Isaac Mizrahi on cabaret, Paris, and which ’90s supermodels he’d want with him at 35,000 ft​

Few creatives have shaped New York’s cultural conversation as fluidly and joyfully as Isaac Mizrahi. Designer, performer, provocateur, storyteller — what hasn’t he done feels like the better question. From redefining American fashion in the late ’80s and ’90s to stepping seamlessly into Broadway, cabaret, film, and television, Mizrahi has always followed curiosity over category. That curiosity has taken the Brooklyn native everywhere: popping up as himself on shows like Gossip Girl and Sex and the City, serving as a judge on Project Runway: All-Stars, lending his perspective as a consulting producer on Hulu’s Mid-Century Modern, and appearing in A24’s Marty Supreme.

In this Out and About interview, we talk travel rituals and Parisian nostalgia, from the prettiest breakfast to the small comforts he never boards a plane without. I find out which ’90s supermodels he’d want seated on either side of him on a flight to the haute couture capital, the album he turns to as an instant mood-booster and why letting go of pieces from his archive feels less like goodbye and more like reinvention. We also touch on a decade performing at New York’s iconic Café Carlyle, pre-show nerves, and what it means to offer laughter as a kind of release right now.

Favorite hotel outside of the U.S.?

Le Bristol Paris, a storied Right Bank property near the Champs-Élysées, is a Mizrahi favorite.Claire Cocano

Le Bristol in Paris. It was my place as a young man, and then I started experimenting with other hotels, which was fun at first. Then I started not loving Paris as much. Then I went again last fall and decided to stay at the Bristol, and I went mad for Paris all over again. Something about that place. I love the location. And it has the prettiest breakfast in Paris.

Favorite restaurant outside of New York?

I think I like Le Voltaire in Paris. It’s somewhere I will always go because it’s also a place with a lot of memories.

Must-have travel essential?

The one thing I can never leave home without is my big black cashmere shawl from Loro Piana. It works miracles on planes and even in hotel rooms.

You find yourself in the middle seat on a New York-Paris flight. Which two ’90s supermodels would you want on either side of you, and why?

I would want Christy Turlington on one side and Veronica Webb on the other. Christy is perfect in every way, and Veronica is hilarious and will know how to keep me occupied.

Le Voltaire in Paris, a restaurant Mizrahi returns to for its memories as much as its menu.courtesy Le Voltaire

What’s an album you return to time and again?

A Charlie Brown Christmas. Nothing creates a mood like it.

Is there a film, performance, or piece of art you revisit when you need to feel creatively recharged?

I reread Proust's Remembrance of Things Past over and over. I can’t imagine a time in my life when I’m not somewhere in the middle of one of those books. They fill me with joy and inspiration.

Is there a New Year’s resolution you find yourself returning to year after year?

Every new year, I swear I’m going to lose weight. This year, my resolution is to not care about losing weight, which is as hard.

New York is constantly reinventing itself. What’s one mindset or habit you think someone moving to the city in 2026 really needs to thrive and not just survive?

My advice to anyone moving to NYC in 2026 would be to expect change literally every day. Do not get bogged down in the status quo. In NYC, things change like lightning. It’s what we love about it here. Surprises of all kinds. Mostly delightful ones, but some terrible ones. Recently, we lost a lot of old fave restaurants. My hope is that if I can move on, I will find new ones that I like more.

You recently announced you were selling your archive of one-of-a-kind samples created in your atelier between 1987 and 2012. What did it feel like to part with those pieces, and did the process feel more emotional or unexpectedly liberating?

A selection of one-of-a-kind designs from Isaac Mizrahi’s archive, now being released for a second life.courtesy Isaac Mizrahi Archive

The reason I’m selling these pieces is because nothing lasts forever. I noticed in my archive some things were disintegrating. And others, the ones I’m selling, are in amazing condition, like mint. And so, I think these pieces might have a second life, rather than just languishing in my archive. And I’m so lucky that so many of these clients are so fabulous, and they’re wearing these pieces to events, weddings, performances, etc. Also… yes. It was difficult editing the pieces I’m keeping. And literally three times a week, I think about buying certain pieces back!

You’ve now spent a decade performing at Café Carlyle. When you step onto that stage today, what feels most different about how you approach the night compared to your early years there?

I think what’s different is my level of stage fright. I’m still really nervous before shows, but especially at CC, it feels like my living room, and usually by the time I step onto that stage, I’m filled with excitement, which is what the stage fright morphs into; you train yourself for that. If you’re nervous when you arrive on stage, you will be eaten alive. And of course, an enthusiastic crowd helps so much!

Isaac Mizrahi onstage at Café Carlyle, the legendary supper club inside The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel.David Andrako

Looking back, is there a version of yourself from early in your career that would be surprised by where you’ve landed today?

When I first started performing again, this was some time in 1998, though I knew it was my destiny, I also felt a little crazy, like the people I loved or the people in the fashion industry who knew me well would worry I’d lost my mind. I know what it's like to watch a delusional person try and sing or tell jokes and I hate putting people in that position of cringe. But I stick by the fact that I’m not bad at it, and by sheer persistence of this insanity, I think people have adjusted to me on stage, and now it feels like my greatest pleasure. Also, now I get many more people stopping me in the street to tell me they loved my show more than my clothes, which is the most gratifying thing of my life.

What can audiences expect from your new show, A.I. artificial isaac?

A.I. is my tenth anniversary, and I am going to talk about how much I dislike anniversaries, birthdays, anything that marks the passage of time, and also how it makes me feel accomplished. It’s a real enigma, and it’s really funny. I’m going to examine what it means to be happy. My theory is that no one comes to NYC to be “happy,” and the real NYers understand that. It’s what makes NYC the perfect place for them. It’s a lot of topics I’ll be engaging with, but the through line is this thing about the passage of time, my getting old, the world changing so, so much.

Was there a specific moment recently when you thought, “This absolutely belongs in the show”?

Just before Christmas, I experienced the most terrifying thing. I got a new phone, and for some reason, I made all the wrong choices when I was switching, and I lost all service for something, like 6 hours, and had to drive to a Verizon store 1.5 hours away to remedy the situation with my dear, darling husband. The only good thing about that experience is that it led to this one hilariously poignant story and song. And maybe it will lead to a club of people who have an alternative plan in case phone service goes down. Like some crazy old lady club. We have landlines, we have courier service… obviously still a work in process but speaking of raising consciousness! I feel humanity really has to deal with this phenomenon.

Mizrahi onstage at Café CarlyleDavid Andrako

What do you hope audiences carry with them after a night at Café Carlyle this time around?

I hope the audience gets a big laugh and enjoys a lot of really good music. I want the show to be a break from the horrors of current events, even though I refer to them constantly; it feels good to laugh about them after all the doom scrolling!