Monday, June 3, 2013

Meet Gladys Pering Palmer .. a force of fashion



Gladys Perint Palmer is the rarest of a species known as “fashion folk!”  Here is a woman who studied on both sides of the Atlantic at 2 of the world’s most prestigious “colleges” and has been giving back to her passion/art/craft/profession ever since.  She has lived internationally and has been a chronicler or maybe a diarist of the world of fashion.  The one thing you can never say of Ms. Palmer is that she was an observer who sat by and watched!

With this in mind, she has been an illustrator, educator, editor, friend and so much more to so many within the international world of fashion.  She remains as active as she has always been; after all, fashion is in her genetic make-up, it is not just her profession.  She is immersed, engaged, intertwined and is an integral part of fashion as we know it today.  In much more common vernacular... “She is a player!” …no dilettante is she.

To highlight her appearance tomorrow, Tuesday June 4, at Neiman Marcus (SF) which celebrates the release of her newest book Adam & Yves, I introduce you to Gladys Perint Palmer whom I suspect will be a good friend of mine for years to come.  My advice is to pay close attention to her as she not only brings her knowledge and talent to the table; she brings her unrestrained wit and encyclopedic insights!  Brava! Bravo! And Kudos to you Gladys





1-What is the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?
Silver ribcage wheelie by McQueen.
2-What is your most sterling trait and what trait do you treasure most in your friendships?
Honesty and irony.
3-What is your bliss?
Fresh snow, empty piste, no snowboarders.
4-What is your guilty secret?
Two Mont Blancs– a chestnut and cream confection at Angelina (café on the rue de Rivoli in Paris); and my fat Mont Blanc pen.
5-Where is your ideal home?
An island a thousand miles North of California  
6-If you could not be a designer/retailer/etc:, what would you be
A detective because I enjoy research and discovering things.
7-What is on your bedside table right now?
Clutter observed by a curious peacock outside the window
8-What do you wear to bed?
Valentino bed-jacket, if it’s chilly.
9-What if any, book are you reading now or last read?
‘The Hare with Amber Eyes’ by Edmund de Waal.
10-What’s your advice to the “newcomer?”
Persist, Push, be Patient.
11-Who or what is your inspiration/style icon?
Muriel Pemberton, my mentor, my teacher, a great artist, who invented fashion education
12-What is the best advice you ever received?
“Go to the head of the river, darling, and wait. The bodies of your enemies will float past.”
13-In 3 words or less, describe the current state of fashion.
4 Too much.
14-If you were a retailer, would you wear your own designs or shop in your own store? or where would you shop?
I’d shop when I travel, as I do now, and buy only what I cannot resist.
15-If you won a $200,000,000 power ball (lottery), what is the first thing you would buy or do?
Underwrite small opera companies.
16-If you could invite up to 4 people for dinner, who would they be…dead or alive?
Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohamed and Moses – to enlighten me
17-What is your favorite movie /or movie star?
Beverly Hills Cop with Eddie Murphy
18-What is the one thing you would change about yourself?
Never gain weight.
19-Whose opinion do you value most?
Those who know me well and wish me well.
20-What store or which designer do you most like to shop in or wear ?
Picasso said, “I don’t look for things, I find them”.
21-What’s your take on magazines, books versus the internet?
I like books, I’m addicted to Facebook;  magazines are for the bath (if too heavy, I rip out the ad pages).
22-Do you have a dream collaborator?
No.
23-What is your crowning achievement thus far in your career?
My sons, Tim (left) and Barnaby Palmer.
24-What’s your music library like?
Classical.
25-What and where is your favorite meal?
Foie gras at La Cordonnerie, 20 rue Saint Roch in Paris.

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