Dialogues

Babette Pinsky

Fashionista

    Fashion maven Babette Pinsky, whose elegant pleated raincoats took the haute couture scene by storm in the 1980s, celebrates 40 years in the industry this year, recognizing the occasion with a new book, Babette—Designing a Vision. Working from a West Oakland sweatshop-free factory, the 66-year-old style diva and company produce five collections annually. Pinsky is a New York native and Fashion Institute of Technology graduate who moved West in the 1960s, landing in San Francisco and selling her first apparel in Sausalito, eventually establishing her eponymous boutiques in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Portland and Scottsdale.

How did you come up with pleated raincoats?
    I was doing coats, and it was in the ’80s. It was a hard time economically. A coat is not a garment a woman is going to replace very often, and so it was harder and harder to sell them. I had this fabric left over from the cutting table, and I read in Women’s Wear Daily that Mary McFadden, who was known for her pleats—not the kind of pleats I do, but different types of pleats—had contracted to do raincoats. And so I thought, oh, I’ll do pleated raincoats. I took this fabric to the local pleater, and I had him pleat up this fabric, and I cut it into raincoats. And people just loved it. They just loved it. So that’s how it started. Just by a fluke—I read one line in Women’s Wear Daily.

Why use microfiber?
    I picked it up not as a raincoat fabric but as a sportswear fabric. I knew that it was breathable, and I knew it would permanent pleat because it was polyester. So it was the first sort of breathable polyester that I had seen. And then microfibers had been around more in the activewear like trench coats and things like that.

Do you ever get tired of pleats?
    I wear them almost every day. A simple answer is no. A complex answer is that right now, my design associate, Josephine [Tchang], is creating most of the pleats, so I’m taking a breather.

I read that you majored in coats and suits—was that for real?
    At FIT, I majored in coats and suits. Yes, that was one of the majors there. That wasn’t a joke at all; that was for real. My girlfriend at FIT—we graduated high school together, and she went [to FIT]—majored in bras and girdles. They don’t quite do it that way anymore.

Where do you find your inspiration?
    Inspiration comes from everywhere. Fabric I think is very, very important. And then art exhibits, movies, things like that that are happening. We look at what everybody else is doing, but it’s really important to be connected to that art world and get a feeling for what’s going on.

You’re fond of color. What’s your favorite?
    It’s true; I do like color. One of my favorite colors would be an acidy green.

Who are your favorite designers?
    I like Yohji Yamamoto, and he’s always one of my favorites. Right now, I love Lanvin. I love what Marney is doing.

What’s the next big fashion trend?
    Most of what’s happening is in shape. The shape’s coming a little more away from the body, not nearly as tight but not big and overdone like in the ’80s, just sort of easier, easier shapes, but not flowy, a little bit structured. And then, of course, color right now is just crazy.

Who is the typical Babbette customer?
    She is probably around 45 years old; she has disposable income; she probably works; she probably travels for work and for pleasure. She is educated. She goes to cultural events; she is a little bit artistic.

Does she have a name?
    Well, we had Evelyn for a while as a muse, but we haven’t referred to her in a long time, so maybe she’s not Evelyn anymore.

What else about her?
    I think the way this woman leads her life is that she’s probably working, she’s probably going out after work for dinner three or four nights a week. She’s probably not changing her clothes, and when she’s traveling, she’s probably wearing exactly the same thing. So that’s what we give her. She looks good through the whole day.

How did a San Franciscan wind up with her business in Oakland?
    Ah, well, unfortunately, it sort of picked us, because we were in San Francisco, and it was the dot-com era, and our landlord was a little bit greedy, and he wanted more money than we could possibly afford. And so he raised our rent so much we had to move. We are very happy in Oakland. I am really glad we moved here. I feel good to be a part of Oakland because you can see the progress, and I think that if I were younger, I would buy property right in here. It’s ideal.

Would you ever do a store in Oakland?
    I don’t think so. [Laughs.] I don’t think so. I think we’d split sales. I don’t think it’s necessary.

—By Judith M. Gallman

—Photography by Lori Eanes