The paradise birds of fashion

Because you might have accidentally missed a magazine: this is one of our favorite articles that you want to dive into. Fire on, warm cocoa in a mug or a bubbly in the glass (that’s fine too) and just enjoy reading.

The street with a birdcage, toast dress or lightning bolt hat on your head: why not? For a number of colorful figures on earth, fashion is more than just a piece of fabric to wear. Birdwatchers ready? The most beautiful, craziest, and most eccentric flutterers from fashion.

André Leon Talley

Anyone who knows the 68-year-old Talley only as a judge on America’s Next Top Model should stand in the corner with a blush on their cheeks. The Great Friendly Fashion Giant was employed by American Vogue for over thirty years, and the title editor-at-large seems almost specially made for him. Everything about the Afro-American fashion guru is larger than life: his nearly two-meter tall appearance, gigantic network, colossal stature draped in enormous capes and kaftans, but also his extravagant personality and outspoken opinion on fashion. “I used to shellac my Vuitton bags on the weekends for fun.” And about bloggers: “It’s incorrect to assume you can be a fashion editor just because you blog.”

André grew up with his grandmother in Durham, North Carolina. The weekly church visit was the stylish highlight of his week. “It was also the time of segregation in America. If my grandmother wanted to try on a hat, she had to put on a scarf to ‘protect’ the white ladies from her black hair.” With memories like these in mind, outsider André was sure: I want to make it in this ‘white’ fashion world. And oh boy, he did.

Despite his retirement, the former BFF of Anna Wintour still enjoys a grand life. A badass cape collection? Check. A tennis outfit from Louis Vuitton? Also. A ‘birthday gift’ of $50,000 with kind regards from Karl Lagerfeld? Present. Still front row invitations for almost all major fashion shows worldwide? Double check. You get it: paradise bird André Leon Talley has earned his legacy.

Anna Piaggi

“Fashion is a game of humor and jokes, and I make my own rules. I don’t just grab something and put it on,” says the Italian. Anna was born in 1931 in the same Italian city where she would eventually die: Milan. She travels the world as an au pair, then works as a translator and grows into a fashion icon in the 1980s as an editor at Italian Vogue and Vanity Fair. She was for a long time the muse of Karl Lagerfeld, Manolo Blahnik, and hat designer Stephen Jones.

Her signature style? Extravagant, colorful, layer upon layer upon layer, red blush on the cheeks, blue eyeshadow, and on her head a hat that always tilted slightly to the left. “Hats are like a halo of happiness” is one of her famous quotes. Because if it was always Prinsjesdag for anyone, it was for signora Piaggi. In her hand, the famous blue walking stick – or umbrella for a change.

In 2012, the fashion world said a sad goodbye to one of the most famous paradise birds on earth. The Italian, who despite her age never skipped a Fashion Week or fashion show, passed away at the age of 81. A part of her very modest wardrobe (more than three thousand dresses, hallootjes) was on display in 2006 at the London Victoria and Albert Museum.

Iris Apfel

“More is more and less is a bore”, “Age is just a number” and “I like to be maximal”; quotes from the coolest grandma on earth. Iris Apfel, an interior designer in the sixties (she worked with nine presidential wives on the decor of the White House), is a world-famous style icon in 2018. At 96 years old (!), Iris is still very much alive. Or as she says during interviews: still ‘vertical’.

As a young woman, she worked in New York for the fashion magazine Women’s Wear Daily, as an assistant to illustrator Robert Goodman and for interior designer Elinor Johnson. She quickly developed her own style that was talked about. How do you do that? By buying non-Western clothing during distant travels and regularly wearing it at posh parties upon returning home. Twenty fashion parties later, and the entire fashion world knew of her existence.

How do you recognize paradise bird Iris? By her collection of jewelry (more important than clothing, she thinks), large round jam jar glasses, gray-white hair, and perfectly painted lips. She cannot be pushed away from the front row and since her own documentary ‘Iris’ (2015) she has captured all fashion hearts. Birdwatchers take note: this is a granny to watch.

colorful, flamboyant and yes, also a bit hysterical, thank goodness.

Anna Dello Russo

Dress like a graceful paradise bird and the street style photographers will flock to you like seagulls. Anna Dello Russo knows the ins and outs of the fashion game all too well. Five different outfits a day during Fashion Week? Easy. The Italian is a fashion maniac. She was made famous by street style blogger Tommy Ton, worked for eighteen years as a fashion editor at Italian Vogue, created a jewelry collection for H&M in 2006 (think gold and blue), and is nowadays indispensable as creative director at Vogue Japan.

Anna in a nutshell: exuberant, colorful, flamboyant and yes, also a bit hysterical, thank goodness. The real fashion girls elusive and exclusive? The 55-year-old Anna is as ubiquitous as it can be. And quite a chatterbox. So she blogs twice a week about everything she wants to say something about. “I don’t want to be cool, I want to be fashion” is the motto. And according to the fashion guru, it can all be a bit over the top. Little black dress? Boring as hell; Dello Russo opts for the showstoppers. A striking, short jacket as a dress, cat-eye sunglasses, the latest Dolce bag straight from the runway, and sparkling Balenciaga heels on her feet. Then wear everything a maximum of once and the next day again, hoppa, a new design creation for her slender figure as if it’s nothing. She owns more than 4000 pairs of shoes and the Italian has two casas: one to live in and one for her clothes. It may not be clear yet: this peacock deserves an award for her fashion dedication.

Lady Gaga

At four she learns to play the piano, at thirteen she composes music and a year later she performs. Stefani Germanotta (stage name Lady Gaga) could not remain unnoticed in the music industry for long. And yet her breakthrough did not come easily. At school, she felt like a ‘freak’ and as a twenty-something, Stefani was rejected countless times during auditions because her face and clothing style were too ‘different’ for showbiz. Instead of lamenting, she turns it up a notch. Her freaky alter ego Lady Gaga gives her strength.

Lady Gaga's image is further emphasized when she dyes her hair porn blonde and looks more like a drag queen than a standard pop singer. Walk, walk, fashion baby. Work it. Move that bitch crazy. With gigantic shoulder pads, exotic headgear, and nearly impossible platform soles, she appears on red carpets and society parties. Suddenly, no one can ignore her anymore. Not even the designers. Dresses made of plastic bubbles, lampshades, Kermit the Frog dolls, raw pieces of meat, and ‘born this way’ texts ensure that the once small Stefani has grown into a fearless fashion icon that millions can identify with. So you see: coloring outside the lines seems to be a basic need to break through to a true paradise bird.