5 posts tagged "Ann Dexter-Jones"
Linda Evangelista, Warthog Appreciator, And More Breaking Intel From Last Night’s Disney Meets Barneys Bash
To say Barneys was animated last night would be an understatement. The retailer’s holiday pop-up—in the mold of last year’s Gaga’s Workshop—is an epic collaboration with Disney, which extends from novelty gifts to a DVF-designed Mickey statuette to character confections available at Fred’s, the store’s ninth-floor restaurant. An entire block of Madison Avenue was reserved for the screening of its Electric Holiday promo film, where animated versions of fashion types faced off with Disney favorites: Daphne Guinness admiring Cruella de Vil’s runway walk, Carine Roitfeld and Cathy Horyn sitting front-row for a cartoon fashion show where Minnie Mouse wore Lanvin ruffles and her usually topless beau, Mickey, tried on a Balenciaga sweatshirt. Hostess Sarah Jessica Parker, in L’Wren Scott and Scott and Stephen Jones-designed mouse ears, kicked off the event, which, she noted, was the unusual one she could attend with both her fashion pals and her daughters, Tabitha and Marion. “I’m delighted my children could come to something I’m working on,” she said, “which is a rare opportunity!”
As partiers circulated, we had to wonder—as SJP’s old alter ego might say—who’s your favorite Disney character?
Bryanboy: “Mickey Mouse. I love his voice—he reminds me of David Beckham. So iconic!”
Lazaro Hernandez, Proenza Schouler: “We did Tiana from The Princess and the Frog [for] the movie they’re showing tonight. She’s the newest one—makes sense, I guess. She’s really, really cute. But secretly, Minnie Mouse.”
Jack McCollough, Proenza Schouler: “I like Mickey. Who wouldn’t? He’s the best.”
Linda Evangelista: “I love The Lion King; Pumbaa is my favorite. So charming.”
Mark Lee, CEO, Barneys New York: “Daisy Duck.”
Sarah Jessica Parker: “As Mr. Iger says, I will not pick a favorite. Too many wonderful memories associated with all of them.”
Simon Doonan: “I would have to say Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. She’s so beautiful—she has a Thierry Mugler, kind of Claude Montana look. High glamour. That eighties ‘evil glamour’ look!”
Barbara Walters: “Minnie, because she is an inspiration to all of us. She’s unmarried—she’s been living with Mickey in sin all these years and they never broke up. And her wardrobe is always in style. What an inspiration to every woman!”
Rachael Taylor: “Cruella de Vil. She always looked so amazingly badass. I love that she was a villain in a fabulous coat, heels, and too much makeup. In my world, more is more.”
Bob Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company: “I have a lot of favorites, but I’m never public about them because I fear offending those who don’t agree. But tonight there was a character here I’m fond of: Tinker Bell. Impish, cute, fun—and she flies!”
Ann Dexter-Jones: “Is Betty Boop Disney? I guess not. I actually like Dopey. He’s so slow, and we live in New York, where nobody ever slows down for a minute.”
Liya Kebede: “I love the Little Mermaid. I like how she looks out for her friends like Sebastian.”
Her son, Shul, added, “I like all of them—except the princesses.”
Whoo Is Oh Land?
A former ballerina with a funny name may soon be the fashion set’s new favorite music act. Either way, expect to hear more about Danish electro-pop artist Oh Land (pictured) in coming months. Sony’s Epic Records is putting out her EP in September and her debut album in early 2011, and Missoni has gotten on board early, selecting Oh Land (née Nanna Øland Fabricius) as a face for M Missoni and as the evening’s entertainment for its summer party last night at Le Bain. Maryna Linchuk, Ann Dexter-Jones, and Byrdie Bell were all on hand to give a listen.
Oh Land has only been in New York since January, and writes and performs (solo, using drum machine and synthesizer) from a very specific place: “This land where big city and skyscrapers and great nature and mountains and valleys come together—my little musical church,” she explained post-performance. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the keeper of that church is a total stunner.
M Missoni had dressed her in a bat-winged tunic that gave her freedom to sway and ripple during her set. “I love what I’m wearing right now and I feel really comfortable in it,” Oh Land said, flapping her arms. “Like a big owl.”
Porcelain’s Big Break
Porcelain: so delicate and refined a material—and an aesthetic suggestion—it’s actually surprising that Olivia Ma Corwin and Kai Ma Wilson (pictured) are the first designers to name a clothing label after it. But the hard/soft duality the sisters have established with their debut womenswear collection couldn’t be a better fit for the name. “The concept of the label came from the idea of china dolls, as a reference to our Chinese background. But it also references the idea of fragility paired with a hardness,” Corwin said. Case in point: the sleek black lace minidress she herself was wearing to Porcelain’s launch party last night at Hotel Griffou. “It’s elegance with an edge,” she went on. “We strategically lined the dress in certain areas and left it exposed in others. It’s definitely for our more adventurous wearer.” That selectively daring customer should also appreciate the discreetly burlesque tone set by many of Porcelain’s other standout looks—anyone obsessed with Diane Kruger’s ensembles in Inglourious Basterds will find plenty to love. There to appreciate Porcelain’s “individually universal” approach was a dynamic crowd: Arden Wohl and Amy Sacco, designers Max Osterweis and Brian Atwood, and an impressive smattering of the young and social, along with their de facto queen, Ann Dexter-Jones. Even Sting, whose wife Trudie Styler co-hosted the event, made a surprising cameo. “They are some of our biggest supporters,” Corwin said of the couple. “Trudie already wears Porcelain all the time. A year ago, Porcelain was just a concept. Now, Sting is here celebrating with us. Not a bad way to launch a line!”
Blasblog: Trenchcoat Teases On The L.E.S.
Jen Brill and Chrissie Miller were a little disappointed when they showed up at the Thompson LES hotel on Thursday night to celebrate the debut of Shoshanna Gruss and Charlotte Ronson’s swimwear collaboration, Made With Love. “Shoshanna promised me that she would be wearing one of the bikinis with high heels and a trench coat. Major letdown,” Brill sighed. Then Miller added, “And now she’s dressed up in a pink prom dress. What a tease.” Perhaps they were the only friends who needed such a guarantee to pound down to the L.E.S., because it seemed as though Gruss and Ronson’s other fans—Lindsay Price, Alexandra Richards, Lissy Trullie, and Ronson matriarch Ann Dexter-Jones, included—were more than happy to see the fully clothed designers. True to the name, the collaboration was an amiable effort. “Not a single fight between the two of us,” bragged Gruss of the fabric research, designing, and fit process. “It was like I was another sibling—which wouldn’t be hard for Charlotte, I guess. Ya know, since she’s one of ten.” Seriously! By the end of the night Miller’s spirits had lifted. “Are you kidding me? Is that Jill Zarin?” she enthused (without a shred of irony) when she spotted the Real Housewives of New York City star. “Someone take my picture with her.”
lindsay lohan legs it to bendel’s
It was pandemonium at Henri Bendel last night when Lindsay Lohan stopped in to showcase her new leggings line, 6126, and pose for pictures with squealing fans. And while rumored girlfriend Samantha Ronson wasn’t there (she did provide the soundtrack), Ronson’s mother, Ann Dexter-Jones, stopped by to check out the line. “We named it 6126 after Marilyn Monroe’s birth date,” explained Lohan, who was outfitted in shredded black leggings. “She’s such a timeless figure and an icon and I wanted to give an ode to her.” (This would be Lohan’s second ode to the actress, the first being her re-creation of Monroe’s famous nude session with Bert Stern for New York magazine earlier this year.) The collection, which includes paper-thin leathers, foils, solid colors, and all-over animal-print leggings (some with stirrups), and a new foot accessory called an “ankle glove,” also gives a nod to Lohan’s fashion idols. “These are Chanel-inspired from the quilted purse,” she said of a black pair with quilted leather knee patches. “And these were inspired by Alaïa because he did leggings with the side open that I wore on Ugly Betty. So I did them with lace down the side.” Though Lohan’s East Coast stops mostly involve catching up with her Long Island-based family, she had some other must-hits this time ’round. “I always have to go to Kirna Zabête and see what’s going on there,” she said. “And Madonna had her show, so of course I had to go to that.”