Hanro and Izak Zenou: when art married commerce

The genesis of this interview began with an invitation inviting me to the unveiling of a collaboration between Izak Zenou and Hanro which resulted in a full store mural.  Hanro is one of, if not the, leading manufacturers of luxury cotton undergarments and sleepwear made in Switzerland. To equate the brand in any way with let’s say an underwear brand such as Hanes would be like comparing Van Cleef to Kay Jewelers. Mr. Zenou is known as one of New York City's most celebrated and accomplished illustrators/artists and this mural marks a first for both.

Izak Zenou's hand painted mural is homage to the brand's heritage and an engaging view into the spirited women who inspire him. This is the latest artist collaboration in Hanro's on-going public art campaign.

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As you will read, this is an example of how art and in this case more specifically illustration has morphed with commerce to produce a seminal work by one artist. When you read the interview, there is no not being able to conjure a certain great artist painting a certain great ceiling in a certain great religious site. The difference being is that is the 21^st century and this didn’t take decades to produce but nonetheless one can’t help but marvel at it and its raison d’etre.

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Jeffrey Felner: Can you tell us a bit about your history including how you arrived at this point in your creative career?

Izak Zenou: I was born in a suburb of Paris and grew up always very interested in art and design.  So as a young man I decided to pursue fashion and became a designer; it was the 80s and a really exciting time in fashion. I always loved doing the sketches and illustrating the clothing more than actually making the clothes.  The husband of one of my friends, an artist who was designing fabrics for the designer Kenzo, took a look at my portfolio and really encouraged me to pursue my collection.  Not long after, I was asked to contribute some to several trend reports.  People responded to my illustrations and my work was being published in these magazines and books.  I also began to collaborate with various advertising agencies.  So I realized that my illustration was something special.  One of the advertising agencies offered to help me to find an agent and made some calls on my behalf.  It was then that I met Virgine Challamel who went on to become my first agent and who is still my agent in Paris.  Virgine loved my work, but she explained to me that it was not very commercial and that clients would not know exactly what to do with it.    Suddenly, after collaborating on a book that spoofed French fashion, people started to call like crazy and this is how I booked my first few jobs.  Soon I was doing illustrations for magazines like Madame Figaro and Marie Claire.

Soon after I was approached to work on a very hush-hush project for Chanel; it was for the launch of their fragrance Allure and they wanted to create a really special little book to tell the story of the woman who would wear the fragrance.  What I didn’t know until the president of Chanel told me was that they really weren’t sure it was going to work until the very last moment. Luckily, it was and I have had a twenty-year relationship with them.  It also led to a lot of other great projects with brands like Guerlain and a lot of top magazines.

Virgine then said to me, ‘I think you have to move to America, because you will be an amazing success there and it is such a big market for you.’   As fate would have it, Michelle Edelman called and said I want you to come to New York and I will represent you.  So I thought, ‘Okay, this is a sign.’ And I did.  We have been working together ever since and I am still represented by her agency Traffic Creative Management here in the states. 

When I came to the US, we decided to again do a little promotional book about my work…which was also a way to say goodbye to Paris.  It was that promotional piece that Henri Bendel saw and they asked me to do something similar for them for their beauty collection.  That is what began our relationship which flourished for twenty years.  I also received commissions from magazines like Vogue, Glamour and Mademoiselle, and many new clients.  I loved the energy of New York in way that I had never expected as there was so much excitement and enthusiasm for me and my work.  I had found a new home.

One of the really exciting things to happen recently is my collaboration with Hanro of Switzerland, which is a brand I love personally because it’s truly understated luxury.  I had been a customer for many years, so when they approached me to create a piece for a group show they were doing to celebrate their 130^th anniversary, I was really excited.  It was also a bit scary because they asked me to illustrate the famous Marilyn Monroe moment from the film The Seven Year Itch, when she is over the subway and suddenly her dress is lifted up to reveal her Hanro underwear.  It is such an iconic moment, not only for Hanro, but a real New York moment.  So I was actually nervous about it but it was a lot of fun and they loved what I did...  Then this year, they returned and asked if I could create a mural on the walls of their flagship store on Washington Street in the Meatpacking District.  The brand has been very closely tied to art and architecture throughout their history and since the anniversary event; they have been exploring these sorts of collaborations for the New York store.  Again, I was very excited about the idea but also a bit nervous.  The store is in a wonderful old industrial building with this incredible design and retains a lot of the original architectural elements with incredibly high ceilings which add to the dramatic white wraparound fascia element above the sales floor, so it is like an enormous canvas.  When I went to look at the space, the US president Jan Snodgrass explained to me that he wanted me to be the first artist to paint right on the walls and create a custom mural.  I thought, ‘Well, it’s either going to be a big success or a huge mess.’  But he had faith, so how could I say no?  In fact, I have been painting the last few days in the store and it has been so exhilarating.  I am actually challenging myself in a way I never imagined and I love it!  It is something special to have a partner who says, ‘Go and do whatever you want.  I believe in you.’  So I have focused on the women who inspire me through all my work, “my muses” and I am bringing them to life in this huge scale…while chatting with the shoppers who are coming in for a silk robe or something.  It’s truly been an adventure.  And it will be open to the public for something like six months to a year, so I really want everyone to come see it!

Presently I am also working on a new collection of fashion accessories under my own name.  I have collaborated with so many wonderful brands over the years from Bendel to Celine, but this collection is very personal to me.  It is called d’izak and we are launching a small capsule of silk scarves, totes and pouches for Spring/Summer that will be available through my web store and then we will have a big launch for Holiday ’16 with great stores like Lord  & Taylor who will carry the collection. 

The other thing that I am just beginning is a new series of portraits…real portraiture, very intimate.  I have been known for many years for my fashion illustration, but this is a chance for me to return to my roots and explore something more dramatic and personal. I have begun a series of sittings in my studio with some of my favorite style icons that will result in an exhibition of these works.  We are lining up amazing subjects from Iris Apfel to Catherine Malandrino and Langley Fox, as well as some great men like Nigel Barker. The sittings are a way for me to connect to the personalities behind these iconic figures and explore those connections.  It is still me, but from a distinctly different vantage point.  I think a lot of people will be surprised to see this other dimension of my work.

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JF: What would be your dream collaboration and why?

IZ: I’m a total design freak.  I love home decor, so I would like to design furniture, lighting, wall coverings…anything to do with interiors. It would be great to collaborate on an amazing home collection, something really special and really beautiful quality.  That would be dream collaboration. 

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JF: If you could invite any 5 people to dinner, who would they be and why?

IZ: I would definitely say Oprah.  I can remember the very first time I saw one of her shows.  I just thought, “Wow, she gets it.”  I think that the impact she has had on the world is amazing.  She has really been such a positive influence for so many people and done it in a way that demonstrates her wisdom, kindness and care.  She is very inspiring to me and I would love the opportunity to have a sort of philosophical and spiritual discussion with her.

 Elie Wiesel is another as I think he is a remarkable individual and would love to talk with him about faith and his experiences.  This is becoming a very spiritual group, isn’t it?

I would invite the French novelist Patrick Modiano as he is one of my favorite authors.  I am totally obsessed with him and find his work totally mesmerizing. It’s fiction, but I feel that so much is drawn from his own life.  He creates this atmosphere that I totally relate to…this world that is just fascinating.

If I could have Meryl Streep there, that would be amazing!  She has so much talent, intelligence and beauty.  She’s really a force of nature and I would love to meet her. 

And there are so many others, but there has to be at least one musician.  I find it hard to choose, but if I had to I would say one…then it would be the guitarist Pat Metheny.  His music is a total inspiration to me. His is music brings me to places no one else can and gives me so much inspiration.

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JF: What was the best advice you ever received, from whom and why?

IZ: The best advice I ever received was from my grandmother. She said, ‘If you are patient in life, then you are the wealthiest person in the world.’ It is something that I cherish and it always stayed with me.  When things are missing or not going the way I want, then I know that it means it’s not the right time.  It’s not that I don’t deserve it.  It’s just that I’m not ready for it. It’s all about waiting for the right moment and being patient.  It’s so true and it has helped me so much.

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JF: What advice would you give to those just starting out in the creative fields?

IZ: The advice I would give is believe in yourself, work hard and be patient.  You also have to engage in life and always stay in motion; keep moving forward.  Do what you are inspired to do and eventually, it will all work out.

JF: Can you speak of the best day of your life to date and why?

IZ: Oh yes, the best day of my life was the day that my daughter was born.  It’s hard to describe, but everything else just became so small and I had this great sense of responsibility.  It may seem cliché, but it was truly amazing and I had this profound feeling that it was a miracle.  It was a truly humbling moment to me.  She was born premature and there she was this tiny thing, her mother and I made, that fit in one hand.  Now she is a beautiful young lady.  She’s fourteen and I can’t believe that she is a teenager already.  She’s so funny and creative.  When I look at her I see so much of myself and so much that is more than me.

Meet Jay Kos of Jay Kos

 One of the most loathsome people I ever met and worked with gave me the sagest advice and that was … assumption is the mother of all f—k ups and the same goes for preconceived notions! Sometimes we are guilty of judging a book by its cover, personality profiling or making movies in our heads and sometimes we just have no clue or opinion about someone we are about to meet head on.

This writer had the most extraordinary pleasure of meeting a gentleman by the name of Jay Kos who happens to own a 21^st century haberdasher in NYC. It is located on Mott Street in Nolita via Lexington Avenue and Park Avenue. Mr. Kos, upon meeting, may appear to be some wannabe rocker or urbane urban cowboy when in fact he is a totally evolved, charming, well-spoken and engaging gentleman with deep roots in the arts of style and fashion. To me, he has created an image of himself that is distinctly his own and reflects only a part of what he stands for in terms of menswear.

During the course of our conversation, I was engrossed listening to his ideas of who he is and what he does in terms of his shop within the confines of the fashion continuum.  Mr. Kos is an old soul in a sort of 21^st century drag, so to speak, and there is nothing derogatory about that as in fact I salute it! He is in some ways his own best advertisement and then you might say … well he really doesn’t look anything like his jewel box of a shop. And that my friends, is the charisma and allure of the Jay Kos experience ... on personal and retail planes.

What one soon learns is that the philosophy or impetus of Jay Kos, both the store and person, focuses on just of the few tenets that rule the upper echelons of any fashion retail business. He is a devotee of the highest of quality in manufacture, of the finest and sometimes most unusual fabrications and not conforming to any preconceived prescribed ideas about retailing of menswear... there’s that phrase again! Another of his most noticeable traits is his love of color and it is there that he manages to accomplish and adhere to his esthetic in spades. Much of what is available instore might be explained as “tweaked classics” which would account for his “hedgie” clientele. Then of course, there is his more flamboyant or pronounced side which might account for his cache of sports stars that frequent the store. There is a great element of surprise within these walls and that is surely something missing from his uptown relatives.

To say that Kos has eschewed the normcore is not totally true. It was not hard for me to imagine a fashion inclined customer shopping there and by that I mean, a self-assured and confident man who wants to have an edge and not look like he fell out of some cookie cutter designer emporium wearing some highly editorialized fashion statement. No question that you cannot be a wallflower but then again you don’t have to be a “total look at me” fashion victim either. The store, as its owner, is filled with contradictions on first glance and then after chatting with Jay, it all makes perfect sense. The clothes have no age, and for the more seasoned of fashion consumers, they will find there is plenty to lust for here. It must be taken into account that this kind of individuality does come at a price, whether off the rack or bespoke but yet when compared to his competition he is right in line. Again the difference is simply this … do you want to stand out and be an individual or do you want to blend in as one of the crowd?

When asked about the future of Jay Kos, the store, Jay was quick to say he is thinking of expanding to the left –coast and to Paris. Again it was not difficult for me to imagine his success in either or both of these locations. He is a man on the move as he is the proprietor, buyer, merchandiser, designer and curator of this one man show! To say, that in many respects, he and I are of like minds is an understatement and yes of course that pleases me, as we all know I am not short on opinions or pronouncements. This is a story that will evolve as time goes by...

I hope the slides offer just a tease of what you find in the world of Jay Kos and I thank him for his warmth, insights and honesty!

meet Tracy Johnson .. style seeker....

So often well... most of the time... My articles focus on designers, collections or merchandise of one sort or another so today let’s focus on a genuine consumer of fashion. By consumer, my intention is to introduce you to Tracy Johnson who is an agent of fashion. The definition of agent here is that Ms. Johnson is retained by an international clientele who entrust her to fulfill all their needs and desires ranging from clothing to home décor to fine jewelry. One might say she is a one woman department store of sorts or an on call sartorialist. She acts as the eyes, ears and proxy for those who seek the incredible, the unusual as well as the commonplace.

Besides the reason for her employ, Ms. Johnson stands out in the crowd as she is a constant seeker of what’s new, what’s old and what is to come. She is constantly in the field whether that’s the flea markets in Williamsburg or London or scoping out the vintage and second hand stores in Paris and Brooklyn or just trolling the retail emporia of New York. In other words she is ready to take on almost any task or assignment that might be requested. To say that she believes in being prepared is like saying Leopard is just another dot pattern!  What comes to mind is that one can never be overly educated or overly informed or overly prepared when it comes to fashion!!

So now its time to meet the woman on a mission….

1-can you speak about what you do for your clients and tell us how you arrived at this moment... at lack of a better word... service or profession? Background?

Well, my business is evolving these days.

I started out basically shopping for private clients. Now, many of my clients are asking me to find buyers for items they own. I've also become a liaison between clients and business owners, designers, artists, collectors, etc., that I find to be interesting and that I know my clients will enjoy.

I've been styling and finding things for people since I was in Jr. High School, but only started getting paid for it 2 years ago. Lol.

I've always been an INCREDIBLY curious person, which serves me extremely well in my business. I have a dear friend who gave me the idea to do this as a profession. He was in NYC for a visit, and as is his custom, he'd call me up and say, "LET'S GO SHOPPING SWEETS!" So at the end of our "cleaning-out Bergdorf's session", he says, "Honey... why don't you do this for a living????! You're SO GOOD at it!"

"Hmmm… I never thought about it before, I'd need to find clients I guess".

"I'LL BE YOUR 1ST CLIENT!" He exclaimed as he grabbed and shook me. He's been my client ever since, and through him I have found others.

2-do you have any pre-requisites for accepting new clients and if so please explain? Financial considerations or location? Needs?

I get my clients through recommendations. I have a VERY exclusive client base. My clients are primarily based in The Middle East & the UAE. I also have a few clients throughout Europe.

3-you scour flea markets and so many unusual areas to accommodate your clients, what are your favorites and why? You don’t have to give away any trade secrets …

I ADORE flea markets and junk stores!  I'm a MADWOMAN. I love a great adventure. A warehouse in the middle of Jersey, for example? I have found INSANE things in the most UNLIKELY places.

4-do you have any go to designers and why? Any designers that you stay away from and reasons why?

I have VERY particular tastes. I don't follow anyone. I like what I like. I DON'T like anything conventional, conservative, beige... actually I like beige. Let's just say you'll never catch me at MACY'S.

5-when working with a client, do you accompany them or do you shop for them and which and why do you prefer?

I mostly shop on my own because my clients live abroad. They also sometimes fly me out to their location. Once in a while, someone will come here to shop. Then I get to drag them all over the place. I take them to all of my favorite places. They go BANANAS! They love it!! Lol.

Either way it is fun for me, just as long as they can keep up!

6-from what can be gathered, you do a lot or mostly retail shopping, do you indulge your clients with wholesale or made to measure? Genuine haute couture?

Ooooooh no. I shop for all sorts of craziness. THAT'S what makes what I do so much fun!  My clients call on me for MANY an interesting thing. Once, my apartment was FULL of medieval armor and weaponry, and various large mammal antlers, feathers, medieval bows and arrows. It was MADNESS! Everything had to come to my house, and then be shipped to Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, I had to fly to Paris for a job. DHL arrived an hour before the car was to come and whisk me off to catch my flight! INSANITY. 

I specialize in high-end/haute couture vintage, rare, hard to find, and unusual, interesting items. That's what I am sought for.

7-do you go to shows and do you see any advantage in attending and why?

No. If I want to see a show, I'll watch it on my computer. I prefer to go out and discover things myself.

8-are you or your clients open to dealing with lesser known labels meaning not the usual run of the mill marquee brands? Do your clients prefer only request well-known collections or is a more general request?

ABSOLUTELY!!! I'm a HUGE promoter of new/local talent! My clients enjoy discovering new and different things. That's why they hire me. They know I'm always on the lookout for dope finds. New talent like Public School, David Julian, Rad Hourani, Rachel Comey,and Coperni Femme, who I discovered in Paris while attending a gallery opening with my mentor Laurent Marie Affre. (I ADORE Coperni Femme).

Yes, they also like the well-known brands, but even THEN, they aren't the conventional brands. Brands like Maison Martin Margiela, Rick Owens, Céline, and Jil Sander.

9-if you could wardrobe anyone, who would you select and why and what would you do differently from the way they present themselves now?

Tilda Swinton! I would do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING different with her wardrobe!  I would just want to be around her. (swoon)

10-okay, you can invite 5 people to dinner... any 5 from any time era... who and why?

Diana Vreeland, Peggy Guggenheim, Josephine Baker, Charles & Ray Eames. All people I've loved and who have influenced me since childhood. All free spirits just like me.

11-can you make a statement about the current state of fashion and explain to us why you feel this way? Any suggestions for improvement?

I don't really follow trends. I like people who are doing their own thing. I suggest they keep doing it.