Fashion Designers: Michael Kors
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Long Island’s designing favorite son, Michael Kors, has stayed true to his roots. Educated at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, he was designing for elite Manhattan boutique Lothar’s at the young age of 19. He launched his own lines for upscale department stores Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue in 1981. His characteristically simple, clean lines earned him recognition by Vogue magazine as part of “the New Establishment” of American fashion in 1996.
Local Boy Does Well
Born Karl Anderson, Jr. on August 9, 1959 on Long Island to a Scandinavian-American father and a Jewish-American mother, the boy who would one day come to be known as Michael Kors had two main aspirations in life: to be either a fashion designer or a movie star. He taught himself to sketch runway looks by studying the style pages of The New York Times, and learned about the pile and texture of various fabrics from his grandparents. HistoryofFashion.com reveals that the future Michael Kors was acting in cereal commercials at four years old, and spent his teenage years taking acting classes in Manhattan.
Source: HistoryofFashion.com
Kors went on to study at Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology. He learned fast and was quick to gain accolades and connections. In 1978, he was hired to design and merchandise fashion at the high-end New York boutique, Lothar’s. Three years later, Kors launched his women’s wear line, sold at Fifth Avenue fashion titans Bergdorf Goodman and Saks.
Source: TV.com
In Vogue
By the 1990s, Michael Kors had become a favorite of the international fashion media. His minimalist style expressed the fashion ethic of the time. Supermodels, including Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell, walked the runways in Kors’s designs during the Spring 1992 Fashion Week.
As part of the entertainment for delegates of the 1992 Democratic National Convention held in New York, Kors’s work was featured in a Central Park show alongside the collections of long-established designers such as Oscar de la Renta and Donna Karan.
Source: The New York Times
U.K.-based paper The Daily Telegraph refers to Kors as “King Kors,” attributing the moniker to Vogue magazine. In 1995, Kors launched a side project called KORS and was hired as the creative director of French fashion house Celine in 1997.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
The Council of Fashion Designers of America named him 1999’s “Womenswear Designer of the Year”.
Source: Council of Fashion Designers of America
New Millennium, New Look
Although a decade ago his name was known only among true fashionistas, during the 2000s Kors’s fame spread. In 2004, he launched his Michael by Michael Kors line. Sold at Macy’s, it offers a price-conscious way to be chic. Possibly his greatest exposure is through his spot on the judges’ panel of “Project Runway.” Catch video clips of Kors’s trademark sass at the Official Bravo TV Web site.
Source: Bravo
Recently Kors branched out from his minimalism. Kors’s February 2008 Fashion Week show was dominated by bows on the bodice and voluminous coats that recalled looks from the 1980s. Highlights of the show are available at Style.com, the Web site of Vogue and W magazines.
Source: Style.com
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