The Misshapes. No other deejays, at least not in recent memory, have cast the kind of influence on fashion quite like Leigh Lezark, Geordon Nicol and Greg Krelenstein have over the past decade. Since launching Misshapes parties in 2004, they have become in-demand deejays and tastemakers, creating the music for countless fashion shows and events (including the 2014 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards dinner) and serving as brand ambassadors and creative consultants. Early on, their unique look – the moppy black hair, the skinny silhouettes – was said to have inspired Hedi Slimane when he was creative director at Dior Homme. These days, Nicole gives off a cool downtown vibe, while Lezark, regardless of the sartorial choices she makes, exudes noir-ish chic. She is a designer favorite, and serves as a Chanel beauty ambassador.
The Misshapes continue to create soundtracks for fashion shows of designers like Zac Posen, Rachel Zoe, Costello Tagliapietra and Tory Burch.
CFDA.com caught up with Lezark and Nicol at the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund’s Americans in Paris showroom, where they mused on Paris, the evolution of runway music, and their favorite designers.
CFDA.com: What do you like about Paris Fashion Week:
Leigh Lezark: “I love Paris Fashion Week. I think it’s the chicest one of them all. We work when we’re here. We do a lot of events. We do runway music. We always do a party called New York, New York, which is kind of the wrap-up of fashion week here.”
Geordon Nicol: “We deejay in the main cities – New York, London, Milan and Paris – but also the extended fashion weeks. We are constantly being booked for different things. For us, it always feels like the real start and finish with New York and Paris. It has this nice progression. There is this intensity in New York, and in each city, you feel the roots of fashion and the chicest and most elegant place to be is Paris. It’s nice that there are always so many Americans in the city. There is a real American presence, including [CFDA and Vogue’s] Americans in Paris.”
CFDA.com: As deejays, you could have gone in many directions, but you always seem to gravitate to fashion. What appeals to you about fashion?
L.L.: “I feel that when we started, it came to us – from people coming to our parties and then asking us to deejay their runway shows or events. We have broadened [the scope] since then. We just scored our first film over the summer, a feature documentary film by director Charles Ferguson about climate change.”
CFDA.com: How do you like working directly with designers?
G.N.: “It’s a pleasure but can also be demanding because, with any show, the stylist has input, the designer has input, the production has input, the PR has input. There are constant changes happening, whether it’s the lineup or the music or the venue, and you have to keep up with a lot of creative minds and take in all their input and opinions.”
L.L.: “And then make it cohesive.”
G.N.: “The music can change up until the night before the morning of. In certain circumstances, we have changed the music literally as people are filing into the show because the pieces and the progression of the show are changing.”
CFDA.com: Which New York designers do you work you with?
G.N.: “Our clients include Zac Posen, Tory Burch, Costello Tagliapietra, Rachel Zoe.”
CFDA.com: How was the runway music evolved since you started?
G.N.: “People pay a lot more attention now. As social media and the internet grew, New York realized the potential of fashion week at that level you have in Paris and in Milan. The music is so integral to the experience in Paris and Milan. We have definitely seen a progression. In New York, you would have heard a pop song of the moment or trendy song, maybe something more ironic or some Seventies song. Now the designers are taking on the Europeans with the spaces, and the music goes along with with that. It’s been elevating a lot.”
CFDA.com: Where do you see yourself in, say, five years?
L.L.” “We will be continuing to do music supervising for film and runway shows.
G.N.: “And deejaying for sure.”