“I’m trying to decide — which one do you like better, the bunny or the crazy Christmas witch?” says Isaac Mizrahi, scrutinizing a pair of small cotton figurines near the back of John Derian’s overstuffed store, already crowded with holiday shoppers just after opening on a recent Thursday morning. The little creatures’ kooky details and bizarre faces immediately grab Mizrahi’s eye. Derian, a longtime friend, tells him they are handmade by a married couple in Saratoga. “Are they in therapy or something?” Mizrahi asks. “I want to know the full story about the husband and wife. Where did they meet?” He sets aside both the bunny and the witch, gifts for his employees, while he keeps browsing.
