Magda Berliner

occupation: designer

“As you progress in age, everything comes back. If you always shop to suit your style and your body type, you’ll always be able to wear everything in your closet.” Magda Berliner

Magda is a pro of classic meets cool, high meets low, most exemplified by her mixing of thigh-high, eight-year-old Margiela split-toe boots (they make my heart skip a beat) with her quilted, colorful YSL vintage blazer. She is so passionate and literate in everything related to culture, style, and fashion that its hard to consider keeping up, even though I am dying to. An accomplished fashion designer and mom of a teenager, she still manages to know probably every vintage haunt in the world, get on a plane to Paris, New York, or Portugal for the opera, and still not miss the “trade night” in LA (her hometown) at “What Goes Around Comes Around,” where she recently acquired her red leather “Pat Benatar” blazer. She styled for Aerosmith and during that time, among other things, helped design custom YSL for Joe Perry and juxtapose classic English sweaters with Tripp. For Magda, it’s the hunt for quality over quantity and thus her attraction to all things European, like the experience of eating two ounces of the best ice cream instead of a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, and her extremely precise wardrobe of the creme de la creme of what suits her style and body type to the point of not needing anything more. She is so educated in the ways of the world that she opened my eyes to the fact that even the cheesiest store in Paris has state of the art hosiery, because of how refined the French are with dressing, and she herself is a confessed sock and tights freak. Magda’s acuity for experimenting with design came early, when she dressed Barbie in curtain fabric and tissue paper and started gluing seams together outside of a garment. Her own Margiela blazers today are conceived in this way. Magda loves grocery shopping as much as perusing Balenciaga, and like the Europeans, it’s more about the visual and experiential stimualtion than consumption and accumulation.

Take a look at Magda’s design collection.

Comments

posted by Aria
October 7th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
she is so chic!!
posted by shea
October 8th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
OBSESSED!! i want to be her.
posted by Natalie
October 8th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Everything she says is gold, not just for now, but for always. Precision as a goal is a sign of maturity in fashion, even when it’s still quirky and fun and outrageous–it’s always precise.

What you choose says as much about you as what you choose to omit. And Magda represents that so brilliantly. Becka Diamond got to that too–the idea of throwing out 5 pieces for every one she adores. Maybe that kind of thinking will get us out of this consumption pattern that contributed to the recession!
posted by http://styleodyssey.blogspot.com
October 9th, 2009 at 4:24 am
i so admire her style sense, individuality and the way in which she adds pieces to her collection.
those thigh-high MM boots got my attention, too….i’ve been on the fence about them for so long, til i saw them on her. i thought, here’s a woman who GETS it- i mean, anyone who knows how to wear those boots without looking freaky (or like they’re trying too hard) is a true style inspiration. Magda is one of those rare people.
posted by JZ
October 10th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
i wonder if her kid is a girl, because if so she is the luckiest teen ever!
posted by keri
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Wow. I am usually not the one to comment, but I just had to for this one. Amazing! Her clothes are not minimalist, but you can tell she practices restraint, which I find so inspiring. BTW, I am now officially addicted to this blog. I can’t believe I just found out about it! It’s the kind of blog that I was thinking about doing for a long time but the thought never fruitioned to reality. I’m glad someone else is doing it, and doing such an awesome job at it. This is probably the best fashion blog out there, hands down. LOVE! Keep up the great work!
posted by Marilyn Kirschner « Style Like U
January 19th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
[...] Frederique and Scyler van der Wal because they are the essence of natural beauty and unforced chic, Magda Berliner because of her eclectic and creative approach to style, Barbara Louis because she proves that style [...]
posted by hydrolyze
February 26th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Hi there! Fantastic idea, but will this really perform?

THERSA

Closets

Magda Berliner

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