Katie Holmes On Her Line, Designing for Suri in 10 Years

I stopped by Barneys New York this morning where stylist Jeanne Yang, along with that tall, arrestingly pretty girl you may have heard of, Katie Holmes, were hosting a trunk show for their collaborative line, Holmes & Yang. Katie explained her side of the ethos, Suri included, behind launching the collection in Fall 2009, “We love fashion and spend a lot of time at vintage shops and costume houses looking over these old beautiful pieces and looking over the detail work and why they’re so special. Jean has two twin daughters and I have a daughter… and we wanted to create something that maybe they’ll wear in ten years.”

Yang expands, taking an editor’s approach in a simple, but sort of genius theory if not slightly foreign in today’s buy-every-trend-for-less fashion ecosystem, explaining “You spend so much money filling your entire closet and then at the end you only wear like ten things. Why not make your whole closet about those ten things?”

The collection, in a restrained palette of mostly navy, black and cream, features luxe split ankle trousers with specialty seams for super flattering fits, silk jumpsuits, silk lined blazers and a deadly amazing cream and black blocked gown that will carry you just about anywhere and is all made in the US.

It’s about the craftmanship, detail, the highest level fabrications and if the fashion blogger has taught us anything, it’s making each piece personal.”We want you to wear it the way that you would. You can make it super downtown. You can wear the trousers Katie is wearing in a totally different way, maybe make it more rock and roll or hipster,” Yang tells me, to which Holmes laughs, “Are you saying I didn’t do rock & roll?”

That ease of the gorgeous actress who also happens to be globally famous, and the wife of an A-list actor, begs the question, how do the women who show up at these trunk shows react?

To which Katie answers, “We did a trunk show in Dallas and in Chicago and it was a lot of fun and it was a wonderful opportunity to meet amazing women that you just don’t come across every day.”

More to the point, Yang continues, “Of course they’re star struck by how amazing and elegant and nice Katie is. But then what’s great is then they try on the clothing and we have a 17-year old get a dress for her prom and then another woman who is 67-years old who was going on vacation both walk out of the dressing room in the same dress and say [to each other], ‘You look really great.’”

“And they both bought the dress!” Holmes exclaims, with all of the enthusiasm of a new designer, none of the cynicism of celebrity.

Holmes & Yang is available at Barneys New York and online now.