Isaac Mizrahi: Unzipped and Unfiltered

Jessica Matlin (0:06)

Hey, everyone, welcome to Fat Mascara. I am so pumped about today's interview. My guest today is the absolute fashion icon that is Isaac Mizrahi. He has spent more than 35 years at the intersection of entertainment, media, fashion. He's a performer, he's a host, he's a writer, he's a designer, he's a producer. He's done so much that I know that I'm probably leaving some of his accolades out.

He's all singing, all dancing, 360 creative. But it's especially timely that we're having him on because his 1995 documentary that he co-produced, Unzipped, is going to be re-released this September 25th in New York before expanding to theaters nationwide later this year. It's also newly restored, which is amazing. Who is in Unzipped? Well, it's more like who is not in Unzipped, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, and Fat Mascara.

Absolute icon. I mean, I just named a ton of icons, but on the beauty front, Kevyn Aucoin is in this movie as well. So if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend trying to see if it's playing in the theater near you. But if that's not feasible, do not worry. The film will be available for streaming for the first time in December. Then next year in the summer of 2027, it's going to be available on Blu-ray. If you just cannot wait to own a piece of this yourself, you can buy a copy on eBay like I did for 20 bucks. It is well worth the investment. Yes, we're getting back into DVDs, people. We're majorly back into DVDs, at least in the Matlin Janeski house. So Isaac was such a delight to speak to. He is such an inspiring person, such a positive person. We talked about a lot of hot topics in beauty and fashion culture right now. I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I did speaking with him.

I'm so excited to talk to you. I'm really excited to talk to you. I've been a big fan for a long time.

Isaac Mizrahi (2:09)

Darling, I'm a fan. I have to say, there are so many podcasts, but yours is really special. I mean that. Starting with the name, the name is so special. How did Fat Mascara come about?

Jessica Matlin (2:21)

I'm flushing, which is like really, okay, I'm flushing. So Fat, well, this is your interview, but I'll just do the real quick bing bang boom.

Isaac Mizrahi (2:28)

Sure, sure, sure.

Jessica Matlin (2:29)

I was working on the show and I was like, okay, I don't know, was it the beauty show, the beauty chat, the beauty corner? But I was like, boring, boring, boring. And then I had this vision. I was like, the beauty industry is so, we'll talk about this, so over the top, so commercial, so hyperbolic.

And at the time, this was 2015, we were working on it. And I had an excellent co-host, Jen Sullivan, she's now at the New York Times. We love her, she, and I were laughing about, I don't want to name check these brands, but it was like Mascara Wars, the bigger, the big, like, you know, so.

Isaac Mizrahi (3:05)

Right, oh, that's smart.

Jessica Matlin (3:07)

And I liked the word fat. So anyway, it was like, yeah, I was like, it's just fun and juicy and I could wrap my arms around it. So.

Isaac Mizrahi (3:14)

What a good answer. I love that answer. It makes a lot of sense.

Jessica Matlin (3:18)

I appreciate that. Well, it looks like you're somewhere green and you're inside in a black shirt.

And I know that you and I have this in common, Isaac. We're not summer people.

Isaac Mizrahi (3:30)

No, I'm not a summer person. I just don't like it. And I have to tell you, I find the more I open up about it because you are a little bit of a freak, right? Like we are the freaks, Jessica.

Jessica Matlin (3:42)

It's like the people who don't like ice cream, who don't like sports.

Isaac Mizrahi (3:45)

Oh, no. Well, I love ice cream. I mean, I like some sports, but yeah, it's true. But I have to tell you- A killjoy.

Yeah. Like all those newscasters are like, oh, it's going to be a gorgeous day. It's going to be 90 degrees. And you're like, oh my God, I want to kill myself when I hear this news. And so the thing is, I feel as I get older, I'm less anxious about hot weather. I'm just more resigned. I'm more resigned about everything.

Jessica Matlin (4:09)

I like that. Instead of getting crotchety and like Larry David about it, you're getting more peaceful.