over laughing sometimes because so much of the stuff was from thrift stores and vintage shops and pulled from the most peculiar and outrageous spots. We would get to the set sometime and Michael Patrick would say, ‘What are you wearing?’ and I’d say ‘Just trust me on this’. Like the bird in the veil, ‘Why do you have to have a bird in your hair?’ and I’d be like, ‘Just trust me on this’. So sometimes you make decisions for real storytelling and sometimes you just do it because it brings joy.
How did Carrie’s style change over the seasons? I don’t know that it really changed that much over the years. I mean, sometimes I feel like people are better able to talk about that than I am. I’ve only ever seen every episode one time. So I have not watched it as much as some other people. In the beginning we had a very tiny budget. Nobody would loan us anything. I mean, nothing, we couldn’t get a bag, we couldn’t get a flip-flop. So we were working within our financial means and it was just ingenuity and industriousness and thrift stores all over New York City. So I think what changed was just access to other items. Contemporary fashion opened its doors to us and that changed everything. And it was helpful because Carrie was so feverish about fashion and shoes and once one person loans you something, then the floodgates open.
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And live performances are being allowed in the city again, which is great? Yeah, that was really exciting news. It’s going to be the smaller venues. I think it’s 33% capacity for I think 100 or 150 people. And it grows obviously in capacity relative to the size of the venue. But just that first step is so exciting for the cultural distraction that we’ve all been missing but not to overlook that it means jobs are coming back to the city, jobs in the arts community which have been profoundly hurt.
So ‘Sex and the City’ is going to be back on screens soon. Can you give us the inside scoop on what Carrie has been up to for the past 17 years? Well, I’m not trying to be coy, I’m really not, but I don’t know anything yet. Nothing that I can share that’s meaningful. One of the many things that I’m excited about is being back with Cynthia [Nixon] and Kristin [Davis] and on the streets of New York.
‘Sex and the City’ was the most fashionable show in tv history and you single-handedly changed the way women dressed. What was the process of creating Carrie’s iconic outfits. Yes, costume designer Patricia Field is a wonder and it’s a huge part of ‘Sex and the City’. You can rehearse and rehearse but it’s the fitting where everything comes together. It just plays such an integral part of figuring out who you are. Some of the happiest memories I have are those fittings, because I was shooting that show every single day. I worked, I don’t know, 18/20-hour days for years before I had kids. And even after I had kids. So you’d fit fittings in whenever you could and would often meet at wrap. So at midnight I would then go into fitting and those fittings could be three to five hours because you’d be doing two episodes back-to-back. And at a certain point in that series’ life, I was wearing 20/30 costumes per two episodes. But they were so much fun and I did whatever I was told. I would try on anything. No matter how ridiculous. I mean, we’d be doubled
How did you end up creating your amazing SJP shoe collections? When the television series ended, a bunch of people had asked about doing work in the shoe category and it was intriguing and I understood why, it made perfect sense. But every time I looked at the business model it was shoes that were going to be very affordable, which was the best part of it, but they were going to be poorly made, they wouldn’t last long. And on principle I just didn’t feel good about the exchange. I felt honour bound to be part of something that was well made but at a price point that made sense. I also wanted to make shoes I wanted to wear, that I knew would last. If somebody gave me their hard-earned dollars they could go back to their closet in five years and the shoe would still be relevant, it would still fit, it would still feel good, it would be in good shape - and I just couldn’t find that kind of partnership. My friends convinced me to call a shoe maker I admired about my ideas and he said, ‘Be at my office tomorrow morning’ and he wanted the same things which were shoes that were handmade in Italy, changing those price points if we could, calling on those relationships that he had had for many years so we could go to factories in Italy where shoes have been made generation after generation .’ It’s been an amazing experience - really hard work and enormously gratifying. We have an amazing small but mighty team, primarily women.
You’re one of the few corporate leaders who routinely works on the sales floor of your own retail outlet? I think it’s really important to be in the store, as much as possible. I can do it now, I do it two days, three days a week, if not more, whenever I can. Especially because I’m about to go back to work as an actor for about a year and so that means I won’t have the same kind of time in the store that I love to have. I think retail has changed, this is not revolutionary for me to say this, but I think it’s getting smaller and consumers are informed, they care a huge amount about what they’re purchasing. And I think designers, when they can, should be in the store. It’s just a huge difference, that connection with the customer to really understand what he or she needs and what they want.
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CE L EBRIT Y INTERVI EW SARAH J E S S ICA PARK ER
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