Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, celebrated for his vivid 1980s and 90s collections and later television work, is preparing to return to New York's cabaret stage with a new show called Hooray!, running for four nights this month at the midtown venue 54 Below. Though best known as a designer, the 64-year-old has performed solo cabaret acts consistently since his off-Broadway debut in 2000, and says that since scaling back his couture career he wants to be recognised equally as a performer, not just a fashion figure.

The interview, conducted in his Greenwich Village studio, traces Mizrahi's lifelong overlap between fashion and showbusiness, from his training at the High School of Performing Arts to his lasting friendships with figures such as the late Stephen Sondheim and Elaine Stritch. He holds two annual New York residencies, at the Carlyle in winter and 54 Below in summer, and updates a Cole Porter pastiche, "You're the Top", each year with fresh topical lyrics. Mizrahi also reflects candidly on the fashion industry's current state, remarking that it "has no real spine any more".