Up close and personal with iconic gay fashion designer Pol’ Atteu and his husband, Patrik Simpson, who open up on their legendary collaborations, their multi-platform empire and the state of the red carpet…
By Elio Iannacci
Photos by Farbod Jafarpour
Beverly Hills is teeming with cultural sites laden with secrets, scandal and 2SLGBTQI+ history. Madonna’s former estate on 9425 Sunset Boulevard, Joan Crawford’s old digs on 513 North Roxbury Drive and beaux-arts properties such as the Virginia Robinson Gardens (a favourite hideout for Marlene Dietrich) are spots that any self-respecting queer would have on his/her/their star-map. But those aren’t the only ones…
Those who love diving into L.A.’s stylish past may also know of a hidden gem on 9414 Dayton Way – designer Pol’ Atteu’s boutique and atelier. Atteu’s gowns, which have been worn by icons to housewives and stars to ingenues, have been on the city’s red carpets for more than 25 years and they transform his clientele with craftsmanship and grandeur – or, in his words, “make them feel like the queens they are.” His aesthetic doesn’t bow down to the latest Parisian or Italian catwalk trend or adhere to any of the minimalist monochromatic cues that New York Fashion Week typically preaches. Instead, Atteu is obsessed with travelling to the far reaches of glamour in his designs, finding inspiration in his own backyard or on his travels with husband/partner Patrik Simpson (they’ve covered 72 countries so far).
As the duo’s podcast (Undressed) and Amazon Prime TV series (Gown and Out in Beverly Hills) can attest, running a Californian couture business in the middle of the world’s largest entertainment/streaming capital is anything but boring. While surrounded by an atelier brimming with tulle, silk, appliqué and sequins, Atteu and Simpson took a break between celebrity fittings to talk about Atteu’s influential collaborations with Hollywood and reality TV royalty.
What are the first questions you ask someone who walks into the boutique or a celebrity that you are working with?
Pol’ Atteu: I need to know when and where the dress will be worn – the event, the date, the season – but when I take their measurements, that’s where the magic happens. We have a conversation during the whole process and things usually get very intimate. I’ve had some clients tell me about how their husband cheated on them, or that they have nightmares and trauma about wearing the colour red, and, of course, many clients have insecurities about clothes.
So many designers dislike filming what goes on in their atelier. Why did you allow a film crew to set up cameras in your boutique for Gown and Out in Beverly Hills?
Patrik Simpson: We thought it was a good idea for people to see a behind-the-scenes look into fashion – how a gown is conceived and actually put together. Project Runway focuses on a little of the construction, but those are up-and-coming designers. No one has really gone into the atelier of someone experienced like Valentino, seeing him sketch, sew, and hand-bead the garment himself. I produce and co-create the show with Pol’– who has such a connection with his clients that it makes for amazing TV. We just keep experimenting together and so we keep redefining the show in each episode.
Were your parents somehow associated with fashion?
Pol’: Oh, no. I was born in Kuwait and moved to L.A. when I was seven. Tailors would tailor, alter, adjust or make [my mother’s] clothes. I watched the whole process closely but had no clue that would be my destiny.
When did you first know you wanted to be in fashion?
Pol’: [My family] moved to the US and I saw The Love Boat on TV. It was the episode where Julie, the cruise director, organized a fashion show on the boat. I was 12 and wouldn’t stop talking about it. My family just shut it down. It wasn’t until the 11th grade that I finally said it out loud: ‘I want to be a designer.’ I tried to attend FIT [New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology] first but I couldn’t afford it and my family would not pay for it, so I went to the Los Angeles Trade Technical College.
Let’s talk about the most transformative moments in Gown and Out. Which one stands out?
Pol’: Shobna Gulati. She was in Everybody’s Talking about Jamie, the movie on Prime Video, and the stage play of it was here in L.A. She’d never been on a Top Five best-dressed list and she’s been an actress for so long. She’d never worn a gown or had a fitting before meeting us [when she] had to go to the BAFTAs [the British Academy Film and Television Arts Awards].
Patrik: I’d say the episode when Mackenzie Hancsicsak from This is Us was on. She was a child. She had never worn a dress to a red carpet or been on one, and she was a tomboy. Pol’ made her feel like a princess. I saw this plus-size 10-year-old have confidence in her eyes, and I was so proud of him at that moment.
How does something like glamour help a life?
Pol: When I see women look at themselves in the mirror after wearing the right dress – the way Shobna did – I get emotional. That’s my moment and theirs. They see a side of themselves that they either forgot, had lost, they hadn’t seen before, or are excited to revisit.
Much of the work that queer designers and artists do with women in entertainment gets dismissed or uncredited. When you look back in history to the power of a creative union like Grace Jones and Keith Haring, do you think we need to reassess the importance of collaboration?
Pol’: Exactly. If you’ve done your homework, you realize that it’s not just a dress and fashion is not silly or something to write off. It’s a powerful tool. These collaborations evoke so many different life moments that represent many personal or professional transitions that shouldn’t be overlooked. A dress isn’t just a dress for me – it represents where you’re going in your career, and it should represent you in the best possible way. It also represents how I see you, where I’m going and how I’m developing as a designer.
So you see designing as a combined testament of your client and your own life?
Pol’: Absolutely. I worked with Betty White in 2010 [when she was close to 90 years old]. It was on a dress she wanted for the SAG [Screen Actors Guild] Awards because she was getting a Lifetime Achievement honour. Right away, she understood what the collaboration meant to us both. When she saw the fabric as I rolled it out, she lit up. She sat and watched me sew it and was really getting into the creative way I would mould the fabrics on her body. Afterwards, she said, ‘You re-energized my career with your dress.’ She had a slit up the dress and said, ‘Oh no, honey, I’m an old lady,’ until she tried it on and I said, ‘Girl, when you got legs like that, you have to show them.’
The first time I recognized your work was on Wheel of Fortune. They did a 10-day tribute to your work and had Vanna White wear your gowns. What impact did dressing her have on you?
Pol’: She’s a friend now and I love her, but I grew up on Wheel of Fortune. A lot of people think, ‘Oh, she’s just flipping letters,’ but she embodied elegance on TV. Her movements and gestures and the way she glides back and forth on that stage is magic. It doesn’t distract; it pulls you in. People watched Vanna White to see what she was going to wear next – it was aspirational. Remember, she was working well before reality shows, Housewives or fashion shows streamed online. Her role was being herself, and people wanted to emulate that. My bestselling piece of all time was when I put her in a green panne velvet number. I sold a million of that one dress.
Patrik: I think Vanna White made Wheel of Fortune into her own personal runway. She made it not just some boring game show – she made it fashionable and never wore the same dress again.
Anna Nicole Smith was one of your most famous clients and closest friends. What would you say is the most iconic memory you have of her?
Pol’: She’s buried in my dress and today is the anniversary of her death, so I’m glad we are talking about her. I once made her a gown in two hours for the VH1 awards. She wasn’t going to attend and then decided last minute that she would. Nothing in the boutique fit her.
Patrik: Luckily, Pol’ had this beautiful Italian Lycra bathing suit material. He pulled it out and made a dress for her with cutouts in it. She was named best dressed!
Did you ever see any runway designers use your dresses as inspiration?
Pol’: If you go back to some of the clothes that I did for Vanna and Anna Nicole, you’ll notice how different reiterations started popping up on the runway. When I put Anna Nicole’s dress in the window, so many designers sent people to come take pictures and duplicate it. I thought that was the highest compliment for me.
What would you say has been the most challenging fitting for you?
Patrik: I can answer that! He did the Dubai Housewives reunion gowns last year for Bravo and had to do virtual fittings. We couldn’t make it to Dubai and they were supposed to come here. We shipped it overnight and they somehow lost the dress. They couldn’t find the address.
Your podcast is a series of conversations with notable people. Did you want your podcast to mirror the intimacy you have during fittings?
Patrik: Yes. That’s why we named our podcast Undressed with Pol’ and Patrik. Our very first guest was Scheana Shay from Vanderpump Rules—Pol’ did her wedding gown and so it was very unfiltered because we know so much about her. I think guests on the show open up because Pol’ and I are like the two gay best friends they never had.
Pol’: I see them naked all day, so it is easier for them to feel comfortable when we chat.
How have you seen the fashion industry change with regard to the red carpet?
Pol: Many brands now just hire the celebrities to represent [them], and these stars don’t necessarily like what they’re wearing. A red carpet moment for a star can be very artful, and I think you should wear something you love or that is from someone you love and collaborated with. A brand shouldn’t overshadow a personality; it should enhance it and support it.
Patrik: I’ve been very disappointed with a lot of the stylist looks on the red carpet because – even at the Emmys or Oscars – there were so many celebrities wearing these beautiful gowns that weren’t fitting them properly because obviously they hadn’t done a fitting. Pol thinks that is so important and will find the time to fit them.… Once he even did a fitting in a parking lot!
Who was that?
Pol’: I can’t tell you who she is, but I was on the phone and told her to pull over and I drove to her with a tape measure. It was a big night for her.
Your relationship fuels so much of your work. Do you see your personal life evolving with your professional one?
Pol: We’ve been together over 20 years now and so that is a lot of collections. But when you look at where we started and how there was no gay marriage back when we first dated, we are so thankful for the struggles that everybody else before us had to go through to allow us to be able to get to this point of our lives together. When you have a great, solid relationship, that’s how you can grow and flourish, and give back to your community.
Do you ever look back and think some of your ideas were too ahead of the curve?
Patrik: When we raised our daughter, we filmed our very first reality show. It was called Designer Family and it was about us, two gay men raising a teenage daughter in Beverly Hills. It was for Bravo, but it didn’t get picked up because we were told America wasn’t ready for that. Two years later, Modern Family was on TV.
Pol’: We pitched the show to Logo and they told us we were too gay for it! They’re like, ‘No, we want gay adjacent.’ I don’t think we were too early. I think that people will never be ready for change – you just have to show it. Part of not following trends is being honest to yourself. I think we’ve been able to evolve because we live truthfully.
What has been the most recent example of reaping the rewards of being as outspoken as you are?
Pol: We just made history. We were the first gay couple on the cover of a national magazine in Dubai called Victor. They’ve never had a gay person on the cover – let alone a gay couple on the cover. My only hope now is that that kind of visibility will change lives or change people’s minds.
ELIO IANNACCI is an award-winning arts reporter and graduate student at York University whose research interests include ethnomusicology and gender studies. He has contributed to more than 80 publications worldwide, profiling icons such as Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, Aretha Franklin and Beyoncé. His academic work is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
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