TAT Fashion Editor, Christine Assirvaden had the privilege of chatting with Neiman Marcus’ Ken Downing on his first visit to Melbourne last week. They chatted over coffee, mulled over their love of fashion and simply enjoyed each other’s company. Here’s what the Senior Vice President and Fashion Director had to say on Aussie fashion, Vogue, his life and New York, which dominated most of their conversation.
Ken Downing on life before Neiman Marcus
I don’t think I had a life before Neiman Marcus. Actually I did… I’m from Seattle and I was very interested in fashion from a very early age – 6 years old my mother tells me. I grew up with a very fashionable mother and a very fashionable grandmother. As interested as I was in fashion, I think my parents never realised that I would actually have a valid career in fashion because fashion does not hit Seattle in a big way. So I was always very interested in how people looked, how they would dress, how their homes were decorated, and out of high school, I went to design school and I’m actually formally trained as a fashion designer. I can drape, I can draft, I can sew, I actually know how to embroider, and I can make anything from a pair of jeans, to a wedding gown. Not that I sit behind a sewing machine anymore, but I have the skills and I’ve always been very involved in the industry. I have styled in front of the camera, behind the camera, I’ve modelled, I’ve designed clothes, and it’s just always been a part of my life. Not that I was born into it, but I was just born to be in fashion.
