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- Jun 1, 2011
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I think there's kind of a give and take as an interview that I'm very much still learning. Obviously I don't want to ask all softball questions that just allow the interviewee to recite all the same stuff as in their PR materials. But also I don't want to be completely adversarial - first of all because it's no fun for me, second of all because it might make people less likely to do interviews with me in the future, and third of all because it just makes people defensive and less likely to say revealing or interesting things. Whenever I see Jim Gray doing an interview, for instance, all I can think of is that I just wish he would stop being such a dick. I'm sure he thinks that he's being intrepid, but it's really just annoying and puts the focus of the interview on him rather than the person he's interviewing. I prefer to do interviews by more gently guiding the subject to things that I think readers would find interesting, and probing along the way where something is unclear or dubious. But basically it's their show, or at least it should look like that to them and the reader. Anyway what I mean is, you don't have to be an asshole in order not to be a nuthugger.
I agree on Lardini, and I think that's basically the idea behind this collaboration. I would guess that they don't plan to make much money on this collection itself, but hope that it generates some more publicity for the brand overall. Which it has - there was a huge press event at Pitti, coverage from the Times, etc etc.
This is fair, though I disagree with your first sentence. I don't really see that there is a direct connection between a private individual behind a brand and the brand itself such that criticism of one necessarily implies criticism of the other. His persona was his brand.
OR, if the brand/persona idea isn't clear, perhaps it's almost like criticizing an actor playing a role. We could say X actor was a wanker in a certain film, but that really doesn't carry over to who he "really" is such that we should feel compelled to apologize or feel guilty about our remarks when we find ourselves at the same dinner party.
I do agree, though, that he seems like a pretty genuine guy who loves what he does. I'm also excited to see SF getting notice and interviews with a wide range of designers and styles. I just don't think we need to tone down the rhetoric in order to be nice to our houseguests. Under or within all that cattiness often lies some fairly accurate analysis.
Anyway, enough of all that! Back to the clothes. I've always thought Lardini was a nice brand that deserved (terrible name aside) more positive attention. The pics I see in this collection aren't quite my style, but it might be a nice start to something bigger for the brand.
I think there's kind of a give and take as an interview that I'm very much still learning. Obviously I don't want to ask all softball questions that just allow the interviewee to recite all the same stuff as in their PR materials. But also I don't want to be completely adversarial - first of all because it's no fun for me, second of all because it might make people less likely to do interviews with me in the future, and third of all because it just makes people defensive and less likely to say revealing or interesting things. Whenever I see Jim Gray doing an interview, for instance, all I can think of is that I just wish he would stop being such a dick. I'm sure he thinks that he's being intrepid, but it's really just annoying and puts the focus of the interview on him rather than the person he's interviewing. I prefer to do interviews by more gently guiding the subject to things that I think readers would find interesting, and probing along the way where something is unclear or dubious. But basically it's their show, or at least it should look like that to them and the reader. Anyway what I mean is, you don't have to be an asshole in order not to be a nuthugger.
I agree on Lardini, and I think that's basically the idea behind this collaboration. I would guess that they don't plan to make much money on this collection itself, but hope that it generates some more publicity for the brand overall. Which it has - there was a huge press event at Pitti, coverage from the Times, etc etc.