Last Word With Iman And Isaac Mizrahi @The_Real_IMAN @IsaacMizrahi

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Bravo TV’s The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection is like a crash course in owning a fashion house with Iman and Isaac Mizrahi as the Bosses. Goodluck to those contestants.

Premier Guide Miami had the pleasant opportunity to speak to fashion Icon Iman and World Famous designer Isaac Mizrahi about the TV series.  According to Bravo TV.com, the Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection will split 12 talented men and women into two fashion houses and each “house” must work together, not only to create a cohesive collection each week, but also to produce a live fashion show in every episode. From the set, to the music and lighting, these contestants will be pushed harder than ever before as they lay it all on the line for a chance to create the ultimate collection and to win $125,000 furnished by TRESemme® Professional Hair Care.

By: Yetunde Taiwo

The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection will premier Tuesday, November 9th at 10/9C.

Premier Guide Miami: Hello Iman & Isaac. How are you? It is an absolute delight speaking with you both. Being a fan of each of you individually, outing you two together is like Fashion Show heaven really.

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: Hi. Fine, thank you

Isaac Mizrahi: Hello. Hello. Good, thanks. How are you? Oh my God, listening – so that’s a good way to start. We love you already.

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: A fashion heaven.

Isaac Mizrahi: Yes. Right. And she’s not kidding.

Premier Guide Miami: You are two reputable strong personalities in this industry. How were you able to balance your personalities and your styles of judging the show?

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: Yes. Well I think my word is the last word when it comes to judging. No, I’m kidding.Iman is Founder and CEO of IMAN Cosmetics

Isaac Mizrahi: Oh my God. I have my breath there for a minute. It was like wait, she means that.

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: Isaac, they should really kiss his feet, these designers because he is really the nugget of information that imparts to them on a weekly basis and goes to visit them in the studio while creating and guiding them. It is priceless I think. Besides that, I’ve been in fashion and, you know, as a model and as a businesswoman, I’m also a consumer, a woman who wears these clothes. I think what we are looking for is things that will really, you know, excite women and be excited to want to wear that outfit and elevate them, challenge them, you know. And when you’re looking at these things, you want something, “Wow, I’ve never seen this before; I would love to have it; I would love to wear it.”

So that is the information that I was bringing to the table. You know, we really get along well together because we really come from a different place of the judging pyramid. But, you know, we had a couple of times when we couldn’t make a decision because I had my point of view, he had his point of view, and then the other judge – the guest judge had their point of view too.

That’s all a discussion that you will also see. And you’ll see how we make decisions of who is supposed to be going home that night or who’s supposed to be winning.

Premier Guide Miami: What were you most inspired by doing the show with the contestants because I can imagine, coming up with the collection every week has to be daunting?

Isaac Mizrahi: I do have to say – and just to add something to this which is that, you know, I’ve known Iman for quite a long time, right? And there is a whole kind of culture that takes place backstage in fashions, you know. And it somehow tries so hard to kind of translate to the sun of the runway, you know. It’s like –Isaac Mizrahi and honestly, Unzipped is something – you know, that happened to be a very good movie where you see the kind of personality backstage, whether it was my personality or Lynda and (Angelique)’s personality in that case.

And somehow, Iman’s voice has always been a very strong voice backstage. I mean she’s had a very strong sort of physical presence. And I know that more and more, she’s being called upon in this role. I know she does Project Runway Canada and I know that she speaks a lot. And she’s on HSN and she’s becoming more and more like a sort of a spokesperson. And she’s been very loud and clear all these years.

But I feel like you will not believe the kind of authority that this woman brings to it. You know, it’s like when she enters a room, when she says something – and she doesn’t really. We kind of joke about how you can’t get a word and it’ll drive between the two of us, right?

I don’t think that Iman speaks that much. But what she does say is choice. There are moments  when I was looking at something and going, oh, well here’s what I think, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then she would come out with something and I would like literally be almost moved to tears because she got the kind of emotional crux of it in like five words.

There was one – and I like to talk about the one challenge about the wedding. I swear to you, like we were all going on about what we thought about the piece.

Isaac Mizrahi: All right. And at one point – you know, okay. So at one point, I’m going blah, blah, blah and add them to the linen and the thing, da, da, da, da. And then Iman suddenly says, “Well, the thing you got about this collection is love. You got that is about love.” Okay, and I swear to you like we all – amazed. I hope they kept this in the episode. I swear, If you cut to me I was like sobbing because she’s right. I mean, you know, the thing about wedding clothes other than beyond everything is it’s about love. I mean all of the rest of the judges were like, “I didn’t like the shoes; the hair wasn’t right, blah, blah.” And Iman goes, “It’s about love.” And, you know, okay, so now she’s right, you know.

So there was a kind of amazing authority. And in the end, I swear, when you said that thing earlier, I think she was joking. She said I had the last word. But really, you know, I did listen to her because as a designer, you tend to listen to someone like that. You really do because that’s the opinion that really matters. It’s the opinion of almost like posterity.

And that kind of weight is what she brings to it. She brings this cultural observation, you know, having been to dinner a million times, having worn these clothes in context, having gotten married more than once. I think she’s very good at bringing things to the table about every single solitary occasion she has dressed for.

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: Oh thank you.

Isaac Mizrahi: Yes, that’s why she hired me because I say things like that. Just kidding. All right, so – but it’s really true.

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: I mean I can’t wait for you guys to see the show of where it starts from and how where it goes. I mean I have to say that it surprised us and elated us beyond the moon. I mean we could not have expected or planned it this way, you know. We wanted so much for it and it over exceeded our imagination

Isaac Mizrahi: It’s fabulous. It’s true. The first episode was so – I thought it was really good because when we got to show, I mean there were flaws and we saw where it needs to go, but the shows were really good, the fashion shows. And I was very relieved and I know Iman was very relieved because you don’t know what the talent is capable of until you actually see the first collection.

And then I think into the show, the second and third collection, we lost it because they really disappointed us and we let them have it. I mean like I was almost afraid that we had gone too far. But then the following week when we came back, it really had changed the level of how they were thinking. And it was such a great show.

Just the drama of it, just the week-to-week drama of unfolding of it. And then as Iman was saying, the last collections, oh my God. The few last episodes are simply dazzling.

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: Yes, Truly divine.

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Premier Guide Miami: What was the synergy like between you two and Laura Brown the third judge with Harpers Bazaar?

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: Oh Laura. Laura, she’s Australian, so some extra accent there. But she comes from Bazaar. So it’s a magazine. So really, there’s a totally different point of view to it also.

Isaac Mizrahi: Yes, Absolutely and quite a profound one. In a way, when she goes, “well, you know, it looks like this or that,” you that’s kind of part of her job, to know what’s in the actual world.

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: They do both the designers and the world and then they do really things that women – regular women would buy it. Magazines have both-major designers and also what regular people buy and how to mix it. So that’s where her information was coming from.

Isaac Mizrahi: Occasionally, it was like a little bit terrifying what Laura had to say. Because if I quantify the design of it, right, and Iman is speaking to kind of this emotional, cultural connection that she’s making with the clothes and that she believes needs to be out there, suddenly she goes “Well you’re both wrong because, you know, Stella McCartney did this and you know, Marc Jacobs did that and then Alex Wang did this. And so this is stupid. Why are we even looking at this? Stop. Everybody stop.” You know, and somewhere it was like dreadful. I feared what Laura had to say. I always fear what editors have to say because they’re right.

You know, they’re the ones who see everything. And they have absolutely no axe to grind. If something is right, if they want to shoot it, then that means there’s something right about it just unequivocally. Do you know what I mean? They are right,

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: Yes, so the combo works in all that in that level. Yes.

Premier Guide Miami: Well thank you two so very much. We are looking forward to it. This is going to be exciting.

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: Thank you, darling.

Isaac Mizrahi: Don’t miss it. Don’t miss an episode. Set your DVR.

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid: Yes.

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Be sure to Tune in to Bravo TV on Tuesday, November 9, 10/9C for the premier of Bravo TV’s The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection featuring Fashion Icon Iman and Internationally Acclaimed designer. Isaac Mizrahi.

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