All That Glitters In Cannes Is Carine Roitfeld’s Gold Fashion Show
When a good cause (amfAR) and a major industry figure (Carine Roitfeld) come together, it’s a given that the fashion world will line up to lend a hand. And so it was at “The Ultimate Gold Collection” fashion show that Roitfeld staged at the nonprofit’s Cinema Against AIDS Gala at the Cannes Film Festival last night. The show included golden looks from Tom Ford and Thom Browne, Versace and Valentino, Marc Jacobs and Moncler, Dior, Comme des Garçons, Prada, Ralph Lauren, and Rick Owens—a group that becomes even more impressive given that they represent less than one third of the show’s participants. Add in the twenty-two additional jewelry and accessory brands, the glossy Gianvito Rossi heels…
Suffice it to say, with LoveGold.com as one of the evening’s three title sponsors, the theme was pretty much preordained. Having soft-launched around award season earlier this year, LoveGold is being positioned as the creative, community online platform for the World Gold Council. LoveGold helped support the accessory creations, in addition to hosting the Livestream on its homepage.
“For certain designers, the cost of gold is a barrier to entry,” said Sally Morrison, LoveGold’s director of jewelry in the U.S. “We were interested in creating a sort of incubator program where we offered gold loans for jewelers we were interested in to allow them to work in the medium and de-risk it for them. That coalesced very nicely with designers [Carine] wanted to put in the show.”
Jeweler Ana Khouri has worked with gold since launching her namesake jewelry line; for her, it’s just an extension of her sculpture background. Khouri represents the new generation of precious-metal designers, one whose mandate is as much about responsible gold sourcing as unconventional multi-finger rings. “I think gold is a universal language; it really connects people. And how amazing it is to get all this talent together with gold as the link,” said Khouri, before taking her architectural cuffs to be paired with a J.W. Anderson ruffled look. Continue Reading “All That Glitters In Cannes Is Carine Roitfeld’s Gold Fashion Show” »
Fashion Features on Forbes’ Most Powerful Women List
Forbes released its 2013 list of the world’s most powerful women earlier today, and on it were social and political movers and shakers: Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Oprah Winfrey; megawatt stars: Beyoncé, Angelina Jolie, and Gisele Bündchen; and one or two surprises (Shakira at number 52, for example). But fashion’s power players held their own against heads of state (Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel came in at number one), businesswomen, and celebrities alike. Miuccia Prada (58), Diane von Furstenberg (74), newly crowned billionaire Tory Burch (69), Anna Wintour (41), and Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts (52) all earned much-deserved spots on the list. Hats off to the industry’s—and the world’s—leading ladies.
An A+ For Architecture
Last night, Architizer—an online architecture network for professionals and dabblers alike—hosted its inaugural A+ Awards gala at New York City’s Cedar Lake. And, according to the site’s CEO Marc Kushner, the event not only aimed to honor talents like Richard Meier, who won the lifetime achievement award, but also to make architecture more approachable for those in other creative realms. “We designed an event to help break architecture out of the echo chamber, so that other people can jump in and relate to it,” Kushner told Style.com. Last night’s accolades honored a total of eighty-seven buildings in more than fifty two categories—including Jaklitsch/Gardner’s cubic Marc Jacobs flagship in Tokyo and THEVERYMANY’s Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama pop-up store at Selfridges in London.
“What they do is really amazing—it’s a great resource,” said attendee Joseph Altuzarra, one of many fashion designers present (Thom Browne and Yigal Azrouël also stopped by). Altuzarra offered that he has his own unique tie to architecture. “We have this factory in the north of France that does jersey—it was designed by Le Corbusier. Everything was done so carefully, it’s really beautiful.”
High Times With DVF, Chelsea Clinton, and Ethan Hawke
The Friends of the High Line’s spring benefit drew a colorful mélange of donors and supporters to Hudson River Park’s cavernous—but intimately candlelit—Pier 57 last night.
The evening celebrated the community-fueled organization that has overseen the transformation of an abandoned rail line into an immensely popular elevated urban park. Cofounders Robert Hammond and Joshua David traded hearty hugs and handshakes over gin gimlets and champagne before the crowd was ushered into a dining hall, which boasted garlands of snapshots from the High Line’s history.
As guests nibbled on green-market-fresh fare, presenters Diane von Furstenberg, Amanda Burden, and Chelsea Clinton heaped praise on the 1.4-mile stretch of greenery nestled high above Manhattan’s streets. “Wherever I go in the world, people talk to me about the High Line,” said von Furstenberg, who together with husband Barry Diller—also in attendance—has contributed more than $35 million to Friends of the High Line. “And why did the High Line happen? Because the dreamers wanted it.” One such dreamer is Ethan Hawke—a former Chelsea resident (he recently decamped to Brooklyn) and one of the evening’s honorees. “It’s always fascinating when someone makes something beautiful when they don’t have to,” he said. “They could have easily torn the High Line down, and instead, they made something wonderful for the city.”
Hello, IRO
Those of Lower Manhattan love their leather jackets. And now, thanks to the new IRO boutique, there’s one more place they can find them. The Paris-based streetwear label, which celebrated the launch of its first New York City flagship last night over cocktails, offers, for lack of a better descriptor, a damn near perfect Perfecto. “It was what originally made us famous,” cofounder Arik Bitton told Style.com.
Of course, leather jackets aren’t all IRO offers. Just ask Coco Rocha. “This place has everything a model’s wardrobe should have. If you don’t have it, come here and get it!” gushed the catwalker, who attended the opening with her husband, James Conran. When pressed as to her energy level post-Met Gala, Rocha laughed. “We were debating going to the after-party, but then we were like, No, we’re going home. We made some Bolognese and went to bed.”
With Harley Viera-Newton on the decks, guests such as Eniko Mihalik and Adrian Grenier perused IRO’s his and hers wares and minimalist, well-lit space. Following cocktail hour, the label hosted an intimate dinner at the Crosby Street Hotel’s private dining room—where Viera-Newton and Leigh Lezark played cat’s cradle, Mia Moretti chatted convivially with friends, and the brand’s other cofounder Laurent Bitton (yes, they’re brothers) offered an idyllic New York reprise: “When I’m here, the best thing to do is stay in Soho, go to The Mercer, and have a coffee.”