One of our region’s favorite menswear designers, Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy, recently sat down with WWD for a candid conversation on falling for intelligent women and working with men that look like men; we bring you our favorite outtakes.
ON GIVING
“… I know what it’s like to be dreamer. I know what it’s like to have nothing in life. Maybe there’s a child in Yugoslavia dreaming to be a designer, or a guy from Australia or a girl from New York who could be inspired.
I post Givenchy-related and work stuff, but also my travels. For example, I was recently in Brazil and I was lucky to be there and I want to show it to the world. It’s not about me so much. Most of the time it’s about things I like and I’m not scared to share my inspirations and what is going on in my life…”
ON JOAN SMALLS BEING GORGEOUS AND INTELLIGENT
“I’ve got two casting directors, but I’m probably one of the few old-style designers who chooses all the models himself. I’m seeing about 500 to 600 girls and 500 to 600 boys every season, in Paris, New York and Milan. I’ve discovered a lot of models that went on to become very famous: Robert Evans, for example, but also Lara Stone, who was doing a lot of catalogues and money jobs. Or Joan Smalls: I fell in love with her intelligence, her personality. Her character was so Latin, so Puerto Rican and I even went to Puerto Rico to meet her family.”
ON WORKING WITH MEN THAT LOOK LIKE MEN
“My woman is a very strong and powerful woman and I wanted a confident man next to her. So I started street casting. I went to Brazil and Cuba. I also went to New York, London, Paris, Milan and I cast a lot of much more healthy-looking guys, rougher, guys that go to the gym—different from the skinny, beautiful boys Hedi Slimane popularized at the time. I went for personality more than beauty: a nice, but dodgy boy. My first show was all black and white clothes, and about having the confidence to wear lace because you’re secure in your sexuality.”
ON STREETWEAR AND SUITS
“…It’s always been very painful for me to wear suits because I never grew up like that. Growing up, when I was going to church on Sunday with my family, I would wear a sweater instead of a sweatshirt. Also, I never really had the money to buy a jacket to go to church. I feel comfortable, and stronger, in my street-casual clothes. Of course, sometimes I do have to wear a suit and I’ve learned after 10 years at Givenchy to wear a suit.”
Read his full interview here.
