Grace Coddington On How Fashion Has Changed and ‘The September Issue’

The Run-Through with Vogue

The episode begins with on-the-ground coverage of Paris Fashion Week, featuring previews and reviews of the Schiaparelli, Dior, and Margiela

Key takeaways

• Daniel Rosemary is introducing Texan influences and a sportswear spin to Schiaparelli through knits and sleek silhouettes.
• Grace Coddington's new book compiles her favorite fashion shoots from the last decade across various major publications.

Main topics

• Paris Fashion Week coverage
• Grace Coddington's new book

Notable quotes

I no longer want to photograph those big fantasy clothes. I'm not interested in the ones that you can't actually wear.

Conclusion

A nostalgic and insightful look at the changing landscape of high fash

Transcript preview

Speaker 8 (0:05) This is The Run Through. I'm Chelsea, senior producer of the podcast. I made it to Paris. It is a gorgeous day. It is super sunny. And this is day one of our Paris coverage. I'm going to meet Nicole Phelps outside the Schiaparelli store. And we're going to speak with Daniel Rosemary about what he has planned for his upcoming collection. So stay tuned. Speaker 1 (0:30) Well, we're in, I think it's what's called a Hotel Particulier on the Place Van Bome. And you can see the statue tower in the center of the place from the windows and also a lot of cranes. There is always construction in this part of Paris. And this is the home of Elsa Schiaparelli from when she launched her business before World War II. And... It's beautiful and soaked with light. Speaker 1 (1:08) This is Chelsea. Hi, nice to meet you. Welcome. Like your mohawk. Here Speaker 4 (1:15) we have this sort of like capsule of Elsa jackets and they're all in like, you know, either the silk velvet or satin or whatever. They're intentionally sort of formal because I also think there's a real moment for this and that the purity of the Elsa look like. When she was designing jackets, they were always dinner jackets. The bottoms were always plain because that was under the table. But then everything above the table was meant to be attention-grabbing, so that's where the the scap embroideries were kind of born. I think at the beginning of my time here, especially when we started working on the ready-to-wear, there was this urgency or this idea that we had to differentiate the couture from the ready-to-wear and legitimize the ready-to-wear. And there was all this... conversation and pressure around that and I think in the end it's actually not what the client wants. The client actually wants a distilled version of the couture and not this completely different proposal. So I just think of it as like the same woman just different part of her life, different corner of her brain. Speaker 1 (2:22) All right well fortitude onward. Thank you for giving us this time. Thank you guys. See you on Thursday night. Okay thanks. See ya. Bye. Speaker 8 (2:35) So Nicole and I just walked out of the Schiaparelli preview and I'm going to ask her about her closing thoughts about what she saw. And we were excited to see the Schiaparelli show on Thursday. Speaker 1 (2:47) Daniel is an American in Paris and thrown into the world of haute couture, having worked at Tom Brown on menswear. And he has, bit by bit, been inserting Americanness in this very French house, even though Elsa Schiaparelli was Italian, with references to his home state of Texas. And this time it... He's fallen in love with running and marathon training and so the collection has a definite sort of a sportswear spin. He said it was built a lot on knits and there's a sleekness of real body consciousness to a lot of the silhouettes. But all of it is built on the, you know, really iconic, really strong images he's created at the couture show. Perfect. Which is clever. Speaker 8 (3:42) All right, thanks Nicole. See ya. Speaker 8 (3:49) Alright guys, it's about 2.15 and I'm outside the Dior show and already it's kind of insane. There's a ton of people rushing to get in. Speaker 8 (4:05) Nice view. Oh cool. Speaker 1 (4:09) Hi, Sarah. Nice to see you again. How Speaker 8 (4:13) are you guys? Speaker 1 (4:14) We're anticipating sweating quite a lot. Yeah, it's hot. It's hot. Speaker 3 (4:40) Oh, Speaker 8 (4:40) there you are. Okay, let me run with you. I just found Chloe right after the show. What did you think? Speaker 3 (4:46) I thought it was really pretty. I thought the set was very soothing. I loved how light the fabrics were, sort of a trompe l'oeil-like version of what are typically heavier winter fabrics. I like the layering. I love the single flower earring coming down and the jewelry. I thought it was really pretty and sexy and mermaid-like. Speaker 8 (5:07) And where are you headed now? Speaker 3 (5:09) I am going to my sister's house where Alice is playing with my niece. I'm going to get her. It's her last day in Paris. Speaker 8 (5:18) Amazing. Oh Speaker 3 (5:19) my god, we have Grace Coddington on the podcast talking about her incredible new book, which features so many of her incredible editorials from the last 10 years. A lot for W Magazine, a lot for Vogue, a lot for Document Journal, and it is always such a pleasure to talk to Grace, but it was particularly fun to get to chat with her before all the shows started and hear what she was excited about. Well, Speaker 8 (5:44) that's coming later in the show, but next up I'm going to follow Nicole's to Margiela. So see you later, Chloe. Speaker 8 (5:56) Alright, the show just ended and everyone's straight out. Speaker 8 (6:01) and I'm trying to see if I can spot Chioma because I haven't seen her yet. Speaker 8 (6:06) Yeah, I love that show. I feel like we've been talking about skirts all season. This is like a skirt for every personality. I know my colleague Laura loves the maxi skirt. It was there for me. We're choosing a skirt of the season. It was great. I loved the apron skirts, the skirts over pants, the long boots, the textures, those like brocades, the little... the little apron dresses yeah it was super good i love the menswear too i could see myself wearing some of those layered i could see you in that um kind of twisted 70s prints and then they were playing like whole oh my god i know the soundtrack was heaven it was everything i was like oh my god courtney love yeah my spirit animal yeah yeah so good yeah Speaker 1 (6:52) it Speaker 8 (6:52) was super good yay thanks Speaker 8 (6:57) It was so fun catching up with Chioma about Margiela. And now we are going to head to a break. You will hear from Grace Cunnington very soon. The run through will be right back after this break. Speaker 1 (7:21) Hi, everyone. I'm Rebecca Ford. And Speaker 6 (7:23) I'm John Ross. We're Speaker 1 (7:24) the co-hosts of Little Gold Men, Vanity Fair's podcast for film, TV, and awards lovers. Speaker 6 (7:29) Awards season is underway, and you know we're following every twist and turn in the race to the Oscars. Join Speaker 1 (7:36) us each week as we break down the films, performances, and campaigns making the biggest waves in Hollywood. Plus, Speaker 6 (7:42) conversations with the critics, creators, and stars at the center of it all. Speaker 1 (7:46) New episodes of Little Gold Men drop every Thursday. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (7:56) From Vanity Fair, I'm Mark Aduchie, and I want to tell you about our new show, Fair Game. On every episode of Fair Game, I'll sit down with a leading character in our culture, from the worlds of Hollywood, politics, style, Silicon Valley, and beyond. Fair Game is a deep dive into some of the personalities that shape our world and the stories that you need to hear. Think everyone and everything that you'd read about in the pages of Vanity Fair. So join me, Mark Aduchie, on YouTube, VanityFair.com, and wherever you listen to podcasts. It's all fair game. Speaker 6 (8:31) Are you ready to push your baking skills? This Speaker 5 (8:33) month at Bon Appetit Bake Club, we are making glazed apple pie fritters. I'm Shilpaos Kokovic. And Speaker 6 (8:39) I'm Jesse Sepchik. Speaker 5 (8:40) And we're senior Test Kitchen editors at Bon Appetit and the hosts of BA's Bake Club podcast. Speaker 6 (8:45) Bake Club is Bon Appetit's community of confident, curious bakers. Speaker 5 (8:49) Every month, we publish a recipe on bonappetit.com that introduces a baking concept we think you should know. Speaker 6 (8:55) Then you'll go bake and send us any questions you have. Speaker 5 (8:58) And we'll get together here on the podcast to talk about the recipe. And Speaker 6 (9:01) if you want to master deep frying, this is your chance. Head Speaker 5 (9:05) to BA.com or our sub stack and come and bake along with us. Join Speaker 6 (9:09) us the first Tuesday of every month as we debrief about the latest bake. Speaker 5 (9:13) Find BA Bake Club wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 6 (9:16) Happy baking. Speaker 3 (9:26) Everyone in our office has been so excited. I've had this book on my table, and I find that people just stop and sit down and are going through it and spending time with it, which is very exciting. It's Speaker 2 (9:37) so bright. I mean, I did that on purpose. It's like a road sign. Speaker 3 (9:42) I do. I think of you as more of an orange person. Well, I am, but I've done that one. That was my first Speaker 2 (9:48) one was orange. Exactly. So this felt like a new Speaker 3 (9:52) traffic color. Speaker 2 (9:54) Yeah. Speaker 3 (9:55) So many stories in here from the past 10 years and work with 13 photographers who we love and admire. How does the process begin? How wide is the funnel when you start pulling for this? Is it all of the shoots and then you go down? Well, Speaker 2 (10:10) I only pulled the ones from the last 10 years. But so you're looking at everything. You don't know automatically. Oh, I have in my head and I look for them. You know, I take all the tear sheets from, well, now not just Vogue, but W Document, et cetera, et cetera, Italian Vogue, British Vogue. And I just have these piles and piles and piles. And I go through them to see which story. I mean, I know in my head what stories I love and what I want to have so they last forever sort of thing in a book, as long as the book lasts. Do the stories that you love change? Well, one always loves the last one one did, you know. So, like, there's one in here that I did right on deadline before they shut me down and said, you've got to stop. And I was adamant that it had to go in and to the point that I had to throw out some other pictures. Which one was that? There's a story I did for W with Craig McDean. And so, it's done in sections by photographers. The pictures I took out were from him, so it's not like he had any less or any more pictures. He's got the same number of pages, but just different pictures. Speaker 3 (11:31) Do you lay it out on a board or on the floor? Do you look at what the flow is going to be? What's the physical process? Yeah, Speaker 2 (11:39) you know, I have a board like Vogue on the wall with little minis. I did that for a long time, but it's really complicated carrying that board around because I don't have an office so much. Well, I do, but it's in the country, so it's not convenient. But carrying that board around with magnets on it that all fell off was not very convenient. So I did the first lot and then looked at it like we do or did at Vogue, and you see the run of. you know, this photographer, and then