in honor of my favorite fashion event of the year the MacGowell. I've decided to come to the
Vogue office here in New York City to speak to Sergio, the global entertainment director at Vogue
magazine. He oversees all celebrity bookings for Vogue US, UK, Latin America, and Mexico. Over
the course of his career, Sergio has worked at Harper's Bazaar, Women's Health, Seventeen,
Cosmopolitan, Amory Claire. He's produced the World Music Awards and worked at numerous record companies,
including Motown, Sony, Arista, and Virgin Records. I'm excited to talk to Sergio today because I
feel like we all have our assumptions about the fashion world, what it means to be in the fashion
world, what it means to work in the fashion world. We've seen movies like Double Wear's Prada,
we've read articles about it, we all have our assumptions, but I want someone to come in and
tell us what's really up. And so that's why I'm excited to be speaking to Sergio today.
We're going to be discussing what it's like to work behind the scenes in fashion, as well as
details around the MacGowell because obviously it's the biggest fashion event of the year and
there's a lot down cover. So I present to you Sergio from Vogue. This episode is brought to you by
Instagram. So something that happened to me recently was I posted some art and some home decor
on my story. And a lot of my friends reached out and were like, where is the store? Where did you
buy these things? They're so cool. And I don't know, there's just something so cool about sharing
something to the world and not knowing who it's going to reach and then connecting about it with
friends. Instagram lets you express yourself in small fun ways and can lead to some really
cool conversations about shared interests and beyond. And I think that's pretty cool.
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purchase of a website or domain with the code Emma. This episode is brought to you by Natroll.
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This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent diseases. I do want to know about
you as a child. Were you like, were you a fashionable kid? Like I was obsessed with little costumes
and it was weird but I mean I'm not a fashion guy to begin with. Like I was born in the former
USSR and I was obsessed with music. So like the the fact that I am working in entertainment and
you see Vogue cover so much music it's because I'm obsessed with musicians. Every time there's
somebody music on the cover it's probably because I have stressed everybody on our team about
putting that person on the cover. Like I have such passion for musicians because like ever since I
remember first time watching a music video on my grandmother's couch when I was like five years old
in Russia and it was Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. I did not speak order of English, could not
understand what Michael was singing about but I had such a strong reaction and I wanted to work
behind the scenes in music and somehow it all just came together. Yeah how did you get from like
being music obsessed to now working at Vogue? Well we moved to this country when I was 12 and
I didn't know anyone there was no connections, there was no like hey I know this person they will
hook you up with the job. I went to a community college in Westchester and somehow I got an
internship at Dino Arista Records, Clive Davis's. So Clive Davis is a big time record executive.
He quote unquote discovered Whitney Houston and Carlos Santana and Jenna's jobling and all these
like iconic musicians and I got to talking to somebody at this label and he was like well do you
want to intern? We have internships available and I literally started like ditching school and going
in like two three times a week, no pay 12 hours a day, I wanted to be a sponge like I would walk
in every day. Yeah and from the moment I was there I just wanted to observe and take everything in
and somehow it led me to this. I spent like three years as an intern at Arista Records working for
free, didn't finish college, got offered my first job in my last year of college and my first job
was like Motown Records working in radio promotion and I spent a year working at Motown, we all got
fired because someone like another company bought out this label, everybody got let go, I got my
second job working at Sony, my third job working at back at Arista Records, the place that I interned
and after Arista I went to Virgin Records, spent two years there, got sobered out and took a year
off and in that year I saw DeloS Prada and somehow I realized that that is the one thing in my
career that I haven't done yet, like work in the fashion industry and it's that film that made
me want to work here. I mean here like in fashion in general in magazines and I remember seeing that
movie and realizing that Vogue is basically like at the top of the food chain. Yeah and that was my
goal all along. Yeah. Hopefully one day I get to work at this magazine. So then how did you get
it to Vogue? I worked at six different magazines before working with Vogue. So I spent five years at
Cosmo, while I was at Cosmo I got my own magazine and they gave me 17 so I was booking 17 and
after 17 I did like Red Book and Women's Health and my last job at that company was working for Harper's
Bazaar which you obviously know as well. Of course. And this job at Vogue somehow became open because
the previous booker who's here for 20 years was leaving. And my friend work said GQ. She was like
you should come and interview for this job. I'm like there's no in hell and I went or is going to hire
me. I drop more fuck words to like more fucks in a single sentence than probably anyone she knows.
Covered in tattoos. I'm not polish. Yeah. I'm just a worker. Yeah. Like I go in, I have a vision and
how do I get it done? Yeah. And I don't even know how to explain it. But like I walked into our
office. The first person I interviewed with was Anna. There was no human resources. There was no
like number two. My first interview for this job was with Anna and I had a broken foot.
Three broken toes. No. And I refused to wear my boot. I was going to say she would not like the boot.
I mean she probably would have been fine with it but I was like there's no way I'm walking into
an interview at Vogue. Lemping. I know. Yeah. I was in so much pain. Oh.
wearing this Valentino boot that I barely squeezed my foot into. Oh. And I never dress up to
to go to work. Yeah. Like you're not going to see me in a sweater or tie or jacket. I walk into
Harper's Bizarre that day in like a really nice sweater, really nice pants, these Valentino
boots. And someone I work with goes do you have an interview like why are you dressed that?
I'm like no, no, I have an event after he's like no, I don't believe you like there's no way
you're coming into work looking like this. Yeah. I go to the interview here. And I've heard before
that you know usually like interviews here take like five to ten minutes of the month. Yeah.
We ended up talking for maybe 20. And my I was only supposed to meet with Anna. Yeah.
I got to meet with two other people that day and walking out of here I kind of had an idea that
I was maybe the front runner. Yeah. And it all just happened so quickly. I think within two
weeks I was hired. Wow. And it's been almost six years. Wow. That's a journey. I feel like most
people would think about working at Vogue and it's like okay well it's a fashion job. But I feel like
it's so much more dynamic than that. Like you're you have to be up to date on
pop culture because the fashion piece of it is absolutely crucial. But it's also like for the
mainstream not everyone's into fashion. But you want everyone to be in the Vogue. Is that
something that comes naturally to you or are you just like naturally soaking up pop culture in
a way or are you sort of someone who has to go out and seek it out. Like obviously it comes naturally
for you with music and musicians. But what about you know when it comes to the broader industry? Like
what is that sort of experience like how do you stay in the know? Everything has to do with
pop culture right. Like I remember being growing up and Vogue had a tagline before it's anywhere
it's in Vogue. Right. And then always stuck with me. Like I was obsessed with supermodels back
in the day. Like my walls were covered in like photos of Linda Vangelista and Naomi Campbell and
Caterlinton. Apart from music like supermodels was my obsession. Yeah. So I always paid attention
to what fashion magazines were doing. And now like everything I do I pay attention to what's
happening in theater, to what's happening in film and television in music and you know with
influencers on it with TikTok. Like it has to make sense for a vote. Like at the end of a day it
is a fashion brand. Yeah. But you don't want to miss out on something that's happening in pop
culture that has nothing to do with fashion. Yeah. Working at so many different magazines.
How has it been different curating for Vogue in in all things? Because I feel like Vogue is
the top dog. So it's like that must be terrifying in a way. Like there's this weight because it's like
it must be taken so seriously. And like how do you? Is it a gut feeling like this feels right?
Always a gut. Okay. Like listen, this is how it works in every single magazine. I remember being
in every magazine I worked at prior to Vogue. They all paid attention to what was happening at Vogue.
However, every single brand had an identity. Like something that makes that works for Cosmo may
not work for Marie Claire or L or Harper's Bazaar or Vogue. Something that works for you know, Harper's
Bazaar is not going to work for all those other brands. However, once you're in Vogue, you literally
could go anywhere. Yeah. And I knew that when I started out working at Marie Claire,
that is the epitome of what's happening in pop culture. Here it's all about your like it is
your personal opinion. You are curating. Yeah. These ideas you're you go into a meeting with a big
staff and you make pitches. Yeah. Like every single publicist, every agent, every manager,
they pitch ideas to us. We speak to them on a daily basis like every single book or from every
single brand from every single TV show, you you kind of have to know. But you don't always know
because you don't you don't there's not enough time in the world to watch every TV show to watch
every film to listen to every single album or single that sent to you. So you kind of have to
have a gut reaction to this person. Yeah. And there's always a buzz like someone will be the
first one to discover it. Yeah. I'm not the one who's going to discover it. I'm going to ride the wave
but I have to pay attention to what's happening in pop culture. And it's my job to walk in every
single day and say, I heard about this. We should look into this person or we should you know,
pay attention to this to what's happening here. Maybe they're not ready for Vogue yet, but maybe
in two months, they will be. Yeah. And that's how every single magazine works. We all function in the
same way. We all want to be the first to put somebody fresh on the cover. Yeah. Who no one has had
before. Yeah. But then you don't want to risk it and put somebody on the cover who no one is going
to click on. So it's this double edged sword every time you do a cover story or feature or put
somebody in a video or invite somebody to the med or bring them to an event like it's always a
50 50 you never know. Yeah. How do you feel like the overall strategy has changed post social media
explosion? Social media changed everything. Yeah. For every single industry out there. Right.
For fashion for entertainment for every single movie in TV studio. We all have to follow what's
happening on social media because talent has even more influence now than ever before because
they have anywhere from 10 million to you know what Kim K has 400 million followers. Yeah.
Talent has more power than ever before and they have their own platform where they can do anything
they want. So how is this going to work for both of us? Right. Like yes everybody still wants
Vogue. But is it going to be the right thing for both the brand and just because you have 300
million followers doesn't mean that we need to cover that project. Yeah. Yeah. And if you're doing
every single thing under the sun. What's the gain in us? Yep. Featuring someone. If you live your
life on social media. How is that going to be interesting for our audience? Right. Like if you
already put everything out there. What are you giving to us or W or vanity fair or like if you're
doing 17 covers. What's the point? That's a great point. It's almost like it becomes diluted.
Like you literally just if you give up everything on social media every single day. Yeah.
Yeah. Why do you need a cover? Like you don't even need it. That's so true because it's like there's
no story to tell. I've never even thought of it like that. It's almost like I think that is
probably what makes a cover story so interesting is when you're uncovering something about
a public figure that you couldn't really access otherwise. Well everyone is so guarded nowadays.
I mean like every single video you see on Instagram or TikTok. People take like 10 different
versions of that video and post the best one. Yeah. Like I mean I don't want to sound like an old man
but like I remember like I love picking up interview magazine because Madonna just revealed
something she hasn't said anywhere else. Yeah. I love picking up vanity fair and reading a story
about a cover star where like Courtney love literally admitted to like taking drugs during pregnancy
and yes that backfired on you. Yeah. And it was a horrible experience for her but like
celebrities back in the day weren't that afraid to speak up. That's so true. Do you feel like the
media training of today? Like everyone's so media trained has negatively impacted the industry?
I mean everything is controlled. Like at the end of a day even if you are guarded it's going to take
an amazing writer for you to open up. And if you don't want to open up you shouldn't do press.
If you have a publicist who says to me don't ask this person these three topics. Yeah.
Why are they doing an interview? Or guess what? It's our job as a journalist to ask the questions.
And it's your job to say you know what? I don't want to answer that. Can we move on? Like why do
why does your publicists have to tell me in advance? That's true. Don't ask that question.
If your talent doesn't know how to pivot then maybe you should do some more media training.
That's a really really phenomenal point. I think people look at press in this industry as like
maybe less of a I think talent especially maybe looks at it less as as like a mutually beneficial thing.
And I feel like a lot of people get really too big in their purchase. They're like no you need me.
Vogue you need me. You know what I mean? Which is obviously not true. We both need each other.
Like it's like everyone needs each other. And it that is very fascinating. People are just so scared
because it's such a witch hunt sort of time that everyone's like so maybe it's always been a
witch hunting sort of time. You have like well it always it was always a witch hunt.
The moment paparazzi's became a thing which was what in the 1950s. Yeah.
Celebrities were being followed. Politicians were being followed. Yeah.
Anyone who in some way was famous was being followed and you wanted to know their secrets.
And there was star magazine and national inquire. Yeah. So like there was always that witch hunt.
Yeah. The moment you become famous regular people feel like you don't have feelings as a
celebrity that you are prepared for anything that comes your way because you chose that life.
Sure. But at the same time there are boundaries for everyone. Yeah.
Now days you are afraid to speak about anything. Yeah. Because social media will tear you apart.
Yeah. But all you have to do is don't go on social media. I know.
Don't pay attention. Guess what? Like yeah. It's just a bunch of people who are trying to start shit.
So what about strategy that like Vogue does YouTube so well? So well. Like I
say everyone loves the Vogue YouTube channel and it's such like a genius sort of focus.
I feel like YouTube is a huge focus for Vogue. Well we get we definitely get more access than I
think any other brand. Yeah. And at the end of the day it all is because of this brand that's been
built over with like 130 years now. It means something. Yeah. It's a status for a lot of people.
And once you get Vogue you like these fashion brands and just brands in general look at you
in a different way and you will probably get bigger jobs. So it is that we need you and you need us
moment. We have an amazing video team and we literally will brainstorm and pitch ideas.
Like we have quite a few series that we do on the regular from the getting ready used to 24 hours
to the cooking series that you did for us now serving 73 questions life and looks and like it
is a curation like every single time we have to do an episode we go through a list of names of who
would be the best person for that video tied to a project like it is all connected and we get
access like no one else does which I'm incredibly grateful for because at all my other magazines I
was like struggling and look not to say that we get everyone we want here but yeah I mean I feel
like almost everyone it's nice to work at a place where for the most part I can go to most people
and they will at least hear me out 1000 percent but I think it's interesting because this industry was
at one point so just physical paper it was just paper and that was the industry as a whole that's it
now yes so control like every single page and there was no social media there was nobody talking
about like we don't like that cover we don't like that person we don't like that interview we don't
like the cover line yeah that tiny part in the video it just it disappeared into the abyss yes now
every single thing is under a microscope and we are under microscope for everything but by the way
I don't feel I'm not going to feel bad for us yeah everyone else goes for the same thing yeah every
single brand from fashion to entertainment to publishing we all experience the same problems it
mean it's even more interesting though too because now like being a magazine you have to do more
than just the print you have to do the date like there's three six there's the YouTube now there's
like oh are we gonna do like a merch collection or are we gonna do this are we gonna do it like
there's so much tick-tock video social media video behind-the-scenes videos yeah interviews cover
stories features dot com I mean there's so many layers to every single thing we do yeah that
sometimes it could be a bit overwhelming well it's like it must be harder to maintain
this sort of vogue identity when there's so much fucking happening like you're doing every
category all the time and it's like how do you maintain a strong identity as a brand when
you're being spread so thin we all wear like 20 hats that's what it is yeah and look you don't
get into publishing because you're like I'm gonna become rich you get into publishing because
you're passionate about you know pop culture and fashion yeah music and whatever whatever field
you work in and publishing that's your passion and if you're not passionate you're going to hate
your job yeah you're going to be annoyed you're going to be agitated about every single thing that
that's happening it's not an easy job yeah but we're also not saving lives yeah we don't have to take
ourselves seriously we have to take our job seriously yeah because we get paid to do a job
and if you don't want to be here you don't have to be here yeah but you always have a choice yeah
but if you're doing this I mean my parents taught me from when I was a kid if you sign up to do
something you have to finish it yep we have to make it work like I don't know how to explain it
but like we have to figure it out because if we don't move with the with this ever changing
industry we're going to get left behind this episode is brought to you by eBay authenticity guarantee
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natural recipes the met gala it is the fashion event of the year of course how did it get that
title I don't know how to explain the power that met gala has now yeah but like most people don't
realize it's a fundraiser yeah it's a fundraiser for the museum yep for the costume institute which
Anna is obviously heavily involved in yep and it's main job to raise money every single seat is paid
for every seat is paid for by designer or brand they're the ones who are bringing talent in
support of the museum so every single seat has to be paid for yeah somehow it became the event to
go to every single year yeah usually it starts the day after the met gala ended so like uh this
this year's met gala is May 6 on May 7th I will get an email from Anna
asking me to work on next year's event I may not know what the theme is but she's going to ask
me for ideas uh-huh the theme comes later interesting I mean she knows what the theme is I don't know
what the theme is oh I found out about this year's theme I don't know maybe six months before
okay everything is kept under a lock and key wow so the day after she'll say you know
I have some ideas I want to hear yours yeah let's meet and it literally takes us maybe
a few months to brainstorm ideas then a few more months to figure out who we want to go after
for co-chairs and then the last part of it is music it's always a surprise this is my six met I
think I can't tell you like I am like like a kid in a candy store every single time I get to work
on the met it is so much fun even when it's like the most hard job on the planet because there are
so many details and yeah there's a huge team like we have a huge vogue team working on the met
every year and every single detail is thought of like yeah every single like napkin knife florals
arrangements chairs yeah every single detail is thought about way way way in advance even the way
your name is written on a placement card is thought about and there's a reason for it it is
so fascinating to watch from the sidelines because I'm not really involved in that part right
like I'm involved in the co-chairs I'm involved in the performer and I'm involved in the last
month of preparation and like I help with some of the guests yeah but toward the end once our team
like literally places almost everyone I can't even tell you how many emails and phone calls we get
every single day leading up to like the met like four months prior to it will be like
50 to 100 requests for the met on a daily again it kind of goes back to like this is fashion we're
not saving lives here it's like it's almost like throwing a big birthday party for you know it's
like it's like planning a party it's fun but do you get nervous when you get on that red carpet I do
get nervous I you don't show it though the one thing I can say that I'm good at is my poker face
like no one will ever know I'm not afraid of the interviews I'm afraid of the carpet that's what
scary because it's like everybody puts so much effort into making you look good and now it's up
to you to stand there and like make it come to life in the face and you get it's like a performance
even though all you're doing is like standing there like that but I mean I think now I'm not afraid
anymore maybe like maybe this year I don't think I'll be afraid at all this year but I mean I
think my heart will be I'm not gonna be afraid but I'll be exhilarated I mean I'm sure you're
watching off of a set of America's next stop model you know what's crazy it's been so many years
and my stylist Jared keeps being like Emma you need to watch more America's next stop model because
it'll take you to the next level like you're gonna really like you're gonna learn how to do things
with your face that you didn't even know you could do um maybe Zoolander oh have you ever seen Zoolander
do you know what Zoolander is I'm like vaguely familiar to Ben Stiller movie about being a male model
oh it's pretty brilliant and has all these cameos from like every celebrity you can imagine
fun all these fashion designers and it's basic it's poking fun of Zoolander yeah but it's
absolutely brilliant and he had this look called Blue Steel uh-huh maybe you should adapt that
for the mat I'm gonna adapt Blue Steel for this mat yeah so that's my homework I totally see it for
you I think it's gonna be really really handsome um does everything everything like I'm thinking of
being Anna and I'm like there's no way that she's signing off on everything she does
find everything and on top of that she is at everything we have rehearsals with the performer
we have a rehearsals with dancers we have
whoa fittings we have like we go through like once we're at the mat preparing in that
one room um-hmm everything is kind of like it gets laid out days in advance she's there to
receive all she's literally there at 10 pm at night when we were rehearsing with the performer wow
like I remember my first year and like my first year I literally was like I don't know how I got here
I hope I don't get escorted I don't know how I fooled people into thinking that I belong here
but like poker face was on 10 that time yeah and share was the performer wow which was so like
unreal like this is a like icon and legend get thrown around about every single
yes and nowadays like that is a fucking legend yeah and I remember seeing going to see
share the night before her rehearsal at either Barclays or MSG she was on toward the time
and going backstage with her publicist and like being like it was in my first time meeting share
but it was just like you're you're in such an awe of this woman yeah she talks like she makes jokes
and the way she looks like she's just so brilliant and I was like I'll see you tomorrow the rehearsal
we get to the rehearsal of course like Anna's there yeah share gets on stage does her thing comes
off and she was like how was it what do you think I'm like are you really asking me like how was
it I was like you literally I this is what I said yeah I go you literally could sing the phone book
and I will fucking listen and say it's the most brilliant album on the planet yeah I don't care
what you sing I'm like yeah you on that stage is enough yeah and and I was there for every single
rehearsal wow and like she loves being a part of this that's amazing she's raised something like
half a billion dollars for the museum yeah in her I want to say like what 25 years that she's
done the mat so it's pretty fucking cool I think that is why it's such a special and culturally
sort of significant event is because so much love goes into it like there is a lot of human in it
which I think a lot of people look at something like the mat and they're like this is just a big
event it's like no like a bunch of pretty people dressing up like what like why do we have to pay
attention to it yeah you don't have to people just having fun yeah like our world is so fucking
dark yeah right like if this is the one time a year that everyone gets together and has to have fun
yeah and you get to watch it from home it doesn't mean anything yeah it's just people having a good time
yeah like we've all been through some shit in the last few years yeah like coming to the mat
seeing what people are wearing like yeah it's fun I don't care what anyone says I have fun yep
and even if I wasn't there I still would want to see what people are wearing I would be watching
you on live stream yeah I would be watching Jack Harlow on live yes no I mean it's really
honestly heartwarming to hear that it's fun because I feel like coming into this interview I was
like there's no way that this is fun like I was expecting you to tell me like this is actually the
worst like six months of my life before the mat I mean I can imagine there are probably some
challenging moments when preparing I mean listen of course there's gonna be challenges
mm-hmm somebody falls out 24 hours before and you have to find a celebrity for designer because
they ran out of ideas yep I've literally pulled talent the day of the mat like I would call
everybody I know and I would say is anyone available and do they have a look that they can wear to
the mat like I remember calling someone at us and L knowing like the entire cast is in New York
yep multiple times when somebody would fall out wow and I would be like can we please get so
and so to come uh-huh like yeah they're they're challenges but like again we're not saving
lives yeah placing so like my first year we got to bring so many people that have never been to
the mat like RuPaul's first time in the mat it was theme was camp like who's better to come to
the mat than RuPaul yeah there's the first time RuPaul got shot for American Vogue in his 30-year
career yeah like I I love nothing more than having somebody for the first time it makes me as
happy as it probably makes that you know like having a first man on the cover yeah and I talked
about that for a long time yeah I think for like a year I was told you know it's a women's magazine
yeah so like a you know a guy solo like why would we do that let let GQ do that let you know
another brand do that then we saw everything that was happening with Harry as far as a style and
how he was embracing fashion and like it just made sense yes and it became I want to say like
if not the biggest probably like top three biggest of all time yeah cover wise um social media
clicks they were like essays written about like Harry styles being on the cover of Vogue yeah
and whether it's positive or negative the the point is that people are reacting yes like you don't
want people to just not care yeah like whether it's a positive reaction or negative reaction people
care about what we're doing and I'm not gonna sit here and say like I take everything so seriously
like this is you know I am the word yeah if it's not in Vogue I don't care no that's that's not like
when I worked in Marie Claire I gave as much passion to what I was doing there as I did at 17 as I
did at women's health and red book and I do it Vogue now like for me again it goes back to like my
mom are we selling me if you start something you have to finish yeah so everything I do here no
matter how hard it is at the end of a day like I don't have a real office job I get to work with
creative people yeah we get to put cool people in clothes we get to shoot them we get to bring
them to events we get to do videos with them we get to in some way be a part of this pop culture
train yeah and I have to enjoy it because if I started hating on every single thing that in some
way agitates me or annoys me yeah I'm gonna be a miserable fucker and you don't want to be that
yeah hell no but then gummies help too oh my god obviously I have to like pop a gummies obviously
one time I popped a gummies though and I had a full freak out like a little Camino gummy you know
Camino in my favorite oh well don't the user ones I had two of them once and went into like a
I think I took two fives that's nothing that's what I thought full oh maybe they were 10 they were
probably 10 man I had I had I had two Caminos at a Taylor Swift and then two Caminos at Beyonce
and it was the best experience ever ever like I literally thought I was flowing on a cloud it was
incredible like especially during Beyonce because Renaissance is literally fucking perfection yeah
and every single song with a gummy oh here and here and here and here and here and here and here and
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this product is not intended to diagnose treat cure or prevent any disease when it comes to the
mat there's a theme and that is very important to the event however it seems that that tends to be
where the drama is did people follow the theme no one understands the theme also though too a lot
of brands I think don't really want to do the theme like I feel like there's this sort of or they
like they're like we love this you know what I mean how important is the theme to book and how
important is it that people follow the theme because I feel like a lot of times the internet will
get mad on vogue's behalf when people don't follow the theme because I Anna approves looks someone
I wouldn't say it's a proof like she is involved especially like our co-chairs and our performers
and you know the people that we do have relationships with yep they'll ask her opinion yep and I'm
sure like look I'm not in those conversations yeah don't ask me about fashion because I don't care
like I know we're going to fashion magazine but like you're wearing a dress amazing yeah you
look good or you don't for me yes however yes I think in my this is my six year here the only time
that I saw pretty much everybody on theme was camp yeah because it's easy to read like interpret
camp it's somewhat fun it's a little cheesy yeah it's a little over the top and it was for the most
part you like I've seen camp now every single year since camp I know it's true like everyone wants
to be camp now and my favorite story okay another going back to show you so the night before
at rehearsals I was like what are you wearing like well I'm not doing red carpet I'm like well
why not just like I don't I'm just like nobody knows that I'm coming yeah that I'm performing
I don't need to dress up I'm like well you probably don't need to because so many people are coming
as you yeah and she goes what do you mean so many people are coming as me I'm like you're share like
you are the definition of camp yeah like Bob Mackie camp like Bob Mackie is an incredible designer
he's a master but like definition of camp like when I think of camp I think of Vegas over the top
like feathers and jewelry and yeah blingy like yeah it is you are camp yes she goes bull she
she literally goes bullshit then next day I see her like she arrives I see her I go did you
look at the carpet she goes I did quite a few people dressed as me like literally dressed as me
because that's why I changed my mind she goes I'm literally gonna perform in jeans and my puffer
share is not in camp but she's wearing jeans and a puffer because she saw so that year it was
literally like Jennifer Lopez came in inspired by share Emily Rathogewski came in inspired by
share yeah there were literally I think like six or seven people my brain doesn't work well
clearly because of the gummies but there was so many people dressed as share and it was just so
funny to see this woman who literally is the epitome of the word was like no I'm gonna let you
all have it yeah I'm gonna wear jeans that's so good it's kind of amazing that's so good the
performers do go on the carpet yeah like sometimes they do it's up to that like Lizzo was the
performer last year she was on the carpet Lenny Kravitz was on the was the performer two years ago
yep he was on the carpet yeah it depends like if you wanted you can if you don't yeah yeah
I mean it is kind of interesting like it's a dinner but nobody needs come on but no one eats I know
except for me I am not kidding the first year the first year I remember so vividly I come in and
I'm starving I'm like I'm so hungry like we've just been while I also do the interview so it's
like I'm there for like five hours just interviewing and like whatever so I'm like okay you making
it sound like like we make it work for that long you interview for two hours but you're around for
like five yes you do have to be there early so they make me interview for 24 hours oh my god we are
horrible knowing it's the best joy of my absolute life yeah cuz you and Jack have this thing
we just had you created we created you only come for Jack for Jack I know that well now it's like I
can't I can't leave him hanging like if you walks up and it's not me he's gonna be heartbroken
it's gonna be so sad it's like Billy Irish for vanity fair we have to get that video that's so
because this is good I think this is the four this is your fourth year hosting with her this is my
one two three four I think is the fourth and have one we had him on all three years with you or no
the last two okay so we need a third let's continue yeah I think the third is gonna be the best
you know what I mean what's the week of the Met for you summarized it depends this week I have a
cover shoot literally like a few days before the Met actually two cover shoots one in LA one in
New York and I have to go to both of them oh out like literally four days before leading up I'm
telling you like it is like clockwork somebody will fall out and it will be anywhere between four
to ten people someone will get sick someone schedule will change with their production and you
either have to replace a person yeah or figure out what to do with that seat yeah so there's always
those issues to deal with rehearsals we always have a pre-party we get an insane amount of emails
for after parties which we have which we have nothing to do with but we still have to answer those
questions because you can't ignore people I literally respond to every single email wow
the Met is insane though yeah I usually get anywhere between 200 to like 600 text messages
as people are arriving or a publicist would be like so and so is on their way can you look out for
them I'm like yes I'm at the top of the stairs I will see everyone there arrives yeah you don't
have to tell me that yeah like I say hi to everyone yeah I usually work with Lala at the top of
the stairs yeah pulling talent for all of her interviews yeah so I'm Lala's bitch for the night yeah
and that's a pretty cool thing to do because like I know I know most people that come up yeah
and a lot of them don't want to be on camera and talk they just want to go inside and have a good
time yeah and I literally have to force some people to do interviews yeah it literally happens
every single time like J.Lo last year did not want to be on camera yeah and it was a Jennifer
you cannot not do this yeah and it took like good convincing yeah but they're always glad I think
that they did it for Nikki last year she had a problem with her look uh-huh the top kept falling
yeah and she did not want to be on camera and she kept holding on to her dress and I was like I
promise you 30 seconds that's all I need yeah I'm begging you I'm like I just like I love Nikki so
much yeah but I also love Cardi so I don't want people to be like hey he picks people he picks his
favorite you don't have favorites I don't have these are all your children I love them all yeah um and
literally 30 30 seconds in front of the camera she was so uncomfortable but they do it and
you know that's where the charming Sergio comes out yeah oh yeah I have to turn that on because
of course I could be quite the asshole sometimes so maybe you fit into double worse broader
no I'm kidding you know maybe the September issue did you ever see that no okay it's the
most brilliant documentary about making of a September issue for Vogue oh you know what from like
many many years ago I was gonna say I might have been like 15 years ago yeah but
yeah maybe I watched half that yeah well it's in it's insane I didn't know about the significance
of the September issue until I don't know like three like you know it's it is interesting how it's
like well September and March are considered like the fashion issues yep you always want to have
someone super cool or yeah someone with a big project or a big supermodel and yep it's you know
it's it's the thing it's the thing so we we have how long do the met how are you feeling now how
are you sleeping now are you like is life pretty normal for now no it's a little stressful it's
already getting stressful because now is when I start to get frantic phone calls from people who
have not gotten in yet so it's like hey can you help us in any way and I'm not in those conversations
like I don't talk to designers I don't convince them to bring talent yeah and I become the
middleman between talent and our medgellotine well yeah I feel like a lot of people listening are
probably like how do you even get invited how how do you get invited mostly it's relationships right so
like a brand has relationships with talent yep just like we know who's right for our cover and
who's right for our videos and what people we want to put a spotlight on brands have their people
yep and those are the people they want to take to the met they will check on their availability
before they go out to anyone else right so if you have a relationship with the brand that's
the best way to go yep but here's the kicker nobody ever knows which designers are coming to the
met so publicists will literally go to like 50 brands to see who's coming to the met that year
and typically it's not like okay different brands are like we're gonna we're gonna
purchase the table yeah everyone always says well they've been before why can they come back
yeah it's not about that of course they can come back yeah if a brand wants to bring you
absolutely fine by us but at the same time we also want to bring in different people every
year you don't want to have the same group of people every single time yep even Rihanna doesn't
want to come every single year yeah beyond say there's want to come every single year yeah just because
you've been before doesn't mean that you have to come every single year you want to have
you want to vary it and like let room for new people to circle in and you know like when you
think about it's not that big of room it's like 425 seats maybe 450 seats depending on a year I think
before I started they met was like something like 600 700 people yeah it has gone down significantly
because that room is just so packed yeah and everybody wants to get in yeah what's like a little
secret like a little Met Gala secret or a little Met Gala fact that you feel like people don't know
that would be interesting to them how much I have to fight to get certain people in oh especially
performer right because so many people have ideas yeah like we have a director there's always
going to be like a brilliant director attached to the Met most people probably don't know but
bass lerman has an amazing like this long standing relationship with Anna and bass works on the Met
bases like a brilliant film director he always has a vision and for the last few years like
it's a group of people that decide on who the performer is yeah and you literally have to do
you know a song and dance yeah thank god I don't have a voice because like that entire room would be
running but I do have a way of somehow convincing our team that we should lean a certain way
that's probably the hardest part every single year like coaches are easy because it's all Anna
yeah the performer like most people like there's like a group of people and everyone has their own
opinion yeah I don't know if that answers your question it's not no that's a great fact it's sort of
like there's different ideas and a lot of different voices and a lot of different whatever and it's
like when it comes to making certain decisions that you know everyone's sort of everyone has their
own kind of idea agenda you know what I mean like oh I love this I think this would be so good
and then it's trying to find the best option the best fit yeah that's what it really that's all it is
that's all I'm so excited for this year are you excited are you well have you figured out what
you're wearing okay it's have you had fittings I've had one fitting and we did sketches I've had
about two or three calls and it's happening and it's the most on theme I've ever been
I was I know you don't care about as much but it's no I love seeing people on theme like this one is
really on theme which I'm stoked about because I feel like in the past it's maybe not ended up
being has on theme like it's been like great and I love it but I'm like this is not
quite on theme as much as I want to be like I want to be on theme I mean look it's hard to get
there though oh great theme this year though this year's theme is truly like the most famous line
from Devil West Prada right like florals for spring groundbreaking yeah like it's the only time you
can literally use that as the theme for the mat yeah and I don't think anyone like I think people
are either really thinking that it's florals for spring which it really isn't yeah like
the from what I understand this is my interpretation yep the exhibit features all these like
incredible gowns and dresses that have been locked away for many years yep and they're being
reawakened yeah so yes sleeping beauty florals in some way yep but it's about rebirth it's about
yep you know florals for spring yeah I think when you're somebody who's into fashion you're like
this is a great little challenge it sort of puts it changes what you're able to do
within a fun way I mean I feel like you have really grown so much as a
a live stream host I mean I don't like live like you a part of a live stream you're a part of
live stream your live stream host but you have grown so much because I remember that first year
and how nervous you were oh like you were you were freaking out I was freaking out also no no this
was so bad this is so bad it wasn't bad because you actually did a really great job with all of
your interviews except for the most important one who with Anna you you had an interview with Anna
I didn't realize I never got posted it was what happened really the microphone wasn't quite working
is that the excuse uh well it was kind of me not knowing how to use the microphone listen I was like
having a hard time like switching it back and forth that's before we might me and then I could
just hold the mic like this which we figured out we did that immediately after because we were like
I can't because people just don't talk like that like I'm not used to this even when you're like
Ryan Seacrest you needed the two mics or yeah it was just not right so onion so that was that we fixed
that immediately after and then everything became way better um but she I was like she is going to
never have me back like I I was certain of it after that and I know and I couldn't have blamed her
because you know I mean in such a she was the first one of the day well yeah because she's the
first one to arrive she's the first one to arrive so it was like it was it was basically doomed um
but she you know what she was patient with me listen most people have a very wrong idea of Anna
and how she is no she's Anna Christ jokes and meetings Anna is fun Anna has brilliant comebacks when
you say something funny like I have I've had an incredible experiences over my career with so
many like really smart brilliant people who have taught me so much uh every single day I leave here
I feel like I've accomplished something yeah every single day like this is not bullshit I don't
stay at jobs that I don't need that I don't want to stay in yep I don't have that fixation on like
what will I do without this like I literally come from nothing we came to this country with two
pieces of luggage like if somebody takes all of this away tomorrow yep I'll be fine I'll start all
over again yeah however I do appreciate like I am the first person who's gonna be incredibly
grateful for every opportunity that comes my way absolutely I get to work with someone who
literally changed the face of this industry yeah I get to learn from this person every single day
I get to walk into that office every day and have any conversation I want with her and she will
listen because we've established a relationship now where I contribute to what she's doing
mm-hmm I am of help and I've proven my I would think that I've proven myself in almost six years
of working here so like I greatly appreciate every single thing she brings to the table whether I
agree with my boss or not at the end of a day she has been doing this much longer than I have yeah
and for the most part she knows better than I do yeah and this job is about challenges yeah like
she challenges me and I hope that in some way I challenge her yeah when she does not know someone
and it's my job to make her and the rest of our team see why this person is important to cover
why this person is important to come to the med why this person is important for feature or cover
story or video mm-hmm and I appreciate working here because I work on a level that everyone
else wants to work on yeah as far as this brand because I come from six other brands yeah like I've
been here I've worked at at so many other companies and we always talked about what this brand does
so like I am grateful for this opportunity and I work my ass off because I actually enjoy seeing
the fruits of my labor like her work ethic is unlike anything I've ever heard about in my life I'll
get an email of like 5 30 in the morning mind you I'm not awake at 5 30 in the morning but when I
look at my emails in the morning I'm like oh 5 30 am cool I don't understand how she does it
and she's here every single day she comes in the morning she leaves in the evening always available
to her she responds to every single email I send it's somehow at every fashion show too I don't
know how she does it every fashion show every big event yeah she cares about this brand so like if
my boss cares and my boss has a lot more than her play than I do yeah then I certainly have to
step up every single time I come into the building or I get to work on you know any event with her
yeah it like we just got to work on the Biden campaign on this massive fundraiser the biggest
fundraiser in history I'd radio city musical and you know if you would have told me as a 12-year-old
kid that I'm going to be working on this mega presidential campaign with Clinton Obama and Biden
with all these performers I would have laughed in your face because like it is so outside of what I
know yeah I get to work on this because of Anna yeah so at the end of a day I have to like admire
and appreciate and be grateful for these opportunities and the met is one of them like yeah I used to
watch it like literally every single day yeah I mean every single day every single year yeah so to
be able to work on here on the met every year now is pretty fucking cool so fucking cool oh my god
this was amazing is it I mean are we done are you not gonna sing well I guess I guess like I guess
like you know what I'm gonna sing at the man amazing are you the performer so this is my big
announcement I am the performer so I'm putting on my first album is similar to Adele just a little
bit different yeah I feel like we're good that was amazing you that that was like incredible all right
