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The 25 most expensive shops in the U.S.
Ever opened a fashion magazine like Vogue or GQ, and wonder, "who can afford to buy this stuff?" For example, here's a shot of actor Edgar Ramirez in a $1,590 Salvatore Ferragamo suit for a GQ fashion spread about linen suits. And here's a Vogue piece about stocking up on simple staples like a black Victor & Rolf dress for $970, or a $495 leather bag by Alexander Wang.
Most people use these spreads as inspiration, then turn to affordable stores like Top Shop for items that can pass for being straight off the runway. Others find designer items at outlets or discount stores like Nordstrom Rack.
"I think there are a lot of fast fashion brands like Zara, H&M; and Forever 21 that are so quick to copy what's on the runway and into their stores," says Nikki Martinez, an assistant buyer for the cosmetics chain Sephora. "As soon as I see a magazine spread, I can buy an iteration of that trend at Zara for a tenth of the price."
To come up with our list of the most expensive shops in America, we looked at proprietary data provided to us by Citi, and looked at average receipt amounts based on millions of transactions done in clothing stores across the U.S from April 2010 to May 2011. We filtered out places like wholesalers, manufacturers and big department stores, and then ranked the most expensive shops by average receipt sizes.
De la Renta's eponymous store on New York City's Madison Avenue had well-to-do shoppers spending $3,217 on average during each shopping trip to the high end store. This isn't atypical considering dresses in his ready to wear line have price tags from $1,890 to $4,790 (his cocktail dresses can go as high as $10,690).
The other stores in the top 5 most expensive shops: Giorgio Armani, located just half a block from Oscar de la Renta, ranked second with an average receipt of $2,881; Loro Piana in Boston ranked third with $2,818, the very high end womenswear shop Akris also found on Madison Ave ranked fourth with $2,818; West Hollywood's Maxfield, which sells clothing from designers like Chanel and Balmain, rounded the top 5 with an average receipt of $2,258.
About half of the shops on our list are from New York City, with Los Angeles coming in a distant second and cities like Naples, Fla., Chevy Chase, Md. and Chicago making appearances. Though most stores were from well known designers like Alexander McQueen (ranked 10th), Tom Ford (ranked 11th) and Dolce & Gabbana (ranked 16th), prominent bridal shops like the Vera Wang Bridal House, and the famed Kleinfeld Bridal, the setting for the TLC show "Say Yes to the Dress" made the list and ranked 22nd and 19th respectively.
"A very small population of the community even fashion community are able to wear head to toe designer on a regular basis," Martinez says. "Fashion spreads are meant to be aspirational, fantasy, even escapist if they're done well."
But some pieces of clothing can be worth the cost.
"I personally shop less frequently than I used to because I'd rather invest in better quality, longer lasting pieces," Martinez says. "The older I've gotten, the more I value things like fabric, well constructed pieces, and investing in designers. These clothes just look and feel better."
And then there are people who walk straight into a designer's store and buy garments with jaw-dropping price tags at full price. They are the ones who can afford "this stuff", and shop at the most expensive shops in America with famous names: Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and Oscar de la Renta the latter of which just so happens to be the most expensive clothing shop in the U.S.
Complete List:
1. Oscar de la Renta
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $3,217
About 1 in 10 customers of Oscar de la Renta are 65+ Year Olds. 65+ Year Olds tend to spend around $1,000 per visit to Oscar de la Renta.
2. Giorgio Armani
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $2,881
About 3 in 10 customers of Giorgio Armani are Couples.
3. Loro Piana
Location: Boston
Average receipt: $2,818
4. Akris
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $2,649
About 3 in 10 customers of Akris are 65+ Year Olds.
5. Maxfield
Location: Los Angeles
Average receipt: $2,258
6. Chanel
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $2,115
Discover more about this shop: About 2 in 10 customers of Chanel are Couples.
7. Bruno Cucinelli
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $2,032
About 3 in 10 customers of Bruno Cucinelli are 50-65 Year Olds.
8. Blake
Location: Chicago
Average receipt: $2,008
9. Savannah
Location: Santa Monica, Calif.
Average receipt: $1,970
10. Alexander McQueen
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,847
About 2 in 10 customers of Alexander McQueen are Single Ladies. Single Ladies tend to spend around $1,000 per visit to Alexander McQueen.
11. Tom Ford
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,797
About 3 in 10 customers of Tom Ford are 36-49 Year Olds. 36-49 Year Olds tend to spend around $1,000 per visit to Tom Ford.
12. Lanvin
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,787
13. Ascot Chang
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,752
About 3 in 10 customers of Ascot Chang are Bachelors. At least 14% of Bachelors who have been to ASCOT CHANG have returned.
14. Chloe
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,673
About 3 in 10 customers of Chloe are 50-65 Year Olds.
15. Marissa Collections
Location: Naples, Fla.
Average receipt: $1,608
16. Dolce & Gabbana
Location: Beverly Hills
Average receipt: $1,595
17. Wilkes Bashford
Location: San Francisco
Average receipt: $1,564
About 2 in 10 customers of Wilkes Bashford are 36-49 Year Olds. 36-49 Year Olds tend to spend around $1,000 per visit to Wilkes Bashford.
18. Bottega Veneta
Location: Manhasset, N.Y.
Average receipt: $1,562
19. Kleinfeld Bridal
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,508
About 3 in 10 customers of Kleinfeld Bridal are 26-35 Year Olds.
20. Morris & Sons
Location: Chicago
Average receipt: $1,507
21. A'Maree's
Location: Newport Beach, Calif.
Average receipt: $1,498
22. Vera Wang Bridal House
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,493
Discover more about this shop: About 3 in 10 customers of Vera Wang Bridal House are 26-35 Year Olds.
23. Escada
Location: Beverly Hills
Average receipt: $1,466
24. Saks Jandel
Location: Chevy Chase, Md.
Average receipt: $1,457
25. Prada
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,429
About 2 in 10 customers of Prada are Singles. At least 9% of Singles who have been to Prada have returned.
Source: bundle
Ever opened a fashion magazine like Vogue or GQ, and wonder, "who can afford to buy this stuff?" For example, here's a shot of actor Edgar Ramirez in a $1,590 Salvatore Ferragamo suit for a GQ fashion spread about linen suits. And here's a Vogue piece about stocking up on simple staples like a black Victor & Rolf dress for $970, or a $495 leather bag by Alexander Wang.
Most people use these spreads as inspiration, then turn to affordable stores like Top Shop for items that can pass for being straight off the runway. Others find designer items at outlets or discount stores like Nordstrom Rack.
"I think there are a lot of fast fashion brands like Zara, H&M; and Forever 21 that are so quick to copy what's on the runway and into their stores," says Nikki Martinez, an assistant buyer for the cosmetics chain Sephora. "As soon as I see a magazine spread, I can buy an iteration of that trend at Zara for a tenth of the price."
To come up with our list of the most expensive shops in America, we looked at proprietary data provided to us by Citi, and looked at average receipt amounts based on millions of transactions done in clothing stores across the U.S from April 2010 to May 2011. We filtered out places like wholesalers, manufacturers and big department stores, and then ranked the most expensive shops by average receipt sizes.
De la Renta's eponymous store on New York City's Madison Avenue had well-to-do shoppers spending $3,217 on average during each shopping trip to the high end store. This isn't atypical considering dresses in his ready to wear line have price tags from $1,890 to $4,790 (his cocktail dresses can go as high as $10,690).
The other stores in the top 5 most expensive shops: Giorgio Armani, located just half a block from Oscar de la Renta, ranked second with an average receipt of $2,881; Loro Piana in Boston ranked third with $2,818, the very high end womenswear shop Akris also found on Madison Ave ranked fourth with $2,818; West Hollywood's Maxfield, which sells clothing from designers like Chanel and Balmain, rounded the top 5 with an average receipt of $2,258.
About half of the shops on our list are from New York City, with Los Angeles coming in a distant second and cities like Naples, Fla., Chevy Chase, Md. and Chicago making appearances. Though most stores were from well known designers like Alexander McQueen (ranked 10th), Tom Ford (ranked 11th) and Dolce & Gabbana (ranked 16th), prominent bridal shops like the Vera Wang Bridal House, and the famed Kleinfeld Bridal, the setting for the TLC show "Say Yes to the Dress" made the list and ranked 22nd and 19th respectively.
"A very small population of the community even fashion community are able to wear head to toe designer on a regular basis," Martinez says. "Fashion spreads are meant to be aspirational, fantasy, even escapist if they're done well."
But some pieces of clothing can be worth the cost.
"I personally shop less frequently than I used to because I'd rather invest in better quality, longer lasting pieces," Martinez says. "The older I've gotten, the more I value things like fabric, well constructed pieces, and investing in designers. These clothes just look and feel better."
And then there are people who walk straight into a designer's store and buy garments with jaw-dropping price tags at full price. They are the ones who can afford "this stuff", and shop at the most expensive shops in America with famous names: Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and Oscar de la Renta the latter of which just so happens to be the most expensive clothing shop in the U.S.
Complete List:
1. Oscar de la Renta
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $3,217
About 1 in 10 customers of Oscar de la Renta are 65+ Year Olds. 65+ Year Olds tend to spend around $1,000 per visit to Oscar de la Renta.
2. Giorgio Armani
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $2,881
About 3 in 10 customers of Giorgio Armani are Couples.
3. Loro Piana
Location: Boston
Average receipt: $2,818
4. Akris
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $2,649
About 3 in 10 customers of Akris are 65+ Year Olds.
5. Maxfield
Location: Los Angeles
Average receipt: $2,258
6. Chanel
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $2,115
Discover more about this shop: About 2 in 10 customers of Chanel are Couples.
7. Bruno Cucinelli
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $2,032
About 3 in 10 customers of Bruno Cucinelli are 50-65 Year Olds.
8. Blake
Location: Chicago
Average receipt: $2,008
9. Savannah
Location: Santa Monica, Calif.
Average receipt: $1,970
10. Alexander McQueen
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,847
About 2 in 10 customers of Alexander McQueen are Single Ladies. Single Ladies tend to spend around $1,000 per visit to Alexander McQueen.
11. Tom Ford
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,797
About 3 in 10 customers of Tom Ford are 36-49 Year Olds. 36-49 Year Olds tend to spend around $1,000 per visit to Tom Ford.
12. Lanvin
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,787
13. Ascot Chang
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,752
About 3 in 10 customers of Ascot Chang are Bachelors. At least 14% of Bachelors who have been to ASCOT CHANG have returned.
14. Chloe
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,673
About 3 in 10 customers of Chloe are 50-65 Year Olds.
15. Marissa Collections
Location: Naples, Fla.
Average receipt: $1,608
16. Dolce & Gabbana
Location: Beverly Hills
Average receipt: $1,595
17. Wilkes Bashford
Location: San Francisco
Average receipt: $1,564
About 2 in 10 customers of Wilkes Bashford are 36-49 Year Olds. 36-49 Year Olds tend to spend around $1,000 per visit to Wilkes Bashford.
18. Bottega Veneta
Location: Manhasset, N.Y.
Average receipt: $1,562
19. Kleinfeld Bridal
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,508
About 3 in 10 customers of Kleinfeld Bridal are 26-35 Year Olds.
20. Morris & Sons
Location: Chicago
Average receipt: $1,507
21. A'Maree's
Location: Newport Beach, Calif.
Average receipt: $1,498
22. Vera Wang Bridal House
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,493
Discover more about this shop: About 3 in 10 customers of Vera Wang Bridal House are 26-35 Year Olds.
23. Escada
Location: Beverly Hills
Average receipt: $1,466
24. Saks Jandel
Location: Chevy Chase, Md.
Average receipt: $1,457
25. Prada
Location: New York City
Average receipt: $1,429
About 2 in 10 customers of Prada are Singles. At least 9% of Singles who have been to Prada have returned.
Source: bundle
Attachments
I have never bought into the Gucci style but I did relent with their bamboo bag. Absolutely no "G" logo on that bag which is why I love it and the bamboo handles, makes it really classic and I like it. But there will not be a 2nd Gucci for me while I can see myself getting more BVs. I own a Hermes Kelly flat too, and the leather is delicious but BV's style is again different and equally delicious.
September 16, 2011
THE KING OF EVERLASTING STYLE
A decade ago, Tomas Maier brought his brand of logoless chic to Bottega Veneta. Now his designs are on everyone's shopping list.
By ELISA LIPSKY-KARASZ
It's hard to imagine Tomas Maier dangling off iron rungs to clamber up 1,000 feet of nearly vertical rock face, but that is exactly what he did not too long ago when tackling the notoriously dangerous Precipice Trail in Maine's Acadia National Park with none other than close friend Martha Stewart. "Really really strenuous and hot," she tweeted at the time. "Tomas did it very well," she recalls of their expedition. But then again, Maier wouldn't want to take the easy route up even if there were one.
"I like things a little bit complicated," he says, smiling ruefully as he sits at the glossy white desk in his white-walled, impeccably sparse studio in New York City's historic Fuller Buildinga silent oasis hovering above the bustle of 57th Street. In his chicly rumpled button-down and khaki pants, discussing the work of artists Gerhard Richter and Robert Longo, he seems the epitome of the stoic German aesthete that he has gained a reputation to be.
A veteran of Hermès, Sonia Rykiel, and Revillon before being appointed creative director of Bottega Veneta 10 years ago, Maier has a brand of quiet determination that has since boosted the house's sales by about 1,400 percent. He's known to try every single look on a model in his show to find the right match, he refuses to put any of his classic accessories on sale (including the Cabat bag, a logoless woven tote that starts at $5,500 and goes way up from there), and he eschews the typical post-fashion-show bacchanal to head into a meeting with his design team about the next collection.
The most Maier will allow himself by way of retrospection is a review of the video of his tightly edited, perfectly polished 35-look Fall 2011 showwhich clocks in at around seven minutes, though he would prefer four: "I like it pretty short and hopefully painless." It doesn't sound like the day of the show is painless for Maier, mainly, it seems, because he must halt the quest for perfection that governs every collection. "It's the nightmare day because we can't change anything anymore," he says, picking up a paper napkin from under his water glass and folding it precisely into ever-smaller triangles. "You feel like you've fallen into an empty hole. All the efforts, the work ... it's over. And it's concretethat dress, that silhouette, those shoes. Now let's move on."
Bottega Veneta Cabat, $14,000
In a world dominated by wunderkind designers who are increasingly on a first-name basis with their public and are expected to live out the dream they sell, 54-year-old Maier is a rarity. He has no interest in creating his own cult of personality, preferring to promote the work, which he insists on calling "a collaboration" with the house's artisans. Maier wouldn't dream of stripping for a self-portrait to sell Bottega's first fragrance, which launched this September and smells like the inside of a brand-new Bottega bag that's held a bouquet of crushed jasmine.
"My priority was to create a scent that makes a statement and that will last in time," Maier says. "What I don't like is the quick in and out. You know, there's stuff that's created just to have a very short life span. But this is not the case here. All our products are always created with the idea in mind of a certain life span, given the fact that everything is so pricey." Fittingly, the model for the perfume campaign is Nine d'Urso, 17, who only a select group of customers will recognize as the older daughter of Inès de la Fressange. "I wanted to have a face that is not attached to anything," he says of his as-yet-unknown star.
Similarly, Maier deliberately keeps his private life private; you won't see paparazzi shots of him strolling island beaches with famous friends. "I'm interesting for the product we create, but where I go on holiday and what I do at night should have nothing to do with that," he says, blue eyes flashing sharply from his silver-stubbled visage. "I don't want to know that from an actor I admire or a painter I love. I don't need to know their secrets. Let me be surprised."
Unsurprisingly, he is never found making the fashion scene, and despite his more than three decades of experience, he remains intentionally on the fringes. "Because I'm in the fashion world all day long, I'm not in that world in my private life," he says. "I like to have a very courtoisvery politerelationship with other designers, but besides that, I like to stay away from it all. I don't want to talk about fashion in my time off." In short, he's a grown-up, and he makes grown-up clothes for monied women who like a certain kind of not-so-quiet subtle luxury.
"Perhaps what struck me most about Tomas is his simplicity," says François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of PPR, which became the parent company of Bottega Veneta in 2001 and shortly thereafter hired Maier. "We met at a time when many craved to be noticed by any means and at any cost. His discretion was highly unusual. From the beginning, I was convinced that Tomas's exceptional personality would be a perfect fit with Bottega Veneta's core aesthetic values."
Indeed, when Maier arrived at the brand in June of 2001at the suggestion of then Gucci designer Tom Fordthe house had strayed far from the understated message of its 1970s slogan: "When your own initials are enough." Punked-out girls in hot-pink leopard print and oversize prints screaming BOTTEGA VENETA in huge letters had been stalking down the catwalk to Prince's "Irresistible *****." The signature Bottega basket weave had swollen to grotesque proportions on scarves, bustiers, and jackets. Maier stripped everything back, harnessing the brand to its heritage of quiet luxury.
Bottega Veneta's Fall 2011 Collection
"Tomas is incredibly modest and down-to-earth," says Julianne Moore, who says she totes her black Cabat "all over the place." Like many who might expect such an exacting designer to have the rigid Teutonic personality to match, Moore is disarmed by his lack of pretension and total devotion to his craft. He also brings that focus to the eponymous brand he founded with his longtime partner, Andrew Preston, in 1997 and continues to design, with stores in Miami, Palm Beach, and Wainscott, New York.
THE KING OF EVERLASTING STYLE
A decade ago, Tomas Maier brought his brand of logoless chic to Bottega Veneta. Now his designs are on everyone's shopping list.
By ELISA LIPSKY-KARASZ
It's hard to imagine Tomas Maier dangling off iron rungs to clamber up 1,000 feet of nearly vertical rock face, but that is exactly what he did not too long ago when tackling the notoriously dangerous Precipice Trail in Maine's Acadia National Park with none other than close friend Martha Stewart. "Really really strenuous and hot," she tweeted at the time. "Tomas did it very well," she recalls of their expedition. But then again, Maier wouldn't want to take the easy route up even if there were one.
"I like things a little bit complicated," he says, smiling ruefully as he sits at the glossy white desk in his white-walled, impeccably sparse studio in New York City's historic Fuller Buildinga silent oasis hovering above the bustle of 57th Street. In his chicly rumpled button-down and khaki pants, discussing the work of artists Gerhard Richter and Robert Longo, he seems the epitome of the stoic German aesthete that he has gained a reputation to be.
A veteran of Hermès, Sonia Rykiel, and Revillon before being appointed creative director of Bottega Veneta 10 years ago, Maier has a brand of quiet determination that has since boosted the house's sales by about 1,400 percent. He's known to try every single look on a model in his show to find the right match, he refuses to put any of his classic accessories on sale (including the Cabat bag, a logoless woven tote that starts at $5,500 and goes way up from there), and he eschews the typical post-fashion-show bacchanal to head into a meeting with his design team about the next collection.
The most Maier will allow himself by way of retrospection is a review of the video of his tightly edited, perfectly polished 35-look Fall 2011 showwhich clocks in at around seven minutes, though he would prefer four: "I like it pretty short and hopefully painless." It doesn't sound like the day of the show is painless for Maier, mainly, it seems, because he must halt the quest for perfection that governs every collection. "It's the nightmare day because we can't change anything anymore," he says, picking up a paper napkin from under his water glass and folding it precisely into ever-smaller triangles. "You feel like you've fallen into an empty hole. All the efforts, the work ... it's over. And it's concretethat dress, that silhouette, those shoes. Now let's move on."
Bottega Veneta Cabat, $14,000
In a world dominated by wunderkind designers who are increasingly on a first-name basis with their public and are expected to live out the dream they sell, 54-year-old Maier is a rarity. He has no interest in creating his own cult of personality, preferring to promote the work, which he insists on calling "a collaboration" with the house's artisans. Maier wouldn't dream of stripping for a self-portrait to sell Bottega's first fragrance, which launched this September and smells like the inside of a brand-new Bottega bag that's held a bouquet of crushed jasmine.
"My priority was to create a scent that makes a statement and that will last in time," Maier says. "What I don't like is the quick in and out. You know, there's stuff that's created just to have a very short life span. But this is not the case here. All our products are always created with the idea in mind of a certain life span, given the fact that everything is so pricey." Fittingly, the model for the perfume campaign is Nine d'Urso, 17, who only a select group of customers will recognize as the older daughter of Inès de la Fressange. "I wanted to have a face that is not attached to anything," he says of his as-yet-unknown star.
Similarly, Maier deliberately keeps his private life private; you won't see paparazzi shots of him strolling island beaches with famous friends. "I'm interesting for the product we create, but where I go on holiday and what I do at night should have nothing to do with that," he says, blue eyes flashing sharply from his silver-stubbled visage. "I don't want to know that from an actor I admire or a painter I love. I don't need to know their secrets. Let me be surprised."
Unsurprisingly, he is never found making the fashion scene, and despite his more than three decades of experience, he remains intentionally on the fringes. "Because I'm in the fashion world all day long, I'm not in that world in my private life," he says. "I like to have a very courtoisvery politerelationship with other designers, but besides that, I like to stay away from it all. I don't want to talk about fashion in my time off." In short, he's a grown-up, and he makes grown-up clothes for monied women who like a certain kind of not-so-quiet subtle luxury.
"Perhaps what struck me most about Tomas is his simplicity," says François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of PPR, which became the parent company of Bottega Veneta in 2001 and shortly thereafter hired Maier. "We met at a time when many craved to be noticed by any means and at any cost. His discretion was highly unusual. From the beginning, I was convinced that Tomas's exceptional personality would be a perfect fit with Bottega Veneta's core aesthetic values."
Indeed, when Maier arrived at the brand in June of 2001at the suggestion of then Gucci designer Tom Fordthe house had strayed far from the understated message of its 1970s slogan: "When your own initials are enough." Punked-out girls in hot-pink leopard print and oversize prints screaming BOTTEGA VENETA in huge letters had been stalking down the catwalk to Prince's "Irresistible *****." The signature Bottega basket weave had swollen to grotesque proportions on scarves, bustiers, and jackets. Maier stripped everything back, harnessing the brand to its heritage of quiet luxury.
Bottega Veneta's Fall 2011 Collection
"Tomas is incredibly modest and down-to-earth," says Julianne Moore, who says she totes her black Cabat "all over the place." Like many who might expect such an exacting designer to have the rigid Teutonic personality to match, Moore is disarmed by his lack of pretension and total devotion to his craft. He also brings that focus to the eponymous brand he founded with his longtime partner, Andrew Preston, in 1997 and continues to design, with stores in Miami, Palm Beach, and Wainscott, New York.
Attachments
Discipline combined with a liberal dose of creativity was ingrained in Maier's upbringing. He was educated in a Waldorf schoola system founded by philosopher Rudolf Steinerand lives by a total hands-on approach: "I even know how to spin wool into yarn," he says, laughing. "I once caught Tomas and Andrew throwing out the garbage in the back of his store in Wainscott," Moore says, still amused at the thought of a designer handling trash. "I thought there were raccoons back there, but it turned out to be just the guys."
On a typical day, Maier rises at dawn, works through lunch, and leaves by 7:00 P.M. On summer weekends (he spends summers in New York City, living at the Four Seasons Hotel near his studio, and winters at his home just south of Palm Beach), he can be found gardening or cooking at his place in the Hamptons. But even getting out of the city doesn't provide the escape he would like: "It's not remote enough," he says, adding that he'd prefer to be in Maine.
"Tomas is a thoughtful, well-spoken, quiet man who thinks about good design and excellent manufacturing all the time," says his aforementioned hiking partner, Martha Stewart. Such single-mindedness, paired with his methodical regimen, might explain why Maier has been so successful at Bottega. His orderly life has generated an orderly mind able to calmly command everything from the recent perfume launch to the brand's furniture to the new boutique, set to open on Madison Avenue this fall. Designers at the head of other such massive global brands have publicly succumbed to the stresses. When asked about the recent spate of traumatic events, from the death of Alexander McQueen to the firing and trial of John Galliano, he says, "There are people who are weaker, and there are people who are stronger. Because there's pressure for sure, but there's probably people who are better built for supporting the pressure. I think when you take on a job like this, you know what you're getting yourself into. Otherwise, don't take it."
What he's gotten himself into is big business, which he is the first to acknowledge: "We make these products because we sell them. I don't make a dress because I hope it's going to be on the cover of a magazine. That's not my goal."
It's this sort of certainty of purpose that can be gained only by experience, which Maier has in abundance. Like a character in a novel by Thomas Mannone of Maier's favorite writersas a teenager he cast aside the bourgeois safety of his steady family life in Pforzheim, a small city on the fringe of Germany's Black Forest, for a life pursuing the art of fashion. Maier decided early on that he didn't want to take over his father's architecture firm. ("I was bad at math, first of all," he says.) Instead, at 19, he set off for Paris to study at the école de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, a school he had applied to after reading in one of his mother's fashion magazines that it was Yves Saint Laurent's alma mater. "I was dreaming about the big city, the bigger the better," he says with a wry chuckle at his younger self. "I couldn't wait."
When in Paris, he wove all the romance of his new home into the knowledge absorbed from his father and his Courrèges-clad mother. "I loved it there," he says. Besides Saint Laurent, his personal gods became Cristóbal Balenciaga and Madame Grès, both worshiped for the timeless modernity of their lines. But what is particularly Maier's is an all-encompassing intellectual embrace that informs all of his work. The subtly shifting colors of his current fall collections reflect everything from Michelangelo Antonioni's classic film Red Desert to the play of light glinting through the Gothic stained-glass windows of Notre-Dame. The models on the runway evoked the coolly luscious Antonioni muse Monica Vitti in a kaleidoscope of hues. As polished as his shows tend to be, Maier resists being too sublime. He works with a stylist not to match bags to ensembles but to ensure that nothing is "too pretty."
After all, most of the decisions have been made in the months leading up to the show by Maier himself. Such a unity of vision is purposeful, he explains, pointing to his four cornerstones, a set of criteria he created to govern all his designs: highest-quality materials, extraordinary craftsmanship, contemporary functionality, and timeless design. "It's just like the four corners of the boxing ring," he explains. "I do whatever I want in there, but there needs to be a reason why everything works together. It's kind of worked out for me over the last 10 years because we can pick up a clasp, a perfume bottle, a bag, a dress, and it all makes sense together." He looks at his empty studio, which will soon be filled with pieces for his upcoming spring collection. "Nothing is the same, but it's one universe."
harpersbazaar.com
On a typical day, Maier rises at dawn, works through lunch, and leaves by 7:00 P.M. On summer weekends (he spends summers in New York City, living at the Four Seasons Hotel near his studio, and winters at his home just south of Palm Beach), he can be found gardening or cooking at his place in the Hamptons. But even getting out of the city doesn't provide the escape he would like: "It's not remote enough," he says, adding that he'd prefer to be in Maine.
"Tomas is a thoughtful, well-spoken, quiet man who thinks about good design and excellent manufacturing all the time," says his aforementioned hiking partner, Martha Stewart. Such single-mindedness, paired with his methodical regimen, might explain why Maier has been so successful at Bottega. His orderly life has generated an orderly mind able to calmly command everything from the recent perfume launch to the brand's furniture to the new boutique, set to open on Madison Avenue this fall. Designers at the head of other such massive global brands have publicly succumbed to the stresses. When asked about the recent spate of traumatic events, from the death of Alexander McQueen to the firing and trial of John Galliano, he says, "There are people who are weaker, and there are people who are stronger. Because there's pressure for sure, but there's probably people who are better built for supporting the pressure. I think when you take on a job like this, you know what you're getting yourself into. Otherwise, don't take it."
What he's gotten himself into is big business, which he is the first to acknowledge: "We make these products because we sell them. I don't make a dress because I hope it's going to be on the cover of a magazine. That's not my goal."
It's this sort of certainty of purpose that can be gained only by experience, which Maier has in abundance. Like a character in a novel by Thomas Mannone of Maier's favorite writersas a teenager he cast aside the bourgeois safety of his steady family life in Pforzheim, a small city on the fringe of Germany's Black Forest, for a life pursuing the art of fashion. Maier decided early on that he didn't want to take over his father's architecture firm. ("I was bad at math, first of all," he says.) Instead, at 19, he set off for Paris to study at the école de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, a school he had applied to after reading in one of his mother's fashion magazines that it was Yves Saint Laurent's alma mater. "I was dreaming about the big city, the bigger the better," he says with a wry chuckle at his younger self. "I couldn't wait."
When in Paris, he wove all the romance of his new home into the knowledge absorbed from his father and his Courrèges-clad mother. "I loved it there," he says. Besides Saint Laurent, his personal gods became Cristóbal Balenciaga and Madame Grès, both worshiped for the timeless modernity of their lines. But what is particularly Maier's is an all-encompassing intellectual embrace that informs all of his work. The subtly shifting colors of his current fall collections reflect everything from Michelangelo Antonioni's classic film Red Desert to the play of light glinting through the Gothic stained-glass windows of Notre-Dame. The models on the runway evoked the coolly luscious Antonioni muse Monica Vitti in a kaleidoscope of hues. As polished as his shows tend to be, Maier resists being too sublime. He works with a stylist not to match bags to ensembles but to ensure that nothing is "too pretty."
After all, most of the decisions have been made in the months leading up to the show by Maier himself. Such a unity of vision is purposeful, he explains, pointing to his four cornerstones, a set of criteria he created to govern all his designs: highest-quality materials, extraordinary craftsmanship, contemporary functionality, and timeless design. "It's just like the four corners of the boxing ring," he explains. "I do whatever I want in there, but there needs to be a reason why everything works together. It's kind of worked out for me over the last 10 years because we can pick up a clasp, a perfume bottle, a bag, a dress, and it all makes sense together." He looks at his empty studio, which will soon be filled with pieces for his upcoming spring collection. "Nothing is the same, but it's one universe."
harpersbazaar.com
Bryan, some of us more mature BVettes need a bigger picture.
LOL. Where's ltbaglady? I don't know how to do that...
http://www.bottegaveneta.com/default/shop-products/Womens/designer-handbags/resina-lambskin-cobra-bag_277936VQ30B.html#!{"products":{"277936VQQ30B":{"size":"U","color":"7700","category":"/shop-products/Womens/designer-handbags"}}}
LOL. Where's ltbaglady? I don't know how to do that...
I got you covered!!
I love this bag btw.
jula, I'm so glad you posted the Maier article from the October Harper's Bazaar! I finally found the magazine (I live in a retail desert--little fashion and fewer books or fashion magazines) and my eyes lit up when I saw the interview!
Thanks for all your help in keeping us au courant on all things BV.
Thanks for all your help in keeping us au courant on all things BV.
jula, I'm so glad you posted the Maier article from the October Harper's Bazaar! I finally found the magazine (I live in a retail desert--little fashion and fewer books or fashion magazines) and my eyes lit up when I saw the interview!
Thanks for all your help in keeping us au courant on all things BV.
Thank you for your kind words!
Available starting November: Intreccio Uno
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Gorgeous, isn't it? Even has a yummy name. I believe it is called "Cioccolato Memory" from Spring 2012, possibly from the men's collection. On the BV website, under the World of BV heading, there is the cabat retrospective...can see a pic of what appears to be this cabat in a large size showing for Spring 2012.