Badgley and Mischka: For (Glamorous) Women Only

Just when it looked like Versace and Armani were dominating the Hollywood glamour-girl market, up popped Mark Badgley and James Mischka to revive Tinseltown femininity sans fussiness. Here, the designing duo disses '80s excess, warns that "pretty, pretty, pretty" is "boring," and describes how they'd dress Gwyneth Paltrow for her wedding.

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When Teri Hatcher arrived at the 1995 Emmys in a hyper-feminine full-length silver evening dress that raised her vavoom factor tenfold, everyone from Melrose Avenue to Seventh Avenue was dying to know which designer was responsible for the look. When she explained the eye-popping creation was from the maverick dressmakers Mark Badgley and James Mischka, many were hearing the designers" names for the first time. Six months later, at the 1996 Academy Awards, Winona Ryder sashayed in front of the paparazzi in a camera-catching beige beaded gown that looked like it had been rolled in sugar. The designer? Badgley Mischka (as the duo is known) again. By this time the cognoscenti were familiar with the designers whose Golden Age-style frocks were showing up on Jamie Lee Curtis. Ashley Judd, Sandra Bullock, Whitney Houston and Cameron Diaz. At this year's Golden Globes, their dresses were chosen by Julia Ormond, Demi Moore, Teri Hatcher and Sherry Lansing.

Badgley and Mischka. both now 36, met while studying at Parsons School of Design in New York City. They became involved romantically, but went their separate ways professionally until 1987, when they started their own company. Despite a major financial hand from fashion powerhouse Escada in 1992, they eschewed the big-time sportswear business, grew slowly and continued to knock out intricate, elegant dresses. Movie stars now willingly do PR for them. Badgley Mischka's popularity in Hollywood is in part due to their fascination with Hollywood. They look to the movies for inspiration, particularly films from eras when a girl wouldn't think of going out in public without her diamonds.

DIANE CLEHANE: At your spring show you played music and dialogue from David Lynch's Blue Velvet. That was different.

MARK BADGLEY: We wanted some sort of cinematic reference to the music. We thought Blue Velvet was fun and a bit edgy

JAMES MISCHKA: When you hear the line "Are you the one that found the ear?" there's no mistaking what movie it's from.

DC: What other movies inspire you?

MB: We're certainly old movie buffs. The most wonderful thing about it is that the clothes women were wearing back then look right again right now.

DC: What are your movie staples?

MB: There are two staples, but because they're so popular, they're almost a cliche now: Sunset Blvd. and Breakfast at Tiffany's.

JM: And The Women--the original. About a year ago got a combination of old and new movies--things like The Hunger; Now, Voyager; Vertigo; Eyes of Laura Mars and just watched one after the other.

DC: Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie in The Hunger is an interesting choice.

MB: That film was the height of the Yves St. Laurent days, when he was the king of fashion. It looks good again. The clothes are classic, but sexy. Great hats and all that kind of stuff.

JM: I loved that scene when they're wearing sunglasses in the nightclub.

DC: What's your fascination with these dark, violent films?

MB: We like the contrast. When it's all pretty, pretty, pretty, it's boring.

JM: We don't really like sweet...

MB: We like a very dark personality in this kind of clothes. We love when a woman almost dresses like a man by day and at night she's extravagant, feminine and sexy.

DC: Which actress today pulls off both looks equally well?

MB: Gwyneth Paltrow would be magic in our dresses--my God, she's such a mannequin, she's incredible.

JM: Then you put her in one of those sharp, sinister-looking suits and she looks gorgeous. A dark personality in one of those suits is just too much.

DC: Among the actresses you're already working with, who are your favorites?

MB: We probably dress around 50 women we really like. And then we have our special five: Sharon, Winona, Teri, Cameron and Ashley.

DC: I know you have longstanding relationships with Winona, Teri and Ashley. When did you start working with Sharon?

MB: A stylist was doing a story with her...

JM: Actually it was for Movieline. The stylist brought some of our things for her to see. Sharon's assistant called our office to see if she could meet with us.

MB: When we were in Beverly Hills last summer, she invited us to her home. We brought 13 garment bags filled with clothes and we were there until nine o'clock at night. [Laughs] It was probably the most fun we've ever had. She has such knowledge of clothes, styling and period dressing.

JM: She'll look at a dress and go, "Short nails."

MB: That evening was the closest thing to some costume designer being invited to Joan Crawford's house in the '40s.

DC: The other actresses you mentioned are some of the best-dressed women in Hollywood. How would you describe each one's personal style? Let's start with Teri Hatcher.

MB: She seems like this lovely little television star, but she's really very chic and wears clothes very, very well. You can't underestimate that woman.

JM: The body of death. She's skinny but she has a great figure. She looks great in our clothes.

DC: Ashley Judd?

JM: Romantic.

MB: Yeah, but playful. I don't think she's set on one look. This occasion she's into a little bodice with a huge full skirt, the next she's feeling sexy and wants something slinky. And then the next time she wants a tuxedo.

DC: Cameron Diaz?

MB: I think she's the most forward of all of them in terms of clothes. She dresses like a model. She's very hip.

DC: Winona?

JM: Winona is in the same category as Sharon. Seeing her on the cover of Vogue in one of our dresses was a big deal for us, a career highlight.

DC: If you published a 10 Best Dressed List who would you put on it?

MB & JM: Winona Ryder, Sharon Stone, Naomi Campbell, Teri Hatcher, Nadja Auermann, Cari Modine [Matthew's wife], Madonna, Barbara Walters, Nicole Kidman and Kristin Scott Thomas.

DC: What are the most common fashion mistakes actresses in their twenties make?

JM: I think it's important for a woman in her twenties not to dress older than she is.

MB: We hate it when they don't really dress, or it gets so pared down that they wind up with nothing and it's boring. But they shouldn't too hard or be too stylized-it ages them.

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