Elegance Above All | A conversation with Lloyd Klein

Photographer Chris Callaway | Stylist Adrienne Young

Lloyd Klein

Lloyd Klein is a French-Canadian couturier based in Los Angeles.

Klein was born in Montreal, Canada to French parents. Klein is the youngest of four children. Although initially trained in architecture, Lloyd Klein decided to make haute couture fashion design his career after attending a Givenchy runway show.

He initiated a self-study of the prominent fashion artists of Europe and the United States, and developed an interest in the work of Yves St. Laurent, Jacques Fath and Halston. After two seasons of presenting his work on the Paris runways, he became the head designer for Maison Mme. Grès.

In 1997, Klein established his own label, Lloyd Klein Couture. Klein’s gowns have been worn and/or modeled by celebrities Tyra Banks, Kate Moss, AnnaLynne McCord, Kim Kardashian, Vanessa Williams, Jane Fonda, Paula Abdul, Joan Collins, Paris Hilton, Tara Reid, Kate Beckinsale, Eva Longoria, Toni Collette, and Dita von Teese.



I just want to give a heart felt thanks to Lloyd for sharing some of his life and thoughts with us. So without further ado... Lloyd Klein. 

Jonathan: What is your bliss? 

 Lloyd: The moment that I can visualize the collection in color which sometimes occurs to me at the oddest times but when the vibration hits… I know exactly where I am headed and it becomes my obsession. 

Jonathan: In design, what is your most sterling trait? 
Lloyd: Elegance above all -  is what I strive for.
 

Photographer Robert Voltaire | Model Alex Abercrombie |  Fashion by Lloyd Klein

Jonathan: What is the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?  

Lloyd: My grandfather's crocodile belt with his the initials JPK engraved on the front given to him by my grandmother on Armistice Day at the end of the war. 

Jonathan: What is your guilty secret?

Lloyd: Window shopping for sports cars even though I have never driven and never intend to do so. 

Fall 2012 Sportswear Collection

Jonathan: Where is your ideal home?  

Lloyd: Hollywood, California – the only place I still dream of and then live the dream each day.

Jonathan: What is on your bedside table right now? 
Lloyd: A jaguars head made of cut crystal by a dear friend who is the artist – I told him once that I felt I was a panther in a previous existence and he convinced me that I was more than likely a jaguar rather than panther – a week later he presented me with the sculpture and a week later he passed away – it was his last work of art and it is inscribed with the words “ Lloyd Klein the eternal Jaguar who thinks he’s a panther."  

Jonathan: What if any, book are you reading now or last read?

Lloyd: The Lover  - by Marguerite Duras – for the 3^rd time.

Jonathan: What’s your take on magazines, books versus the internet?

Lloyd: I only read emails on the internet and magazines have power and substance… I can’t imagine reading from a kindle – that’s a lack of romance

Photographer Robert Voltaire | Model Alex Abercrombie |  Fashion by Lloyd Klein

Jonathan: What’s your music library like?

Lloyd: I adore the campiness of Amanda Lear, the mysterious one of a kind sound of Yma Sumac, because they are both my eternal friends but Edith Piaf is a never ending voice in my head and Rachmanoff plays in the background of my thoughts and in my home almost every day - all of those artists attract a very welcomed vibration to me and I am somehow connected to their sounds at any given moment.

Jonathan: What and where is your favorite meal?  

Lloyd: OK I’d like to be clever and say “one poached egg” but the reality is ridiculous…. Whenever I am back in Paris I go to see my friends at “La Maison du Caviar” and I indulge in megadoses of little tastes of heaven that don’t taste the same anywhere else…..and that’s the truth!

Lloyd Klein Fall Winter Collection

Jonathan: If you could not be in fashion, what would you be?
Lloyd: I have always felt that I would have been a good dancer in a serious ballet company – the dancer e’toile.

Jonathan: Who is your inspiration/style icon?  

Lloyd: Madame Grès forever...

Jonathan: Who is your favorite designer?

Lloyd: Madame Grès and Monsieur Yves St. Laurent they - are my “ying and my yang” – I often ask myself what would Monsieur or Madame do in this situation?

Little Gold Dress by Lloyd Klein Beverly Hills

 Jonathan: In 3 words or less, describe the current state of fashion.   

Lloyd: Progressive, unfortunate, and exhilarating.

Jonathan: If you could, would you wear your own designs or shop in your own store? Or who would you suggest?  
Lloyd: I’d wear any of the new leather jackets and in fact I made masculine versions of each for myself…

Jonathan: If you could invite up to 4 people for dinner, who would they be…dead or alive?
Lloyd: Jackie Kennedy, Grace Kelly, Anna Wintour and Maria Callas – can you imagine?

Photographer Robert Voltaire

Jonathan: Whose opinion do you value most?
Lloyd: My conscience and my intuition are both very influential in the conversations that go on in my head.

Jonathan: What store or which designer do you most like to shop in or wear?
Lloyd: My tailor’s little atelier in Paris is my favorite place to shop and I like to wear Versace for Jeans, Dolce for jackets and Hedi Slimane for this and that….

Photographer Robert Voltaire | Model Alex Abercrombie |  Fashion by Lloyd Klein

Jonathan: Do you have a dream collaborator?
Lloyd: I know it may sound pathetic but Madame Gres was genius and if I get to have a second choice I’d like to be pleasantly confused by Salvador Dali.

Jonathan: If you could pick anyone as your customer, who would you select and why?
Lloyd: Lynn Wyatt or Nan Kempnor -  because they will be forever the quintessential curators and arbiters of what is fashionable and two heroines for my industry…. the front row will never have the same meaning without them.

Jonathan: What’s your advice to the “newcomer?”

Lloyd: “Don’t go there!” but if you have no other choice because you are passionate than always follow your heart and passion and never look at what the others are doing.

Photography: James Russell and Ann Rutherford

Say hello to Lloyd on Facebook or visit his web site to check all the latest.

Advertisement: Check out the Vogue Collection on Zinio for your iPad or tablet.

 

Tweet