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Hot Tub Time Machine
On Monday night, Iman brought the house down as she accepted the Fashion Icon statuette from the Council of Fashion Designers of America at the 28th annual awards ceremony. Two nights later, at a celebratory dinner at Indochine hosted by Visionaire‘s Stephen Gan and pioneering former model agent Bethann Hardison, the witty supermodel—not an oxymoron, after all—acknowledged that she appreciates the accolades: “Who wouldn’t?” But that doesn’t mean she’s about to rest on her laurels. “It’s not about being good or being liked,” said the entrepreneur, who is making the brave leap into TV talent contests as a host on Bravo’s The Fashion Show. “It’s about being relevant.” That means staying abreast of today’s rising talents. “I met Alexander Wang at the Met gala, and he said he would like to make something for me,” she said of the sheer cocktail dress she was wearing. “So I e-mailed him two days later and said, ‘I hope you weren’t kidding.’ “
After a relatively laid-back dinner, the night’s momentum started to build. Over dessert, downtown diva Joey Arias performed a tribute in which he praised every part of Iman’s body—yes, every single part. And then it was off to the Black Room, a new section of the 18th floor of the Standard Hotel consisting of some darkened corridors and a hot tub. This is where people let their hair down (and more, but we’ll get to that in a minute). “I’m 55!” Iman told Tyson Beckford as he dragged her to the center of the dance floor. Not long after that, a few boys jumped into the hot tub, some in their shorts, one in a sequined trenchcoat. But it was the girl who stripped down to her birthday suit who will be remembered most. “That’s a brave woman,” Liya Kebede observed.
—Derek Blasberg Continue reading
Going, Going, Gone
This year’s Whitney Art Party was held in a sprawling Soho loft and split in two: one side for lounging, one for art. Believe it or not, the latter was busier, and both rooms had ample bars, so that wasn’t the differentiating factor. It simply was the sort of crowd—Christina Ricci, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Lost co-stars Emilie de Ravin and Maggie Grace, included—that takes a silent auction very seriously. “This brings out my competitive side,” said former Sotheby’s staffer Dalia Oberlander as she cut a swath through decorative orange trees to check her bids on three works, including a Raymond Pettibon she was competing for against artist Will Cotton. “Friendly-competitive,” she added. Prabal Gurung, meanwhile, had come up with an innovative way to score lots. “I told my friends that if they felt some kind of pressure to buy art, they better buy it for me,” he said. “And I told them what to buy.”
More than a few guests were circulating in BCBG Max Azria, which sponsored for the fourth consecutive year, and a handful of them were wearing one-of-a-kind artist editions. “We sent all the artists blank canvases, white dresses,” Lubov Azria explained. Hers, by Liz Magic Laser, was blue and covered in white hand patterns. “It makes me want to touch myself,” she mused. “In a very innocent way!”
—Darrell Hartman Continue reading
Fashioning a National Identity
The 28th annual CFDA Awards were back at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center tonight for the second year in a row, and the stars came out to support the evening’s nominees. Gwyneth Paltrow arrived on the arm of Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Michael Kors, Rachel Weisz showed up with Swarovski Womenswear winner-to-be Jason Wu, and Sarah Jessica Parker wore a long dress that Sarah Burton handpicked for her to present a posthumous Board of Directors Special Tribute to Alexander McQueen.
“I was an admirer and he was aware of my affection,” the actress said during cocktail hour. “He was a singular mind. How do you do him justice in a few words?” In fact, Parker’s speech, for which she used no teleprompter, was powerfully moving. “There’s no question his breathtaking work will endure,” she said. “But I would’ve loved to see what he would’ve done next.” Then, with the soundtrack from The Piano, which McQueen used for his magical Fall 2006 show, playing in the background, models glided out in his final collection.
That rather sad moment aside and despite the lack of a funny person as host, the night was long on laughs. Accepting the Fashion Icon Award, Iman, who wore Giambattista Valli, said, “I want to thank my parents for giving me the longest neck of any girl on any go-see anywhere in the world,” before thanking the CFDA for “the right to finally say to my husband, ‘Move over, you’re not the only icon in the house.'” Anna Wintour‘s anecdotes about Kors were also much appreciated, especially the one in which the designer couldn’t get out of the ocean in Round Hill, Jamaica, because Ralph Lauren had plopped himself down on the beach, and Kors didn’t want Lauren to see him in a bathing suit. “Who would?” the Vogue editor asked. Kors, by the way, was the only winner to get a standing ovation. But Eugenia Sheppard Award honoree Kim Hastreiter of Paper received her fair share of applause when she told the crowd, “I hope the fashion world looks beyond the usual suspects. Just because you’re cute, well-connected, rich, or the offspring of someone famous doesn’t mean you design great stuff.”
Self-made man Marc Jacobs, after what he recalled as four nominations, finally walked off with the Womenswear Designer statuette. Rag & Bone’s Marcus Wainwright and David Neville, meanwhile, beat out Tom Ford and Michael Bastian to receive the Menswear nod. Ralph Lauren nabbed the Popular Vote Award for the second year running. And Richard Chai and Alexander Wang took home the Swarovski Menswear and Accessories prizes. At the dinner after the ceremony, Wu said, “I was so nervous, I asked Rachel for advice. She told me, ‘Just breathe.’ I think it was her red lipstick. Red is good luck in Chinese culture.”
Speaking of different cultures, as the Lincoln Center portion of the evening wound down, International Award winner Christopher Bailey of Burberry compared our fashion Oscars to the British Fashion Awards: “The sentiments are the same,” he said. “But I think the Brits drink a lot more.” Guess nobody told him that we save that for the Boom Boom Room after-party.
Click to see a list of all the CFDA winners >
—Nicole Phelps Continue reading
Top Talent
Whether they won or lost, nearly all of the CFDA Awards crew ended up in the same place by the end of last night—the top of the Standard Hotel, where else? In addition to winners Alexander Wang, Jason Wu, Richard Chai, and Michael Kors, the dance floor was packed with nominees like Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Joseph Altuzarra, and Patrik Ervell. Observing the shoulder pad-to-shoulder pad crush, host Nadja Swarovski deadpanned, “It’s nice to see this many people are into fashion.” Yeah, fashion and the open bar: When Phillip Lim tried to procure some birthday Champagne for his date, Irina Lazareanu, just before midnight, he was told that they were all out. Birthday girl Jenna Lyons of J.Crew had to celebrate sans bubbly, too. Other libations were quickly substituted, of course, and the party went on. It was well into the wee hours when model Heidi Mount chased down her designer pal Prabal Gurung for her phone and a goodbye kiss: “People are staying here all night!”
—Derek Blasberg Continue reading
Super Fly
If several million dollars for one of his animals in formaldehyde is slightly beyond your budget—or a dissected cow just doesn’t fit with your decor scheme—Damien Hirst has other options. The artist recently designed a line of colorful sailcloth deck chairs, available at New York’s Gagosian store. The butterfly-printed lounger is about as cheery a motif as you’ll find from the notoriously provocative YBA, and, at $425, it’s nothing short of an art-world bargain.