Mark Badgley and James Mischka havebeen ruling the runway and red carpet for 29 years having dressed Hollywood’selite including Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez and Kate Winslet to name a few. Andwhile the design duo, who first met at Parsons School of Design and then formedtheir company in 1988, is considered fashion royalty, they would love to addone Duchess to their extensive A-list resume. “We would love to dress Kate Middleton,”Mark told HELLO! at their Spring/Summer 2018 presentation in NYC. “I would love to put one of our couture beaded gowns on her. She’s such a mannequin.”
Though they have yet to meet Prince William’s wife, one of theirmore memorable moments involved his mother, the late Princess Diana. “We sat next to Princess Di one timeat a luncheon at the White House, and it was the most amazing moment of my life,”Mark shared. “I could only imagine what it would be like to dress her.”
Keep reading for more on their fashion inspiration, their latestcollection and why they hold on to a photo of Queen Elizabeth.
H!: Congrats on the show. Twenty-nine seasons later, are thenerves still there before each show?Mark: It's always nerve-wracking, but we try to have more funalong the process than we used to. We have some practice now.
H! How do you prepare for each season? Mark: It usually starts with an inspiration whether it's a movieor a fabric, something that sparks an idea and gets us excited. This time Jamesand I did a lot of our fabrics out of Italy. We were planning a trip to Caprifor 10 days and all of a sudden that was all we could think about. The clothessort of have a happy sort of Capri vibe to them.
GALLERY: THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM NYFW SEPTEMBER 2017
H! It’s a big month for you guys. Kate Winslet wore a custompiece at the Toronto International Film Festival and Oprah's September issue,how did they come about?Mark: It's been so fun.
James: We have been working with Kate and Oprah for a while now.
Kate's fantastic, she wore us to the Oscars.
Mark: We have done a lot of Oprah covers and you know you wiseup establishing a relationship with these women, and we know their bodies andhow to cut clothes for them. They come back to you because they know thatyou'll get the job done.
H!: Anyone other standout celebrity moments in your clothes? Mark: Helen Mirren, Jennifer Lopez, we were lucky enough todress her for four Oscars.
James: And that fuscia dress on Brooke Shields, that's a standout.
Mark: We did a gown for Halle Berry at the Oscars years ago andthat was another stand out for us. We We dressed Madonna when she met the Queen.
James: We have a picture of her in our dress shaking the Queen'shand.
GALLERY: THE FASHION FROM TIFF
H! What is your best memory in your 29 years of design? James: I would say it could be - one time we were walking down FifthAvenue, this is when we were doing bridal, and we had all the windows inBergdorf Goodman, and we didn't know.
Mark: When you're a new designer, that's a big deal!