Heidi Dillon knows what she likes
The Fashionista loves Maserati

Heidi Dillon knows what she likes, and knows what she wants. The Dallas resident lives in a home she had designed around a rock outcrop on a plot of land; she is in charge of a non-profit organization called The Fashionistas which aims to achieve recognition for Dallas’ place in the fashion world; and when we spoke to her, her daily driver was a Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT.

We met Heidi in the wonderful lounge of her home in the desirable Oak Lawn area of the city; the walls were decorated with paintings and photographs that demonstrated a varied and eclectic taste. So we began by asking her why she had chosen a Maserati. “I guess it was meant to be – it was love at first sight,” she told us. “I lived for too many years in New York so I wear black and I love black; when I visited the Park Place showroom this Quattroporte was just sitting there, black on black. I have always admired the design qualities of the Maserati, so clearly it was just meant to be. I had gone there thinking about both Maserati and Bentley, but I felt the Continental GT Convertible was just too small for someone with a family and a dog.”

We wondered whether Heidi had always been ‘into’ cars, so we asked what others she had owned – we found out that she is a recent convert, and that her Maserati is responsible. “I owned a whole series of Mercedes, going back a number of years – I went from a 1978 Caprice Classic with broken air conditioning to a Mercedes,” she explained. “But then I sat down and thought: I’m in my fifties, it’s time for an upgrade, I wanted something a little sportier, a little hotter. With my interests I’m aware of almost everything at the luxury end of the market, so Maserati had been on my radar for a while. It's not the most popular luxury car around Dallas, which is another reason I liked it. Most people who buy cars near that price point are buying Mercedes or something which is more common. The Maserati appeals to a person of a certain taste level, it's not an ordinary car by any stretch.”

“My Maserati really changed my outlook on cars; I've never been a car girl, I've always just wanted a car that works, but you know what, I love the engine sound of the Quattroporte,” enthused Heidi. “I just think it's so hot, the vrooming sounds the engine makes. The Maserati has converted me into a car enthusiast - as a result of being so fond of that engine, I actually went and looked at Lamborghinis and Ferraris. My husband said no, my son said yes! Having Mercedes all these years, they were okay but they didn't pique my interest, I didn't learn anything about what an engine in a car can do - I didn't really think about internal combustion engines too much.”

So it was the style, luxury and exclusivity that first drew her to her Maserati, but she plainly enjoys the performance. “I am always interested in style – and for me, if something is stylish it will be luxurious as well, so that also comes under the style umbrella,” explained Heidi. “I love the performance, and I will confess that I sometimes do an 'Italian tune-up' on the way to car pool in the morning. It is such a rush when you step on it and the engine does its thing - I love that, I had never experienced that. It's a whole new world for me. And when you consider all you get, I think the car is incredible value. It even smells great, it's like walking into a Bottega Veneta store and smelling the fine Italian leather. The Maserati just has that aura about it, it's clear that it is a step above.”

We asked Heidi to tell us about The Fashionistas – “how long have you got?” she quipped. It transpired that this was an example of what can be achieved if you set your mind to something. “I started The Fashionistas about four or five years ago; I thought that Dallas is supposed to be such a great fashion town, and it is a great retail town,” said Heidi. “Stanley Marcus, one of the people who was instrumental in making Neiman-Marcus truly great, did a lot here and brought some great designers in. So I felt that something needed to be done, and I decided that my ultimate goal is to have a fashion museum here in Dallas - and I've begun to realise it's a really long-term goal. I started from scratch - I made up some leaflets, had them copied at Kinkos and bullied my friends into joining, so we got about 80 people together. Right now we've got around 2,300 members, and we raise funds for scholarships for fashion design students, we have a lecture series called Fashion Talk - we bring in people who are fashion notables to give lectures. We've tried to put a spotlight on the Dallas fashion world; I have people from all over the world who contact me, who want to do events, and we do events with all the big design houses.”

“I think the Quattroporte is the ultimate car for a Fashionista because it’s so stylish, and it’s so exclusive,” she continued. “When I first had it, I went to a Fashionistas board meeting; one of the other board members came in and asked, whose Maserati is that? I said that it was mine, and everyone rushed out to look at it. It’s so stylish, elegant and hot – it’s much more stylish than a Bentley. Don’t get me wrong, I like Bentleys and they are also elegant – but they are also staid. At this point in my life I want a hot car, and the Maserati is certainly hot.”

Our conversation with Heidi was punctuated by laughter and smiles, often triggered by her wry, self-deprecating humor. When asked how many miles her Quattroporte had covered, she explained that “I never pay attention to numbers, so I really have no idea how many miles there are on the car! It's a real problem I have - I don't pay attention to numbers in stores either, which is another issue.” When she said that she liked to shop in response to a question about hobbies, we wondered whether that could be classed as a hobby; “It’s more of a vocation...” she deadpanned. And Heidi’s immediate reaction to being asked what she still has to achieve: World domination.

The house was very interesting; built on a shallow plot on the side of a hill, the ground floor is almost all garage; above that are the bedrooms, while the top floor is the living space. “It was designed by a well-known local architect, Frank Welch, for us; we moved in four years ago,” explained Heidi. “The lot has a limestone rock outcropping, and it had been on the market for years because people couldn't see how to build a house on the lot with the rock. We just fell in love with it and bought it. We worked with one architect for a year, and eventually he said that we'd have to get rid of the rock - so we got rid of him. We explained to Frank that we wanted the rock to be integral, and he agreed straight away. We wanted the main living space on the top floor - I have a lot of parties, so we can do our entertaining up here, and the bedrooms are down a floor, which feels more enclosed and intimate. It's very popular, and has been published four times. I come from a long line of modernists, and we always wanted to fulfil this dream of ours to build something which was architecturally significant and completely in keeping with our personal aesthetic.”

Heidi’s personal aesthetic includes a neon artwork by famed British artist Tracey Emin on one wall; another has two large photographs of Kate Moss, wearing clothes by Stella McCartney and photographed by Stella’s sister, Mary. Heidi is well-equipped to judge such things, and to have opinions on style and fashion – she has a Masters degree in Fine Art; during our discussion we pondered over the way that driving certain cars leads to automatic assumptions on the personality of the driver, and the way that simply changing the color of the car could affect those assumptions.

The good news is that Heidi thinks that the image associated with a Maserati is overwhelmingly good. “If I had to say what the car says about me, I think it says that I'm sophisticated, I'm stylish, that I have really good taste, that I'm not a sheep following the pack in a Chanel suit in a Mercedes,” she said. “I think it speaks volumes about its owner, in a positive way. And all my friends and family like it. My son loves it, and his buddies love it. On the flip side I don’t recommend it to people - I'm a trendsetter around town, and I don't want to run around having everyone drive it. For example, I don't buy many of my clothes here in town because if I see four dresses hanging in a rack, then if I buy one there's a good chance I'll meet someone wearing the same dress.”

For Heidi, her Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT suited her perfectly – in fact, about the only down side she could think of was that the black interior means the steering wheel gets hot if the car is parked in the sun. We will leave the last word to her, and her response when asked what was good about her Maserati, and how it made her feel. “I get star treatment whenever I go anywhere, and I love that. For example Versace opened a new store in a mall and they had a big party; so I pulled up and they parked it almost as if there was a spotlight on it. And when I came out, I could hear people talking about it, saying, look, there's a Maserati. It makes me feel that I'm in the know about something that other people aren't, that I've got this little edge on everyone.”

Favorite drink, wine or spirit: Moet & Chandon rosé champagne
Favorite meal:  Burger and fries
Favorite current TV program: Entourage
Favorite TV program of all time: The Tudors
Favorite book: Henry VIII: King and Court, by Alison Weir
Favorite hobby: Watching movies
Favorite genre of music: Heavy metal
Favorite composer, performer or group: The Beatles, U2 and Coldplay
Favorite vacation spot: Malibu
Place you most want to visit for the first time: Greece
To what place do you most like to return: Rome, Paris and Malibu
Favorite natural wonder: I'm not much into natural wonders - I think Christian Lacroix is a natural wonder!
Favorite man-made wonder: Haute couture
Whom do you most admire: My husband, for putting up with me and our son; and my parents, for dealing with old age in a very graceful manner.