FASHION Magazine

By Adrian Mainella of CBC’s Fashion File

Speaking with Paul Sinclaire is like talking to a secret weapon fashion historian. This American expat, now based in Toronto, has a knowledge of fashion that is, to put it mildly, vast. He began his fashion life in the mid-’70s as a stylist for American Vogue, and later branched out as a design consultant for houses like Valentino, Trussardi, Dolce & Gabbana and Dior. Throughout the ’90s, Sinclaire was also an editor at major publications like L’Uomo Vogue, Italian Vogue and Arena.
Canadians know him from his time at Club Monaco as executive vice-president of design, and Sinclaire continues his fashion ride as president of design at Tevrow + Chase, a sophisticated line of American sportswear that has garnered the attention of Oprah Winfrey and Gwen Stefani. The line has taken New York by storm (editors like Anna Wintour are singing its praises), and with the recent opening of a retail showroom in Toronto, Canadians will once again get a taste of Sinclaire. As the ready-to-wear runway season heats up this month, he is the perfect industry insider to dish about life behind the catwalks.

What’s the most memorable fashion show you’ve ever put on? 
“Probably Dries Van Noten. It would be the first collection we did together, a menswear collection at the Bibliothèque [Nationale de France]. I think he used Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach concerto in C minor, and after the show there was a dead silence. And I turned to Dries, and I thought, Did they? Then I looked up and people were in tears. They were getting up and bravoing and cheering.”

What are some of the mechanics behind putting a show together?
“Well, everybody wants the same girls, right? When you’re dealing with big-time designers and you’re dealing with Paris shows, everybody’s falling for the same girls.” 

What do you have to do to ensure you get those girls?
“I think it’s about relationships. Don’t forget, I had a very long history as an editor at L’Uomo Vogue and Vogue Italia, and then French Numéro, which was an important magazine. So, at a certain moment during that time in my life, I could pick up the phone and there were no problems. But at that time, you know, it was everybody from Naomi [Campbell] to Kate [Moss].” 

Do you miss the supermodels? 
“No. The ones that I’ve remained friends with [are the ones] I really care about. But people always ask if I miss doing fashion shoots, right? Like, do I miss that energy? And I don’t. I love hearing about it. I think there’s just that moment when you want to retire that. I’ve always adored [fashion editor] Polly Mellon, right? And I used to say, if I’m still tying bows at a certain age, please, someone shoot me.”

But what about the idea of how fashion has changed over the years, and how we used to model fashion specifically to the models themselves?
“Do you know what’s so interesting about all that? If you think about the ’50s, the ’60s, the ’70s and even the early ’80s, there was no such thing as a stylist. They didn’t exist. There were muses, like Loulou de la Falaise was the muse for Yves Saint Laurent, and she was great. Inès de la Fressange was the great muse for Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel. And then you get … what’s her name? Like a Lauren. What’s her name?” 

You mean the model turned stylist? 
“Yeah. Is it Lauren … Scott?”

L’Wren Scott.
“So I think that’s amazing, and now she’s doing her own collection, but …”

Let’s call a spade a spade, right? L’Wren Scott has been catapulted to fame because of her current relations with the Rolling Stones, not her modelling career.  
“Oh, right, right, with Mick Jagger.”

Talk to me about the injustices in the fashion industry.
“Oh, I don’t know if there’s really injustices. Honestly, I think it’s all about luck.” 

The new Fashion File begins Monday, October 15 at 7:30 p.m. on CBC.

Tevrow + Chase Fall 2007. Image courtesy of Scarlet Boutique, Toronto.

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