PG: What’s the “fashion math” — to use a Kors-ism? Me, plus the right cashmere coat, equals what?

MK: I’ve seen women try on five things, and when you put the right one on her, her posture changes, her attitude changes. There’s a mood elevation.

PG: Same with restaurants?

DM: Yes, it’s how we make you feel. People confuse the word “service” with “hospitality.” They talk about a restaurant having good service, which means the food gets delivered to the right person in time. But hospitality is more. It’s the server reading that we want to be left alone, we don’t want her to describe what kind of breads those are. Great hospitality is taking however we three felt before we came here and making us feel a little better when we leave. I like happy endings. And helping people work through problems.

PG: That brings me, oddly, to reality TV. Michael’s long stint on “Project Runway” brought him huge exposure. But at root, you were just helping young designers solve problems.

MK: For years, people came to me with TV projects, but I thought: What could a reality show about fashion be? Designers on a desert island eating bugs? But I had been a critic for fashion students at F.I.T. and Parsons for years. And when I understood the show would be like that, I got more comfortable. We ended up showing the alchemy of fashion, like baking a cake: starting with ingredients that look like nothing and transforming them into something else.

PG: And the cracks that made America fall in love with you: “She looks like an Amish cocktail waitress” and “She’s like a flamenco dancer at a funeral.”

MK: Honestly, I just blurted out whatever came to mind. And I think a lot of people in the audience thought: He’s right. They started connecting with me through humor, but then they saw how I think about fashion. We’d always had a huge range of customers, but suddenly, we had 12-year-olds. They watch TV, and when they walked into a store with their parents, they knew me.