What I was really trying to answer [with this collection is] how do you get dressed when you are in power, [when] you’re making up the rules? It’s not this Dress for Success white blouse with a little black bowtie. It had nothing to do with that; it was much sleeker and it was sharp without looking like Dynasty. Quite honestly, I think we saw a lot of interpretations of what powerful meant in the ’80s that became a cartoon. When I designed it, and when I look back at it, that show was streamlined and powerful, there was nothing cartoon about it at all.
It’s a very interesting collection because it was truly the first time that I really got that heavily into tailoring. We were really thinking about women who were truly in control, [but who] weren’t willing to give up the idea of looking sensual and female. It wasn’t a tomboy [look], but there was definitely a sense of power, so lots of tailoring in that show—and jumpsuits.
I also kept thinking about alternatives. So instead of wearing a dress, what can you do? Can you wear a jumpsuit to the office? Is there a jumpsuit that you’d wear at night? What are the options? How do you get dressed and look powerful and strong, but definitely female. And so this [collection] is full of all of those ideas.
The other thing that happened in that show in a big way [was my use of red.] I had always tinkered with red. When you put on something red—even if it’s just a red shoe—there’s something that just lifts your spirits. And that show is the first time where I really explored the power of this sort of head-to-toe stroke of bright, bright crimson red, and it’s still something to me that seems so powerful today.