Phillip Bloch is this year’s Hamptons Fashion Week Style Icon of the Year. We caught up with the designer, editor, stylist, and all-around fashion industry veteran to learn more about his life and career.
Could you tell us about your background and how you got started in the fashion industry?
Growing up on Long Island, I always knew there was a fabulous and fashionable world out there, full of creativity, that I was destined to be a part of. I just couldn’t figure out how to get there until I saw the movie “Mahogany” with Diana Ross, and suddenly I knew what my trajectory would be. School was definitely not my forte, but I had an amazing best friend, Gloria Limanni, who always encouraged my talents. Our art teacher helped me graduate high school and head on my way to Manhattan, where I met Professor Bernard Zamkoff, who was the chairman of the Fashion Design Department at FIT. He took me from crayons to perfume. I was living my best life studying fashion design at FIT, where I seemed to major in Studio 54. I finally felt like I was in my element, surrounded by models and celebrities like Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, and Margaux Hemingway.
I knew this was where I wanted to be. Taking what I had learned, working at Studio 54 as a busboy and in the retail business at such prestigious stores as Gucci, Fiorucci, and Comme des Garçons, I headed off to Europe to model. I worked with incredible designers like John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Yves Saint Laurent on the runways of Paris, Milan, Tokyo, and London and on the pages of Italian Vogue. It was my career as a model that got me into styling. I always had my own sense of personal style, and the editors quickly picked up on it, encouraging me to spread my wings in the fashion business. I met a partner named Stefano DiSabatino in Milan.
We soon started our own cashmere collection called Les Enfants des Paradis. We sold to the top ten stores in Italy, but, as young entrepreneurs, it was a little more than we could handle at the time. After almost a decade of living in Europe, I returned to America. With the encouragement of the editors I had worked with as a model, I began my career as a stylist, working as the first fashion editor at Vibe Magazine. I quickly realized besides models, there were celebrities who needed to be dressed for magazine shoots, and there was a whole undiscovered world of fashion and celebrity out west in Hollywood, so I headed on my way to forge a new path in the world of fashion by 1996.
The world of fashion was expanding to Hollywood for a new renaissance of Hollywood glamour, and I was the face of that movement, appearing everywhere on TV from MTV to E! I was the stylist of the stars for the Oscars. That year, I dressed a record-breaking 13 celebrities: Angela Bassett, Courtney B. Vance, J Lo, her first husband, Ojani, Salma Hayek and Luis Miguel, Jim Carrey and Lauren Holly, Sandra Bullock, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Faye Dunaway, and Fran Drescher, and that changed the way the world saw fashion and how fashion showed its true colors on the red carpet.
Where did your career bring you next?
After having a variety of careers in the fashion business, at this point in my life, I felt like it was time to create something that was mine. I had always been inspired by Azzedine Alaïa, and I knew my collection would be reminiscent of his essence. Something unique and very exclusive. I had become the first creative style director for many large corporations from the NFL to Ebay and have even been hired by Mattel to give Barbie’s paramour Ken a makeover.
I continue to have a highly visible career on television, and I even ventured into writing two books, starred in 13 movies as an actor, and produced several films. However, fashion is my true passion. And beautiful women of all shapes, sizes, and colors inspire me. I love the fabrics, the textures, and creating clothing that is transformational, but let’s face it, nobody needs another fashion collection, so I knew I had it to create something different and unique like Azzedine had done, and, at this point in time, the ultimate luxury is one-of-a-kind.
Many of my celebrity clients and friends are obsessed with my collection. Angela Bassett, Kim Carrell, Julianne Moore, Julianna Margulies, Fran Drescher, Holly Robinson Peete, and Zoë Kravitz are just a few of the glamorous women who love lavishing themselves in the luxury of Omniscient Things’ one-of-a-kind style. Pairing that concept with the need for sustainability in the fashion industry and creating a brand that I can use as a way to combine philanthropy and fashion with my love of vintage and embellished fabrics, it was obvious to this Long Island boy what I had to create, and that’s what led me to my one-of-a-kind, sustainable cashmere collection, Omniscient Things.
You’re being honored at this year’s Hamptons Fashion Week as Style Icon of the Year. Congratulations! Tell us about this honor and what it means to you.
I am so honored to be honored by Hamptons Fashion Week with the fashion icon award. I have always been amazed by what you can do in the world of fashion. If you have a dream and put your mind to it, work hard, have integrity, and love what you’re doing — this award has a special meaning to me, because, after all, I am Long Island strong. Growing up on Long Island and having many of my friends still here to share this moment with me is the ultimate gift of this award. My mom was a dog groomer for many years, and she, at one point, had a pet shop here in Southampton and we had a home in Hampton Bays that brought us all much joy for many years. There is nothing like summertime in the Hamptons, one of the most fashionable and beautiful places on the planet, and to be able to show my timeless, one-of-a-kind, sustainable cashmere collection to such a prestigious and fashionably knowledgeable audience is a young boy from Long Island, and a designer’s dream come true.
What projects are you currently working on or have coming up?
I always say, “We don’t know what we don’t know,” but I am very excited about the future. I currently have a podcast called “True Crime, Fashion, and Passion” that delves into the world of fashion, passion, and true crimes with my esteemed co-hosts, supermodel Carol Alt and the legendary Pat Cleveland, that you can find wherever you find your favorite podcast. It is SINsational and I think you will love it if you are a fan of fashion, passion, and true crime. I am also hoping to be able to develop my Omniscient Things collection into capsule collections and collaborate with other brands. As I know, there’s so much potential and such a great need for more sustainability and a little more exclusive luxury in the ubiquitous world of luxury fashion. I am also developing a streetwear, faithwear line of t-shirts, sweaters, and hoodies called God Stuff for those who are looking for comfortable athleisurewear with a higher power and purpose. I highly recommend checking out my website, phillipbloch.com, where you can see all the exciting things I have done in the past and what I’ve got going on to make the world a little more beautiful place for the future, one outfit at a time.
Where do you find styling inspiration? Could you tell us a little about your process?
As a style savant, inspiration is always important for me. I learned a long time ago beauty is everywhere you find it. Being able to share my collection on the runway for people to see my beautiful, timeless cashmere sweaters come to life is an extremely exciting idea for me. This will be the first time that I have shown my collection on a runway. When I created this collection, I wanted each piece to be a wardrobe staple — something that changed your mood and changed the way people see you. Each Omniscient Things sweater has its own unique vibe and is an outfit in itself. Each piece is like a fashion GPS, giving your whole look a whole new direction. Depending on what you pair it with will give each sweater and each outfit a completely different feeling. Whether you are going to the store or posing on the red carpet, each sweater was created exclusively for those with a desire to dress to impress and enhance their own personal style.
For tickets to Hamptons Fashion Week, starting July 26, visit hamptonsfashionweek.com.
