An Interview With Elie Tahari

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L.G.: How long has that been the case?

 
E.T.: This is our first fall for handbags. It’s only the second fall that we’re selling shoes—so it’s brand-new.
 
L.G.: Why did you wait so long to put handbags and shoes out under your brand name?
 
E.T.: We won’t drink wine before its time.
 
L.G.: Orson Welles said that.
 
E.T.: Right. And who said, "A kick in the ass is good when you’re facing in the right direction"?
 
L.G.: I don’t know. . . . So when are we going to have an Elie Tahari fragrance?
 
E.T.: I think it’s on the agenda next. But we won’t drink wine before its time. And when we try it, it will happen. You know, I approach a business very much like going with the flow. When things are supposed to happen, they happen, and I seize the moment. When I have somebody that wants to license belts with us, and I think they are a great company, they’re ready, and everything is right, then we do it. It’s not that our people go out and seek. I don’t do that.… So somebody says, "We’d like to license you a belt," and we have them design the belt line, and then they send it—or a tie, or a shirt, because not everything we’ll be able to do ourselves. And if we can have partners and we can do it well, fine. But it’s got to be the right people. We’ve been talking to Estée Lauder about perfumes for two years, and it didn’t happen.
 
L.G.: Had you been smelling different fragrances?
 
E.T.: I did that too, yeah. But it didn’t happen yet.
 
L.G.: And you’ve already got the name picked out? You can’t have Obsession. That’s taken. How about Compulsion? You can’t have Unforgivable. Maybe Inexcusable?

E.T.: Yes, Inexcusable. [Laughs.]
 
L.G.: So, this figure $500 million gets bandied about—is that sales?
 
E.T.: That’s sales.
 
L.G.: And you’re now in Europe and Asia as well?
 
E.T.: We are very reluctant to do a lot of licensing, and we must have been in half a dozen countries, to open up in Asia, in the Far East. We did a Russian deal; we’re doing a Turkish deal; we did the Dubai deal; and in Greece we are talking to them now.

L.G.: And you’re in the U.K. and Austria?
 
E.T.: Yes, we sell in Europe through Milan.
 
L.G.: I see. You still don’t do runway shows during Fashion Week, right?
 
E.T.: Not yet. Not yet.
 
L.G.: Your preferred method has been to invite people to come to your showroom, right? Why is that?
 
E.T.: At one point in my career—I would say I was in business for five years—I had started doing fashion shows when I had a full collection. And I did it for about two seasons. And it took a big toll on me, and on the company, and on the financial resources. The amount of press that you get at a time doesn’t justify all the energy, you know. It takes you away from doing what you need to do. When you’re designing for a fashion show, you’re designing for a lot of work. And everybody’s potential is that day, that runway. The whole organization is that day, that hour. And after the runway, everybody’s collapsing. But the truth is, that’s when you really start going to work—producing it, shipping it on time—and none of that happens after the show. Nothing was shipped on time, and there was a lot of distraction. Now, I’m not saying that it’s not good to do shows.

L.G.: You seem to suggest that you might be doing them.
 
E.T.: Yeah, when I feel that we can put a show on, and we have the resources, and the innovation, and the finance. Not that we don’t have the finance, but I’m saying that when we need to make the commitment to do it, we’ll do it right. And I want it to be done in such a way that everybody will be excited, and will be on the runway, and talk about it, and it will be a breath of fresh air. Because when I look at shows—I go to some shows—I look at the newspaper, I look at the videos, and there’s no reason for the shows. I don’t understand.

L.G.: If you were to have a show, would Anna Wintour get a front-row seat?
 
E.T.: I don’t think I would have a choice. [Laughs.] Absolutely. If she comes.
 
L.G.: What is it with you? I saw a quote where somebody was pointing out that Vogue had pretty much ignored you, and you said, "I guess I’m not important enough for Vogue."
 

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