Meet the Chicago-Based Designer Behind Barbra Streisand’s Show-Stopping Wardrobe

Azeeza Khan knows how to work with high-profile clients: Earlier this year, the designer was tapped to devise bridal shower and engagement party looks for Kirsten Corley, the then-fiancée of Chance the Rapper. Still, the Chicago native considers hers a “low-key” brand. At the Azeeza atelier, which sits along the city’s upscale Michigan Avenue, discretion is the thing. Khan largely avoids celebrity dressing—“or any of the traditional things that make you cool these days”—preferring to stoke a strong local base; but with Barneys and Shopbop among her stockists, Azeeza’s winsome, raw silk frocks in boldly saturated colors haven’t remained a Windy City secret for long.

Indeed, in May Khan discovered a fan in one Barbra Streisand, who went on to order 25 looks for both her personal wardrobe and her three-city tour this summer. “It was equivalent to developing a full collection,” Khan says. “That’s what she called it—The Barbra Collection. But it was absolutely worth the time and effort.” In London last month, Streisand appeared in Khan’s confections both onstage, for the second act of her concert in Hyde Park (where, earlier that evening, she’d worn a caftan by Zandra Rhodes), and out on the town, when she joined her old friends Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti for dinner. The significance of all of this—namely, dressing one of the most famous (and famously particular) artists of the last sixty years—hasn’t been remotely lost on Khan, low-key as she may be. “We’re constantly referencing fashion icons on our mood boards,” she says, “and Barbra has definitely been on my mood board … You can’t beat that.”

Ahead of Streisand’s stateside stops—Madison Square Garden tomorrow; Chicago’s United Center on Tuesday—Vogue spoke to Khan about color theory, Funny Girl, and the pursuit of perfection.

So, how did the project come together?

It happened really, really quickly. She had shopped my pieces, and I think she really understood the fabrics and the colors and the silhouette, so the first time we met, I brought 30 to 40 pieces that I thought would be relevant to her, and it just sparked a conversation. It was interesting, having her try different things and give me feedback —it helped me to understand her criteria, and what she would love.

And how had Barbra Streisand figured in your mind beforehand? Did you have any favorite films of hers, et cetera?

Funny Girl is definitely iconic. We’re constantly referencing fashion icons on our mood boards, and Barbra has definitely been on my mood board. So for me to be able to dress her … You can’t beat that. Also, from a fashion perspective, something that was really memorable for me, because I’ve always been very much into clothing and dressing, is the Bergdorf Goodman medley in My Name is Barbra. How great was that?

I mean . . . the best! Was the scale of this commission quite unusual for you?

In one go, absolutely. From our private clients, we have a very high loyalty rate, and many have acquired pieces throughout the years, but never in one go has someone sat there and designed 25 looks. It was equivalent to developing a collection, to be honest. That’s what she called it—The Barbra Collection. But it was absolutely worth the time and effort.

What was the turnaround?

We started in May, and from there it was three trips to California and countless emails, conference calls and text messages on design with Renata [Buser, Streisand’s longtime assistant] and her team. Barbra was in rehearsals at the same time, so I think she had really immersed herself into the world of the tour.

She’s someone with a famously strong aesthetic sense—she has, for example, a well-publicized passion for interior design. What was her level of engagement like throughout the process?

Barbra is a perfectionist, and I’m that way too—the value of every dollar that you spend on my garment has to be there for you, whether it was off-the-rack or custom-made. So, from that standpoint, working with her was effortless. And she’s really creative; when she took me on a tour of her house, it was amazing. Literally down to a wallpaper, or a tile in her bathroom, she had a reason for the color, and could explain how she made it cohesive with the bed linens and curtains, and where she’d sourced the curtains. There was a table of trinkets in the same shade of lavender that she said she’d curated over 25 years; and she would point out, you know, the color of a dress within a painting and why she loved it. She is huge on color theory, and I have literally based my brand on color. So there was a very nice synergy in that sense.

Love. What sorts of ideas did she have as you developed the looks?

She has everything she’s worn really well archived, so she knows what her universe is, and she was able to express herself quite literally: I think for the burgundy, she gave me one of her napkins to show me the color, so we matched it. She would also want to do things like show a shoulder, or a bit of décolletage … all of these kinds of details. She wasn’t asking me to create something outside of what I do, but she was evolving what I had into the perfect thing for her.

Did anything surprise you?

Well, she’s a beautiful artist—like, when we did the tour the first day, there were scenic views and portraits that she had painted herself—so she’s great at drawing. And at one point, while we were talking, she took my sketchbook and she drew a dress that she wanted from scratch—like a full, perfect sketch. And then she signed it, which—my heart stopped.

Oh, my god.

So, yeah, I don’t travel with that sketchbook anymore. It’s been retired. But if there was a specific way she wanted a choker, she would literally just sketch it for me. So that was really lovely. Like, what more can you ask for?

Do you have a favorite of the looks that you created for her?

I’m excited about every piece she’s gotten, even if it’s a casual day dress. It’s really lovely that, because she was going to be in Europe for her tour, she thought, I want dresses for that, too. So she actually went to dinner with Valentino and his partner the night before the London concert in one of my cocktail dresses, from Spring/Summer 2017. But the show-stoppers are definitely very fun; what she wore in Hyde Park was one of my favorites. When she first tried it on, she showed us how she would make her entrance if she were to wear it onstage—she showed the walk in, with spread arms—so that was really a wow moment. She definitely gave us the drama.

Originally Appeared on Vogue