The disconnect between United States west-coast and east-coast style recently reached its apex in the persona of fashion designer-turned-TV-red-carpet-host, Isaac Mizrahi — a man so quintessentially New York that, not only is Sarah Jessica Parker his best friend, he was also once an extra in Fame.
Billy Wilder said that Marilyn Monroe had ‘flesh impactâ€: that if the viewer reached out their hand they felt they would touch warm flesh. With Scarlett Johansson, Monroe’s obvious cinematic heir, what a gratifying moment for the viewers when, on the Golden Globes red carpet, Mizrahi did in fact reach out and touch Johansson’s ‘golden globesâ€. Texan newspaper columnist Liz Smith disapproved, proclaiming his exuberant gayness no excuse.
But then, non-New Yorkers never get Mizrahi; besides, he only wanted to know how the red Valentino was upholstered. His innocence and curiosity was always apparent in his designs, which won him four Council of Fashion Designers of America awards and resulted in Unzipped, a 1995 documentary about him. I have longed, ever since I saw it, for his professed dream suit: an all-in-one, fake-fur banana split costume, meant to be worn on chilly mornings.
An imagination such as Mizrahi’s can’t be contained by the staid red carpet of the Hollywood awards circuit. While super-stylists such as Rachel Zoe are just dressing clients to make sure they aren’t picked for US Weekly‘s ‘worst dressed†list, Mizrahi is there, rifling through jewelled Judith Lieber clutch bags and gathering live TV details of stars’ bikini-waxing topiary. In the world of Isaac, style should encompass every aspect of the starlet’s being: her dress, her shoes, her pubic region, her elocution and her wit.
Ten years ago, Mizrahi was the darling of the fashion industry. But, like many style visionaries, his finances were his undoing. Hence a post-design career as a comedian, cabaret performer, costume designer and, finally, to the joy of stultified and self-loathing E! viewers around the world, a red-carpet fashion critic.
Yes, he asked Eva Longoria about her bikini wax. He looked down Teri Hatcher’s dress. He told Charlize Theron that she’s gorgeous, but in every film she looks like ‘a scary dyke with no teethâ€. But if you can play a serial killer, surely you can take a little tough love from Auntie Isaac?
By establishing a rapport with inter-viewees, he made previously uninteresting B-listers seem interesting. On asking Jessica Alba about her choice of panties beneath her midnight blue Versace, she answered, ‘Two pairs,†for extra paparazzi safety. ‘Nobody sees my na na!†she joked. ‘Nobody sees my na na either,†he replied, ‘but in my case that’s sad. In your case, it’s kind of exciting.â€
Part of the reason it was so great to see Mizrahi on the red carpet is because you’ve never seen starlets being deferential to Joan Rivers. Ann Hathaway practically swooned when she met Mizrahi. His beloved Sarah Jessica Parker seemed like she’d rather stay with him than venture inside the Kodak theatre.
He also won E! 1.6million viewers, crushing Joan and her frightening spawn, Melissa. Nevertheless, the Oscars immediately made their feelings known in a statement. ‘We would be extremely angry if he did that on our red carpet,†said Oscar spokesperson John Pavlik, the day after the Golden Globes broadcast.
The scary truth for the Oscars is that Mizrahi doesn’t play by the rules of Hollywood, whereby you’re supposed to know your place. The not-so-secret Hollywood code states that red-carpet interviewers are supposed to defer to even the most minor starlet as if they were United Nations weapons inspectors.
In Mizrahi’s brilliant Manhattan career, not only did he help shape Sarah Jessica Parker’s style, he also discovered Natalie Portman when she was 13. And he not only made Shalom Harlow the modelling star she is, but still works with her in his Target campaign — the super-cheap line of essentials he designs for the mass market. He’s not snobbish about where style can be discovered, another trait of the true New Yorker.
In the meantime, New York waits with bated breath to see if Mizrahi will be reined in for the Oscars. He touched Scarlett’s boobs! What next? I’m fantasising about him tweaking Nicole Kidman’s face to see if her fake nose from The Hours damaged her real one. —