Every so often a designer comes along with enough skill to charm editors, enough charm to seduce socialites, and enough good sense—for both hemlines and bottom lines—to make you believe he just might stay a while. Introducing: Joseph Altuzarra

In the five seasons since he launched his namesake collection, Joseph Altuzarra’s carefully constructed, unabashedly body-conscious clothes have been embraced by such disparate icons as socialite Lauren Santo Domingo and pop star Rihanna. Though the Paris-born, New York–based designer interned at Marc Jacobs and landed his first real design job under Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy, his most obvious influence is Tom Ford during the glam Gucci years. The result of his careful study? The sex goddess is returning to a runway near you.

As is typical with the night owl generation, Altuzarra works odd hours and has his most creative ideas between 2 and 4 am. Ouch!

Here’s a portion of an interview he recently gave to Robert Haskel of W Magazine.

It’s 7 p.m. and you’re having a coffee. I’m drawing tonight, and I have a weird schedule when I draw. I end around 5 a.m. I really can’t work during the day.

But it’s a Friday night, and you’re a 27-year-old fashion designer. Shouldn’t you be out doing cocaine or something scandalous?I’m afraid of drugs. I honestly think that with our generation—Alex Wang, Prabal Gurung, Jason Wu, Christian Cota, Robert Geller—there’s a different expectation of what our behavior should be. People expect designers to be good businesspeople and PR people, and I don’t think partying is a part of that persona the way it used to be.

A stylist friend of mine described your clothes as “whorish.” That’s funny. It’s important not to take all this fashion stuff too seriously, and I kind of love the idea of cheesiness. But, yes, the clothes are definitely for a woman, not a girl. They’re in the vein of Azzedine Alaïa.
You didn’t go to design school, but you’re clearly educated. Does that give you an inferiority complex or a superiority complex? When I started in fashion after studying art history at Swarthmore, I definitely had an inferiority complex, because I didn’t learn about any of the technical stuff. The best and the worst thing about fashion is that anyone can do it. But because fashion can be the most unintellectual thing, you have to turn it into an intellectual exercise just for your own sanity. You have to start with a conceit.

Do you feel that the socialites who like your dresses have put you on the map?Whether it’s Lauren Santo Domingo or Mary J Blige or Carine Roitfeld, it would be dumb of me to say that famous people wearing my clothes doesn’t do anything for the brand. Let me say this, though: I’m aware that many people are not wearing them because they like them but because they think it’s what’s hot right now. I’m comfortable with the idea that I’m the flavor of the moment and that in a couple of years people might not think I’m cool anymore.

Julie

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