19 posts tagged "Linda Fargo"
Baring It All for the CFDAs
There’s a trace of irony in the fact that at last night’s CFDA Awards—a ceremony honoring clothing and accessory design—the standout red-carpet wares were those that were barely there. Skin was in, in a very big way—namely via torso and dorsal cutouts (and in one precariously tall model’s case, a seriously plunging halter). Swarovski Award for Womenswear nominees Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs (of Cushnie et Ochs) led the bare-bodied pack, the former arriving in a vermillion gown with an abdominal diamond-shaped cutout, and the latter donning a dress with oblique accenting slashes across the front (naturally, both wore their own designs). “Michelle and I are big fans of the upper midriff, and always have been,” Cushnie told Style.com. “It tends to be an area that a lot of women can feel comfortable showing.” Their date, Karlie Kloss, left little to the imagination—her outfit careened from plexus to navel. All in all, the trio formed a sinewy vision of primary colors, smartly balancing peekaboo highlights with diving cuts.
And while the Cushnie et Ochs train didn’t stop there (Jenné Lombardo also appeared in a hip-bone-underscoring number from the pair’s Spring ’13 collection), a slew of ladies in other labels turned up with their dermises out. Linda Fargo gunned for a racy noir Michael Kors column cut with triangles across the bust and body. Erin Wasson wore a linear, sheer striped Spring ’13 Alexander Wang piece, and Jessica Hart carried a waist-flaunting Rachel Roy frock to fun and flirty effect. Michelle Harper simply chose to eschew midriff dressing entirely—the provocateur pulled off a vintage Yves Saint Laurent look comprising an ornate black skirt and what we can only describe as a glorified collar.
Vive le Vivier!
Bruno Frisoni was a little surprised at how quickly the French Embassy filled up at last night’s Roger Vivier book launch party. The likes of Olivier Theyskens, Linda Fargo, Keegan Singh, and Gilles Bensimon joined Frisoni and his cohost, Inès de la Fressange, to celebrate the new tome. Published by Rizzoli, Roger Vivier boasts Cate Blanchett, Frisoni, and les rédactrices francaises Virginie Mouzat and Colombe Pringle as contributors. But it’s not your typical retrospective work. Rather, it’s more of a curated compilation of old-meets-new. “It’s almost like a scrapbook, or one of my carnets,” Frisoni told Style.com. “We shot old shoes in a new way, and new shoes in an old way.”Coco Rocha showed off her new copper hair at the cocktail celebration, and carried a Vivier clutch to match. The model conceded that she looked to the fete’s red-tressed songstress, Karen Elson, for some sartorial inspiration. “I’ve had to change which colors I wear, and a lot of times I think, What would Karen wear?”
After a few lively songs with her band, Elson told Style.com that this was one of her last performances for a while. She hits the studio later this month to start a new album. Elson said that she “tried to channel the Vivier woman” while she was onstage. “She’s all about power, confidence, and the sexy stuff I like.”
At The Met: Cape Town
We’ve already noted the influence Angelina Jolie had on this year’s Met ball red carpet. No less influential: Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow’s cape-and-gown Tom Ford look was Oscar night’s best, and it’s proven to have legs at the Met, too. Gwyneth’s stylist, Elizabeth Saltzman Walker, told me at an event in Paris that she was inspired by Jackie Kennedy’s timeless chic when working on Gwyneth’s Academy Awards look. Last night, some of those donning capes, like Maria Grazia Chiuri, in Valentino, went for classic, too. But there were just as many others who chased glitz and glam. Lana Del Rey sparkled in custom Altuzarra, and Bianca Brandolini d’Adda, in Dolce & Gabbana, reminded me of an Italian movie star from the sixties. Sally Singer was lacy in Nina Ricci, but the cherry on the surrealist cake goes to Linda Fargo in custom Naeem Khan. Shocking, Schiaparelli-style.
Muses Make The Men
Not even the rain in New York this week stopped a divine crowd from gathering to celebrate the tenth anniversary of jewelry label Faraone Mennella. Divine being just the right word here. Designers Amedeo Scognamiglio and Roberto Faraone Mennella were inspired by Greek mythology for their recent collections, and to spotlight them, picked nine women to be photographed by Lorenzo Bringheli as the nine muses in their creations—one for each year in business (the tenth muse, they said, was New York itself). Giovanna Battaglia, Linda Fargo, Patricia Field, Olivia Chantecaille, Ann Caruso, Kimberly Jones, Nina Griscom, Carol Alt, and Pamela Fiori took on the roles. At the event, Chantecaille looked especially Olympian in a form-fitting beaded dress from Ferragamo. “I’ve been friends with Amedeo for years and I always tell him what I’m looking for my jewelry,” the beauty entrepreneur said. “Of course I was very flattered when he asked me to be part of this project.”
All Jazzed Up For Coquette Atelier
The twenties were roaring loud and clear last night at Bergdorf Goodman’s BG restaurant, where Linda Fargo (who was looking fabulous in a Jerry Hall for Thierry Mugler, champagne-colored lace pantsuit with matching bunny ears) and company toasted the launch of ready-to-wear line Coquette Atelier. Guests including Uma Thurman, Kim Cattrall, Woody Harrelson, Angela Bassett, Fred Armisen, and Paz de la Huerta enjoyed an evening of live jazz in the venue, which was Deco-ed out, right down to the napkins, matchbooks, and old-school cocktails. Rona Gaye Stevenson and Cassandra Grey, the design duo behind the new, Los Angeles-based label, scour vintage markets far and wide for one-of-a-kind pieces (like the suit Fargo was wearing) to rework. (Grey is the wife of Paramount Pictures CEO Brad Grey, which may help to explain the heavy Hollywood quotient.)
“I’m not telling you my secrets, but I shop all over,” Stevenson told Style.com. Grey added, “It’s like we’re waiting for impeccably dressed socialites to die.” The main event was the performance by vocalists Alice Smith and Frieda Lee, who just so happens to be Stevenson’s mother. They cooed and scatted along to tunes like the Gershwin classic ” ‘S Wonderful.” Lee had never performed in New York before and dedicated her set to “the love of all things fashion, history, Chicago, and, of course, jazz.”