A few weeks ago I sat down with the inimitable Christine Suppes, a Bay Area native and true fashion innovator being honored in this year’s Discarded to Divine. Ms. Suppes is the “O.G.”, if you will, of the online fashion magazine, and precursor to fashion blogs. She pioneered the space as early as 1997 with her website Fashion Lines. But if you take a look at Fashion Lines – which I recommend you do – you will see that even today, with all the fashion blogs and news sites that exist on the web, it is unique in concept and style. What other websites combine fashion news, couture reviews, and original artwork? None that I know of. An avid couture collector for over 20 years, Ms. Suppes exhibits impeccable taste and style. I had the privilege of spending an afternoon with this fashion icon, where I learned about her venerable background in fashion, her crush on YSL, and how to get into Studio 54.
Adelle McElveen: How did your love of fashion begin?
Christine Suppes: My mom and my dad were very stylish people. My grandmother always had a hat. But I took it much further, because I wanted very much to really understand the designers. Plus, my mother and grandmother had no interest in haute couture. They were more interested in pret-a-porter and good, old-fashioned, American ready-to-wear. My mother liked that clean, simple look; like Jackie-O.
I had a childhood obsession with Yves Saint Laurent. I would cut things out of the Chronicle – his drawings were in the Style section. I would cut out these drawings of haute couture and put them on my wall. I had a crush on his illustrations. I’m a whole Yves Saint Laurent fan. And then the 70s happened. I was in my early 20s, during the Studio 54 days. I said to myself – I know how to get into Studio 54. I’m nobody, but I know how to get in: you have to be dressed, dressed so well. And I did it.
I always liked fashion but I knew there was something more spectacular. I wanted to see how high it could go. My first [couture] show was at Versailles. It was John Galliano. Now, he is disgraced. He has a drug problem, and an alcohol problem, but that can not take away from the fact that he’s a genius. He’s a messed up individual who’s also brilliant. So it was in Versailles, in the fall of 99, it was twilight, and i was in the front row sitting between a countess from Belgium and John Paul Gaultier, who was there to cheer on Galliano, who was doing a tribute to the Matrix. It was the longest runway I’ve ever seen. and the models had to step on pillows filled with water, that were plastic, with spiked heels. How sick is that? Because I was so new at the game, all I did was worry about the safety of the models. I could hardly concentrate on the clothes!
AM: What’s your favorite couture piece?
CS: It’s hard to say, maybe something by Christian LaCroix. But you can’t even describe them, they’re so outrageous.
AM: What inspired you to start Fashion Lines?
CS: I was never a professional buyer, I bought [couture] out of love. But I never bought anything until I was educated. I didn’t just want to be a consumer, I wanted to write about it, and that’s when I started Fashion Lines. Everything was going to go on the internet, I knew that was clear. I was right down there in Palo Alto. It was just obvious where everyone was going, and it was just a matter of time before magazines would be online. You could never imagine life without Style.com, and I was years before Style.com.
AM: San Francisco gets a bad rap when it comes to fashion. What’s your take on the fashion situation?
CS: Some of the most fashionable women in the world are from San Francisco, like Nan Kempner. She was born in San Francisco and her father owned an automobile dealership on Van Ness. Or Dodie Rosenkrantz, she became a mentor to me.
[We used to be a] city of elegance. Christian Dior was flown to the United States by Neiman Marcus and I. Magnin. At that time Neiman Marcus was only in Dallas and I. Magnin only in California. Besides Bergdorf Goodman they were the only stores elegant enough to have Dior. if you read his autobiography he says, “they say in California you’re either a San Francisco person or a Los Angeles person. I’m a San Francisco person.” We were elegant and then the hippie movement changed everything. But they all were doing it. Even YSL was doing tribal and Indian motifs.
AM: How did fashion manage to do the hippie thing and come out of it, and yet the city got stuck with that?
CS: The whole country is. We have Silicon Valley and a bunch of nerds, and maybe they have all the money but what did they start? Casual Friday. Now it’s Casual Monday, and casual… name-the-day it’s not!
AM: Does it matter how the city is perceived?
CS: The city will always be perceived as the Fillmore Auditorium, Fisherman’s Wharf, and cable cars. I don’t think anyone comes here for clothes. But elegant women can find them. I think Union Square is in the top drawer with LA, Chicago and New York. There will always be elegant women in any city. But you don’t see them walking around in the tourist areas. They’re working or going about their life.
AM: How did you start to get involved in Discarded to Divine?
CS: I heard an organization that benefited the homeless in the city was doing a fashion show so I thought I would go. I bought a water bottle jacket by Fiji, I thought it was so chic. And I thought, maybe I could offer some suggestions, and they were so grateful, and it was such a great group of people I wanted to get involved. Since then I’ve brought in designers to design for them, and pieces for auction; and generally continue to advise them on the fashion aspect.
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In honor of Ms. Suppes’s ongoing contributions to fashion and Discarded to Divine, SVDP-SF has commissioned an ensemble by noted Bay Area designer Karen Caldwell that will be modeled by Ms. Suppes on the runway and then sold to the highest bidder! The Gala on Thursday, April 26, 2012 at the San Francisco Design Center Galleria includes a reception, live and silent auctions (using BidPal technology), and a benefit drawing for Public Bikes, glamorous getaways, and more. Doors open at 6:00pm. Tickets for VIP access (including an exclusive reception, preferred seating and parking) are $195. General admission is $95. For more information and tickets visit http://www.discardedtodivine.org/.
Photos via SF Luxe, Master the Art of Style, Drew Altizer Photography.
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