Buttons accumulated over the past three decades adorn the front endpaper in Christine Suppes’ latest project, Electric Fashion (Skira), a new book filled with images of her dresses and gowns shot by Frederic Aranda. Suppes, who grew up in Hillsborough, spent nearly five years organizing and cataloging her collection of Rodarte dresses, as well as designs by Geoffrey Beene, Lanvin, Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurant, Vivienne Westwood, Chanel, Christian Dior, and many other lines, to be shot by Aranda. The result is a vibrant assortment of images anchored by a Saint Laurent jacket, from the designer’s 1993 spring collection, on the book’s cover. “Coats,” writes Suppes, who launched the electronic magazine Fashionlines in 1999, “are critical, your fashion calling card during any season, especially summer in San Francisco.” Here, Suppes, who currently lives in Palo Alto, discusses the start of her fashion collection, how she met Neiman Marcus Fashion Director and Vice President Ken Downing, and the importance of outerwear in Northern California.

By Elizabeth Varnell

 

You met Ken at I. Magnin in San Francisco. What drew you to his work? 
Ken was young, handsome, energetic and charismatic—and somewhat daring in his approach to pulling looks together. I loved what he was doing and felt we were on the same page style-wise. He would dress the mannequins on the department store’s couture floor and I would ask to try the ensemble on immediately. Once or twice I even impatiently undressed the mannequin myself to take the outfit into the dressing room. I was so excited to see this new, fresh, and unconventional approach to creating a look.

You wore Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein, Geoffrey Beene and many other designers in the 1990s, but you write that you didn’t realize you were collecting clothes until you started Fashionlines. When did you figure that out?
I realized I was a collector when I started to write about the clothes in 1999, for my emagazine, Fashionlines.com. I had always taken care of my clothes but now I began to catalogue them.

What designers caught your eye once you started going to Paris and New York for the collections?
From New York I loved Tuleh in 1999. It seemed so fresh, young and different. In Paris, I fell in love with the couture of on aura tout vu, a love which remains to this day. That team is the trend setter for the Paris season and has been for two decades. Their approach is intellectual and very fashion forward.

What about the color or design draws you to a particular piece?
If I see a piece and I fall in love with it, color and design take a second seat. First you fall in love with the garment, and then you realize why. You might love the bias, or you might love the trapeze. You might love shocking pink or you might love black—but first and foremost, for the collector, you are in the moment, and if a particular piece speaks to you at that moment, then it is the piece for you.

Where did Frederic Aranda shoot these images? 
More than half of the shots were done abroad or in New York. We shot the majority in London.

What are the differences you find when dressing for California vs. Paris or New York?
London is a city I love and feel happy in no matter what I am wearing. New York and Paris are a bit trickier; very fashion oriented cities with certain fashion codes I’m not always interested in following. Tokyo and Hong Kong were lots of fun because they are fashion towns and anything goes, much like London. California is my home, so I am probably most comfortable in my white jeans and leopard or military three-quarter coats or my Rodarte dresses and sweaters. After all I am first and foremost a California girl!

 

Pictured: A detail shot of Christine Suppes’ Rodarte dress from the line’s spring 2007 collection, published in Electric Fashion.
Photo Courtesy of Electric Fashion (Skira), © 2014 Frederic Aranda

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