New York fashion designer Edward Wilkerson's got presence -- he has a look that grabs your gaze and doesn't let go. It's why, when in town last Thursday to pick up Fashion Group International of Chicago's Superstars award, a fellow Peninsula Hotel guest asked if he was one of Madonna's dancers (her crew was also staying at the hotel). And why, even on Chicago's downtown streets, women stop him for on-the-spot fashion advice.
Wilkerson is practical when it comes to giving his Lafayette 148 ladies what they want -- looks that are "contemporary and sophisticated at the same time." With a collection that sells at Nordstrom, Mark Shale and Saks Fifth Avenue, Wilkerson adds ethnic touches such as hand-beaded accents and bold embroidery to separates while including staples like tie-waisted white blouses and wool-blend pencil skirts in the line.
An avid photographer who never leaves home without three cameras and a sketch book, Wilkerson found inspiration for his Fall '06 collection in Venice, Italy. And specifically, in late philanthropist and art collector Peggy Guggenheim, who turned her home on the Grand Canal into an art museum. "She was a patron of the arts and had incredible style," he says. "The fall collection is very elegant, very luxurious. We use a lot of velvet trims, fur trims, boucles. Our tweeds are mixed with cashmere, and everything kind of sparkles and shines."
We talked to Wilkerson, who also has hosted photo exhibitions near his Brooklyn home, about style, Africa (he loves it) and Oprah (he dressed her in 2003 for an Essence magazine cover shoot).
Q. What's the most unusual thing that has inspired one of your collections?
A. What always influences my collections is travel, exotic travel. I love Kenya; I love Morocco ... I also love Europe and Asia. I remember going to Milan and driving with a friend to Portofino [on the Italian Riviera] for lunch, 1-1/2 hours away. I said, 'This is great and all, but this [place] needs a little salt. Diana Ross would have been fabulous here. She would up it a notch.' So this past Resort collection was 'Diana Ross-goes-to-Portofino.' I photographed the buildings, the boats in the marina, some of the villas. I made a [fabric] print out of my photographs, and it's the 'Portofino print.' "
Q. You've traveled throughout Africa. What fascinates you most about the diverse continent?
A. I'm always inspired by places with a deep, rich cultural heritage, and what amazes me about Africa is tradition. This is also evident in China, also evident in Bali, that life is pretty much the same as it always has been. You go to some parts of Kenya -- they may have a laptop but they're still in their traditional Masai dress.
Q. What's one of Americans' biggest misconceptions about Africa?
A. That they're always fighting and that there's poverty. But there's poverty two blocks away from me [in Brooklyn]. We're so focused on the negative things that happen in the world that we don't look in our own backyard.
Q. You were on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 2003. What stands out most about meeting her the first time for the Essence cover shoot?
A. [The fact] that she was so approachable threw me. We basically talked nonstop throughout the photo shoot. [With] her travels to Africa and my travels to Africa, we really had a shared interest. We both love interiors, so we talked about that. Clothes, traveling, food.
Q. You spend months each year traveling. What do you always carry with you on the plane?
A. I'm never without my cashmere shawl because I'm always cold. My portable DVD player. My own selection of teas. My selection of CDs -- I mix a lot of my own music, and a lot of it's very meditational. I always travel with scented candles. I like to create my own environment.
Q. If you weren't a fashion designer or photographer, what would you be?
A. An architect, because to me building a house and building clothes are altogether the same thing.
Wilkerson is practical when it comes to giving his Lafayette 148 ladies what they want -- looks that are "contemporary and sophisticated at the same time." With a collection that sells at Nordstrom, Mark Shale and Saks Fifth Avenue, Wilkerson adds ethnic touches such as hand-beaded accents and bold embroidery to separates while including staples like tie-waisted white blouses and wool-blend pencil skirts in the line.
An avid photographer who never leaves home without three cameras and a sketch book, Wilkerson found inspiration for his Fall '06 collection in Venice, Italy. And specifically, in late philanthropist and art collector Peggy Guggenheim, who turned her home on the Grand Canal into an art museum. "She was a patron of the arts and had incredible style," he says. "The fall collection is very elegant, very luxurious. We use a lot of velvet trims, fur trims, boucles. Our tweeds are mixed with cashmere, and everything kind of sparkles and shines."
We talked to Wilkerson, who also has hosted photo exhibitions near his Brooklyn home, about style, Africa (he loves it) and Oprah (he dressed her in 2003 for an Essence magazine cover shoot).
Q. What's the most unusual thing that has inspired one of your collections?
A. What always influences my collections is travel, exotic travel. I love Kenya; I love Morocco ... I also love Europe and Asia. I remember going to Milan and driving with a friend to Portofino [on the Italian Riviera] for lunch, 1-1/2 hours away. I said, 'This is great and all, but this [place] needs a little salt. Diana Ross would have been fabulous here. She would up it a notch.' So this past Resort collection was 'Diana Ross-goes-to-Portofino.' I photographed the buildings, the boats in the marina, some of the villas. I made a [fabric] print out of my photographs, and it's the 'Portofino print.' "
Q. You've traveled throughout Africa. What fascinates you most about the diverse continent?
A. I'm always inspired by places with a deep, rich cultural heritage, and what amazes me about Africa is tradition. This is also evident in China, also evident in Bali, that life is pretty much the same as it always has been. You go to some parts of Kenya -- they may have a laptop but they're still in their traditional Masai dress.
Q. What's one of Americans' biggest misconceptions about Africa?
A. That they're always fighting and that there's poverty. But there's poverty two blocks away from me [in Brooklyn]. We're so focused on the negative things that happen in the world that we don't look in our own backyard.
Q. You were on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 2003. What stands out most about meeting her the first time for the Essence cover shoot?
A. [The fact] that she was so approachable threw me. We basically talked nonstop throughout the photo shoot. [With] her travels to Africa and my travels to Africa, we really had a shared interest. We both love interiors, so we talked about that. Clothes, traveling, food.
Q. You spend months each year traveling. What do you always carry with you on the plane?
A. I'm never without my cashmere shawl because I'm always cold. My portable DVD player. My own selection of teas. My selection of CDs -- I mix a lot of my own music, and a lot of it's very meditational. I always travel with scented candles. I like to create my own environment.
Q. If you weren't a fashion designer or photographer, what would you be?
A. An architect, because to me building a house and building clothes are altogether the same thing.
