Category Archives for Uncategorized
The Red, White, and Blue Carpet
The Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute benefit was all about stateside roots this year, celebrating as it did the opening of American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity. Proceedings inside had a turn-of-the-century feel, with wicker chairs at the dinner tables and a hot-air balloon inspired by one from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair looming over the Great Hall.
Appropriately, the first guest off the starting line was NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon. He was followed by co-chair Anna Wintour, who arrived in a gown designed for her by Karl Lagerfeld. “He’s the master, so whatever he says, I obey,” the Vogue editor in chief said. Influential types have also been known to have that kind of relationship with Oprah Winfrey, who came in soon after Wintour and issued a gentle commandment of her own: “I want everybody to not just look at the glamour of this evening, but to actually come to the exhibit.”
America’s favorite TV host had done the glamour part too, of course—with help from Oscar de la Renta. As her friend Gayle King noted, this was one night where “the last person she needs fashion advice from is me.” With Gap’s Patrick Robinson serving as Winfrey’s fellow co-chair, the fashion world’s biggest party (following 2008 and 2009 editions celebrating superheroes and supermodels) seemed to be making a symbolic nod toward Main Street.
Needless to say, Joe and Jane Six-Pack weren’t ascending the red-carpeted steps, which soon became the sort of scene your Kristen Bells and Chloë Sevignys could slip through almost completely unnoticed as the likes of Bono, Jennifer Lopez, and Kristen Stewart soaked up the spotlight.
Compared to a high-pressure entrance like this one, the Oscars are “a nice get-together,” Zoe Saldana observed. Catwalker Maryna Linchuk found herself having to adapt, too. “It’s really different, because they’re really into celebrities,” she noted. (Her date, Derek Lam, assured us that he’ll be giving Linchuk plenty of love in his Fall ad campaign.)
Naturally, stars waltz into a party like this one with different ideas on how to dress for it. Eva Longoria Parker‘s rule of thumb? “When you can’t breathe, that means it’s a good fit!” Alexa Chung, meanwhile, sprang up the stairs in a comfy-looking tuxedo from 3.1 Phillip Lim.
As usual for the Met ball, there were plenty of such felicitous pairings. According to Pucci’s Peter Dundas, outfitting sample-size Sienna Miller (who walked in hand in hand with Jude Law) was a snap. Jason Wu and Camilla Belle “did it through e-mail,” the designer giggled. “We’ve been on many, many dates,” Emma Watson said of her escort, Burberry’s Christopher Bailey, while Liv Tyler joked that Stella McCartney (who also dressed Kate Hudson for the gala) takes care of her girlfriends’ looks first and “always leaves hers to the last second.” Brooke Shields positively squealed with delight when Michael Kors stooped down to adjust her train, which wasn’t quite as epic as the roadblock-creating one Zac Posen had attached to Doutzen Kroes.
Ralph Lauren arrived in beaten-up blue jeans, having assembled what was arguably the evening’s most all-American table. It included two of his own offspring (David and Dylan), Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Taylor Swift, and Lauren Bush, who figured her dinner plans would involve “schmoozing about scoring some tickets to a concert” with the country-pop crossover sensation. And who did Tom Ford, in his pink jacket, plan to rub elbows with between cocktail hour and Lady Gaga‘s gala-capping performance? “Just some good friends,” he said.
—Darrell Hartman Continue reading
The Red, White, and Blue Carpet
The Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute Benefit was all about stateside roots this year, celebrating as it did the opening of American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity. Proceedings inside had a turn-of-the-century feel, with wicker chairs at the dinner tables and a hot-air balloon inspired by one from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair looming over the Great Hall.
Appropriately, the first guest off the starting line was NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon. He was followed by co-chair Anna Wintour, who arrived in a gown designed for her by Karl Lagerfeld. “He’s the master, so whatever he says, I obey,” the Vogue editor in chief said. Influential types have also been known to have that kind of relationship with Oprah Winfrey, who came in soon after Wintour and issued a gentle commandment of her own: “I want everybody to not just look at the glamour of this evening, but to actually come to the exhibit.”
America’s favorite TV host had done the glamour part too, of course—with help from Oscar de la Renta. As her friend Gayle King noted, this was one night where “the last person she needs fashion advice from is me.” With Gap’s Patrick Robinson serving as Winfrey’s fellow co-chair, the fashion world’s biggest party (following 2008 and 2009 editions celebrating superheroes and supermodels) seemed to be making a symbolic nod toward main street.
Needless to say, Joe and Jane Six-Pack weren’t ascending the red-carpeted steps, which soon became the sort of scene your Kristen Bells and Chloë Sevignys could slip through almost completely unnoticed as the likes of Bono, Jennifer Lopez, and Kristen Stewart soaked up the spotlight.
Compared to a high-pressure entrance like this one, the Oscars are “a nice get-together,” Zoe Saldana observed. Catwalker Maryna Linchuk found herself having to adapt, too. “It’s really different, because they’re really into celebrities,” she noted. (Her date, Derek Lam, assured us that he’ll be giving Linchuk plenty of love in his fall ad campaign.)
Naturally, stars waltz into a party like this one with different ideas on how to dress for it. Eva Longoria Parker‘s rule of thumb? “When you can’t breathe, that means it’s a good fit!” Alexa Chung, meanwhile, sprang up the stairs in a comfy-looking tuxedo from 3.1 Phillip Lim.
As usual for the Met Ball, there were plenty of such felicitous pairings. According to Pucci’s Peter Dundas, outfitting sample-size Sienna Miller (who walked in hand-in-hand with Jude Law) was a snap. Jason Wu and Camilla Belle “did it through e-mail,” the designer giggled. “We’ve been on many, many dates,” Emma Watson said of her escort, Burberry’s Christopher Bailey, while Liv Tyler joked that Stella McCartney (who also dressed Kate Hudson for the gala) takes care her girlfriends’ looks first and “always leaves hers to the last second.” Brooke Shields positively squealed with delight when Michael Kors stooped down to adjust her train, which wasn’t quite as epic as the roadblock-creating one Zac Posen had attached to Doutzen Kroes.
Ralph Lauren arrived in beaten-up blue jeans, having assembled what was arguably the evening’s most all-American table. It included two of his own offspring (David and Dylan), Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Taylor Swift, and Lauren Bush, who figured her dinner plans would involve “schmoozing about scoring some tickets to a concert” with the country-pop crossover sensation. And who did Tom Ford, in his pink jacket, plan to rub elbows with between cocktail hour and Lady Gaga‘s gala-capping performance? “Just some good friends,” he said.
—Darrell Hartman Continue reading
Friday Night Lights
Donatella Versace and Christopher Kane teamed up with Joy Bryant, Sara Moonves, Bee Shaffer, and Nicole Vecchiarelli on Friday night to host New York’s second annual Bright Lights dance party benefiting the Art of Elysium. The Los Angeles-based charity does serious work, encouraging actors, artists, musicians, and other creative types to volunteer with young people suffering from debilitating illnesses, but the strobe lights, smoke machines, and Margherita Missoni‘s outfit—a kind of Proenza Schouler-at-Burning Man mash-up—made Milk Studios feel like a giant rave party.
Estelle, who agreed to perform when Florence & the Machine had a last-minute conflict, had to tell a crowd that included Naomi Campbell and Janet Jackson they were getting too rowdy. That, however, didn’t stop the likes of Lily Donaldson, Dasha Zhukova, and Lauren Santo Domingo from dancing practically until the lights came up. Versace, meanwhile, took a moment to reflect on the Art of Elysium’s impact. “I have spent enough time in hospitals,” she said, “so I know firsthand the power these people can have on a sick child. It is an honor to support this organization.”
—Derek Blasberg Continue reading
King of the Drape
If the ghost of Halston dropped by New York on Friday, it wasn’t because of some elaborate séance at Liza Minnelli’s pad. It was for a premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The movie on view was Ultrasuede, Whitney Sudler-Smith‘s new documentary about the late designer’s life and times, and it brought out a mix of Halston’s friends—among them Bob Colacello and Naeem Khan (who got his start as the designer’s assistant)—and modern acolytes, including Marc Jacobs, Georgina Chapman, and Sarah Jessica Parker, who’s designing the brand’s new Heritage line.
As the doc points out, Halston’s dramatic rise in the seventies and his eighties fall is in part a tale of licensing overreach. At the after-party at the new Trump Soho’s ground-floor restaurant, hosted by the Cinema Society, Ambrosi Abrianna, and Vanity Fair, one guest insisted there had been Halston toilet paper. But the room was full of people who could attest to his enduring appeal: Mad Men actor Bryan Batt, for one, remembered swooning over Halston looks in the fashion magazines he read growing up. “I think I had the Z-14 cologne,” he recalled.
Rachel Zoe paid homage by turning up in a vintage Halston Ultrasuede trench. “I feel like I’m in a bathrobe right now,” she said, adding that she’d bought it in Paris without trying it on. “It actually has a skirt that came with it, and I’m not wearing it because it was probably on a six-foot model, and I’m nowhere near six feet.” Zoe, who was briefly linked with the label’s creative team when Harvey Weinstein and co. took over in 2007, has been collecting the house’s offerings since she was 16—with one rule: “I only own vintage Halston, because I want what he touched.”
—Darrell Hartman Continue reading
The Out-of-Towners
Tonight’s Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum is often referred to as “the party of the year,” but that doesn’t mean the fashion flock took the weekend off preparing. On the contrary: Sunday afternoon found Stefano Pilati, Cecilia Dean, and Chloë Sevigny mingling with art types like Francesco Vezzoli and Chuck Close in Beacon, New York, for Dia’s spring benefit.
At lunch, museum chairman Nathalie de Gunzburg claimed that she couldn’t have asked for a better day, a better performance, or a better crowd. The tour de force she was referring to was Trisha Brown‘s rare appearance in one of her dance company’s pieces, after which the choreographer led the crowd to the museum’s Bruce Nauman-filled basement for an encore.
Post repast, guests were invited to take in exhibitions ranging from a Sol LeWitt drawing series to a Blinky Palermo retrospective. Pilati was particularly charmed by the four Richard Serra sculptures at the rear of the museum, explaining that he admired the “power in the peace” of the works. We hope he soaked up as much as he could: The Met is many things, but peaceful it won’t be.
—Derek Blasberg Continue reading