Above: From Posen's next collection, illustrating the draping we can expect

Lucire: Zac, tell me what it’s like to be 21 and a designer.

ZP: To be 21 and be a designer is incredible; I’m able to be a cultural receive dish. To study modern culture, ancient culture, art history and fashion history. I’m pretty lucky to be doing it. I’ve been doing it ever since I was 16 years old. I was working in fashion, going to Parsons when I was very young taking a pre-college course, I was a sophomore in high school as well, being an intern at Nicole Miller, so I was introduced to fashion very young when people took risks. I was able to work and prove to them as an intern designing and producing 50 sketches a day and trying to understand somebody’s idea and philosophy of design. For me it’s been a few years that I have been working, it’s been an incubation for me to get ready.

Lucire: And with that incubation you did some time at Central St Martin’s and being an American did they receive you or did you face some competition?

ZP: Yeah it was an extremely competitive school, a non-technical school. I loved my technical teachers there, but it’s a very crowded school. I did not spend that much time at school, after a short amount of time I had space in my house in my living room. I was able to cultivate my ideas about aristocracy and about culture that I had in England to see if they were real to enter into the English society which is very conservative.

Lucire: Do you think that by going to Central St Martin’s gives you an edge as a young new American designer as opposed to somebody who might have gone to FIT or Parsons?

ZP: Well I think I was around students and teachers where you are able to format your own project by yourself, you’re pushed to the boundary. At St Martin’s you’re given a briefing and a month later after meeting with your teacher you have to present. It’s very intense. You have to be very self-motivated. I wasn’t in class every day because I had to be out in London researching things and finding things to produce mini-collections or one project. There were times where we did not have to make garments, more conceptual projects—we did a project like the colour white. So I would come up with white which in western culture symbolizes innocence, virginity and purity and I would say what clothing historically enforced that upon women. Side-saddle clothing was totally representational of virginal riding.

Lucire: So who is the Zac Posen woman?

ZP: I think that there are a few different kinds. I think that with my evening clothing it’s obviously a woman who goes to events and has a reason to wear these dresses. I have to be realistic there not going to be wearing these outfits in their houses to greet their husbands.

Lucire: Is there an attitude here with your clothing?

ZP: Yeah it’s very strong women, extremely confident and self-assured and powered, an eccentric woman who wears the clothing. It’s clothing to be dressed with; I love when people make an outfit with a piece of my clothing.

Lucire: So it’s not totally a head-to-toe Zac Posen look?

ZP: No, but I would like to design something like from the shoe to the hat, create an outfit that a woman could zip into. Suits that can come together, a business suit and a cocktail dress. A cocktail dress from the back and a business suit in the front but more subtle, it’s not half-man, half-woman.

Lucire: Are there certain things that inspire you throughout from collection to collection?

ZP: There is a huge amount of draping and construction, seaming and how seaming holds a garment together. It’s really interesting to me; and I’m always playing and finding different lines on the anatomy of the body, to accentuate things. Your making different planes on fabrics when you cut a piece on a fabric, the light reflects on it differently, you add hues, you’re an archetitect on the moving form.

Lucire: Which celebrities are wearing your clothes?

ZP: Milla Jovovich is wearing clothes from the Gen Art show: she’s wearing the mini-Monroe dress that is the red with the crossed strap (above left), and the one you liked. The one with the burgundy stretch satin. As well Lola Schnabell who was my roommate and fit model as well a very big influence on understanding what a really sexy voluptuous body is.

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