Bobby Doherty/AOL
When it comes to celebrity red carpet dressing, starlets usually fall into two camps: either they were A) gifted the dress by a label or B) paid by a brand to be an ambassador of the house, but Hollywood dress darlings KAUFMANFRANCO don't subscribe to either of those rules. "We don't have anything to give away and we don't pay anybody," said Ken Kaufman, co-founder of the seven-year-old line. "In fact, we have the integrity not to give the same dresses out to different people. We've controlled it, and we know what's coming and going. I think it's wonderful to be a little more exclusive and a little hard to find. You're more desirable that way."
A surprising statement considering that the designers -- Kaufman started the company with his partner Isaac Franco -- have dressed almost every A-lister including Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, Anne Hathaway, Megan Fox and Beyoncé, to name a few. "It's funny because we aren't even red carpet designers," said Franco at their Midtown Manhattan atelier. " From our first season, we've been 85% sportswear, not dresses. For fall, it was all about biker chick references, like great riding pants with a knit cuff." Still, that hasn't stopped glamour girls from calling their name for Tinseltown's biggest events. "It happened really organically," explained Kaufman. "One person called and said, 'Hey, can I have a dress for this person,' and then we got shot at the opening of something and more and more stylists called and there was another shot here and another and another."
So who was that famous first call? "Christina Aguilera," they both said in unison. "It was a cut-out, strappy silver dress and she looked hot and amazing," said Franco proudly. "We can show you a picture of it!"
Nowadays, the duo have become synonymous for dressing Taylor Swift. "Most people say, 'Oh a country western singer; we don't dress country western singers,' but we looked at her and said 'What a beautiful girl. I don't care what she sings, boys, love, whatever,'" said Kaufman. "She's got a beautiful voice and she's talented. Like, hello, an amazing woman wants to wear our clothes? We're like, 'I'm sorry, we love you!'"
Swift and the other leading ladies aside, who else do KAUFMANFRANCO want to dress? "Easy answer, Angelina Jolie," revealed Kaufman. "We're very taken by her just because she's definitely our muse. Like with 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' she was flying down buildings, but dinner was on the table at 6pm. I think she's really like that."
Franco couldn't help but chime in, "I mean six kids, hot man. She's everything we all want to be."
We couldn't agree more.
For more on KAUFMANFRANCO's office and love of belts and snaps, click through the slideshow below:
