Isaac Mizrahi made a huge life-altering decision last year. He finally came out of the closet.

No, not that closet. The couture closet.

Last year, Mizrahi joined forces with Target to bring his trademark fashion sense and style to the “American Woman”. Last week, Mizrahi took some time out of his busy schedule (his show on “Oprah” aired the same day) and chatted with the Gay & Lesbian Times about his newfound obsession (women) and his long time fascination (design).

And no conversation with Mizrahi would be complete without a few opinions here or there … or everywhere!

Isaac Mizrahi: Oh, Brian, don’t say that, it is my pleasure.

IM: No, not really, he just told me to call you at 3:30!

IM: Oh, delightful! Brian, I think this is so important to talk about.

IM: Well, you know, we are older as a culture. I don’t mean that we are all old. We have started to have our own identity, our own taste. What I mean is, we are another hundred years older. We have a little more time on our hands. You know, in the ’50s, there was the whole thing, “populux”, where you could get a good tie for a dollar or a wonderful pot holder that was not terribly expensive. We began to understand that even if we mass-produced something, that doesn’t mean we have to make really only ugly horrible things that keep us in cages. We can use these things as liberation, too, things such as design.

IM: Well, I figured out after all those years that what I am fascinated with more than anything, more than fashion, which I love, or color, which I love — what I am most obsessed with is design. Do you know what I mean? I am a person obsessed with design. That is why this Target project is such an incredible job. It is all about design. Every facet employs design. There is color and personality and design.

IM: Well, it was great even when I was designing expensive clothes, or even when I was designing less expensive clothes. By that, I mean less expensive as in $200 for a blazer instead of $1200 for the couture stuff. The Target line is really inexpensive. But honestly, when I was designing for the expensive stuff, it didn’t matter really what level I was designing for. Do you know what I mean?

IM: Well, Brian, it’s like this. I have always designed for the “American Woman”. I wasn’t designing for the “American Woman With Money”. Even when I was designing my high-end line, I would design what I would like to see walking down the street. What would I — paren, the American Woman, paren — want to be wearing?

IM: Well, darling, I didn’t know you were an American woman [laughs], but yes, that’s it. I feel that that is the right approach. I don’t design for overweight women or black women or jewish women. That would be racist. Whether I am designing a double-faced cashmere jacket or some gown for Sarah Jessica Parker, or a $29.50 blazer for my Target line, I try to design for what the American woman would be fabulous in.

IM: Here is the thing: I think a woman relates to the designer. In my case, I think a woman relates to me. Today it is almost like a political thing because women can know exactly what you are all about as a designer, as a person. It is like why a woman chooses a political party. She supports a certain cause. She responds to me. There are really great T-shirts — I have some fantastic ones — but so does Prada and the Gap. There are a lot of different price points, if you know what I mean. Once you eliminate the price point issue, and you know if a product is good or not, it boils down to an emotional issue. Buying my T-shirt is almost a political feeling. She understands who I am after seeing me on talk shows or whatever. She knows what I bring to the party.

I certainly hope it does. As a matter of fact, touching so many lives is a beautiful thing. I have gone to so many different locations — like state fairs in Iowa — and these women came up to me and we talked about design. For many women, design and fashion and shopping have become forms of entertainment that can relieve a lot of strife. That is so beautiful. That is not to say that before, fashion wasn’t wonderful. It was. It was a wonderful form of expression. But now, psychologically, it is much broader, much bigger. Do you know what I mean, Brian?

IM: What I am saying is that it is something bigger and bigger is something: it’s size. It’s size, darling, size! [laughs] Did I embarrass you?

IM: Well, you are gay, right? You are writing for a gay newspaper.

IM: Yes, I suppose I am, aren’t I?

IM: Well, I don’t think it is a secret, darling, but what would it add to the article?

IM: Well, I think women are going to turn to structure. They are going to realize they need structure. I feel it has reached the point where we have deconstructed and deconstructed and all we have are these easy, flimsy, frippy, flippy designs. I would like to experience more structure and I also see that age — well, not really age — I mean, nobody wants to get old — but more, how should I put it —seasoning in it.

I am just not as fascinated with 18 year-old girls anymore, Brian. I am more interested in women, not so much girls. Well, women and ladies …

IM: Well, and gentlemen. And I don’t mean that I want to go back to anything. I am not talking about going back to an age of ladyship and gentlemen-hood. I am talking about being in the now lady-ness. We are so sick of turning, turning, turning, turning. It is time for some adult content.

IM: It’s funny, actually. It rarely changes, it really rarely changes. I have such consistent taste. My house would look the same as it did 12 years ago when I moved [to New York]. Except three years ago, I went from a rose taupe carpet to a grey color.

IM: Well, it is cleaner than it used to be. I put a lot of stuff in storage. I am always putting things in storage.

IM: I find my whole life is color. I love color. It can make something ordinary simply divine. More and more I find that that is all it is — presenting one color next to another to create texture and allow that to speak.

IM: I used to say that a lot, too. I don’t think there are bad colors, Brian. It is all in how they are handled. One of the things that is different about design or fashion today is that you can’t say a color is wrong.

IM: Design is so much more than one designer or three designers or a country-fold of designers. It’s about society and where it is at the moment. Look at it this way: Now you can say something is wrong on someone. But you can’t really say a color is wrong, wrong, wrong. I can’t think of a color that is wrong, even the most tired colors. For example, I went to that party after the Oscars, the one for Vanity Fair at Morton’s. Everybody — everybody — well, at least three or four of the major actresses were in flesh colored dresses, and I thought, “Oh, God!” Even though I am tired of it, it still isn’t a wrong color.

IM: Absolutely not. I think it is crazy to think that just because you are gay you have a great sense of style. That is all such a stereotype.

IM: Good for you! Keep it up! We need more people like you to help dispel these nasty stereotypes! But really, I do think that a lot of gay men have very good taste, that they have more of a fixation with pretty interiors or pretty dresses. They just can’t help it. And the whole “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” proliferates that notion.

IM: Oh, absolutely not. I love that show. It is really good for gay people. I call it the “gay face.” Like the “black face.” I guess every minority has to go through it before they are embraced by society as a whole.

IM: I don’t think it’s strange at all, Brian. I think the populous lives in a very contrary world. It’s politics. And people reconcile those contrary notions for themselves. I can only consider my own emotional landscape — which I consider to be very contrary — to be only a microcosm of the world’s emotional landscape. Like I said, it is more than just one or three or a country-fold of people affecting culture. It is a movement in and of itself. I know that I am a very contrary person and I know that everyone has some kind of contrary notion. Like maybe they have some major perversion and still go to church.

IM: It’s the “gay face” thing. But you know why I love the show so much? They are so friendly and funny. They aren’t villains. They aren’t mean. It is so nice to see positive gay faces out there. We just don’t need any more gay villains. But, it was Shakespeare who taught us that every villain is not bad. Some we even ended up feeling sorry for in the end. I guess what I am trying to say is that not every Republican can be all bad.

IM: Oh, speaking of Republicans, did you see that fabulous piece in the New York Observer [“American Coddle” by Alexandra Wolfe, February 16, 2004] on how everybody is overly coddled. It talked about how a certain President’s mother always told him that he was wonderful, and raised him believing he was fabulous. Why didn’t someone say, “Hey, you’re just a schmuck with a cowboy hat who has been over flattered, overly condoned …”?

IM: What was it?

IM: Oh, please don’t say that, Brian. It was great fun. And when you are out here in New York…