Colin McDowell dishes on fashionistas

MANILA, Philippines -• On Victoria Beckham: McDowell did a breakfast interview with Beckham at London’s Savoy hotel. Told to be there at 8 a.m. sharp, he was on time and she was 20 minutes late. “I’ve had an awful time,” she confessed to him when she came in, referring to her daughter Harper, who hadn’t slept all night due to jet lag. Beckham ordered a bowl of fresh berries with nothing on it, and would spear one at a time with a fork while talking. She ate about three blueberries in total, while her daughter Harper had a whole sausage and McDowell had a full breakfast.

“She wants to be called Victoria, not Posh. She’s a very serious, good designer. She designs the stuff that she wants to wear, so she has commercial savvy.”

• On Karl Lagerfeld: “An undisputed genius who looks into 50 different elements of design. I had tea with him the night before his couture show, and models were parading in front of him. He’d just gotten his cat (which has its own blog), and was showing me pictures of the cat, when he told his right hand directrice Amanda Harlech, ‘It’s wrong there.’  He was so expert he could see it straight away.”

• On John Galliano: “Galliano was a very naughty boy in college (Central St. Martins). He hardly ever attended lectures, because he was busy in the Victoria & Albert museum. After St. Martins, for 10 years he didn’t make money, but he never gave up. He took hours agonizing over something people would never notice in his studio.”

• On Miuccia Prada: “Why go to Milan Fashion Week except for Prada? She has her finger on the button and is two years ahead of everyone else. She is the one other designers look at and admire. Where she’s clever is in giving ideas, and ideas are what make the world go round.”

• On Hedi Slimane: “He’s a photographer, a designer … he does many things very well. He’s a very clever, talented guy. You should bring him here.”

• On Yves Saint Laurent: “He invented clothes for women in the last half century. I met him twice and felt I want to protect this guy.”

• On Riccardo Tisci: “He’s so difficult and temperamental. I did a piece on him and it took months to get him to do it.”

• On Balenciaga: “I met him once, when he was a very old man. I crashed his party and he treated me with total contempt.”

• On Tavi Gevinson: “I was appalled when Tavi appeared. Thought, this is ridiculous. I said to my contemporary Suzy Menkes, ‘Are we getting a bit old for this? Writing about frocks.’ She replied, ‘Who else could do it as well?’ Now I think bloggers are absolutely essential. I sat opposite Tavi at a Dior Couture show and think she’s very serious, very clever, and a trailblazer. Being instant, you should read the top bloggers. We all have our point of view.”