EMBRACING DESIGNERS WHO HAD A VISION
became one,” she remembers.
In 1990, when her then-husband was awarded the National Medal of Science at the White House, she turned to the icon of her youth and bought a green tweed Yves Saint Laurent suit for the ceremony. As Neiman Marcus Fashion Director Ken Downing says in his foreword to the book (“I remember when Ken was dressing mannequins,” Suppes quips, “and I was undressing them just as quickly to buy what he put on them.”): “Little did she realize that, in her quest for the appropriate attire to match the occasion, she would begin the personal journey of fashion exploration and acquisition.”
In the 1990s, she began collecting Geoffrey Beene, whom she considered “the most eloquent and visionary designer in the United States.” She developed a taste for Chanel, Lacroix, Lanvin and the (lowercase) house of on aura tout vu while covering the Paris shows. Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen also became cornerstones of her collection, and in 2005 she became an early proponent of California’s Rodarte and its designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy.
“It’s the California connection, partially,” Suppes says of her attraction to the Mulleavys’ highly cerebral work. “But, of course, the beauty of their visions speak for themselves. How could any woman not want to wear those pieces?”
“Christine Suppes has an incredible history and knowledge of fashion, and she has collected our most dynamic, special and couture pieces since our very first collection,” the designers said by e-mail. “She constantly inspires us to make the most beautiful and special pieces, as she truly believes in the artistry of fashion.”
The book’s cover is a fitting tribute to Suppes’ early influence: a gold and silver jacket from YSL’s 1993 spring/summer collection, a step up from the drawings she taped to her walls as a teenager.
After all the work collecting and creating “Electric Fashion,” is it still fun for Suppes to get dressed up?
She nods. “The journey continues.”