Off the Record

Nostalgia is difficult if not impossible to evade in fashion. In the presence of a multi-decade friendship, it’s a siren call that makes even the most en vogue in the industry fling themselves forward like a magnet mesmerized by its counterpart. Alas, each piece finds its other.

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For Carolyn Murphy, the supermodel who somehow reinvents her image with the same ease that she maintains it, the past flashes in and out like streams of sun poking through the trees of her Los Angeles home. Steven Meisel. Shalom Harlow. Miuccia Prada. She’s done it all, is doing it all, and still truly, really, fully enjoys her life in front of the lens—as well as her life in quietude. A chameleon, or so they call her, Murphy proudly wears the crown, but sometimes, she admits, its thorns prickle and pierce the skin. As the metronome of the world we live on beats and spins and downloads and updates faster, so too does the need for self-preservation and sanity. Often, the warm whispers of how it all used to be hum louder, too.

Michael Kors, on the other hand, prefers his repose in pockets and remembers every detail to an extremely nuanced degree. One still stands out: A little less than two decades after he launched his eponymous label at Bergdorf Goodman, he was appointed to oversee ready-to-wear at Céline in 1997. It was a momentous moment for the French fashion house, with him as its first women’s fashion head, and one for the American designer, who had been nerdily fangirling over hemline lengths and construction details his entire life. This was of course way before the brand became what it is today: an accentless uniform for influential youth and the infinitely online. (And years before Kors’ own namesake company became a household name.) Back then, the designer repositioned the leather goods line as a critically admired and financially successful fashion house, garnering the respect of Murphy as well as the fashion glitterati who followed her from capital to capital. And the rest is history.

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So, what sustains the two legends who have lived so many lives, both together and apart, now that the fashion world is more chaotic than ever? There’s longing for yesterday, sure, but there’s also a twinkle for tomorrow. And a lot of laughs to be had.

Michael Kors: You had short hair when we first met, Carolyn. You had just chopped it off, and we did a shoot in this kind of industrial elevator at 550 Seventh Avenue [Kors’ previous headquarters] for the cover of Women’s Wear Daily. I couldn’t believe you were willing to do it. I was so excited.

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Carolyn Murphy: Well, I have no memory of that! Or, maybe I have selective memory...or denial because I hated the short hair. At the time everybody was like, “Oh, it’s so Mia Farrow,” but I didn’t feel very attractive. I mean, I, like you, am a Leo.

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MK: We do like to have a mane.

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CM: That we do. Despite my bad memory, what’s coming back to me is that first campaign we did for Céline.

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MK: By that time your hair had grown back out! I remember that shoot, obviously. I actually still have some outtakes from that set that Patrick Demarchelier gave me of you and I being bad kids—smoking, and not knowing that he was sitting there shooting the two of us. I was wearing this big, heavy leather, very ’90s looking jacket.

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CM: We were so cool. What a time.

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MK: We shot that in the Hamptons. We were out on Georgica Pond, and there was this interesting stone wall that didn’t feel like the Hamptons at all. It was more like the French countryside. Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele was styling, and Patrick shot it. I still remember you kept saying to me, “I don’t know... Can they see the clothes?” and Carlyne being like, “Who cares, the girl is divine!” and, “The ankle is going to snap!”

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CM: She was always obsessed with my ankles.

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MK: She loved that you had the “skinny ankle.” I still look back at those photos regularly. You know what? They’re chic, they’re timeless, they’re elegant, but quite frankly that’s because the pictures are not about fashion. Most of our favorites are just great portraits of you.

CM: That’s very kind, but that’s my job to make sure that the clothes are there. You know who else was there? Your mom. Actually, that brings back something else. I remember the [1999] CFDA Awards. We had a huge table together, and I sat with you, Rene Russo, and Anjelica Huston. This is back in the day when there was a bowl in the center of the table filled with cigarettes.

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MK: Oh my god, yes.

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CM: As far as I was concerned, our universe was the only universe. Nobody else existed. But it was your mother who I fell so in love with that night.

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MK: That night was a really fun, crazy night. I won my first CFDA award that night. And Yohji Yamamoto won his special award that night, too, and Mr. [Yves] Saint Laurent came to New York. He was the last award of the night.

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CM: That’s right. You have a better memory than I do.

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MK: You know what though? What’s crazy is I can remember literally what I had for lunch in 1992 on a Tuesday, but yesterday I have no idea where I was.

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CM: And you’ll remember in another five years.

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MK: Exactly.

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CM: That’s part of getting older...

MK: I started out when I was really young. I had just turned 22 when I started my business. I knew nothing, was fully impatient, and just jumped in. Now we live in a world where I wouldn’t even be perceived as impatient, you know? Twenty-two would be like, “Oh, you’re kind of an old hand, didn’t you sell on Instagram and TikTok when you were 14?”

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CM: Yes, today feels more extreme than ever because of all of these added layers. Everything is nonstop. I’m a self-proclaimed luddite and think there’s something to be said for mystery.

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MK: I’m the same as you. Sometimes people say to me, “Why don’t you [and Lance LePere] have kids?” And I’m like, “Well, I think that ship has definitely sailed.” But I wish I had a teenager who could just be tech support.

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CM: Dylan [Carolyn’s daughter] will help you. I can’t even work the remote control.

MK: You know, I think most people see both of us as total extraverts. Don’t get me wrong, I am travel-addicted and I have terrible F.O.M.O. in general. I need to see a Broadway show the day it’s out. I want to go to a restaurant in the first week that it’s open. And I need to see a hotel when it’s brand spanking new. I’m New York in that way; it’s how my motor runs. Lance and I will laugh sometimes when I’m like, “Well we haven’t been home in a while, have we?” But also I’m an only child, so I am very happy curled up in a corner reading a book.

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CM: That’s more me. You know I really don’t care about going out. I have J.O.M.O—joy of missing out. But yes we are both as extroverted as we are introverted.

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MK: We love to love, and we love people. Many people assume that my every day is all rainbows and lollipops. I am an optimistic person but sometimes the world around you is just so...messed up that to try to just direct myself forward in a positive way is challenging. But at the same time, I’ve been in business for 43 years, so I’ve seen a lot. I think that people don’t realize that I’m not always in a great mood. I’m sure it’s the same for you. On a more positive note, we also both love the sun.

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CM: Do you see me? I’m so pale, for me. That’s what happens when you turn 50, the microscope comes out, and you start dissecting every flaw, at least for me. Now I’m definitely taking more care of myself. Back in the day, I was so experimental—especially with changing the color of my hair. It was important to me artistically to be able to do that and have freedom. But I remember one day I was working with Steven Meisel, and he was like, “It’s time to make money. Let’s try blonde on you.” It worked, and it was exciting. Being a chameleon was such a big part of my career, which I loved.

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MK: You’ve always been a chameleon. You still are. You can be totally buttoned up; you can be full rock ‘n’ roll; you can be a surfer chick. You’re a combination of all of them.

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“Everything is nonstop. I’m a self-proclaimed luddite and think there’s something to be said for mystery.”
— Carolyn Murphy

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CM: My parents are from Washington D.C., and I was raised mainly there but, unfortunately, spent some time in Florida, and lived in England a little bit. So from a young age, I had seen these big cities, really yearned to live there, but didn’t know anything about fashion. I didn’t have much exposure. When I got to New York, I’d go to all these vintage stores—that’s back when there were good ones—to learn, and I remember one time I found this vintage [James] Galanos coat that really changed everything.

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MK: Galanos? What a way to go.

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CM: It was an ivory, off-white color with a texture that is hard to describe—it was not waffle—and it had this distinct shape. I was obsessed with it. I was really young and didn’t know who Galanos was, but it was the first fashion item I fell in love with.

MK: My God, I have a zillion early fashion memories. One in particular is when I was 6 and went to Miami Beach with my grandparents for Christmas and New Year’s. We stayed at the Fontainebleau. I thought it was heaven on earth. I loved the whole experience. For New Year’s Eve, we saw Harry Belafonte! Of course they allowed a 6-year-old into a club in Miami. I still remember my outfit: an optic white, corduroy blazer with white leather-knot buttons with a raspberry shirt, navy tie, and gray pants.

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CM: That’s a lot going on.

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MK: Carolyn, I was a mess, but thought I was fabulous.

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CM: You can recreate that look now.

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MK: I’d do the jacket, and I’d leave everything else behind.

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CM: The navy tie kind of got me.

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MK: That jacket meant the world to me. It really did.

CM: To this day, I still believe you only need a great shoe, a really good bag, and then a jacket. It doesn’t really change much.

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MK: Except for the hair. How old were you when you first came to New York?

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CM: I was older. My mom put me in a finishing school. That’s how I started modeling. Maybe that’s something that most people know. I was so introverted and shy and quiet and really into art and literature. I’m still those things, and private.

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MK: When Lance and I go on a trip, we will post a few personal pictures, but we disperse them. I don’t feel that everyone has to be on my journey 24/7. How do you have a career, one that’s so public, for as long as you have, but still maintain your own privacy?

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CM: It’s very hard, and I feel like a broken record because I choose my stories wisely. I do get bored telling the same story over and over publicly, but it’s definitely self-protection and self-preservation. In a world that’s just overload and overshare, it’s already my nature to have some restraint, but then I find myself retreating even more and more, and, again, it’s protection. But probably like you, I adapted. It’s a constant push and pull. It’s like step in, step out, step in, step out.

MK: I think you are right, though. When you’re young, you have no idea. You think like, I’ll do this for five years, 10 years, whatever. But you have to know when to jump in and when to pull out—you have no choice, but that’s life in general.

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CM: It is. I mean, I still get excited. It’s like when I see a good show—when I saw your [Fall/Winter 2024] show I got excited. When I wear clothing that means something, I get excited.

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MK: That’s why you’re good at what you do. And that’s why we do what we do, and why we keep going.

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CM: You have to stay curious. I want to be inspired. I want to be inspired until the day I die.

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MK: Please, we’re Leos—we’re cats—we’ll try anything.

Model CAROLYN MURPHY at DNA.
Hair Stylist HIKARU HIRANO at FRANK REPS using KÉRASTASE.
Makeup Artist LAURA STIASSN at FRANK REPS using DIOR BEAUTY.
Photo Assistant JAKE MERRILL.
Fashion Assistant KATIE MCCABE.
Production Assistant LUCAS DZIEDZIC.
Special Thanks ANTI-AGENCY.