PS: You were also creative directing and producing. And I read that you designed swimsuits. How exactly did you begin to branch out the way that you did?
BH: I'd worked for Valentino for a while — and it just so happened that the manufacturer of Valentino swimsuits wanted to be able to set up a showroom and represent all of the brands that he manufactured there. And Giancarlo Giammetti [cofounder of Valentino] told him, "I'll let you do it if you hire the young woman," meaning me.
I had to go to Como one time, and I saw this line that said Ibiza. And I remember I had gone to Ibiza a few times and I had a great time there. So I made a line of Ibiza[-inspired] swimwear. If I had the sketches, he would have his factory make them. That's how I got into it.
I changed the game of swimwear. Anne Cole knocked me off; Calvin Klein knocked me off. And those suits are still around. I did it all non-constructed. Most swimsuits back in the day were constructed. And I did it in a different way. And one was on the cover of GQ and another in Sports Illustrated.
But I just had an opportunity. I wasn't trying to be anything.
PS: Can you talk about your work with Issey Miyake?
BH: Oh, love, that was fun. He and [Azzedine] Alaïa, out of all of the designers that were not where I came from, were like my brothers. Issey let me know my skills and my talent. He adopted me as one of his main muse girls and then had me help him produce the shows for him in Japan — even when I didn't go. By the third time, he said, "You have to come." I worked for Stephen Burrows at the time, but they let me go [to Japan]. I really gained a great deal from him and because of those things, he helped me produce shows.
