The Advertising Age

(NEW YORK) Michael Kors, mad? Only for Mad Men. Last night, the dapper designer (and television star) hosted an exclusive private screening for the season premiere of the hit AMC show's second season at the Bryant Park Hotel. "How many times do you find something that's smart, chic and entertaining all at once?" Kors asked, as waiters wandered about with trays of sixties-era appetizers like pigs in a blanket, mini meatloaf balls and petite quiches stuffed with--what else?--macaroni and cheese. "Strangely enough, the show is like a the zeitgeist. It's the year of Mad Men and Amy Winehouse. But she's doing her own thing with 1961." The year of Kors' birth, no less!

And where Kors goes, the cognoscenti follow. Most delectable was Jon Hamm (forgive us, Chris Noth!) who plays ad man Don Draper. Although he was dressed in a flawless Giorgio Armani suit, the actor confessed that he wasn't as inherently stylish as his host. "I have terrible taste," Hamm explained, "So whenever others are in charge of putting things on me, I always feel better. I came from the Midwest and I went to prep school, so it never goes much farther than jeans and golf shirts. But I'm a really big fan of Project Runway--it made me realize how much work goes into this stuff!"

As Kors embraced the likes of Joanna Coles, Joe Zee, Anamaria Wilson, Amanda Ross, Craig Woodward, Cindy Weber Cleary and André Leon Talley, he attempted to identify that Mad Men character he relates to most. "Not Don Draper!" Kors laughed, as Hamm winked from across the room."I'd like to be, but I'm not. I'm nicer than all the guys on the show, but in a strange way, if I had to pick one, it'd be Peggy. Secretly sexy, secretly smart. The show is vintage and retro, but unfortunately a lot of what's going on is still happening. I've never been in the ising business, but I think fashion is every bit as tough and cutthroat as the ising world."

And while Hamm's character is notoriously dark, the actor himself is downright sunny these days. "I feel great on a number of levels," he said.  "It was a show that not a lot of people thought was going to do much, because it was on a network nobody has heard of, from a writer who had three networks pass on his material. It seems silly now that there are billboards everywhere, but not that long ago it was an underdog of a show."

Interestingly, the actor briefly considered a career in ising. "It's a creative outlet, and yet it's still a businessman's kind of job. At the time, [ising executives] were the rock stars of the business world. I guess now they're hedge fund managers or investment bankers or whatever, but that's just because they're rich. Their actual jobs are boring and tedious and awful, and they lie...and now they're paying for it. Our guys lie and cheat, but at least they create cool shit!"
ASHLEY BAKER