Recently we went to YM’s awesome MTV Issue
party. Michelle Branch and Rooney performed and there was some serious
star power! We swooned
at those cuties from Hanson, giggled when we saw that Average Joe Adam
Returns guy - what was he doing there, anyway? - and flipped out when we
bumped into Rachel Boston who plays Beth on our favorite show American
Dreams!
The biggest star in our eyes, though, was YM’s Fashion Director Elizabeth
Kiester. Rarely do you meet someone in high fashion
who is so high energy!!! We love her! So, in the interest of getting to
know our latest crush, we
interviewed Elizabeth for our new series here at fredflare.com called
media blitz where we profile some of the
great people behind the mags we love.
Enjoy!
Hi Elizabeth! Thanks so much for
taking the time to chat with us! We're yur biggest fans so this is such
a thrill! We're going to barrage you with tons o' work questions. So, for
our readers who don't already know, could you tell us what a fashion
director does?
First, I gotta say that Fred Flare rocks my world every single day! You
guys are like my soul mates! Okay, now to the question of what it is that
I do exactly... Since I work at a young women's mag, we don't really shoot
all those high falutin' designer runway stuff. So I find ways to interpret
those trends in a fun, understandable, young way. It sounds really silly,
but I look at fashion trends, music and art movements, what's cool on TV,
what's happening in politics and all that heavy duty stuff and see how
I can translate those ideas into a visual story. (Is anyone following?)
For example: last fall (the November issue) we did a fashion feature called "Holy
Howling Wind". It came from the fashion trend of movement (fringe,
ribbon ties, blah blah blah) but we took it up a notch by having an illustrator
draw around the photos, using those cartoony "BLAM!"s all over
the place. That idea was in response to the James Rosenquist show that
was about to happen at the Whitney. I also knew there was going to be a
great emphasis going forward on color and patterns and that retro '50s
stuff. And voila! Spring fashion is really all about those ideas. So being
a Fashion Director is also kinda like being a Trend Forecaster. I've gotta
understand where things are going, where they've been and have that make
sense for our readers in a visual yet narrative way. Get it? (If you say "no",
I totally understand.)
Wow, that actually makes total sense! So then, how do you go about planning
a magazine fashion spread?
First, I make a visual storyboard. I am now weirdly famous around the office
for my silly sketches. I draw everything out first (and everyone says my
drawings always look like me, but a younger version of me! And, like me,
the girls never have eyebrows!) and then I figure out the proportions and
the crops of pictures and the spirit of the spread. Like I think, "Okay,
the trend for summer is brights and plastics and fun prints. Where exactly
does a girl want to wear those kinds of things?" and out of that
question comes an idea to shoot at an amusement park and it grows from
there.
That sounds fun! And YM spreads always have the best props! We love those
kooky details like plastic pool toys, astroturf, and bikes from the '70s.
Do you play a part in sourcing all the fun stuff shown with the fashions?
Well, yes and no. I come up with the idea and then we work with this incredible
set designer named Andy Harmon to put my thoughts into actual props. Andy
is amazing! We share the same mental sensibility. For a shoot I did for
the December issue - it was a PJ story shot in teenagers bedrooms that
we built in a photo studio - I had a meeting with Andy before the shoot.
I told him the types of girls I was looking to shoot and the kinds of rooms
I thought they would have. Off he went into the wild smoggy yonder and
then on the day of the shoot, there were boxes and piles of stuff everywhere,
including lots of Precious Moments-type figurines, which I thought were
incredible for my "Kountry Kornball” room. Andy was in the corner
with a chainsaw cutting something out of a big piece of wood. Curious,
I went over to see what the heck he was doing. He was like, "Duh!
Making a Hello Kitty headboard!" Oh, of course!
We know you've done some super collaborative shoots with design luminaries
like Isaac Mizrahi and Anna Sui. What's that like?
Those guys are my fashion heroes! Both of them - and Todd Oldham, too -
are people I admire so much, and working with them was both exhilarating
and nerve-wracking. Anna and Isaac couldn't be more different in terms
of their style, and I tried to tailor the photo shoots I did with them
based on the kind of people they are. With Anna, the louder the better!
Her spirit and energy are amazing. I could watch her work all day long.
She loves loves loves clothes. She is so NOT a diva, she is so NOT a snob,
she is so real and excited and exciting and inspiring. Her references are
enormous and she knows so much about art and music and fashion, it's like
being in a classroom when you're near her. I love that. So cool. Isaac,
on the other hand, is so hilarious and larger than life. When he launched
the Isaac line at Target I was so stoked I just had to do a story with
him. Knowing him for as long as I have, I knew he liked '50s TV shows and
wanted that vibe to be the backdrop for our shoot together. He loved it
and really got into it! The whole shoot had that funny kind of "plastic-y" look
that old TV shows have. We had a great day! My stomach muscles hurt from
laughing so hard!
In your fashion write-ups you always try 'n throw in something personal
like advice from your Mom or past fashion disasters you've witnessed. Can
you give our readers any advice on pursuing a career in fashion magazines?
When I was pursuing a job, I had no clue what working in the fashion department
meant. I was sooooo clueless. Today, everyone is so much more informed
and on top of stuff. I always tell people to get an internship at a magazine.
It's an awesome way to see how exactly the business works, pitch in, have
a great experience and it never hurts to make those kinds of contacts.
Lots of the people I've hired over the years have been former interns of
either mine or other friends at mags. It's a great resume builder!
That’s great advice! Now, what's
your fave part of your job?
I love clothes. Not that that comes as a great surprise. But when I say "I
love clothes" I mean that in a deeper, bigger way than just loving
designer stuff and all that fashion lemming I've-gotta-love-it-'cuz-everyone-else-does
stuff. I am crazy about all fashion. I love that great fashion can be found
at discount stores and random places and high designer boutiques and amazing
websites and from young, new designers. Going into a Target sends me into
an over-the-top sweaty frenzy and so does going into the Marc by Marc Jacobs
store on Bleecker Street. I think there is amazing fashion and design to
be had in so many places, not just at the Louis Vuitton store.
And... I am also insanely in love with travelling. I love hotels! My dream
has always been to live in a hotel. I am a total neat freak so hotel living
works for me. I'd love to have a maid every day, even though when I stay
in hotels, I always make the bed when I get up in the morning, and refold
all the wet towels. I am sure the maids think I am bizarre! Visiting new
places is so exciting for me. I love going to offbeat places. The first
thing I do when I go to a foreign country is go to a pharmacy and a grocery
store. I think it's such a clear window into the soul of a place. What
do they eat? What does the packaging for band-aids look like? When I was
in Vietnam last summer, I found a can of Pringles covered in dust in this
tiny town's market. I bought so much stuff in that store and dragged home
suitcases of the Vietnamese version of White Rain shampoo and Tickle deodorant.
For souvenirs I got some leopard print packaged tampons. They were a big
hit!
So, what magazines did you read when you were growing up?
When I tell my assistants or the interns that in my day there was no Elle,
no Flaunt, no InStyle,
no Lucky, no Allure,
no Marie Claire, etc etc., they die! They
can't imagine that. (They also are incredulous when I tell
them there was no cable TV either.) Harper's Bazaar back
then was geared towards the "40 and Fabulous!" set. I read Vogue and
Glamour and Mademoiselle (RIP)
which is where I landed my first job, a dream come
true! I also read Highlights because I
was obsessed with Goofus & Gallant,
and Cricket, because I won a few short
story contests in there.
Hey Fashion Lovah, how would you describe your personal style?
I grew up in the preppiest J. Crew town in the universe, so I think you
could say that I've spent the last 20 or so years trying to undo that from
my genetic fashion makeup. I am a bit eclectic, but I am a big matcher.
I am Miss Matchy Poo. I've tried to break out of that, but then I feel
un-done. I like taking an idea - like black and white - and exploiting
that to death. I will wear my b&w checkered Vans with a black and white
polka dot shirt and b&w striped earrings. It does sound really ghastly,
doesn't it? People always say I never wear the same thing twice, but that
is such a lie. I
just change it up all the time. When I was making like 5 cents a day as
an assistant, I decided the cheapest and easiest way to dress (and to be
able to walk into the Conde Nast building without hanging my head in fashion
shame) was just to wear black and white. I had 10 white men's poly/cotton
dress shirts from the 99 cent store and 10 pairs of black pants, and I
wore that every single day. I just changed the accessories.
Give us your insider secrets on the next BIG trend. Please, oh please!!!
I really believe that we'll be seeing a lot of "Americana" soon.
Like bad-ass Americana, the Easy Rider early '70s Americana. In some ways,
I think the whole political scene is kind of driving this - what's happening
with Bush and the 9/11 inquiries, etc is very familiar to the Watergate/Vietnam/Nixon
days - and I think we're going to start seeing that movement again in fashion
and music and art. I think Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson kind of have
that spirit.
We know you have a big e-bay habit. What's on your retro radar these days?
I am still obsessed and in love with '70s stuff. Maybe because that's when
I was a kid and that stuff conjurs up memories, good and bad. My friend
Troy and I both love Baby Alive and Baby Thataway, these two ridiculous
baby dolls from the '70s. I love the absurd in the ordinary! I am also
way into film strips from the '50s and '60s, those insane Health films
that your school nurse showed about hygiene and stuff. We found them on
DVD on ebay and they’re hilarious. I also love Vera from the '70s.
Those wild beautiful prints she did make me crazy! I slept on Vera sheets
and used Vera towels when I was little, and I wish I still had them. Now
I am also scouring for '70s Marimekko linens and home stuff.
What are you fave places to kick back and take a break in NYC?
I could go to the movies every day and be a happy lady. I am an avid reader.
I can sit on the couch, get into a book and suddenly 8 hours have passed.
Sitting on my couch and watching Lifetime made-for-TV movies with my boyfriend
and eating a cheeseburger is a good place to be, too. We have a house in
Vermont that we escape to on the weekends. I ride an ATV, I've got a snowmobile
that I've driven at 90MPH and am also learning how to ride a dirtbike.
Okay, Miss Matchy Poo... it's speed round time! FAVE COLOR: Red Red Red! FAVE CANDY: Charleston Chews, Mike 'n Ikes,
Blackjack gum FAVE TUNES: from
Tori Amos to Rage Against the Machine to Joss Stone to Morrissey to Tool
to Billie Holliday to Cat
Power to Nirvana. FAVE FOOD: Cheeseburgers
from Pauls on 2nd Ave, ranch dip and chips and there's this salad at the
Hotel Costes
in Paris which I could eat every
day and that sounds really pretentious but it's not, I swear! I also love
cheese sticks at Applebees. FAVE MOVIE:Apocalypse Now,
To Live, Once
Were Warriors and anything
that inspires tears from its realness and honesty.
