When Joslyn and I left the interview room after spending a some time with Charlotte Olympia designer Charlotte Dellal, who was in town for a personal appearance at Neiman Marcus NorthPark, we couldn’t wait to talk about her. She was lovely and fun and glowing with her beautiful little baby bump. Dellal’s skin is flawless, with scattered freckles peeking through. She wore her signature 40s glam retro waves and red lip, which is surprisingly low key up close. (“It looks super high maintenance but it’s very quick,” she told us.) In town to promote her latest collections and meet Charlotte Olympia shoe collectors, Dellal talked about her Cosmic Collection of Birthday Shoes, made up of flats for each horoscope sign, and her long overdue Hollywoodland collection for pre-fall 2013.
On designing Hollywoodland:
“It was, in a way, a hard collection to do. It was close to my heart, because the essence is always going to have this Hollywood glam thing. However, I was also quite apt to do it. It’s a glamorous, classic, timeless era, and it’s also an era that was rich in accessories and that had that kind of whimsy to it, as well. People didn’t think twice about carrying a poodle bag around or wearing a fantastic hat with matching gloves.”
On wearing jeans:
“I’ve got one pair –a dark, dark denim, high-waisted, flared, wide-leg jeans. But, they’re not really my thing.”
Her favorite Charlotte Olympia shoes:
“Oh, that’s so hard. They’re like babies. There’s one that stands out that I definitely love that’s from a past collection, which was my Bananas Is My Business shoe, which was a fruit shoe. It’s one of my favorite shoes. I think I own five pairs boxed up. Just in case they die along the way, I can have a new pair. I guess it also symbolizes a lot what the brand is about. It’s a super high shoe. It’s got a sense of humor, yet at the same time I think it’s quite a classic shoe. I don’t know. My head works in funny ways. It’s a fruit shoe—everything goes with fruit. For me, it was a neutral.”
Her favorite, non-Charlotte Olympia shoe:
“Converse–my favorite shoe, apart from my own. I love my Converse. I’ve got a growing collection of them, so those are good to run around in.”
On her “old Hollywood glamour” beauty routine:
“When I first dyed my hair red, it was because I love Rita Hayworth, who’s a favorite pin-up of mine. I think redheads should wear red lipstick, and that’s when it started.”
Go-to lip colors:
“MAC in Russian Red. In the summer, however, I prefer lip stain—Revlon in Just Bitten.”
Favorite adult beverage:
“Beer. Cold. Very cold. It’s the boy in me.”
Her favorite tunes at the moment:
“I’ve got quite an eclectic taste, but I like Brazilian music a lot. I guess that’s again being half-Brazilian, and it’s quite timeless as well, and easy to listen to. My kids like it as well. There’s a singer in particular, Maria Gadu.”
On making her whimsical shoes wearable:
“As a woman designer, I definitely try to test all my shoes, and I try to make them as comfortable as they can possibly be, and wearable. Walkable.”
