NEW YORK — “I’m glad the show is over, it was becoming too much,” said Manolo Blahnik about the end of “Sex and the City.” “People would stop me all the time, saying, ‘Manolo, Manolo, hi.’ I do have an affection for the show, and I am grateful for the exposure that it gave me in the U.S., but I am glad it has finished.”
Although legions of fans will tearfully disagree with Carrie’s favorite shoe designer, Blahnik need not worry. He’s gotten his due — and now he’ll get his rest. Even he admits that there is no other Carrie on the horizon to help boost fashion and retailing.
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“I can’t think of any other shows that would compare — I don’t really follow television,” said Blahnik. “But I think that, in the past, shows that were about fashion didn’t really work, and that ‘Sex and the City’, combining fashion with other parts of life, did work.”
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Fashion designers and retailers hopefully pointed to a few newcomers — “The O.C.,” “The L Word,” “The Simple Life” and even “Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica.” But in the next breath, they admit it will take a long time for any of these shows to create trends and ring up sales like the one that just ended.
“First of all, you’d need a show with a lot of attractive women,” Michael Kors said. “The last TV show with that much impact, style-wise, was ‘Dynasty,’ and that’s because you also had a variety of women with different body types like you have here. You need to have women who are affluent and you need to have a group. We need to talk to the programming developers to make sure there is a minimum of four fabulous female characters on every show. Darren [Star, the show’s creator and executive consultant] is going to have to create a new show.”
Kal Ruttenstein, senior vice president, fashion direction at Bloomingdale’s, observed, “The main impact ‘Sex and the City’ has had is proliferating designer names throughout America — Gucci, Prada, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo. It put designer names on categories for all of America.”
Ruttenstein recalled when he was at the couture shows in Paris last month, they were filming the final episodes of “Sex and the City,” and some of the actresses came to the fashion shows. “At the Dior show, the photographers started clicking away, and they were more interested in them than the clothes.”
John Galliano also gave Sarah Jessica Parker rave reviews, despite Carrie’s terribly gauche swan dive in the Christian Dior store in Paris.
“The whole of Paris was in an upsurge when Sarah Jessica was here — her name was on everybody’s lips that week,” said John Galliano. “When we finally got the chance to meet, I was totally mesmerized by her effervescent charm. Like a modern-day Tinkerbell, she is the picture of femininity, with a magnetic magic aura about her that is totally captivating and seductive.”
Retailers have become so accustomed to seeing a surge in business when the show featured an item — from Carrie’s name necklace and flower pins to Jimmy Choo or Manolo shoes — that they’re even hoping for one last boost from the show for fall.
“Little items she wore that were not signature pieces, like the Christine Caruso knitted bag, flew out of Bendel’s when she gave them a moment,” said Scott Tepper, the store’s fashion director. “Even the last episode — where she trudges around Paris in a fur muff and an old Dior bag, clutching her nameplate necklace — will have an impact. We are definitely stocking up on fur muffs for fall. I’m betting Carrie is good for one last trend.”
In many instances, the designers behind the wardrobe were uncredited, with the exception of cases where the designer or the act of shopping are integral to the plotline, such as Carrie’s fixation with Oscar de la Renta, or shopping excursions to Prada, Christian Dior or Manolo Blahnik. Yet the public’s focus on the show’s fashion cues has garnered the most attention. Most designers credit that to the unusual step of its producers to turn to fashion insider, stylist and retailer Pat Field, rather than a traditional costume designer.
“Pat Field really created a new ‘Urban Boho’ style, mixing the flower pins, nameplate necklaces, horseshoe necklaces, newsboy caps with Dior, Cavalli and the rest of the labels,” said Tepper. “Sarah Jessica Parker has become the patron saint of accessories; in the past years, you could not go into a showroom, from designer down to the most hard-core Seventh Avenue mass accessory showroom, without being shown the piece Sarah Jessica had worn-borrowed-been photographed in.”
Tuleh’s Bryan Bradley, who has outfitted each character on the show over the years, concurred. “That show’s influence and Pat Field’s influence on fashion have been immense. That’s been good for the current trends of fashion, of personalizing fashion and mixing it up. It’s nice to have a show about New York that is filmed in New York showing fashion in a way that New York women do dress.”
One of Bradley’s favorite moments was this season, when Kim Cattrall’s character, Samantha, on her way to her first chemotherapy appointment, wore a metallic gold leather coat from his collection.
“It was this incredibly ridiculous coat of ours — brassy and awful, just in the worst taste — but it was strong,” he said. “It was dramatic, and it says, ‘I’m here.’ She wore it over her shoulders as if she was asking to be noticed, and to me, it made sense that way with the character. What it implied by its very existence was a way to feel powerful in the face of great adversity.”
“‘Sex and the City’ made women all across the world feel comfortable in not being able to pay the rent this month, but still getting those shoes,” said Kors. “It let people be indulgent, to give into their nature and be a little less puritanical.”
Jaqui Lividini, senior vice president of fashion merchandising at Saks Fifth Avenue, observed, “All of a sudden, Manolo Blahnik became a household name. Nothing before ever did that. [Parker’s] influence was just astounding. If Carrie would wear a flower, people would be coming in the next day looking for a flower for their lapel. Manolo Blahniks were known in a certain circle, but after ‘Sex and the City,’ everyone knew about them.”
On Sunday night, Douglas Hannant was watching the series finale at a party in Chelsea, where he and several friends erupted from a leather couch at the moment Carrie emerged from Mr. Big’s Town Car, wearing an off-white cashmere coat lined in hand-dyed fox. “That’s our coat!” he and his partner, Frederick Anderson, yelled in unison. Parker’s representatives had asked to borrow the coat the weekend before New York Fashion Week, and had returned it in time for Hannant’s show, but the designer said he had no idea whether it would end up in the show, let alone in such a pivotal scene.
“This is the first time we dressed Sarah Jessica Parker,” he said. “She’s the one you want to get on that show.”
Not that Hannant is expecting a major rush for the $8,000 coat. Samantha has worn several of his suits in the past, including in one memorable scene in which she was performing oral sex on another woman — but that suit was not a major hit at retail.
Yet Nanette Lepore got a lot of attention in 2001 when Carrie wore one of her intricate rainbow dresses made of wide-strips of crinkly fabric. After she was identified as the designer of the dress in several articles, Lepore received hundreds of inquiries from customers, but couldn’t meet the demand before several knockoffs had infiltrated the market.
“The fact [that] that dress was worn on ‘Sex and the City’ really made an impact on my business and my profile as a designer,” she said. “There were just so many emotional attachments to that dress, which was the opening dress from the Sept. 11 show.”
Tocca designer Ellis Kreuger considers Kristin Davis’ Charlotte to be the archetypal Tocca girl, and has provided several pieces for the show. But because the looks are not credited, he said it has not had the same impact on sales as when a piece is included in a magazine editorial.
“Unless it’s a real item of the season, like a Balenciaga bag or a Prada bag, people don’t necessarily know what they’re wearing,” Kreuger said. “But that show drove so many trends that you can’t say it hasn’t had some impact on the way people dress. That show was all about the clothes. Everybody wanted to look like Carrie or whichever character they most associated with.”
“The product placement is just massive,” said Sandra Choi, creative director of Jimmy Choo, in reference to the episode where Carrie loses one of her “Choos” aired. “It turned the whole thing around for us. It totally branded us on that same pedestal as all the other brands being mentioned….When that aired, I thought, ‘Oh God, we made it.’ From then on, America was the place for us. The amount of phone calls from friends, colleagues, trade people was amazing. You know, it was bigger than a magazine [placement].”
Stefani Greenfield, co-owner of New York-based chain Scoop, said that “Sex and the City” not only drove business on specific items, but it got people excited about clothes. One of Greenfield’s favorites was the multilayered Alexander McQueen gown Parker wore in the second-to-last episode. “That dress was the most dramatic and sensational thing she ever put on her body,” said Greenfield.
After many of the episodes, Greenfield would see an uptick in certain items, such as the flower on the T-shirt, horseshoe necklaces, anything with a name or initial, gauchos and newscaps. “Many items became a new uniform,” she added.
Michael Macko, director of fashion merchandising for men’s at Saks Fifth Avenue, recalled the show’s impact on store sales when he worked in publicity for the store.
“Having been through the big flower and Fendi baguette, the Jimmy Choos and the Manolos, I knew an item on ‘Sex and the City’ lends credibility and takes an item that’s good and makes it amazing,” said Macko. “The other thing about ‘Sex and the City’ is the character, Carrie Bradshaw, has empowered women — and even some men — to take fashion risks,” said Macko.
George Malkemus, president of U.S. operations for Manolo Blahnik, discussed the spike in traffic in the New York boutique, thanks to the show and curious tourists.
“We have tour buses of women come in — mostly English women, for some reason — and they want to come to see Carrie’s shoes….When the episode where Carrie sees the Manolo Mary-Jane, the urban shoe myth, you can’t imagine the calls we got. Then places like Bob Ellis in Charleston call to buy it.
“We’re going to miss it. Thank God it’s going into syndication. We’ll get a whole new generation of customers.”
Yet, despite its endless New York City references, the show’s fashion appeal extended to the West Coast, as well. At Los Angeles’ Ron Herman at Fred Segal Melrose, manager Denise Woods just fielded a request Monday for a skirt like the one Parker wore in her final Paris cafe scene. While the store didn’t have the exact replica, there were similar looks. Across town at West Hollywood’s celeb shop spot, Tracey Ross, salesgirls said it was rare to have customers in search of exact Carrie clothes, but the nameplate necklace did blow out the doors way back when, and may have a resurgence, due to its revival in the final episode.
“It has had a huge impact on L.A. fashion in that people want to wear flowers all over the place and that deconstruction thing and all those ballerina skirts, and everybody wears jeans with colored Manolos or Jimmy Choos or Louboutins,” stylist Jessica Paster gasped in one breath. “And that Carrie nameplate — we all went and bought 100 of them.” She continued: “I think Carrie’s style is more copied than the other girls, but look at Charlotte — people didn’t know who Proenza Schouler was before she wore them.”
Now comes the void — and the industry will just have to do without a television fashion plate.
“Somebody is going to try and drum up a show that has a similar cultural impact, but it will be a while before that happens, said Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York. “‘Sex and the City’ caused the streets of New York to be deserted [Sunday night]. It reminds me of when Victor Hugo died and everyone in France wore black — not that I was around then. To have that kind of cultural impact when there are 500 TV channels is pretty staggering.”
With the end of “Sex and the City,” and a conclusion to “Friends” coming in a few weeks, designers were hard-pressed to come up with a current show that could captivate the public’s fascination with fashion or hairstyles in the same way. While shows like “The L Word” and “The O.C.” could spur trends, most observers conceded that it would be unlikely for consumers to look at clothes or accessories in quite the same way when they are portrayed by lesbians or teenagers.
“I love ‘The L-Word,’” Kreuger said. “I love that whole California, Gothic look. It’s the same aesthetic that ‘Six Feet Under’ has, with quick shots and moody lighting. I have found that I love their style in a way I never thought lesbians would be, but there you go. It’s very stylish, but not in the way of ‘Sex and the City.’”
Lepore was similarly impressed by the originality of HBO and Showtime’s programming, but questioned whether any of the existing lineup would have such an impact on design.
Said Tepper: “There aren’t any shows on the horizon that speak to fashion as clearly as ‘Sex and the City’ did….The only show that embraces fashion totally is ‘The Simple Life.’ The fun they are having with their outfits, especially in the context of their surroundings, is very obvious and resonates with the audience. Paris [Hilton] has already proven that she can generate trends, in Bendel’s at any rate.
“Every time she is photographed in a hair accessory she has bought at the store, the sales skyrocket. Arguably, Carrie really started with that nameplate necklace, so it will be very interesting to see what Paris brings back to the farm on ‘Simple Life 2.’”
Tuleh’s Bradley thinks this might be the time to give the general viewing public a break from the ins and outs of Manolo, Miuccia and Oscar.
“I’m not convinced the public at large needs to be so obsessed with fashion,” he said. “I think at this point, it stretches fashion beyond its inherent level of interest.”
— WWD Staff