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subscribe to style file blog via RSSWhen The Saints Went Marching In
February 8, 2010
Fashion Meets Football was the name of the party, and in some cases, it seemed as if it might’ve been a first meeting. “I was quizzing people on who’s playing,” reported host (and Style.com contributor) Darrell Hartman, “and one girl guessed the Idaho Indians.” No Indians this year—the only Indians in sports play baseball for Cleveland, and Idaho doesn’t have an NFL team—but a robust crowd of designers, PR types, stylists, and everyone else we’ll soon see in the NYFW bleachers crowded into Soho House last night to watch New Orleans best Indianapolis at the Super Bowl. Around the sets, a die-hard crew of actual fans—with fellow hosts Jeff Halmos and Sam Shipley front-and-center (pictured)—sat rapt and offered direction to those of us without the expertise to follow along. Vena Cava’s Lisa Mayock, for one, was well attired for the evening, in a vintage Escada blouse printed with linebackers, but confessed that her gridiron knowledge ended there. (We remembered she’s dressed the part before.) Still, the cheers were heartfelt when the underdog Saints came out on top. Not included in that final chorus: Dawson’s Creek (and, less famously but more relevantly, Varsity Blues) star James Van Der Beek, who we’ll crown the MUP for Most Unlikely Partygoer. Like the chicken wings, he’d been there, but had long since disappeared.
tags: Escada, James Van Der Beek, Jeff Halmos, Lisa Mayock, Sam Shipley
And Smoking, Presumably, Will Be Actually Verboten This Time
February 8, 2010
“New Beatrice” prognosticating continues, of course, but for those interested in what the Inn’s former proprietor, Paul Sevigny, is actually working on, the details are coming out: His soon-to-open restaurant (with Lou Ceruzzi and Rose Bar owner Nur Khan) has a name (Kenmare), an address (98 Kenmare Street, the site of the old Civetta), a soft-open date (NYFW, natch), and, as of this morning, a chef: Joey Campanaro (pictured), whose tiny Grove Street restaurant, Little Owl, is packed night after night. (The guy also had a hand in kicking off the mini-burger “sliders” craze with the addictive, pecorino-laced version on the Owl menu.) Sevigny insists that it’ll be, contra Bea, a small neighborhood restaurant—you know, just like the next mom-and-pop joint with waiters’ uniforms by Chloë Sevigny.
tags: Beatrice Inn, Chloe Sevigny, Joey Camponaro, Kenmare, Lou Ceruzzi, Nur Khan, Paul Sevigny
Did We Just Find Out Marc Jacobs’ Valentine’s Day Plans?
February 8, 2010
We’re still waiting on details about Marc Jacobs’ after-party, but his other half, Lorenzo Martone, is getting behind events left and right this New York fashion week. His PR and talent agency, ARC New York, is throwing a bash to end the week on the 18th, but before then he’s hosting a Butt magazine Valentine’s Day dance party with cover boy Kele Okereke that he promises will be full of “hot men.” It’s hot chicks, or more specifically, one hot chick named Iris Strubegger, who will be the draw at the dinner he’s hosting on February 12 at the Box for Ruffian designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais. The catwalker stars alongside vintage Ruffian designs in a new short film, La Demimondaine, by director Sandro Suppnig, that will be screened post-repast.
tags: ARC New York, Brian Wolk, Claude MOrais, Iris Strubegger, Kele Okereke, Lorenzo Martone, Marc Jacobs, Ruffian
How He Made How To Make It In America
February 8, 2010
You may not know who Ian Edelman is, but you’re about to enter his world. Edelman (pictured, with Victor Rasuk) is the creator of the new HBO series How to Make It in America, which stars Bryan Greenberg, Rasuk, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, and Lake Bell in the red-hot center of the downtown New York art and fashion scene. Locations such as Avenue and La Esquina will feel suggestively familiar to members of the city’s real-life fashion set; so too will series story lines about, say, day-jobbing at Barneys and trying to launch a denim line. Here, Edelman talks with Style.com about American dreams, New York stories, and what he learned from the Pegleg designers.
This show strikes me as possibly autobiographical. Is Ben you? Did you make an abortive effort to launch a denim line in your twenties?
Actually, the idea for the show came from me reading about all these American success stories and getting inspired. I mean, look at Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lifshitz from the Bronx, he gets his foot in the door of the fashion industry and through sheer, you know, vision and hustle, winds up creating the first lifestyle brand. He’s an icon and a gazillionaire. And I started wondering, how would that story play out in the world I know?
Which is where the autobiographical tone comes in, I suppose. You do a good job setting up that downtown skate/art demimonde.
Yeah, well, I grew up in New York, skating, playing basketball, and I wanted to show that world off. But I’ll tell you who did have a clothing line, if you want autobiography—Stephen Levinson, who’s the executive producer of this show and of Entourage. HBO put us together after they bought the pitch for How to Make It in America, and one of the ideas he brought to the table was this story of trying to start a sportswear brand, because that was something he’d done, pre-Hollywood.
Did your original concept for the show change much through development?
The show did turn into more of an ensemble piece than I’d imagined.
I guess I’m mostly wondering if the show you’d conceived got Entourage-ed.
Well, obviously, they’ve had a ton of success with Entourage, and so there were conversations like, OK, here’s something we know works for Entourage, story-wise; is there a way we can use that? And there are similarities. But there’s a huge difference, too: How to Make It in America is not wish-fulfillment television. These guys are strivers; they get into a club because they know the bouncer, not because anybody’s a movie star.
tags: Bryan Greenberg, Entourage, HBO, How To Make It In America, Ian Edelman, Kid Cudi, Lake Bell, Victor Rasuk
En Attendant Isabel, Hairy Like The Wolf, And More…
February 8, 2010
The English are coming, the English are coming! Oh—no, wait, it’s the French. Racked reports there are signs of life at Isabel Marant’s (pictured) long-awaited Soho store: A French stick-figure drawing announces progress. [Racked]
And while Marant’s going resolutely 2-D, Burberry’s getting the Avatar treatment—the label is live-casting its upcoming London fashion week show in 3-D. [Fashionologie]
Christie’s will hold a special auction for Earth Day this April, with profits to be divided among four environmental charities. Here’s your chance to snap up a Maya Lin, an Olafur Eliasson, or a special date with Hugh Jackman, all for a good cause! (One guess which one we’re gunning for.) [WWD]
The Times reviews the history of werewolves/wolfmen, perhaps the progenitors of the grizzled beardo look currently in vogue. Team Edward, meh—give us Team Lon Chaney! [NYT]
And if you’ve ever wondered whether models need to look good, have name recognition, and dress stylishly to book jobs, take it from Storm Models founder (and Kate Moss discoverer) Sarah Doukas: They do. [Models Off Duty]
tags: Burberry, Hugh Jackman, Isabel Marant, Kate Moss, Maya Lin, Olafur Eliasson, Sarah Doukas
Blasblog: Party On!
February 8, 2010
Sure, by the looks of our fashion week preview, which is chock-full of new designers and late-night parties, it might seem that a few people have forgotten that we’re still in the midst of the Great Recession. That same amnesia might be said to be found in Celebrations: Lush Flowers, Opulent Tables, Dramatic Spaces, and Other Inspirations for Entertaining, renowned events guru Preston Bailey’s new book. The pages of the coffee-table volume are filled with all sorts of fabulous fêtes, from black-tie galas to the kinds of wedding and anniversary parties that cost more than a studio apartment in Soho. (Bailey’s own favorite? The last one in the book, for which he created a football field-sized bubble tent in the middle of the desert.) He’s quick to point out that the recession has, in fact, had an impact on his business: “Entertaining was definitely affected as much as other businesses, but what I’ve noticed is that what all my clients are looking for now is an intimate environment. Whether it’s on a large scale or a small scale, they want to make moments last longer, rather than just some over-the-top wow factor.” Ah, yes, sounds like the argument I heard from a few die-hard couture buyers last week in Paris: People still want to spend the money, but not necessarily look like they do. Preston agreed, saying his job is now to “transform spaces to look beautiful—which is not the same thing as extravagant.” But don’t worry, rubberneckers: There’s plenty of extravagance, as well as beauty, in his book.
tags: Preston Bailey
Size K8
February 5, 2010
We may well be living in the Age of the Size Issue. There are still plenty of stick-thin girls, God knows, and now a few plus-sized figures in the glossies, too, but here’s a question: What about the regular girls? The ones neither Rubenesque or Giacometti-ish, but just plain old average size? For these ladies, performance artist K8 Hardy is boldly stepping into the breach. Hardy, whose zine Fashionfashion was recently installed (in an oversized version) at the Tate Modern, is launching a new collection with Nolita’s JF & Son, and she’s using herself—a size 8—as the fit model. Called J’APPROVE, the collection draws on her artistic experiences for inspiration—hence boxy smocks from the studio, embellished hot pants from the stage—and it will debut at JF & Son in a day-long presentation on February 17. Hardy herself will be modeling the looks, presumably with an artistic flourish, but this isn’t a performance: The garments will be available for sale at the shop or online the same day. Nous approvons, aussi.
tags: J'Approve, JF and Son, K8 Hardy
On Our Radar: The YSL Chyc Bag
February 5, 2010
Though New York fashion week is just around the corner, your hardworking market team is still wrapping our pre-fall appointments. (For the full coverage, head over here.) But when I saw this new pre-fall bag at Yves Saint Laurent’s accessories presentation today, I couldn’t complain. Sure, the wedges in every style from sandal to boot were super-stylish, but it’s the Chyc bag that—silly name aside—really caught my eye. I love the classic shape, the luxe leather (it also comes in suede), and the just-flashy-enough metal Y closure. My only regret? It won’t be in stores in time for fashion week.
YSL Chyc bag, price on request, available at YSL stores in mid-summer, www.ysl.com.
Henrik Vibskov, Multi-Hyphenate
February 5, 2010
“Art is part of the collection and the collection is part of the art,” Henrik Vibskov told us. Case in point: The graphic works on paper he’s showing at Berlin’s Pool Gallery, beginning today, will also appear on the textiles of his Fall 2010 collection, debuting next week in Copenhagen. “I basically let my brain go through its messy journeys with suspicious approaches,” he says of his process. “I compare art making to jazz music or free-styling. It is all about improvisation.” Those messy journeys have taken him from visual art to fashion to music and everywhere in between, and his personas—at least according to the man himself—are just as far-ranging. “I think I’m Swedish in a Danish way but with a Norwegian approach,” he says. We won’t even try to interpret that. But for the record, he’s from Denmark.
tags: Henrik Vibskov
Blasblog: Let’s Go To The Video
February 5, 2010
When Pegah Anvarian founded Archive, her new, L.A.-based label, this year, she did what more and more designers are doing to promote it—skip the lookbook and go straight to the video. Of course, to do it right, Anvarian needed an accomplished photographer for behind the camera and an international It girl to set in front of it. In this case, the former took care of the latter: Lensman Andrew MacPherson asked his friend Lady Amanda Harlech if he could put the talents of her daughter, Tallulah, to good use. “I’ve photographed Tallulah several times over the years, and was excited to have the chance to capture her strength in a moving portrait,” he says of this video, which shows off the debut Archive collection. “I wanted this to be entirely a reflection of the present.” And how did the younger Harlech—no stranger to the camera, having appeared in one of Karl Lagerfeld’s films for Chanel and trained as an actress to boot—like the convergence of fashion and film? “It’s great that this is happening. People within the fashion industry have such an innate cinematic eye, especially since film is often a reference for designers. The two industries go hand in hand,” she said. But, with filming taking her all the way out to Los Angeles, there were some perks beside further on-camera training. “It was fun, especially since I had just come from a chilly English countryside. Thank God for California sunshine!”
tags: Andrew MacPherson, Archive, Lady Amanda Harlech, Pegah Anvarian, Tallulah Harlech
