Small Thing Big Idea
Isaac Mizrahi: How the button changed fashion
Filmed:
Readability: 2.7
515,564 views
How the simple button changed the world, according to fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi.
Isaac Mizrahi - Fashion designer
Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi mixes high fashion and the mass market, with a line of haute couture and a line for Target. Plus a talk show, a cabaret act, a movie, a new book ... Full bio
Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi mixes high fashion and the mass market, with a line of haute couture and a line for Target. Plus a talk show, a cabaret act, a movie, a new book ... Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
There are no bad buttons,
there are only bad people.
there are only bad people.
0
183
2367
00:14
How does that sound? OK?
1
2575
1002
00:15
[Small thing.]
2
3602
1194
00:16
[Big idea.]
3
4822
1238
00:19
[Isaac Mizrahi on
the Button]
the Button]
4
7356
2351
00:23
No one knows who invented the button.
5
11311
2072
00:25
It might have shown up
as early as 2,000 BCE.
as early as 2,000 BCE.
6
13407
3434
00:28
It was decorative when it first started,
7
16865
2283
00:31
just something pretty
sewn onto your clothes.
sewn onto your clothes.
8
19172
2224
00:33
Then about 3,000 years later,
9
21420
2239
00:35
someone finally invented the buttonhole,
10
23683
2731
00:38
and buttons were suddenly useful.
11
26438
1827
00:40
The button and the buttonhole
is such a great invention.
is such a great invention.
12
28289
3751
00:44
Not only does it slip
through the buttonhole,
through the buttonhole,
13
32064
2166
00:46
but then it kind of falls into place,
14
34254
1845
00:48
and so you're completely secure,
like it's never going to open.
like it's never going to open.
15
36123
3063
00:51
The design of a button hasn't changed much
since the Middle Ages.
since the Middle Ages.
16
39210
3825
00:55
It's one of the most enduring
designs in history.
designs in history.
17
43059
3288
00:58
For me, the best buttons
are usually round.
are usually round.
18
46371
3221
01:01
There's either a dome button
with a little shank,
with a little shank,
19
49616
2379
01:04
or there's just this sort of round thing
with either a rim or not a rim,
with either a rim or not a rim,
20
52019
4534
01:08
either two holes or four holes.
21
56577
1864
01:10
Almost more important than the button
is the buttonhole.
is the buttonhole.
22
58465
2709
01:13
And the way you figure that out is:
23
61198
2162
01:15
the diameter of the button
plus the width of the button,
plus the width of the button,
24
63384
2690
01:18
plus a little bit of ease.
25
66098
1330
01:19
Before buttons, clothes were bigger --
26
67452
3048
01:22
they were more kind of amorphous,
27
70524
1874
01:24
and people, like, wriggled into them
28
72422
1777
01:26
or just kind of wrapped
themselves in things.
themselves in things.
29
74223
2290
01:28
But then fashion moved closer to the body
30
76537
3729
01:32
as we discovered uses for the button.
31
80290
2231
01:34
At one time, it was the one way
to make clothes fit against the body.
to make clothes fit against the body.
32
82545
6445
01:41
I think the reason buttons have endured
for so long, historically,
for so long, historically,
33
89014
3675
01:44
is because they actually work
to keep our clothes shut.
to keep our clothes shut.
34
92713
2988
01:47
Zippers break;
35
95725
1152
01:48
Velcro makes a lot of noise,
and it wears out after a while.
and it wears out after a while.
36
96901
2889
01:51
If a button falls off,
you just literally sew that thing on.
you just literally sew that thing on.
37
99814
2841
01:54
A button is kind of there
for the long run.
for the long run.
38
102679
2492
01:57
It's not just the most
elemental design ever,
elemental design ever,
39
105195
3334
02:00
it's also such a crazy fashion statement.
40
108553
4076
02:04
When I was a kid, my mom knit me
this beautiful sweater.
this beautiful sweater.
41
112653
3365
02:08
I didn't like it.
42
116042
1152
02:09
And then I found these buttons,
43
117218
1542
02:10
and the minute the buttons were
on the sweater, I loved it.
on the sweater, I loved it.
44
118784
2794
02:13
If you don't have good taste
and you can't pick out a button,
and you can't pick out a button,
45
121602
2934
02:16
then let someone else do it, you know?
46
124560
1919
02:18
I mean that.
47
126503
1150
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Isaac Mizrahi - Fashion designerFashion designer Isaac Mizrahi mixes high fashion and the mass market, with a line of haute couture and a line for Target. Plus a talk show, a cabaret act, a movie, a new book ...
Why you should listen
Design-wise, Isaac Mizrahi is best known for bridging the gap between high and low -- creating gorgeous couture confections for the likes of Eartha Kitt and others, as well as a hugely popular, groundbreakingly affordable line for Target.
His design mission comes wrapped in endless charisma. He's a talk-show host, he's performed his own one-man show Off-Broadway, he was the subject of the hilarious documentary Unzipped, and he does regular cabaret nights at Joe's Pub in New York City. His new book is called How to Have Style .
Isaac Mizrahi | Speaker | TED.com