Category Archives for Uncategorized
The Boom Boom Generation
—Alison Baenen Continue reading
A Singular Man
When Tom Ford left his gig at the Gucci Group five years ago and signaled his intention to make Hollywood movies, there were plenty of naysayers. If the designer-turned-director ever doubted himself, he never let it show in public, and at the U.S. premiere of A Single Man at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre last night, he was overcome by another, perhaps even rarer, sort of emotion: disbelief. “Being here, in a theater like this, is a dream come true,” Ford said. “For me, it’s almost surreal.”
Like most of Ford’s creative efforts, this one is garnering high praise: Among the awards it has picked up on the festival circuit was one for Best Actor for Colin Firth at the Venice Film Festival. And to hear his actors tell it, Ford’s talent behind the camera is not unrelated to his success on the sartorial front (you may have heard a little about his menswear line). “Knowing so much about what the character wore and having that fashion background definitely helped,” Nicholas Hoult, who plays Firth’s student, explained. “In some scenes you see the dressing as an armor, or as the extension of the character. And Tom knew that. He was a brilliant director.” His co-star Matthew Goode agreed with that last sentiment. Pacing the garden with Harvey Weinstein at the Chateau Marmont after-party, he offered, “Tom really smashed it out of the park on this one.” As if anyone ever doubted he would.
—Derek Blasberg Continue reading
Chic Magnet
Interior designer Ryan Korban is one of the downtown style set’s biggest secrets—though not for much longer. The point of the party that Alexander Wang,
Victoria Traina, and Natasha Poly threw for him last night at the Soho Grand was to sweep him out from under the carpet. “He does my office, he does my shop-in-shops, he does our showroom, he does my home,” Wang said. “I don’t think there’s anyone like him—he’s super-sophisticated and super-luxurious, but has an eye that’s fresh.” Traina, who’s moving in a few months, and Poly, who’s planning to buy on the West Side, both seemed eager to secure his services, too. “I really believe in accessories for the home—the art, the books,” Korban said, in between repeat trips to the bar for his thirsty model friends. “You see people running around in T-shirts and jeans, but then they have the Alaïa shoes or the Hermès bag. I think they want to live the way they want to dress.” Apart from a slouchy black beanie, though, his main accessory this particular night was handfuls of drinks.
—Darrell Hartman Continue reading
Cold Case
The Four Seasons Restaurant in midtown Manhattan and the house of Chanel may be located on different sides of the Atlantic, but they have a few things in common. Both require wait lists for the good stuff (a prime table or a particular handbag), and both have had a long association with artists: Coco Chanel was linked to Diaghilev, Picasso, Stravinsky, and Cocteau, while Mark Rothko famously hoped that the paintings the Four Seasons commissioned from him would “ruin the appetite of every son-of-a-bitch who ever eats in that room.” Luckily, perhaps, for the joint’s five decades’ worth of diners—including those who attended last night’s Chanel Fine Jewelry-sponsored Memorial Sloan-Kettering fundraiser—Rothko ended up withholding his art from the restaurant.
After the dinner segment of the Fête d’Hiver, there was a live auction. Diane Kruger, a co-host with Blake Lively and Camilla Belle, orchestrated the bidding for a package that included a stay at the Paris Ritz, two Chanel J12 watches, and two tickets to the fashion show. At first, the actress appealed to the husbands in the room, but she quickly changed tacks and sold not two but six tickets to the Chanel show to a table of ladies—for a cool $24,000, no less. “What can I say? I’m German. We’re shrewd,” she smiled afterward. Some of the other guests got similarly inventive with dessert. When large bowls of white cotton candy hit the table, Jen Brill and Lauren Santo Domingo started making hairpieces out of them. “Look!” said Brill. “It’s the Chanel version of the Louis Vuitton Spring Afro.”
—Derek Blasberg Continue reading
Divine Intervention
Valentino Garavani should seriously consider a second career as a party planner. Since hanging up his needle and thread two years ago, he’s traversed the globe hosting fêtes, most recently for the DVD release of The Last Emperor. And he was back at it again last night at the Standard Hotel, in the space formerly known as the Boom Boom Room. Arriving on the arms of Daphne Guinness and Giancarlo Giammetti, the bespoke-besuited fashion icon commandeered a cluster of booths for friends like Larry Gagosian, Princess Gloria von Thurn and Taxis, Marc Jacobs, and Hugh Jackman. The evening’s entertainment? Jesus Luz in the DJ booth—and the promise of a Madonna sighting.
“People have been waiting for centuries for Jesus,” Charlotte Sarkozy joked. “But I think we’ll be waiting even longer for the Madonna.” She was right: Luz duly took over the decks at around 11 p.m., swapping the club’s typical Top 40 fare for a mash-up of techno beats. It was about an hour into his set that his lady love finally materialized on the dance floor, grinding on whichever gentleman came to pay his respects and, at a certain point, even Valentino himself. After a few spins, the designer took a seat and evaluated his special guests: “Not a bad DJ, and not a bad dancer. It’s a good couple.” Some might even say divine.
—Derek Blasberg Continue reading