Category Archives for Uncategorized
Male Bonding
There wasn’t a book in sight last night at amfAR’s Inspiration Gala at the New York Public Library, but there was plenty of studying going on. That’s because the charity enlisted a whole bunch of male models to liven up its inaugural celebration of men’s style. Lounging around in archival Gaultier sailor outfits during cocktails, then trotting out Piaget watches and nearly 50 black-tie and black-leather looks during the runway show, the Wilhelmina men (including Tyson Ballou and Jon Kortajarena) were the objects of some, er, pretty close reading.
Kylie Minogue, who clearly prefers the interactive experience, couldn’t resist reaching out and touching Spanish mannequin Andrés Segura. Then again, she’s dating him. “I thought the boys did splendidly,” she concluded at dinner downstairs. “One in particular. But I’m biased.”
With the air-conditioning situation a bit iffy, Minogue and her fellow spectators spent a good deal of the show fanning themselves (we might have been back at Cannes, site of the AIDS research organization’s other spring bash, only it was warmer here). Simon Doonan went around asking the likes of Marc Jacobs and Cyndi Lauper (who later took the stage with Kelly Rowland) to sign his white Band of Outsiders jacket, which he planned to auction off later—”if I haven’t sweated it up too much,” he said. One guest not having a problem with the New York heat was Queens native Zoe Saldana. “I choose humidity any day over dry weather,” she said. “You wrinkle, you’re more prone to skin cancer, your lips are chapped, your hair’s dry, your nails are breaking. I can’t deal with it.”
A bit too hot for black tie, perhaps? “I think it’s too hot to wear anything,” Jean Paul Gaultier joked. But the Frenchman’s a trooper. Even if it wasn’t apparent, he was being true to the evening’s leather theme. “I didn’t forget,” he insisted. “You just cannot see it. It’s underwear.”
—Darrell Hartman Continue reading
Enigma Variations
It’s quite possible Martin Margiela has had nothing to do with the Maison that bears his name since its 20th anniversary show in September 2008. With Margiela, anything has always been possible, even to the ludicrous extreme that the designer might be a fashion folktale rather than mere flesh and blood. Which is why the best rumor during last night’s launch at Somerset House of the Maison Martin Margiela 20 exhibition was that Margiela himself was in the house. See, there he is…over there…the balding, gray-haired gent.
That kind of wishful thinking on the part of his acolytes has helped make Margiela’s career one of the most influential and enigmatic in fashion, especially since his fans have included equally significant peers like Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs. Among the designers in last night’s turnout were Sir Paul Smith, Gareth Pugh, and Erdem Moralioglu. “I loved that you could get so close to the clothes,” said Moralioglu. Yes, the intimacy was a plus, especially when the exhibition’s organization by theme—such as shoulders, trompe l’oeil, Artisanal collections, and the ever-intriguing Replicas—rather than chronology demanded that attention must be paid.
Enjoying the curatorial endeavors of Somerset House’s Claire Catterall, Kaat Debo (who put together the show’s original incarnation at the ModeMuseum in Antwerp), and exhibition designer Bob Verhelst were the Met’s Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton. Enjoying the gin-based cocktails on Somerset House’s gloriously sun-soaked terrace were Daphne Guinness, Serena Rees, Dinos and Tiphaine Chapman, Louise Wilson, Lulu Kennedy, Baillie Walsh, and Richard Mortimer. Moving freely among them was that balding, gray-haired gent. Was it Margiela? Well, that assumes all Martin had to do was remove his signature cap to pass as One of Us. And we all know what happens when you make assumptions.
—Tim Blanks Continue reading
The Dree List
—Sarah Howard Continue reading
Artist in Residence
Marina Abramovic sat for her 700th and final hour at MoMA on Monday. With her exhibition The Artist Is Present, and its much-talked-about interactive performance marathon, all wrapped up, Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci and a host of Abramovic‘s longtime collectors threw a party in her honor at the museum last night. “I like that Marina gets a reaction, that she pushes the envelope and tests the boundaries,” said Tisci. “I am humbled by her.”
With the high-profile crowd (James Franco, Björk, Christina Ricci, and Liv Tyler included) and an ululating solo from Serbian vocalist Svetlana Spajic, this definitely wasn’t your run-of-the-mill art gala. MoMA’s director, Glenn Lowry, joked, “No exhibition has affected human resources like Marina’s did,” and then acknowledged the museum’s head of security, Tunji Adeniji, who received not one but two standing ovations. When it was curator Klaus Biesenbach‘s turn at the mic, he started by saying, “I thought Marina was in love with me—biggest misunderstanding of my career,” and ended by declaring his own love for her.
The speaker who got the biggest laughs, though, was Abramovic herself. “I look really decent,” she said, thanking Tisci for her Givenchy jacket. “It’s made from 101 snakes, which I’m sure died a natural death.” Pointing out that things have changed a lot since her early days, she said, “Fashion was out of the question. There was no fashion for artists in the seventies. But I love vanity, I love fashion, and I don’t have shame to tell you.” Another sign of progress? “You don’t have to sleep with a curator to get a show.”
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—Derek Blasberg Continue reading
Our Cup Runneth Over
—Matthew Schneier Continue reading