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subscribe to style file blog via RSSPopping Bottles “Just For Fun” On Avenue Crazy
April 14, 2011
Ever try to assemble a group of fashion types for something that’s not a launch, an opening, or a worthy cause? Harley Viera-Newton, Lily Kwong, and Stephanie LaCava gave it a shot last night, hosting a dinner in the East Village that was billed as “Just for Fun.”
In truth, Dom Pérignon had one of its top wine experts in town and figured it could do a little outreach. The promise of vintage Champagne pairings at a hip new restaurant (Edi & the Wolf, on Avenue C) was enough to draw the likes of Elise Øverland and Alexandra Richards (above) to the eastern fringe of lower Manhattan. “I’ve been to Bangkok more recently than I’ve been this far east,” Waris Ahluwalia admitted.
He and some 40 others dined on Austrian mountain cheese ravioli and arctic char in a dim room reminiscent of an old shed. The ambience, however, was a little more glam. “I’m a big fan of Champagne. I like to pop bottles in the club,” Viera-Newton said. She nodded at a bucket of Dom that was sitting on the copper-topped bar. “I’m planning on popping all three of those.”
Viera-Newton took off on the early side, to go DJ at Madame Wong’s. Richard Chai (who swung by with Phillip Lim) joined her, but not before taking a trip down memory lane. “When I went to Parsons, my dorm was just off Third Avenue, and we used to venture off this way,” he said. “This was way back when Avenue C, if you got that far, was called ‘Crazy.’ If you got to D, it was called Dead.” Clearly, not the case anymore. “That’s the nature of New York,” Chai noted. “No neighborhood is sacred.”
tags: Alexandra Richards, Dom Perignon, Elise Overland, Harley Viera Newton, Lily Kwong, Phillip Lim, Richard Chai, Stephanie LaCava
What Should This Year’s Other A-List Brides Wear On Their Wedding Days?
April 14, 2011
Spring is usually the season for long white dresses. So why all the ivory gowns on the Fall runways? We’re chalking it up to royal wedding fever. It’s just over two weeks until Kate Middleton walks down the aisle, and while it isn’t likely that Prince William’s betrothed will do it in any of these dresses (she seems poised to follow in time-honored royal footsteps and choose something more conservative), there are other high-profile, fashion-loving brides tying the knot later this year. Kate Moss and Lily Aldridge are marrying their musician boyfriends Jamie Hince and Caleb Followill, respectively, and we could see those catwalkers rocking one of these frocks. You? Click for a slideshow and let us know.
tags: Caleb Followill, Jamie Hince, Kate Middleton, Kate Moss, Lily Aldridge, Prince William, Style Hunter
Riccardo Tisci, All Star?
April 13, 2011
Announced today: the first collaboration between Converse and Givenchy, a new sneaker that draws on both Riccardo Tisci’s signature fascinations (crosses, leopard print) and Converse traditions (details borrowed from sixties-era Chuck Taylors). Waiting for, as they say, the other shoe to drop? Here it is: The kicks are available exclusively in Japan; they’ll hit Converse stores there, as well as Givenchy shop-in-shops at Mitsukoshi, Isetan, and Hankyu, on April 27.
tags: Converse, Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci
Combination Pizza Hut… Sunglass Shop?
April 13, 2011
L.A. is the land of lunch trucks—and today, it got one more. “They sell food from trucks, so why not sell sunglasses too?” asks Daniel Silberman, co-founder, with Jus Ske, of the up-and-coming eyewear brand Illesteva. Today, the brand (which has lent its wares to several fashion shows, like Loden Dager, and is working on an upcoming collaboration with Rogan) set up shop in a pizza truck parked outside of Opening Ceremony’s Los Angeles store, where they are serving up their Brando-esque frames along with Valentino’s Pizza until 7 p.m. tonight. The special toppings include unreleased color ways, such as Cream Horn, and new finishes, like sanded matte. Unfortunately, delivery is not an option.
tags: Daniel Silbermann, Illesteva, Jus Ske, Opening Ceremony
Buffalo Soldiers
April 13, 2011
It would take an American heritage aficionado—or maybe a Hopi Indian—to identify the heavily textured leather Parabellum uses for its rugged accessories. Designer Commodore Jason Jones discovered the longevity of the buffalo as a child in Hollywood at Used Stuff, his stepfather’s antiques store, where he became fascinated by a turn-of-the-century gun holster. Jones’ father, who was in fact born on a Hopi reservation, explained that the holster was still so soft after a hundred years because it was made from American bison hide. That fact stayed with him, and after working with Armani and as a leatherworking apprentice with Henry Duarte in Los Angeles, Jones was ready to indulge his passion. He and his partner, Mike Feldman, launched their accessories collection Parabellum to pay homage to an inherently American kind of luxe. “The American buffalo has made a comeback over the past half century,” Jones says. “They were almost extinct by the late 1800’s and now there’s 500,000 of them.”
Parabellum—from the Latin for “If you desire peace, prepare for war”—works with free-range ranchers and a micro-tannery in the Midwest, which Jones visits to oversee the cutting of each hide. Using 15-year-old bison without stretching or shrinking the hides gives the leather a unique soft, wrinkled texture; it also ensures that each piece is unique. The bags and computer cases are accessorized with military-grade ceramic hardware and Kevlar-lining, with hand-skiving and hand-turned corners. The range—which also includes belts and iPad cases—was originally intended for men, but after getting snatched up by girls, Jones and Feldman added women’s styles, too. Colette, Japan’s Tomorrowland, and L.A.’s Maxfield all quickly picked up the collection, and it arrives at Bergdorf Goodman just in time for Father’s Day.
At Akris And W’s Marfa Fête, Was This The Best Seat In The House?
April 13, 2011
Artist Matthew Day Jackson’s Lem Interior went for $88,000 during the live auction at last night’s W magazine and Akris-sponsored Ballroom Marfa benefit. It was made from scorched wood and looked like the interior of a lunar exploration module that had been burnt crispy upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, but it wasn’t the strangest work of art on display at the Chelsea event space Center548. That prize went to Maria Jose Arjona, a performance artist who sat in a wooden chair suspended horizontally from pipes high above the heads of guests like Anh Duong, Yvonne Force Villareal, Cornelia Guest, and Cynthia Rowley for the duration of the party—cocktails, dinner, and dancing. There was no bidding on her, and it’s probably just as well. The piece was uninsurable. According to a Marfa, Texas, local who helped install Arjona before the fête, “She didn’t want a net.”
tags: Akris, Ballroom Marfa, Maria Jose Arjona, Matthew Day Jackson, W Magazine
Hyères And There, Then And Now
April 13, 2011
The International Fashion and Photography Festival that takes place every year in Hyères (sorry, couldn’t resist) in the South of France has an impressive pedigree, a point rammed home by the rapid-fire video appetizer for the 26th edition, which runs April 29 till May 2. (You can watch it, in its slightly hysterical glory, below.) The ten fashion finalists (from France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and Switzerland) will be judged by a jury headed up by Raf Simons, who also has an exhibition running in the Photography Festival. He’ll have to ride herd on jurors Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, Christopher Kane, Carla Sozzani, Cathy Horyn, Michel Gaubert, and me, though our verdict will undoubtedly be rendered unanimous under the ameliorating influence of Provence’s finest rosés. And there can be few more appropriate locations in which to judge a new wave of design talent than the Villa Noailles, one of the French Riviera’s great if-walls-could-talk houses. In its pre-war heyday, it played host to Picasso, Dalí, Cocteau, and a whole host of avant-gardists. With Raf, rosé, and Michel Gaubert’s iPod, we should be able to raise a few ghosts.
tags: Carla Sozzani, Cathy Horyn, Christopher Kane, Hyeres International Fashion and Photography Festival, Jack McCollough, Lazaro Hernandez, Michel Gaubert, Raf Simons
The Fall Campaign Countdown Begins, An Angel Heads For The Heavens, Koop Flies The Coop, And More…
April 13, 2011
Fashionologie begins compiling the Fall ‘11 ad campaign rumors and placements. Word from the fashion forums is that Kate Moss won’t be in Vuitton (a group of younger girls, possibly including Daphne Groeneveld, left, and Fei Fei Sun, may be instead), Mert & Marcus’ ads for Versace might star Saskia de Brauw, and Ralph Lauren will likely tap Sui He, the Chinese model who was the first Asian girl to open his show, for his label’s spots. [Fashionologie]
From the Department of Unexpected Announcements: Doutzen Kroes is scheduled to be on the first commercial Dutch flight to space in 2014. [Dance4Life via Racked]
Is the FLOTUS without her stylist? Designer Peter Soronen, who has designed some dresses for Michelle Obama, suggested at a recent panel that Meredith Koop, who took over First Lady styling duties from Ikram Goldman, may already be out the door. [The Cut]
And congrats to Tess Giberson—the downtown designer has just opened her first shop, on Soho’s Crosby Street. [WWD]
tags: Daphne Groeneveld, Doutzen Kroes, Fei Fei Sun, Ikram Goldman, Kate Moss, Louis Vuitton, Meredith Koop, Mert and Marcus, Michelle Obama, Peter Soronen, Ralph Lauren, Saskia de Brauw, Sui He, Tess Giberson, Versace
The New New Leopard
April 13, 2011
Michael Bastian doesn’t have time for a vacation anytime soon. At yesterday’s launch for the unisex flip-flops he designed in collaboration with Havaianas—and used for his Spring ‘11 show—the designer (and CFDA award nominee) admitted with a sigh he won’t make it to the beach this summer. Shame for him, good for us: His schedule’s busier than usual as he prepares to get his Gant collection and his namesake collection ready for New York fashion week this September. (The Bastian collection wasn’t shown on the runway last season.) New York’s menswear designers have been decamping for Europe more and more lately—Yigal Azrouël and Phillip Lim are the latest two—owing to skewed production and sales schedules; men’s collections are typically done and sold by the time New York fashion week rolls around. But don’t look for Bastian to head east any time soon. It’s New York to the bitter end, he told Style.com.
The flip-flops he designed come in four versions: two printed with Day-Glo bright divers, and two with a new take on leopard. (They’re all available now on Havaianas.com.) In general, Bastian said, “I’m not a leopard guy,” but his camouflage twist on the style—his favorite among the four—hits the butch-with-a-twist note he plays so successfully with his collections. (The leopard camo appeared this Spring as a print on shorts and pants, too.) And at $38, he joked, the flip-flops are the most affordable items he’s ever attached his name to. Not only that, they’re multipurpose. “Great for swatting flies,” he added with a laugh.
tags: Havianas, Michael Bastian
Damien Hirst’s Art Collection—Now In Dress Form
April 13, 2011
The family that rents together, sticks together. So Maia Norman borrowed her partner Damien Hirst’s bookstore/gallery, The Other Criteria, on London’s New Bond Street, emptied it out and, voilà, an instant pop-up for her own clothing line, Mother of Pearl. “Business is booming in every corner of the world, Colette and others like that can’t get enough of us, but we don’t have a London stockist—ironic, isn’t it?” Norman deadpanned. “This was the perfect way to bring the collection to the city, see what the public wants and what they respond to.”
If last night’s opening cocktail was any indication, they’re responding quite well. An A-list crowd came out to celebrate at the shop (wrapped in vinyl for the occasion), including co-host Hirst (in a suit, no less), the Clash’s Paul Simonon, Moda Operandi’s Yasmin Sewell, Mary Charteris (above right), and model Sara Blomqvist (above left, with Norman, center, all in Mother of Pearl). Guest DJ and good buddy Jarvis Cocker manned the decks. Even Norman’s collaborator of the season, reclusive artist Jim Lambie, showed up. (”Actually,” Norman says, “he is not as reclusive as he is shy.”) “It stimulates in a different way,” Lambie said of seeing his prints—wildflowers, duct tape, and, no joke, eyeballs—on fabrics like nappa leather and washable silk, rather than on gallery walls. “It is much more evocative because it places itself directly onto the body. It becomes the body in many ways; it reinterprets our understanding of the body. It’s shape, movement, and overall sex appeal.”
Artistry, for obvious reasons, is part of Mother of Pearl’s DNA, but equally important is freedom of movement. “The clothes have to be easy,” says Norman, famed for her love of danger sports, like motocross, riding, and boarding. (Earlier in the week she was surfing in Devon with her new toy: a heated wetsuit.) “I need things to be unrestricted as I am always on the move, but the clothes have to be interesting as well. That’s why Jim Lambie was an easy choice for us. Damien has been collecting him for years, and he was part of our circle, so to speak. I had been loving his works for years now, seeing it in galleries, and then the next thing was just to convince him to do it. I think the results really excited him.”
Speaking of exciting: good to know whom Damien Hirst is collecting. And now on New Bond Street, a Lambie can be yours—at a fraction of the price.
tags: Damien Hirst, Jarvis Cocker, Jim Lambie, Maia Norman, Mary Charteris, Mother of Pearl, Paul Simonon, Sara Blomqvist, Yasmin Sewell
