“I don’t want to be cool. I want to be Fashion.”
By George Langford
Anna Dello Russo
9 reasons why we love Anna Dello Russo.
“I take risks with my clothes, I don’t have a problem with people looking at me. If I did, I guess I would be in trouble.”
“I get up at 5am to swim and do yoga every day. I go out less these days. If there is an important party, of course I will go. But I was the first to leave the Vogue party. I was in bed by 11.30pm. For me it’s about the arrival and the impact.”
Dress by Francesco Scognamiglio
“A tracksuit, yes of course. When I practise my yoga I have my Abercrombie tracksuit. But what are these Uggs? I have to say dressing down is not my favourite thing. Clothes are my fantasy, my way of escaping reality.”
“I started collecting clothes as a 12-year-old. My mother didn’t understand why I couldn’t be happy with teenage clothes. She wanted me in jeans. I wanted Armani! Versace!” I thought she and my sister and I should all pool our budget and share a Versace jacket. Often my friends’ mothers would discover me in the street in their clothes. My mother had to lock hers away.”
Anna attends the Vogue Paris masked ball during Paris Fashion Week
“The Look is so important now. I remember I used to get really excited about what Issy Blow would wear to a show. Fashion without a Look is only half the message. It’s like cutting the legs off a beautiful woman.”
“For years I did this for models. Now I do it for me. But travelling is a nightmare. I never have less than three suitcases. You can carry all your music in an iPod, but there is no way to reduce the space that clothes take. I fedex a lot in advance.”
Anna in her suite at the Ritz, photographed by Juergen Teller
“I didn’t come out and talk about my brand, I talked about my freedom. At that time, I was thinking about my own expression, because of course I love Japanese Vogue, but in any case, I was thinking to express myself. I thought, I should really jump in this world and have a voice to really express myself. With magazines, you don’t really express yourself; you express a corporate vision, you express the vision of Condé Nast. It’s not really your point of view. You can’t say in the magazine what you really like, it’s all a very political vision. So I thought, maybe I should spend some time and energy to finally have my little voice, and now it’s happening.” [Models.com]
“I re-invented myself in my blog. It’s been slow progress. But through my blog I find I can express myself better than I was ever able to at the magazine. The internet has freed me.”
Anna wears suit by Roksanda Ilincic
Next pillar of the [Anna Della Russo] master plan is the launch of a perfume which will be sold exclusively online in partnership with Yoox.com and will be available in time for Christmas. “The perfume bottle is a Cinderella slipper,” explains Anna. “After working like a cow in the basement for so many years I feel I am finally invited to the princess party.”
(Quotes taken from interview in this week’s Grazia magazine)
Images: Annadellorusso.com/Tommy Ton