We knew Karen Walker was big time, but this is major (and cute at the same time)
Words by Murray Bevan, FNZ Publisher
I’ve known Karen Walker for the best part of 30 years. We met when I was thrust into her office by my big sister in the school holidays, tasked with licking 4000 stamps and putting together VIP customer mailers before the days of e-mail. I didn’t know anything about fashion – not even the difference between a skirt and a dress – but I could tell that there was something impressive about how Karen walked, talked, networked and traveled. She consistently turned up in every major fashion city throughout the year, pushing herself to the limit and turning out collection after collection. She knew she was world class, and we were all excited and proud to be part of her team (even in the mail room).
Fast forward 28 years and I’ve watched on with pride as Karen’s designs have been worn by the biggest celebrities in the world, from musicians to politicians to movie stars to the biggest fashion editors you could name. So it wasn’t any surprise to me when my good friend Tracey Donaldson forwarded me this podcast where Karen was once again name-dropped by one of the most influential names in world fashion.
The podcast in question is none other than ‘The Run Through’ co-hosted by… wait for it… Chloe Malle, Nicole Phelps and Chioma Nnadi. For anyone who’s scratching their head, this line-up consists of the Head of editorial content for US Vogue (Malle), Director of Vogue Runway (Phelps) and the Editor of British Vogue (Nnadi).
The podcast is called Anna Wintour’s Former Assistants Reveal What The Devil Wears Prada Got Right (and Wrong).
Shortly after the podcast gets started, the women get straight into the hot topic of the moment: The Devil Wears Prada 2. It’s an unavoidable topic in fashion right now, and seeing as these three women have basically lived the storyline, it’s charming to hear their take on it, including the very real experience of meeting Anna Wintour for the first time.
But where it gets REALLY interesting for us proud Kiwi fashion lovers is just after the 3 minute mark, where the hosts discuss what they wore to meet Anna Wintour for the very first time. And get this: Chioma wore Karen Walker.
The transcript goes like this:
[Nnadi]
“I guess I was asked to see Anna on a Friday, but I was contacted in the morning, so I was already at work. So I couldn’t really go home and change. So I showed up in my jeans.
I had a sort of a nice blazer. I think it was, like, Karen Walker. She was like a fun New Zealand designer who was making sunglasses at the time. She did some fun clothes as well.”
Over the course of the podcast, discussion ranges from the ‘no black’ dress-code policy at Vogue to the big-name designers each woman wore to impress Wintour, as well as what the hosts did on Easter weekend, Anna’s recent cover with Meryl Streep and how much they love Euphoria.
As it turned out for Nnadi, her Karen Walker-draped encounter with Anna was the first of two interviews, and the second time around she got her big break at British Vogue. Working her way up from a staff writer to now being the Editor must have been quite the ride, and all the while she had her trusty Karen Walker blazer to thank for it (at least, partly).
I spoke to Karen tonight before I penned this story, as well as her husband Mikhail Gherman. Both of them were equally chuffed with the name-drop, and the fact that their clothes were still, to this day, being worn and appreciated by smart, cool and connected people all over the world. And while I know that Karen and many designers like her don’t start out with the goal of having celebrities and fashion leaders wearing their gear, I can’t help but think they still get a kick out of it, and how could you not?
