Meet the Chicago-primarily based dressmaker at the back of Barbra Streisand’s show-Stopping cloth wardrobe

Azeeza Khan is aware of a way to work with excessive-profile customers: past this yr, the designer was tapped to plan bridal shower and engagement party looks for Kirsten Corley, the then-fiancée of opportunity the Rapper. nonetheless, the Chicago native considers hers a "low-key" manufacturer. at the Azeeza atelier, which sits alongside the city's upscale Michigan Avenue, discretion is the thing. Khan mostly avoids celeb dressing—"or any of the natural things that make you cool nowadays"—preferring to stoke a robust local base; but with Barneys and Shopbop amongst her stockists, Azeeza's winsome, uncooked silk frocks in boldly saturated hues haven't remained a Windy metropolis secret for long.

indeed, in can also Khan discovered a fan in a single Barbra Streisand, who went on to order 25 appears for both her own cloth cabinet and her three-metropolis tour this summer time. "It became equivalent to establishing a full assortment," Khan says. "That's what she referred to as it—The Barbra assortment. however it was fully worth the time and energy." In London last month, Streisand appeared in Khan's confections both onstage, for the 2d act of her concert in Hyde Park (where, past that night, she'd worn a caftan by using Zandra Rhodes), and out on the town, when she joined her historic chums Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti for dinner. The importance of all of this—particularly, dressing one of the most noted (and famously certain) artists of the ultimate sixty years—hasn't been remotely misplaced on Khan, low-key as she may well be. "We're at all times referencing vogue icons on our temper boards," she says, "and Barbra has in reality been on my mood board … that you can't beat that."

forward of Streisand's stateside stops—Madison square backyard the next day; Chicago's United center on Tuesday—Vogue spoke to Khan about color theory, funny girl, and the pursuit of perfection.

So, how did the task come collectively?

It happened truly, truly right now. She had shopped my items, and that i think she in reality understood the fabric and the hues and the silhouette, so the first time we met, I introduced 30 to forty pieces that i thought could be imperative to her, and it simply sparked a dialog. It become unique, having her are trying different things and provides me comments —it helped me to understand her criteria, and what she would love.

and how had Barbra Streisand figured to your intellect in the past? Did you've got any favorite movies of hers, et cetera?

funny girl is basically iconic. We're constantly referencing style icons on our temper boards, and Barbra has really been on my mood board. So for me to be in a position to gown her … that you can't beat that. additionally, from a manner point of view, anything that changed into actually memorable for me, as a result of I've all the time been very a whole lot into clothing and dressing, is the Bergdorf Goodman medley in My name is Barbra. How superb was that?

I imply . . . the highest quality! became the size of this commission fairly odd for you?

in one go, absolutely. From our inner most consumers, we have a very excessive loyalty price, and a lot of have obtained items all through the years, but on no account in a single go has someone sat there and designed 25 looks. It become akin to constructing a collection, to be sincere. That's what she known as it—The Barbra collection. nonetheless it was absolutely value the time and energy.

What become the turnaround?

We all started in may also, and from there it become three journeys to California and countless emails, conference calls and textual content messages on design with Renata [Buser, Streisand's longtime assistant] and her group. Barbra changed into in rehearsals on the same time, so I believe she had in reality immersed herself into the realm of the tour.

She's somebody with a famously effective aesthetic feel—she has, as an example, a well-publicized ardour for indoors design. What became her degree of engagement like all through the process?

Barbra is a perfectionist, and i'm that way too—the value of each greenback that you spend on my garment needs to be there for you, whether it became off-the-rack or customized-made. So, from that standpoint, working together with her became easy. and he or she's really inventive; when she took me on a tour of her house, it become striking. literally down to a wallpaper, or a tile in her bathing room, she had a reason for the colour, and will explain how she made it cohesive with the mattress linens and curtains, and where she'd sourced the curtains. There turned into a desk of trinkets in the identical colour of lavender that she observed she'd curated over 25 years; and he or she would aspect out, you know, the color of a gown within a painting and why she adored it. She is big on colour idea, and that i have literally based my brand on color. So there turned into a very best synergy in that feel.

Love. What forms of concepts did she have as you developed the looks?

She has every little thing she's worn truly neatly archived, so she is aware of what her universe is, and he or she become capable of specific herself somewhat actually: I feel for the burgundy, she gave me one in all her napkins to display me the color, so we matched it. She would additionally are looking to do things like show a shoulder, or a little bit of décolletage … all of those forms of details. She wasn't asking me to create something backyard of what I do, however she was evolving what I had into the best factor for her.

Did the rest shock you?

smartly, she's a stunning artist—like, when we did the tour the first day, there have been scenic views and photographs that she had painted herself—so she's outstanding at drawing. And at one factor, whereas we were talking, she took my sketchbook and he or she drew a dress that she desired from scratch—like a full, excellent sketch. and then she signed it, which—my heart stopped.

Oh, my god.

So, yeah, I don't go back and forth with that sketchbook anymore. It's been retired. but if there turned into a particular approach she desired a choker, she would literally simply sketch it for me. so that became really amazing. Like, what more are you able to ask for?

Do you have a favourite of the appears that you created for her?

I'm enthusiastic about every bit she's gotten, however it's an off-the-cuff day gown. It's really attractive that, as a result of she become going to be in Europe for her tour, she idea, I need attire for that, too. So she actually went to dinner with Valentino and his partner the evening earlier than the London live performance in one of my cocktail clothes, from Spring/summer time 2017. however the demonstrate-stoppers are basically very fun; what she wore in Hyde Park changed into one among my favorites. When she first tried it on, she showed us how she would make her entrance if she had been to put on it onstage—she showed the stroll in, with spread hands—so that turned into actually a wow second. She in fact gave us the drama.