03:22):
um ten story must be told.So let's see. I'm excited to see
if maybe this um role of hisin the New Barbie movie will emphasize more
of Ken's story. But anyway,this GQ cover uh and editorial looks um

(03:43):
great and it was styled by GeorgeKurtina and photographed by Gregory Harris. Well,
that I think is gonna be fun. Um some not good news at
least for me to me, Mis um some customer backlash against Target,
which has removed some of its LGBTQPride merchandise. So for anybody who doesn't

(04:08):
know, Pride Month starts basically thebeginning of June, and Target actually has
a long history of celebrating Pride Monthfor over a decade. But there had
been some complaints in some stores andthey have withdrawn some merchandise, and but
then of course there is a backlashto that withdrawing of merchandise that people are

(04:31):
disagreeing with, and there's also beensome confrontations in the stores. So of
course it's Pride Month, which isabout love. So I'm like, people
need to get over it. SoI can't people want to celebrate what they
want to celebrate. And that's myopinion. But I feel really strongly target
and crazy people. So well,it's always fun to hear the latest in

(04:58):
the fashion US, So always fun. Thank you, Cecily. Yes,
And that is the end of ourfashion news and so if you want more
information, go to fashion reverie dotcom. And I am thrilled to be
talking to Sidney Jaeger, fashion reveriedot com associate editor about her Carl Lagerfeld

(05:24):
article. Now, this is anexpansive article about the Karl Lagerfeld that most
people don't know. Why do youthink he's still like on the radar?
Why do people want to know?Well, I think the met and I'm
sorry about that. Let me restartfor a second. Having the Met and
the first Monday of May and allof that highlighting Carl Lagerfeld again really brought

(05:48):
him to the forefront end of ourminds, even though he passed away in
twenty nineteen. But I think thatit's really important to highlight the fact that
he is very dynamic. He isn'ta goal. We shouldn't revere him into
such a degree that we have beenas talented and as amazing as he is.
So if this article we highlighted notonly his hypocrisies and political views might

(06:12):
have been glossed over because of histalent, but also the amazing talent that
did exist, and his revamping ofthe House of Chloe Chanel, helping with
the fur line in Fendi during nineteensixty five, and just his incredible talent
as well. There's something interesting inthe article that I didn't know is how
secretive he was about his childhood andhis family wealth. Can we talk about

(06:33):
that a little? Oh God,yes, So Carl would hide his birthday.
He made himself five years younger.He also lied about where his parents
were from. His father was fromGermany, but he would say that his
father was from Sweden. And healso did not speak much about the childhood,
like the wealth that he came from. His father didn't make his wealth

(06:57):
in like a fancy way. Hewas in importing and exporting of evaporated milk,
so it wasn't something that was superglamorous. And I think a lot
of this is that Carl just didn'twant to be seen in an unglamorous light,
so he very much obscured these facts, even though they're just it's fact.
Yeah, that is so wild,especially at the birthday, but like

(07:18):
the birthday and birthplace so in infamily, it's so interesting. Yeah.
So there are several documentaries that speakto Lagerfeld being influenced by the American vitality
of fashion, illustrator Antonio Lopez,and supermodels Grace Jones and Pat Cleveland.
Can you elaborate a little bit aboutthat. Yeah, So, Antonio Lopez,

(07:38):
Grace Jones, and Pat Cleveland allbrought a lot more of a dynamic
and bohemian thought press to process tohow Carl saw his fashion world. And
this was something that he particularly usedat Chloe in the seventies because the image
of Chloe today, where we seeit as very much a free spirit,
independent brand, and how it's dressedin a much more or bohemian light that

(08:01):
wasn't really existent before Carl and hevery much used the inspiration from Pat Cleveland,
Antonio Lopez, Grace Jones and howthey dressed, how they drew for
Antonio Lopez, how they styled thingsin order to bring that independent and more
bohemian spirit to the brand. MNo, you talked about that about Chloe
specifically, So Lagerfeld also famously tookover the home of the iconic House of

(08:24):
Chanel in nineteen eighty two, andat the time, Chanelle as a brand
was floundering. What did he dothat really energized the house of Channel.
He threw out a lot of rulesthat Coco Chanelle had. He very much
changed the hemlines to Coco was verywell known for not wanting hem lens to

(08:45):
go above the knee. He threwthat out. He changed the logo to
the interlocking seas that we now knowtoday. He brought back the quilted bag,
and he really injected a lot ofyouthfulness into it. He also replaced
the brand image with a lot offaces of supermodels that you could idealize,
and that really helped to inject alayer of youthfulness and excitement into them brand.

(09:09):
Again, that seems like that's somethingthat he was known for doing kind
of like throughout his career. Butthen also, you know, people think
of the interlocking seas and they thinkof chenality might not realize that that was
Laggerfeld. You know. That wasyeah, yeah, fascinating. So though
he could be extremely generous, therewere sides of Lagerfeld to his personality.

(09:30):
That were not so magnanimous. Whatare some things that you found out?
Okay, Well, he had somepersonality traits that would make it very hard
to be friends with him. Andif you look at his friendships over the
years, he was known to droppeople and he would admit it. He
would drop someone without rhyme, withoutreason. Sometimes he wouldn't tell them why,
he would just pull the chair outand he suddenly wasn't friends with them

(09:52):
anymore. He wasn't supporting them,which would be his When Antonio Lopez lived
in pair, Carl lagerfeld was fundinghis living expenses. When Antonio Lopez was
diagnosed with AIDS, all of thatwas pulled out. And I think a
lot of that could have been donebecause the AIDS diagnosis would have been similar
to Carl Lagerfeldt's former boyfriend. Butat the same time, that's still just

(10:16):
something you can't do to a friend. So I think that it has he
has his merits, but you needto be aware that he did not always
treat people the way that they deserved. Yeah, it's definitely an imperfect genius
in that way. What would youthink lastly that you would really like readers

(10:37):
to take away from this article justthat Carl Lagerfeld is real. He's multifaceted
and he's dynamic, but he's nota god that needs to be revered.
He was a very talented man withinthe fashion industry, but he was also
a human and because of that,he had a lot of sites that weren't
as glamorous as he wishes that wesaw him in that light probably, but

(10:58):
we need to think of him andevery facet because that was who he was
as a person. Yeah. Well, I really enjoyed your article, Sydney,
so thank you for giving us thatkind of behind the scenes kind of
insight into Karl Lagerfeld, which,you know, who if you are into
fashion, you know, is stillextremely important figure. So I think that

(11:18):
everyone needs to go check out thearticle. Sidney. We really appreciate you
taking time to join us. Thankyou so much, Secily Well Fashion Reverie
Talks viewers, Today, we havethe honors to speak to menswear designer Teddy
Van Ranson. Welcome Teddy to FashionReverie Talks. Hi there, thank you

(11:41):
for having me pleasure. I'm lookingforward to learning more about your career and
your path to where you are now. So let's talk a little bit about
your fashion journey for those that maynot be familiar with your men swear brand.
Absolutely so quick. Cliff notes,I'm actually was born and raised in

(12:03):
Toronto, Canada, studied my undergradas a liberal arts and Fine arts major
in Ontario, and then made myway to Los Angeles where I picked up
an associates degree and apparel manufacturing anddesign at f I DM, and that

(12:24):
took me to New York from thereback in two thousand and two to start
working with the women's polo team formerlyknown as Blue Label for Ralph Lauren and
I spent very formative years fifteen yearsof my career leading design both on the

(12:45):
conceptual side of women's where as wellas working with a number of licensees special
projects before taking the plunge to becreative director for or the Fry Company,
which is a historic American boot brandumWith at the time had big aspirations to

(13:09):
start a men's and women's apparel team, which I launched and quickly pivoted from
there to start my namesake brand,Teddy Hone, Rants and Amazing um.
So, one of your aims isto reinvigorate American men'swear classics. Is that
right, absolutely. I mean Ithink that it's very um. It can

(13:35):
sometimes be cliche. Everybody you knowuses the word modern modern classics, modern
American icons, but I think Itruly am trying to put my own spin
on just what that American classicism isas it relates to men's where. You
know, I grew up just understandingthose great um icons from American fashion and

(14:05):
the stems, you know, throughmy family lineage. My grandfather was an
impeccable dresser that was like handed downto me through my father and my mother
as well. I didn't really growup recognizing name brands but authentic timeless pieces,
so handing down duffelcoats from England,Shetland sweaters from Scotland. You know,

(14:28):
we would drive across the Buffalo everyspring to get brand new Basque Region
Penny loafers, so all the brandcodes that really epitomize American style. I
grew up surrounding myself. So it'sit's it's no fault of its own that
I found myself really happy and wellsuited for my tenure at Ralph. But

(14:52):
now that I've really focused on myown lens for American sports, where it's
taking all those traditional brand codes andand influencing you know, not only just
my point of view, but pushingit a little bit. Um, I
think this is an exciting chapter formen'swear that we're in right now. Men
are being you know, of allshapes and sizes and demographics and are really

(15:18):
embracing fashion in a different way.They're much more expressive, and that's the
lens that I'm putting on a lotof these classic codes. So, um,
your Spring twenty twenty three collection wasinspired by Joshua Tree, a National
park in California. So why didyou take that direction? What do you

(15:39):
expect in this collection? So,you know, a lot of my brand
has really juxtaposed the East Coast andthe West Coast sensibilities of men'swear. You
know, I had some very formedof years obviously on the West Coast,
and it's definitely has that aspirational lens. Um. You know, I'm not

(16:03):
the only brand that has, youknow, um, jumped deep into sort
of the esthetic of California living.I think it always has had this mystique
about it. But beyond that,Um, you know, I definitely route
it back in city living and youknow, my life as a new Yorker
and my life as a New Yorkdesigner. UM. But there's always that

(16:26):
that pole I see, you know, my customer or the modern American man
as being very bicoastal. So there'salways threads, whether you know it's an
East Coast UM sweater pattern that hasUM hand embroidered palm trees on it to
show that tension or that juxtaposition ofthe East and West coast. There's those

(16:48):
elements that always are sort of fluidwithin the collections. So for Spring,
UM, I was ready to doa desert collection and still wanting to UM
look at the Americas and you know, there's just been such a draw um
to Joshua tree and palm desert umby many people. UM, not only

(17:12):
in the surrounding areas of California,but you know from parts of all parts
of the world. UM. There'sa real sense of you know, UM
mysticism and relaxation that comes out ofthat that part of the world. UM.
Those like clear skies, those beautifulsunsets, UM, the the shapes

(17:37):
and colors of the Joshua Tree desertsUM are like no other and UM and
really, you know, every timeI create a collection, too I try
to immerse myself in a locale.So um, I spent some some time
in the desert Um early last springand really soaked up everything and had to

(18:02):
offer and really wanted to have adifferent lens um or my take always on
on the desert palette. I wasexperiencing the park early, early in the
morning. We actually stayed my husbandand I stayed on New York local times,
so we would be up at fourin the morning. We would be
in the park by you know,just before six, so we would catch

(18:23):
that morning sunrise and it casts adifferent light on the desert um. You
know, there's a coolness to actuallythe desert um, you know for that
time of year, and watching thecolors with these blue and gray undertones,
you know, set against sort ofthe heat as the morning sun rose was

(18:45):
pretty spectacular. So um, you'llsee that throughout the lens of the collection.
Um. You know, there's there'sdesert clays, there are those sun
kiss bronzes, but you see thosecool is coming through in the men's wor
fabrics as well. Amazing. Sowhat's your take on sustainability. Sustainability is

(19:10):
obviously not just a hot topic,but an essential topic. In any industry.
I think in our world today,you know, as an emerging brand,
there's a lot of natural sustainable measuresthat I'm able to participate in just
by working closer with local production,working with a lot of stock fabrics,

(19:34):
you know, reducing the carbon footprintare with those means are very very easy.
But within the last five years,you know, watching you know,
the world evolved and rethink all thesestrategies around sustainability. It's interesting to see
how all the brand partners, whetherit's the fabric mills or the manufacturers,

(19:56):
are really putting sustainability at the top. So it's it's easier to funnel into
your UM the landscape of your productionprofile, if you will, on really
becoming more and more sustainable. Obviouslybeing being groomed in, you know,

(20:18):
a big company like Ralph Lauren withall the efficiencies and advantages to take on
all of these initiatives. I neverfelt confident in UM really promoting how sustainable
I am until I know them thedirect carbon footprint from you know, shipping

(20:40):
the fabric, to the emissions fromthe factory, to the emissions from transportation
to the end customer. I thinkit's really important to have like a clear
you know, give the customer UMclear visibility. So I do what I
can right now as a small emergingbrand and thankful that the brand partners are
are two steps ahead of me nowand as I continue to grow, UM,

(21:04):
it's an essential part of my teamthat will continue to just foster sustainability.
And you know, my hope is, you know, when we are
fully thriving M as a big companythat you know will be one hundred percent
sustainable with a very clear UM footprintto how we got there. Amazing.

(21:26):
So UM, there is so muchconversation in fashion about the new masculinity.
What is your definition of new masculinityand do you think there is a reflection
of new masculinity in your collections?Um, great question, est interesting enough,

(21:51):
this idea of new masculinity. Imay have touched on a little bit
earlier as well, when I wasjust talking about my vision forum modern ing
American classics and if you if youlook at my trajectory, you know I
did spend fifteen years formative years asa women's were a designer. And it's

(22:11):
interesting because you know, I alwayssay you can't study women's where at Ralph
Lauren without understanding men's wear, andI think at the time it was great
because I refined my skills for tailoringand all of the fundamental classifications of men's

(22:33):
wear. But then there was thiswhole element of women's war that got to
be sexy and playful and much morefashion forward than what was happening in men's
where at the time. So ifyou fast forward to, you know,
five or six years ago, whenI was just starting to conceptualize my own
label, all of those all ofthose details or the lens that I took

(23:07):
to feminize masculine codes I started toactually bring into my own collection. And
I was never afraid to shop onthe women's side of the store. I
typically was drawn to women designers orwomen's brands that had a very masculine or

(23:30):
tailored edge. But those brands alsowhat I was looking for was color,
fabrication, and trend because they werejust getting it so much faster than men's
wear it was, So that's whatI brought to my line. And also
the use of fabrications to drape erfabric, silks, n blends, things
weren't so traditional anymore, and theuse of color and patterns. So that's

(23:55):
all happening now, and there's alldifferent ends the spectrum and how jenior lines,
you know, gender lines are blendingand it's allowing men to be more
creative and certainly as a men's worddesigner is allowing me to be more creative

(24:15):
as well. That's great. That'sgreat. So what's next for you?
What's your next move? Well,you know, right now, we are
just finalizing production for fall Winter twentythree and we'll be shipping that out at
the end of July to our brandpartners into our own DTC. There's a

(24:37):
lot of really great growth happening forthe brand, which I'm excited for.
Almost a little bit of a rebootwith fall Winter twenty three, which is
exciting. And I'm just finishing upmy Spring twenty four line and getting ready
for market which will happen at theend of the month as well going into
July. So lots of big thingsare happening. I'm super excited continue to

(25:00):
push myself as a designer. I'mexcited to see where the direction goes amazing.
Well, thank you so much forjoining Fashion Reverie Talks. It was
a pleasure speaking to you as you'remeaning you guys. Thank you well viewers.
That's it for this episode of FashionReverie Talks. We would like to
thank our special guest, fashion designerTeddy von Ranson and Fashion reverie dot com

(25:25):
Associate editor Sidney Yeager. For informationon these and other stories, go to
fashion reverie dot com. Thank youfor watching. Look in returns