It takes an icon to know one. Ever a dynamic creative visionary, esteemed fashion professional Fern Mallis has built an unexpected second act for herself as one of the industry’s foremost storytellers, parsing out tales from countless industry luminaries in fireside chats at New York’s 92nd Street Y. Now, five years after her debut Rizzoli tome Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis, the industry vet is gifting fashion fans with a second installment: Fashion Icons: Fashion Lives with Fern Mallis.

As usual, the book features a brigade of interviews with fashion’s most beloved personalities: Valentino Garavani, Christian Siriano, Bethann Hardison, Leonard Lauder, Tim Gunn, Stan Herman, Victoria Beckham, Zandra Rhodes, Bob Mackie, Angela and Rosita Missoni, Iris Apfel, Arthur Elgort, and Billy Porter. There is a foreword from yet another A-lister (model Ashley Graham), and poignant portraits by artist Ruben Baghdasaryan. This time, though, there’s a twist. “The good news is that in Fashion Icons Volume Two, the first interview in the book is with me. We turn the tables,” Mallis told GRAZIA USA.

Interviewed by television personality Bevy Smith, Mallis finally takes her place in the hot seat, ultimately confronting the soul-searching questions at the root of all the interviews in the Fashion Icons series: “Who is this person? How did they get to where they are? How did they become who they are?”

In Mallis’s case, the story is a fascinating one. Credited with having transformed New York Fashion Week into the global tour de force it is today, the Brooklyn native has had her finger on the pulse of burgeoning fashion talent since the early days of her career.

As a child, Mallis was beguiled by the hustle and bustle of New York’s Garment District. “That’s really where my love of it started,” she explained. Mallis’s father and uncles all worked in the Garment District, and “as a young kid growing up in Brooklyn, it was a thrill for me to take the bus, and the subway, and go to work with him any chance I got. I was enamored with the industry and all the hubbub on the streets, all the activity.”

The seed for a sparkling career in fashion was planted early on and sprouted not long after: Mallis snagged a coveted spot as a guest editor of Mademoiselle magazine while still a senior at the University of Buffalo after winning a contest for their “Back to School” issue. The lucky break would lead to a full-time position at the magazine, followed by Mallis’s reign as executive director of the country’s governing fashion association, the Council of Fashion Designers of America. There, the celebrated fashion consultant conceived of the event “Seventh on Sixth” in 1993. Later known as “the tents,” the initiative organized an authoritative nucleus for American fashion designers to showcase their creations and established NYFW as one of the big four fashion capitals.

After the event was acquired by IMG in 2001, so too was Mallis. Joining the international media juggernaut as senior vice president of IMG Fashion, she also became its ambassador, jet-setting around the world and adding new fashion weeks to the schedule around the globe: from Los Angeles and Miami to Melbourne and Berlin. In the meantime, Mallis was instrumental in mobilizing the fashion community around causes close to her heart, from the AIDS crisis to breast cancer awareness.

Then came her second act. “It started after I left IMG, after 10 years of being Senior Vice President of IMG Fashion and the 10 years before that as the Director of the CFDA,” Mallis explained.

The year-long sabbatical that ensued became what Mallis called “the coffee phase of my life.” With her phone ringing off the hook, Mallis was fielding calls from industry insiders asking for her in-demand advice or guidance. “‘Can we meet for a cup of coffee? I have an idea.’ ‘Can we meet for a cup of coffee? I have a new project coming up.’ ‘Can we meet for a cup of coffee? Somebody told me you’d be perfect to consult on this.’ And I started to laugh,” she explained. “Nobody ever called me up for lunch or dinner, they just wanted coffee.”

Eventually, one of the ideas sparked an inspiration. Connected to the head of programming at the 92nd Street Y, Mallis was pitched the idea of conducting interviews there with fashion designers – and she was intrigued. “I loved the 92nd street Y,” she said. “I grew up in New York and I would go there for many of their extraordinary talks and see all these amazing people up there.” The series was a go.

Mallis tapped long-time friend and prolific designer Norma Kamali for her debut Fashion Icons talk. “I felt safe trying this out with her,” said Mallis. After that came Calvin Klein. “He had been out of the business for 10 years at that time,” Mallis said. “The first thing I asked [Calvin] was, ‘Why are you doing this with me? You’re not hawking a new perfume, you don’t have a new collection, you’re not selling a book,’ and he said, ‘I’m doing it because you asked me.’ That was a good answer.”

Once others saw Klein on stage with Mallis, more doors opened. Interviews with Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Diane von Furstenberg, Andre Leon Talley, and Bill Cunningham would follow. Throughout, Mallis’s impressive array of influential fashion connections, paired with her palpable charisma and authentic warmth, earned the series the success it deserves.

“It was my goal to share with the world who these people are. They’re not just a name on a label. Who are they really?” Mallis explained. “I learned to become an interviewer. I listened, and I loved doing it. It was always about doing the research, and really finding out all sorts of special details and asking friends of these people for some fun stories. The interviews were always unscripted, intimate, authentic, very loving, warm, friendly. They’re remarkable stories. You walk out of the auditorium, and you feel like you know these people. It’s a very rewarding experience for everybody.”

Authenticity and vulnerability live at the heart of the Fashion Icons interviews. Able to bob and weave through heavy emotions with a heartfelt levity, Mallis shares her “magic potion.”

“I think the secret to getting them to open up, and be that forthcoming is that there’s a relationship already. I know these people. We’ve been in the trenches together; we’ve shared a lot of experiences,” she said.

For this book, those experiences required a passport. “We went overseas,” Mallis said. From Italians Valentino Garavani and Angela and Rosita Missoni, to Brits Victoria Beckham, and Zandra Rhodes, it’s a truly international cast.

No matter the subject, though, Mallis exudes an almost omniscient presence. Throughout our conversation, the Fashion Icons host shared matter-of-fact tidbits, which, while already true, seem to hold more weight, power, or value because she was the one saying them.

“Mr. Valentino. If you can get an interview with him, you take it.” “Christian Siriano. Hot as a pistol.”

“Tim Gunn. You know, everybody loves Tim.”

“Who wouldn’t want to hear Victoria Beckham speak?”

Perhaps Mallis’s gift is that she says what we’re all thinking – and asks the questions that we’re dying to pose.

Of course, there is that insider access. Mallis described how she met Arthur Elgort in her “Mademoiselle days,” and reunited with the photographer for the new tome. Stan Herman – President of the CFDA for 15 years and Mallis’s “BFF” – has been included in the latest volume as well.

Then, there are the VVIPs. According to Mallis, model and activist Bethann Hardison is the only one of the Fashion Icons to have ever been a guest at her home in South Hampton.

Zandra Rhodes was even the subject of Mallis’s childhood fashion fantasies: Specifically, her dream wedding dress. “I wanted one of those white, pearly things, with all the little peaks, and layers of chiffon, like what she did for Princess Diana in shades of pink,” Mallis said.

As a grown-up fashion icon, Mallis would spend the week with Rhodes as guests of the Queen Mary on its first Fashion Week crossing; the “extraordinary” experience made them closer than ever. “Now, every time she comes to New York, we get together for lunch or dinner,” Mallis explained. “So, I was thrilled to be able to get her on the stage. She’s a character. She’s really the original. Punk, funk, pink, the whole thing.”

Another “special” interview subject was Billy Porter. Mallis recalled the landmark moment when the multihyphenate talent stepped onto the Academy Awards red carpet in 2019 in his Christian Siriano black-tie tuxedo gown. “Talk about a moment that changed everything,” said Mallis. “That opened the gates for people, for men to wear dresses, and just do whatever felt right for them.”

Of course, in fashion image is everything; and illustrator, Ruben Baghdasaryan took inspiration from his iconic subjects – Porter most of all. Even before coming on board with the project, Baghdasaryan had always admired Porter’s activism and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, “and he was also very supportive of my art,” said the artist.

“When I was just starting in the fashion industry, he pushed my work forward by reposting my illustrations on his Instagram page,” Baghdasaryan told GRAZIA USA. “I got a huge following after that.” After meeting the Tony Award winner, Baghdasaryan then sent him a customized portrait of Porter and his partner Adam Smith, which now sits in the star’s home. As for his other subjects – Bethann Hardison, Marc Jacobs, and Chrisitian Siriano – Baghdasaryan said his art is informed by meeting in person, and “who I’m most connected with, spiritually.”

While Mallis’s extensive lineup of high-fashion friends has certainly opened doors for some sublime interviews, her wealth of connections doesn’t mean she hasn’t had to chase a few down. After actively pursuing both Bob Mackie and Leonard Lauder for years, Mallis finally landed both for this second edition. She said, “If you just ask enough, sometimes a no becomes a yes.”