Category Archives for Uncategorized
The Kids Are All Right
—Brittany Adams Continue reading
Love Sex Makeup
—Sarah Howard Continue reading
Sister, Sister
There weren’t any surprise announcements at last night’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards ceremony. The gala, held at Cipriani 42nd Street, was a New York repeat of the First Lady-hosted ceremony in Washington, D.C. back in July, but that didn’t stop the design world from coming back for seconds, or from raising $1 million for the museum in the process. Architect Richard Meier chaired the evening; William Sofield won the Interior Design category for his Tom Ford and YSL boutiques; and Stephen Doyle received the Communication Design nod after an introduction that included a short film by Stephen Colbert.
Having edged out finalists Proenza Schouler and Behnaz Sarafpour, California natives and residents Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte took the stage to accept the award for Fashion Design from presenter Cecilia Dean of Visionaire. “It’s kind of unimaginable to be here,” Laura said. “When we showed up in New York, we didn’t know anyone.”
—Bee-Shyuan Chang Continue reading
Keyed Up
What to give the designer who has everything? For Ralph Lauren, who was celebrating not only the opening of his new Madison Avenue women’s flagship but also his 71st birthday yesterday, only a Key to the City of New York will do. Presenting Lauren with the high honor in front of a crowd that included Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, Candice Bergen, and Charlie Rose, Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the designer’s business and philanthropic achievements, before asking, “What does the key open?” He supplied his own deadpan answer: “Absolutely nothing.” But, he added, “I have on good authority, it’s the accessories that make the outfit.” To prove his point, he also gave the honoree a plastic “I love New York” key chain.
According to the designer, accessories are just one part of the Ralph Lauren formula. “I remember playing basketball as a kid on the courts in the Bronx,” he recounted. “Now I’m here, and I didn’t get here alone.” A survey of the well-wishers in the four-floor mansion-cum-store turned up plenty of RL alums. Vera Wang, who was a design director at the brand before striking out on her own, reminisced, “It feels like home.” Martha Stewart, meanwhile, was never staff, but she played along last night. “I used to make his corporate Christmas presents,” she said. “I knew him before he was ‘Ralph!'”
—Bee-Shyuan Chang Continue reading
Renaissance Man
“James doesn’t want to wear just one sticker on his head that says, ‘Actor,’ or ‘Good-looking guy,'” Fabien Baron said last night at an Interview magazine-sponsored fête celebrating the release of Franco’s book of short stories, Palo Alto. Indeed, with as many career titles as he has—movie star, soap opera actor, grad student, author, drag queen—it’s no wonder he was late to his own party.
While they waited for Franco to arrive, the likes of Elise Øverland, Helena Christensen, Calvin Klein’s Italo Zucchelli, and Danish electro-pop artist Oh Land sipped Krug Champagne and munched on chocolate foie gras tarts at the newly opened James hotel rooftop. Terry Richardson—the photographer who shot Franco in drag for the cover of Candy magazine—spent most of this evening in front of the lens, posing for photos with Kalup Linzy.
Eventually, the man of the hour showed up, and when he did, he was ready to talk about another new project, the Danny Boyle-directed film 127 Hours. “It was intense,” Franco said of the movie, which is based on the true story of a mountain climber who becomes trapped under a boulder. “A character like Aron Ralston, based on a real person—it’s less important to get his exact behavior and more important to capture the essence of his experience.”
Here’s another true story: The party simmered down quickly around midnight after one guest’s hair caught on fire. Luckily, it wasn’t Franco’s.
—Kristin Studeman Continue reading
Century Club
For the launch of the new compendium WWD: 100 Years, 100 Designers, edited by Bridget Foley, plenty of designers came to pay their respects—even a few who have occasionally taken a drubbing in the fashion newspaper’s pages. “I remember my first review,” said Calvin Klein’s Francisco Costa, who arrived with Bianca Jagger in tow. “It was the wooorst review ever! But she was kind enough to say, well, it will take time for him to feel his name on the door.” No hard feelings, then? “For me, every review is a good review,” he laughed. “It’s one’s opinion, and it sometimes makes you grow, sometimes it makes you look at things differently, so it’s all good.” Isaac Mizrahi, whose takedown in WWD‘s pages was the starting point for the 1995 doc Unzipped, stopped by the Bergdorf Goodman cocktail party for kisses and hugs, too.
Foley, WWD‘s executive editor and chief fashion critic, said she enjoyed her trawl through the archives for the book. “You just get to be a fan of fashion all over again when you’re doing something like this,” she noted. Yigal Azrouël, meanwhile, declared himself to be one of the paper’s biggest fans. “I remember when I first started. I was on the cover of Women’s Wear Daily. It was on my birthday. And it was my first season,” he reminisced. “I get the cover, and it was like, wow—that’s a bit shocking.”
—Matthew Schneier Continue reading
Museum Smile
Museums may be repositories of culture, but in NYC at least, they do double duty as playgrounds. “The kids don’t have anywhere to run in the city,” Celerie Kemble said last night at the New York After Dark cocktail fête, which raised a record-breaking $350,000 for the Museum of the City of New York. “Museums are their open spaces.” Kemble, who added a baby boy to her brood just five days ago, wasn’t the only guest with little ones on the mind. “We’re planning a vacation in a week to Paris with the kids,” said the evening’s host, Reed Krakoff. After the month he’s had (opening his first Manhattan store, putting on a fashion show), he no doubt deserves it. Speaking of busy, Tory Burch stopped by to show her support, fresh off a quick business trip to Boston. The designer/entrepreneur has known Krakoff since their Ralph Lauren days, which means they could bump into each other again this evening: Mayor Bloomberg is giving their old boss the Key to the City of New York at Lauren’s newest playground, his just-opened Madison Avenue women’s flagship.
—Bee-Shyuan Chang Continue reading
Voice Lessons
A decade ago, it made headlines; Friday, it hits movie screens. Conviction tells the true story of a single mom who went to college and then earned a law degree in order to get her wrongfully convicted brother out of jail. With two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank in the title role, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine Tony Goldwyn‘s film scoring a favorable decision or two come Oscar season.
“I was compelled by the beauty and the tenacity and the grace and selflessness of this woman,” Swank explained before last night’s Laura Mercier-sponsored screening at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. (She later swung by the Soho Grand’s new Club Room for the after-party.) Like her character, Betty Anne Waters, Swank was serious about doing her homework. “The roles that I get the opportunity to play are the hardest I dig into anything,” she said, and Waters backed her up. “She sent her dialect coach to my house and taped me for two hours, and she listened to that forever,” she recounted in a thick New England accent. “And I know that because on-set she jumped into a van with my family one night and she started talking—and my niece and nephew thought it was me!”
Much of the audience (which included Nicole Miller, Paul Haggis, and Courtney Love) was sniffling audibly as the end credits rolled; Waters’ brother, played in the film by Sam Rockwell, passed away not long after she helped to secure his release. “He was an unlucky guy,” Rockwell conceded. “But he died a free man, and he had a great six months. He was on Oprah.”
—Darrell Hartman Continue reading
Book of Matthew
“Rizzoli came to me with the idea of doing a retrospective of my career—and how could I refuse?” Matthew Williamson said at last night’s Somerset House launch party for his eponymously titled coffee-table book. “This is our 12th year of business, so we thought it was time to take a breath and look back at what we’ve done. Doing the book was a tremendous experience—very emotional at times to flip through all those old pictures and drawings!”
Written by fashion historian Colin McDowell, with a preface by Williamson’s “best mate” Sienna Miller, the glossy tome is more scrapbook than autobiography. Jade Jagger, Kate Moss, Alek Wek, Trish Goff, Helena Christensen, Daria Werbowy, and Shalom Harlow figure heavily. “They weren’t just models, they were also inspirations,” Williamson said. “And of course, many of them I’ve stayed close to throughout the years.”
No surprise, plenty of bright young things turned up to congratulate the man, Miller included. “Matthew has a way with color and pattern and texture,” the actress said. “Plus, he makes me feel like a fairy princess in every dress he puts me in.” And for those who want to feel like a princess but don’t have a movie star’s budget or access, there’s Williamson’s new diffusion line, scheduled to debut for Fall 2011. “It’s for the younger girl who loves his designs, but it’s easier on the bank account,” explained Williamson’s CEO, Joseph Velosa. “We don’t want to exclude anyone from the MW experience.” The name of the collection? Muse.
—Afsun Qureshi Continue reading