Category Archives for Uncategorized
Mr. Chow Hounds
Michael Chow was at one of his favorite perches last night: standing atop the stairs that overlook the sunken dining room of the New York outpost of Mr. Chow. The 30-year-old hot spot was packed with revelers celebrating its anniversary. “It’s a familiar view, but a very modern one, too,” Chow said, adding that the thing he takes the most pride in is the mix of the crowd at his eateries. True to form, art-world heavies (Andres Serrano, Tony Shafrazi), actors (Brooke Shields, Mischa Barton), and fashion types (Olivier Zahm, Thakoon Panichgul) joined the restaurateur and his wife Eva and daughter China. There were plenty of Mr. Chow chicken skewers, duck wraps, and fried dumplings to be had, but best of luck squeezing your way to the packed bar. “I’m sticking with China,” Helen Lee Schifter said. “She knows exactly where to stand to get first dibs on the fried oysters.”
—Derek Blasberg Continue reading
Going Gaga
At last night’s 13th Annual ACE Awards, the Accessories Council honored a fashion icon who’s made of plastic (Barbie) and a performer (Lady Gaga) who showed up in headwear that resembled an oversized cotton ball. Those trendsetting blondes were a couple of the more unconventional stars of an event devoted to recognizing the most influential forces in the world of handbags, hats, sunglasses, and—in the words of Accessory Visionary Award winner Diane von Furstenberg—other “friends you can carry with you and they make you feel better.”
Agyness Deyn took the stage in arresting feather eyelashes and Lucite bracelets to accept Burberry’s Brand of the Year award on behalf of Christopher Bailey. (“He’s in Asia, opening a new Burberry store,” she explained.) TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie waltzed in with Erin Wasson on his arm and a pair of exotic slip-ons on his feet. “They are absolutely, 100 percent fake zebra,” he assured us. Accepting the Humanitarian Award, Mycoskie struck the evening’s most sincere note: “Shoes, for 40 percent of the world, are not an accessory. They’re a necessity.”
Notably, both retail awards went to Web sites: Gilt Groupe and Zappos.com, the latter of which Betsey Johnson introduced by way of (what else?) a cheerleader routine. Tomas Maier‘s acceptance speech for Designer of the Year was over almost before it began, while Gaga used her time at the dais to thank Marc Jacobs, Hedi Slimane, Stephen Gan, David LaChapelle, Araki (“for photographing my soul, not my image”), and Nasir Mazhar, designer of the Orbit hat the pop star wore on Ellen and “which has now become an experience.” Gaga made a vow on behalf of her style team—”We will never do a line; we are not an economy”—and closed the proceedings with an unexpected fashion tip: “The most important fashion accessory is the condom.” Advice that doesn’t apply to Barbie, of course.
—Darrell Hartman Continue reading
Years for Fears
For her annual Halloween bash, Allison Sarofim brought the eighties downtown scene into her West Village townhouse Friday, walling in her backyard patio with graffiti-scrawled plywood and pumping it full of New Wave dance tunes. There were squadrons of break-dancers, punked-out bartenders, and cigarette girls on hand; the hostess channeled a club-going character named Nefertiti Graffiti in a pharaonic hairpiece by stylist Ashley Javier; and, yes, that was an actual Basquiat on the living room mantelpiece.
The guests did the rest: Carlos Mota came as Leigh Bowery and Chris Benz as Adam Ant, sporting a pirate shirt and dangling extensions that, he predicted, “I’ll be pulling out at the gym tomorrow.” And was that really Fabiola Beracasa wearing enormous latex ears as Prince Charles? Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone went in drag, meanwhile, having pulled a pair of Stephen Sprouse bodysuits from their closet. “Not the wigs, though,” Jacobs clarified. “We didn’t have those in the closet.”
—Darrell Hartman Continue reading
Things That Go Bump in the Night
On Saturday night, Matt Kliegman, Carlos Quirarte, and Taavo Somer—the men behind such downtown hot spots as The Smile, the Jane, and Freemans—put on a Halloween party in an abandoned building on 28th Street that promised “13 floors of vacant goodness.” The space was indeed bare-bones: Picture oil drums, Porta Potties, holes in the wall, a tricky winding staircase, industrial equipment, and plenty of dust and rubble. The background served to throw the costumes into high relief: Kirsten Dunst showed up as Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver; Rogan Gregory was Christ, complete with a crown of thorns; Michael Stipe‘s black clump of balloons represented oversized caviar; and Michelle Trachtenberg was a kinky Marie Antoinette. A thrifty one, too, apparently. “Do you know how much this wig costs? Like, $1,000,” she said. “I just knicked it from costumes.”
—Derek Blasberg Continue reading
Warhols and White Stallions
When Diane von Furstenberg was approached by the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall in Moscow to create a retrospective of her life and career, she immediately had two thoughts: “One, I knew it couldn’t just be dresses, because for me fashion is so much more than that,” she explained at the exhibit’s opening on Friday night. “And two, that I would need my dear André Leon Talley’s help.” Called Journey of a Dress and curated by Talley, the resulting show spans not only the garments von Furstenberg is famous for—from her early wrap days to Studio 54 to now, when she occupies the top seat at the CFDA—but also correspondence (with Diana Vreeland, among others), photographs, and portraits of the designer by the likes of Andy Warhol. Viewing the artwork, Justin Portman noted a similarity to the recent commissions of his own wife, the model Natalia Vodianova. “I think she’s following DVF here: Francesco Clemente just did her picture, and now Anh Duong has done it,” he said as he passed two large-scale works of von Furstenberg by those artists. “I guess I should be happy that Warhol is dead.”
After the opening and dinner at the Bolshoy restaurant, it was off to the club We Are Family, which had been decked out to look like a Muscovite version of Studio 54: women in sparkly swimsuits sitting in pyramid formation in the middle of the room, waiters in hot pants, and…well, it only got more interesting. “Wait, is that a horse?” Kate Bosworth asked. Indeed, a white stallion had been placed on the stage and taught to lie down and roll over. “In the club?” the actress laughed. “OK, this is as close to 54 as I’m going to get.” From her perch in the center booth, surrounded by her future daughter-in-law Ali Kay and her husband, Barry Diller, von Furstenberg reflected: “It’s similar, but there will never be another 54.”
—Derek Blasberg Continue reading
Sir Lancelot
Some big-name artists—Richard Prince, Shepard Fairey, and Andreas Gursky among them—have contributed to Stages, the traveling exhibition organized by Lance Armstrong and Nike to benefit his foundation’s fight against cancer. But most eyes were not on the artwork but on the 38-year-old superstar cyclist himself at Friday night’s unveiling at Deitch Projects in Soho (next stop: Art Basel Miami Beach). Still, Tom Sachs managed to divert attention to his sculpture Lance’s Tequila Bike for Girls. Said piece is a white racer apparently powered by José Cuervo, and upon arrival, Sachs removed a bar knife and fresh limes from a box on the handlebars and prepared a ceremonial shot for himself and Armstrong. Angela Donhauser and Adi Gil of Threeasfour soon joined the artist for the second round. No tequila craziness for Kenny Scharf, though. The Pop artist had pedaled over from Williamsburg and needed full use of his senses for the ride back: “There’s a lot of angry cabdrivers out there,” he cautioned. “I don’t trust any of them.”
—Darrell Hartman Continue reading
Customize Your Ballet Flats in a Snap!
Move over, Tory Burch. There’s a new, cheaper and way cooler ballet flat in town! Lindsay Phillips’ line of genuine Napa leather shoes ($64) come in black, bronze and silver and are…
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mystyle Recap: Catch This Week’s Highlights!
No, that isn’t an overbaked Kim Kardashian. It’s Tyra Banks as the Hervé Léger-lovin’, voluminous hair-havin’ reality star. See what other costumes…
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Speidi Hams It Up as Jon and Kate
If Kate Gosselin wig sales are any indicator, there will be many Jon and Kates this Halloween. But leave it to publicity stunt junkies Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag to one-up everyone before…
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