BY LAURIE BROOKINS PHOTOGRAPHS BY GREG LOTUS STYLING BY DANNY SANTIAGO

“The West Village really does make me smile,” the former Londoner says of her adopted ’hood. “My husband and I spend time at the Waverly, and there’s also The Charles, a great new restaurant, and of course Tea & Sympathy and lots of little English shops. It was among the things that made New York such an easy move for me.”

It’s difficult to believe there’s a life more dazzling than Georgina Chapman’s at present. As creative director and one-half of the duo that five years ago founded Marchesa, a white-hot label that quickly vaulted to omnipresent status on red carpets, Chapman crafts dreamy, fantasy-driven dresses that are sought-after by A-listers such as Jennifer Lopez and Cate Blanchett. Chapman also has sported more than a few of her designs on red carpets herself, having dated and, in December 2007, married the producer Harvey Weinstein. One hesitates to use the clichéd adjectives “mega” or “über” to modify his title, but it could be forgiven when applied to Weinstein, as it’s arguable whether there’s a more high-wattage name in Hollywood. Chapman is also quite astoundingly beautiful—she balanced her studies at London’s Chelsea College of Art and Design with modeling and dabbled in film and television roles. When I saw her in 2007’s Awake (a thriller starring Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba), I remember thinking she was the very definition of photogenic, as the camera absolutely loved her.

Chapman laughs when I ask if any other film roles will be forthcoming. “Perhaps if I hadn’t been a designer—I’m just too busy right now, and I enjoy every bit of what I do,” she says. “I love film and theater and drama; it’s why I studied to be a costume designer. If anyone called and said, ‘Would you?’ I’d certainly consider it. Then again, I live with a movie producer, and he hasn’t said a word, so maybe that should tell me something.”

This particular Friday afternoon finds Chapman hours away from embarking on a trip that also sounds very much the epitome of glam: “It’s a delayed honeymoon, actually,” she explains. “We’re going to Hong Kong for business, and from there we’re doing Vietnam and Cambodia and Thailand.” It’s telling, though, that for the moment Chapman seems quite focused on what she’ll leave behind, namely her two dogs, a Norfolk terrier named Rocky and the newest addition to the family, a shelter dog who has been christened Myrtle. “She’s very shy and not very trusting, likely because of whatever she may have experienced before [coming to the shelter],” Chapman says.

That there is a yin and yang about her life surprises no one who knows Chapman. She and partner Keren Craig first brought Marchesa to New York in 2004 after little more than a year creating one-off dresses for private clients in a tiny London studio. Then Neiman Marcus came calling, asking if the pair could produce a 30-dress collection they could place in 20 of their stores and giving them six weeks to fill the order. “At the time it took us six weeks to make one dress,” Chapman notes. The pair flew to New York, borrowed studio space from a friend and somehow pulled it off, though the experience was not without its late-night tasks, such as dyeing fabric in the sink in the men’s bathroom.

How has the process changed? “Not very much, actually,” Chapman says. “We have our own offices now and a much larger staff to help us, but we’re not above dyeing fabrics in a sink—though just for the first samples, not for production. But I like that it’s still a very organic process for us and still a comparatively small company; I think that works for us.”

Craig agrees. “We work on every aspect of the collection and see the entire process through,” she says. “For example, Georgina loves to drape and see a dress come to life. Because her background is in costume design, for her this is like sculpting. I think it allows us to keep a fresh perspective and stay close to the creative process.”

The pair met at Chelsea College of Art and Design when they were both just 17, and while they would go on to separate graduate schools—Chapman to the Wimbledon School of Art to study costume design, and Craig to Brighton Art College to focus on print and embroidery design—they remained in touch throughout their studies, often choosing to vacation together. On a beach in India the idea of working together, with Craig sourcing textiles and Chapman crafting the resulting gowns and dresses, made perfect sense. “We already knew each other so well, so going into business was not hard to imagine,” Craig says. “Although we work very differently, we very much complement each other. The collaborative process has evolved, but I think we always had a strong base to begin with. Georgina is the creative force, and her skills in design and draping complement my textile skills, which creates an inspiring mix.”

In February the pair debuted the latest result of such efforts with their Fall/Winter collection, roundly declared to be a bright spot among the season’s otherwise somber mood. But then one remembers that Marchesa was named for a legendary European style icon of the early 20th century, Marchesa Luisa Casati, an eccentric figure who inspired, among other things, Cartier’s iconic panther design. This was not a woman who would have endured talk of bailouts and bank failures, and thus for Fall we are offered dresses both flirty and diaphanous, from a flurry of nude tulle wrapped at the empire waist with a satin ribbon to a flowing lilac chiffon gown in Chapman’s now-signature Grecian draping. “Fall is very much a fairy tale,” she says. “I always want to make sure the dresses look beautiful, but there is also the balance of wanting them to feel modern and timeless at the same time. Can you pull one of our dresses out of the closet in 10 years and still feel it’s relevant? This is an important idea for me.”

For many seasons the duo has eschewed the frenzy of the Fashion Week tents in Bryant Park in favor of a more understated still-life showing at The Chelsea Art Museum. “I like the space and feel very comfortable there,” Chapman says. “I love doing a walk-through presentation because everyone can get very close and see the details, and take their time. You work so hard on a collection, and then a show is over in 12 minutes. I also just love being able to talk to people.”

Marchesa typically draws an impressive crowd, notable not for merely being present to capitalize on the attendant publicity, as is often the practice at these events, but because the boldfaced names seem genuinely eager to see these clothes. This past February, Diane Kruger, Helena Christensen and Natalia Vodianova made the trek to The Chelsea Art Museum; in February 2008 Anne Hathaway turned up at Marchesa, and a scant few weeks later was walking the Academy Awards red carpet in Chapman’s one-shoulder crimson chiffon gown adorned with roses. At this year’s Oscar ceremony, Vanessa Hudgens and Halle Berry chose gowns from the current Spring/Summer collection. “We were looking at a little bit of China, the influence of the Mandarin collar and details like that,” Chapman says of the line’s inspiration. “It was a fun collection—a lot of asymmetrical, origami-inspired design, and tulle overlaid on beading—and I was thrilled that Halle wore a dress from that. We sent that dress straight to her stylist and kept our fingers crossed. She looked quite fabulous.”

Chapman believes she has learned much from the women she has worked with these past few years, lessons that have honed her skills as an eveningwear designer, and which she has carried into the label’s secondary line, Notte by Marchesa. “I’m incredibly grateful, to be honest, because there have been some very influential women in my life,” she says. “I love working one-on-one with them, and let’s face it, they’re experts at going down red carpets, and they’ve taught me things that wouldn’t have crossed my mind. But these are very strong women who know what works for them—where the hemline should hit on a shorter dress, or how tight a corset should be. It’s been a wonderful learning curve.”

And with that Chapman is off to exotic locales, which surely will fuel inspiration for future designs. There are other projects in the works, such as expanded Resort and Pre-Fall collections, and a wish list for the future—handbag or shoe lines, for instance—but Chapman in this moment is focused very much on the here and now. “I love going to work every day, and I would hate for that to change in any way,” she says. “The important thing is to make smart decisions, but with Marchesa, there is a huge scope of opportunity for home accessories, swimwear, fabulous caftans. I feel very lucky with what we’ve created, but who knows what the future will bring?” OD