Julie de Libran: How are you?

Fabrizio Viti: I am well. We have to speak English, even if me and you speaking English is very strange. It’s probably the first time.

Julie: We can add a few Italian words, if it’s easier. You have some nice flowers!

Fabrizio: They are all fake! But at least they don’t die and they last. You cut your hair?

Julie: I did it on my own; I got sick of it.

Fabrizio: How is confinement going, apart from cutting your hair?

Julie: I cannot complain. We are lucky because we were already in the country and ended up staying here. We are surrounded by nature; I feel very lucky.

Fabrizio: I’ve been doing designs and sketches, even though the factories are closed. Not as much as I usually do, but I keep going. Are you designing, too?

Julie: Of course. It’s amazing to have so much time in front of you and to have no deadlines. I sketch a lot at night and to feel like there are no meetings, no
people waiting for you, is incredible. To have all this time to think more and lose yourself in sketching, without being interrupted. It’s quite amazing.

Fabrizio: Without being interrupted, I was thinking that as well. It is very interesting to sketch without the pressure of having to do a sample immediately, like,
which zip, which leather? Right now, we can at least sketch something and think twice about whether we like it or not. That’s so interesting and hasn’t happened in the past 20 years.

Julie: It’s nice to be more freestyle and to sketch what comes out of your head without the need to make sense; to adapt it to what is going on and to what we really need.

Fabrizio: We are doing a mental editing, which is good. Just not having the rush of producing something immediately makes us reflect more about sketches and what we like. There won’t be a need for too many things out there for the next couple of seasons, which is also interesting.

Julie: Absolutely, to edit and to create what you really love and desire, and with a certain quality and know-how. Being even more selective.

Fabrizio: We first met at the Marangoni school [in Milan], when we studied there. You are younger than me I have to say; I was in the final year and you were in the first. And we have been friends ever since. I was thinking about Milano in those years; it was quite fun.

Julie: We would go dancing! There was a movement in the 1990s, which was really an expression of how people were wearing clothes in Milan then. Fashion
is really an important part of the culture, the colours and the fabrics there…

Fabrizio: In Milano at the time – and even now, because Milano is very good again – there were lots of brands and people are aware of fashion. Especially in the club scene, because people like us were studying or working for the brands and then we would go out and have fun. I remember that very well, it was very fun. And then we found ourselves at Prada, and the fun was done; we were locked in the office there!

Julie: It was just work, work, work, but such a good school. Necessary I think. Do you still use what you learned from those experiences today, even after all those years in other companies?

Fabrizio: Of course. They were our formative years and I still retain many of the things I learned there. Do you remember? It was me, you, Fabio Zambernardi, Stefano Pilati, and Alessandra Facchinetti. It was a good moment.

Julie: It was a great time; I have great memories of all those years of so much work and construction. Thinking back to Prada then and looking at it now, it has stayed so true to its image and aesthetic. That fashion discipline is definitely an example.

Fabrizio: At the time, if you remember, Prada was seen as something strange: too basic, too nun-like, not sexy, too minimal. Before that became the key to Prada – because the genius of Signora Prada is always to be different.

Julie: That is why I was brought there, too; I was hired to bring some more sexiness and femininity to the collections?

Fabrizio: I remember, and you did it very well, because there was a need for it at the time. It was great and also very difficult, as we know, because the pressure was so high.

Julie: Many years later, I was in New York and went to the Met to see the Prada-Schiaparelli exhibition. The pieces we all worked on at Prada were there and it was quite extraordinary to see them in an exhibition; they’ve became part of the history of fashion and the art of costume. It’s wonderful that they have lasted and are shown as an example for the next generation to learn from.

Fabrizio: Like you are so old that something you do is in the museum! [Laughs] Was it me who introduced you to Marc Jacobs?

Julie: Not physically, but I know you told him about me because I was still at Prada. At the time, my life was between Milan and Paris. I had an appointment with Marc to join the team, so your team as well. We saw each other and then we met again in Paris at Louis Vuitton, and they were also incredible years: a lot of work and incredible times to create incredible shows. That is one of the talents that Marc really brings to fashion: his attention to detail and the way he can really put on a show!

Fabrizio: I remember I once spoke to Marc and I thanked him very much because I never thought that working in fashion could also mean working on Broadway! We were setting up shows that were like Broadway shows; they lasted 11 minutes, but were emotionally and visually so strong. I think what I learned most from Marc is to have fun and feel joy, not fun in a stupid way, but to create something that people can understand and enjoy. It was also really interesting how we used to spend sleepless nights and would just fall asleep…

Julie: Just a couple of minutes before the show! It was 8.30 in the morning and we hadn’t slept and the show was at 10am, across the road, so we sat in the entrance and had a 10-minute power nap.

Fabrizio: Right in the entrance and I remember a girl from Louis Vuitton came over to me and said, ‘Monsieur, monsieur, you can’t sleep here!’ And I was like, ‘I’m not homeless – I work here!’ You were sleeping as well and then you were like, ‘We have to go, the show is now!’ It was a great time. I am still happy to be at Vuitton, because I am having a fantastic time with Nicolas, even after 16 years.

Julie: It’s incredible. I think you deserve a medal for 16 years service, and more to come. You’re definitely now one of the columns holding up the building!

Fabrizio: I’ve gained weight over the years, so I really am a column now! I love to eat, but I don’t know how to cook and the restaurants are closed.

Julie: You have been cooking? I am proud of you!

Fabrizio: Thank you, I have been cooking, cleaning the house and watching two episodes of Charlie’s Angels every night.

Julie: Just two? Not more?

Fabrizio: No, because I want to make them last in case there is another lockdown! You never know! I’m also dealing with my own brand, as you do every day. We’ve already spoken about this, but this is a very intense moment. We are selling shoes on our website like never before, so this is a very good moment for us, but we are also trying to keep up with the future collection. Next season will be very intense…

Julie: We are both very lucky because our companies are small enough that we can stay really close to the products, the editing, the way things are decided and done. We are very lucky in this time to be able to make the right decisions and to focus on the priorities. I am also lucky because I have created a brand that is very intimate. It is just dresses and we can have one-to-one appointments, so it is something also very private. Online is not the easiest thing for me; I am more of a tactile person. I like to try things on and I like the experience of going somewhere and having the time. So once we are able to all move more, we should be able to restart once we have the security measures in place.

Fabrizio: Of course, it will.

Julie: Like you, I am wondering what people will want to wear once all this reopens and people start going out and meeting up again. Maybe they will have
more private dinners at the beginning because restaurants, hotels and travel are not going to open quite yet. So what will people want to wear? What type of shoes will they be looking for? Something more comfortable or something with some more decoration, but still comfortable?

Fabrizio: Maybe more personal and less show-off, I think. Women will want to wear something they really like. My brand has always been for women; it is not done for the men. As Katie [Grand] used to say, the shoes are not man-catchers. My shoes are for women who choose what they want and buy them for themselves. Lately we have been doing really well with clogs, which is a sign, because clogs are easy to wear. They have a very laid-back attitude, not like the re carpet shoes. What is important for both of us, and that I admire, is that even after all these years of working in big brands, we have been able to create and maintain our own independence, right? We always said we’d do that when we were younger, and here we are. Did you expect it would be so hard?

Julie: With 30 years of experience in this industry, I can say that I think it’s always been hard, but when you are so passionate and so dedicated, you just don’t calculate any of it. You don’t calculate the time you spend doing it, you just give yourself to it because you just love it so much; it is such a passion. I feel like every experience I have had has been hard because with fashion you never know. Every day is a new day; every day you have to prove yourself. It is creativity and it is fashion and it is of the moment. The new label just felt the right thing for me to do now – it has been almost a year – it felt right to really express my values, what my
brand should be about. It is responsible fashion; I am only doing dresses and only using upcycled fabrics; it is about very narrow and limited editions, all numbered. It is small and that is how I wanted it to be. My lifestyle and my upbringing were always very organic and natural. I just didn’t want to keep making stuff that wasn’t useful or necessary any more; I just wanted to focus. I made this decision, but even so, it is hard because sometimes I would like to make more. Like I love men’s jackets and I would like to make more of them, but since I am doing it on my own, I am trying to stay as focused as possible, and be true to my values and ideas. I want to take the time and then later expand. What’s hard too is that you have to be involved in all aspects of the brand: the numbers, the cost of everything…

Fabrizio: We are not really used to that! Sometimes I am designing something and I say to myself, I think I should put two daisies fewer and then I say, but why? Then the answer is because they cost one euro each. As modern designers, we were always aware of costs, even at Louis Vuitton, but with your own brand, you have to be careful about so many things. I knew the situation before I started, but I am still surprised how hard it is to deal with the emotional side, being out there with your name on products. Sometimes they are a success and sometimes a disappointment; you do things that you believe in and then no one cares about it. Also, it’s really different when it is under another brand than when it carries your own name.

Julie: It’s also about communication, all your social media. It’s important, even if we are both far more interested in the quality of the work and the product, the art of what we are doing, rather than communicating about it.

Fabrizio: We are a generation of designers raised on the idea of the importance on the product, and not ourselves. I have never used the brands I worked for to promote myself, and I don’t use my brand to promote myself personally. I do promote my work, though; I like to communicate, but for me the fashion is there to communicate. It is a language, my own language that I use to reflect on the women around me and what I think women may like.

Julie: It’s self-expression. I now realize that I got into this business because I needed it as an expression of my thoughts and being very shy, it was a way to…

Fabrizio: You were never very shy! When we met, your décolleté was very exposed! You are shy and not shy. I remember when you were jumping on your scooter in Milano hitching up your skirt in a very sexy way!

Julie: I think that is part of it – I am shy in terms of communicating, but I was able to express myself through my clothes. The way I wore things and put things together was a form of expression.

Fabrizio: No complaining; everyone was very happy!

Julie: Thank you! What do you think image is going to be like when we get out of this? How important do you think image is going to be in terms of what we
are putting out there? Basically, it’s creativity versus marketing: do you think people will be more tempted by the image or the creativity that is coming from a designer?

Fabrizio: As we all know marketing is very important because it is a guideline for a designer, but then the guideline can be broken, you can go in the opposite direction. We know that very well!

Julie: It’s often our strength, right?

Fabrizio: The guidelines people show you are often what they know, so that means what you did the season before. They can’t show you what you haven’t
done. So it is up to us to break the guideline and make them understand that the next thing could be better than the one we did before. That is a key point and
they say, ‘But these are selling well.’ And I always say, ‘Yes because they are in stores! That’s why they sell!’ I hope that people will care more about quality and choosing what they really like instead of following a certain type of trend. We have been overwhelmed by the trend of sneakers or huge oversized coats, and at some point everything and everyone looks alike. You see these oversized creatures with oversized shoes and straight hair in front of their faces walking around and you are like, is that her or another one? I hope and I think that people will instead choose what suits them best. Lately, even in shoes I don’t think that people were looking at what could fit them best, but saying, ‘OK, this is the shoe this season and we have to go with that.’ I am like, ‘But with your feet, you really shouldn’t wear those sandals!’ [Laughs] So, I want something with more logic; I like the word logic right now. To me it means you do whatever is good for yourself and you aren’t nervous about whether you are part of something or not. Though fashion has always been like that; I mean, when we were teenagers we were all looking for the Fiorucci jeans because everybody had Fiorucci jeans, at least in my world. But I couldn’t afford them, so I was like cutting out the label and gluing it on cheap jeans!

Julie: Something that I think we have also always had in common is femininity. You like beautiful things and that feminine womanly side, with more detail, decoration and glamour. I feel like we are both attracted to that. I don’t think that will ever go away because women want to feel like women.

Fabrizio: You always say that and you are a women, so for me that is very important! As you know I am not a fan of street style and so on, even though it is something that exists so clearly and is a need women have. But I agree with you, I think that we are both very attracted by beauty. By women who express a kind of beauty in a classic way. Also, don’t forget that we have often worked on the red carpets and there is also clearly a shared kind of Hollywood influence: you because you were raised in California and me because I was raised in Carrara and there was only TV and nothing else to do!

Julie: For many years we worked together designing the dresses and the shoes to dress all these glamorous women on the red carpets.

Fabrizio: Women can express their femininity in different ways – you know that better than me!

Julie: As you mentioned clogs, did you see the picture I posted of my clogs, my real countryside clogs. They are such a good shoe; they are my everyday shoes
right now. So easy and tough, but at the same time feminine and sexy in a certain way.

Fabrizio: Clogs are very democratic. You know how much I love to be alone and to stay at home, so for me, this has a very good side. It is a disaster, too, but
when you are in the middle of a disaster you have to find something good. For me, these couple of months have been the time for reflection. We will see things in a different way now. It is all about priorities.

Julie: Absolutely, and of being true to your values.

Fabrizio: Exactly. We’ve also probably learned that we can do this on the phone; we can use technology to work and don’t have to travel every week. Next week we start again here in Paris and I am very, I don’t want to say excited, but I am very curious. It will be interesting to see how we deal with all of this both at my company and also at Louis Vuitton, because it is something that no one has ever experienced. So even if the factories are reopening now and I can do samples for my own line, I will be much more aware of the fact that the factory can close anytime. Now we know that everything we do is a blessing. I have learned also to be happy and to complain less because everything can just disappear in weeks.

Julie: It definitely creates a new perspective about everything. We need to be a bit more responsible and waste less. We need to make better choices sometimes.

Fabrizio: I haven’t been to McDonald’s for two or three months, which is my way of being, of adjusting myself to the new rules!

Julie: And you said you’ve lost some weight, so you feel better.

Fabrizio: I do! I never did get you to go to McDonald’s, right? I was never able to get you there.

Julie: No, no, I just can’t.

Fabrizio: That is why I believe in your project, because you have never been to McDonald’s with me!

Julie: Not once in 30 years, even though I grew up in America.

Fabrizio: You’ve been very true to your principles: growing up in America and never having McDonald’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken is really something!

Julie: Yes, but you met my father, the discipline and the education, always eating very healthily, knowing where things come from was always important. This was fun!

Fabrizio: Si, it was. Thank you very much.

Julie: Stay safe.

Fabrizio: You, too. And buy the clogs!