Sitting in front of a stunning view of Dallas on the ninth floor of the Thompson Hotel in Downtown Dallas, Fern Mallis, often called the “godmother of fashion,” a fashion icon and creator of New York Fashion Week, spoke to The Dallas Express.
Mallis was honored with the “Icon of Innovation” award by Fashion Group International of Dallas at one of Dallas’ most fashionable black-tie gala, “Night of Stars,” on Friday, November 18.
Night of Stars also honored the House of Pierre Cardin with the Lifetime Achievement in Fashion award and designers Levi Palmer and Matthew Harding of Palmer//Harding with an award in Career Achievement in Fashion.
Mallis is not only the innovator behind New York Fashion Week, but she can now add “bestselling author” to her many accomplishments and legacy.
She spoke candidly about her recent books and receiving the Icon of Innovation award in Dallas.
“It’s always nice to be acknowledged, especially by your peers,” Mallis told The Dallas Express. “I don’t take this lightly that they think I deserve this.”
Mallis notably hosts “Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis” at the prestigious 92nd Street Y in New York, where she speaks to some of the biggest names in fashion. Some of the people who have participated include Valentino Garavani, Victoria Beckham, Christian Siriano, Leonard Lauder, Billy Porter, Iris Apfel, Bob Mackie, Zandra Rhodes, Arthur Elgort, Stan Herman, Bethann Hardison, and Angela and Rosita Missoni.
Mallis has sought to bring on the heavyweights of the fashion industry to talk openly and explicitly about their personal lives and their lives in the fashion world.
“No one was doing these kinds of interviews,” Mallis suggested, speaking to The Dallas Express. “These are literally the definitive interviews of these people’s lives and careers.”
“I ask the designers for the shoebox under their bed. I’m not looking for collection pictures. I don’t care about spring 2020 versus fall 2019. I want the pictures of their parents, siblings, the house they grew up in; I want to know who they are,” Mallis explained. “For me, they are more than a name on a label they are people.”
To date, Mallis has interviewed more than 60 iconic fashion moguls in the industry.
The best advice she says for those who are trying to make it in the fashion industry is to “be nice. It goes a long way.”
Mallis was inducted into The Business of Fashion’s BoF 500 Hall of Fame in 2014 and serves on the board of the FIT Foundation.
The two-book box set of her books, Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis and Fashion Icons 2: Fashion Lives with Fern Mallis, is available exclusively at Nordstrom and can be found here.