28 posts tagged "Sarah Jessica Parker"
amfAR Takes the Battle to Tribeca
HBO’s forthcoming documentary The Battle of amfAR won’t air until December, but its debut screening at the Tribeca Film Festival last night certainly managed to draw a crowd, with Uma Thurman, Harry Belafonte, and Fern Mallis all coming out in support. Mallis—a founding board member of Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS—told Style.com that she remembered giving amfAR one of DIFFA’s first grants, back in the eighties, to buy a refrigerator. These days, amfAR can afford its own iceboxes. It’s also evolved into one of the world’s leading funders of AIDS research, and the charity’s work and donations have made many new therapies available. And, of course, it’s amassed an impressive roster of celebrity endorsers—heck, Sarah Jessica Parker chaired its New York City gala in February.
But one mustn’t forget amfAR’s first famous patron, Dame Elizabeth Taylor. The Battle of amfAR chronicles Taylor’s work with clinician Dr. Mathilde Krim in mobilizing during the early days of HIV. In the film’s opening moments, Taylor addresses a congressional committee on the burgeoning AIDS crisis. In a voice-over, the late actress explains that she watched as, one by one, her friends grew ill. “And so I thought, Bitch, do something!”
After the film, Kenneth Cole moderated a Q&A with Krim and amfAR CEO Kevin Frost. Krim, now 86, received a standing ovation as she took the stage. Cole asked if she has ever felt hopeless in what seems to be a never-ending battle. Said Krim: “No. I’ve never felt like throwing in the towel. From the very beginning, my feelings, my anxieties, my hope are the same as they are today. Is that a good answer?”
Kenneth Cole’s Charitable Return to the Runway
After a seven-year hiatus, Fall ’13 marks Kenneth Cole’s much-anticipated return to the runway. And he’s using his NYFW presence to do some good. This season, the February 6 amfAR (Foundation for AIDS Research) gala will serve as fashion week’s official kickoff. And Cole, who has been an AIDS activist for twenty-seven years and currently serves as the charity’s chairman, has teamed up with Sarah Jessica Parker to create twenty limited-edition amfAR clutches. “It’s the ultimate women’s evening bag,” explains Cole, noting that SJP has become a friend and collaborator in regards to the amfAR initiative. The black snakeskin clutch is big enough to carry “everything you need, but no more,” and includes a wallet designed to hold a mirror, credit cards, your mobile, and, of course, a condom. “It suggests the importance of looking good and, at the same time, being safe,” says Cole of the bag, which will feature inscriptions of Parker’s name and the phrase “We’re all potential carriers” on its gunmetal frame. One bag will be auctioned off at the amfAR gala, along with a special SJP experience. (The exact nature of that experience is still TBD, but Cole hints it could be dinner.)
A version of the $1,000 bag (all of the proceeds from which will go to amfAR) will also feature in, and be sold live during, the designer’s February 7 runway show, which will be broadcast across various social-media platforms. As for his return to the runway, Cole says “I’m excited to be doing it in a way that offers people a unique experience. You can be in the front row wherever you are, and, hopefully, enthusiastically be a part of it.” But Cole also asks for his fans’ help—every time an @KennethCole follower tweets with #KCRunway, the designer will donate $1 to amfAR.
Karl Lagerfeld Hates Whining, Likes Dallas
This year’s WWD CEO Summit featured candid discussions with fashion superstars such as Marc Jacobs and Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. Yesterday afternoon, Karl Lagerfeld gave an interview to Bridget Foley for the conference’s grand finale. The likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Anna Wintour, and model Brad Kroenig and his son (and Lagerfeld’s godson), Hudson, came out for the talk. Foley began by acknowledging last year’s numerous designer shake-ups and asked Lagerfeld what makes a successful designer/fashion house relationship (he’s been at Chanel since 1983, so presumably he has a good one). “I think the important thing is that you have to be behind the label and not use it as something that pushes your fame,” said Lagerfeld, adding later that his biggest irritations are “people who create complications” and “make things messy” because they think it causes them to seem serious. “This I hate. It’s the worst.” On the subject of Chanel as a business, he boasted that he’s never attended a meeting in 31 years (“Maybe there are marketing people, but I’ve never seen them,” he laughed) and noted that the house’s owner, Alain Wertheimer, never interferes with his creative process.
But that’s not to say Lagerfeld is out of touch with the house’s business side. In fact, he embraces his role as a “commercial” designer. Well aware that his Scottish Métiers d’Art show got him “100 million Euros in free advertising” from press, he feels his outrageous sets and locations make Chanel appealing to those viewing the collections online, rather than just to “fashion freaks.” He revealed that his next show stop is Dallas, because, after Coco Chanel reopened her atelier in the fifties, Neiman Marcus and the American press were supportive, while the French were not. “The Texan detail is a little [one], but with a little detail, you can tell a whole story. And I’m a storyteller.”
Couture, according to Karl, is not dead—apparently, Chanel’s couture clientele is up from twenty years ago. And when asked about designers who think the fashion schedule is too demanding—a topic about which he’s sounded off before—Lagerfeld quipped, “Don’t tell me that story. If you accept a job, you know the conditions of the job. After a certain amount of time, don’t start to play the victim…It’s like Olympic sports. You have to keep that level. And if you think it’s too much for creativity, don’t accept. Nobody’s forcing you to do the job. I do it because I enjoy it.” Other notable tidbits included his opinion on French politics (“I pay taxes in France, but I wouldn’t pay a cent more.”), whether technology has tainted fashion (“Oh no, no. We couldn’t do without it.”) his favorite artist (Jeff Koons: “He’s the right spirit of our times.”), and his sources of inspiration (“Everything. I’m a voyeur.”). Foley ended by asking Lagerfeld what his steps to success were. Naturally, this called for a Karl-ism: “A good staircase.”
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.”
The Little Black Jacket Hits NYC, And More Of Today’s Top Stories
Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld’s much-hyped The Little Black Jacket traveling exhibition kicks off tonight with a party in Soho for celebrities and fashion industry insiders. The week-long homage to the French house classic will open to the public on Friday, with 113 black-and-white photographs of A-listers such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Joan Smalls, and Yoko Ono, who adapted the iconic jacket to fit their own personal style. [New York Daily News]
Paris men’s fashion week just got a little bigger. Band of Outsiders and Hardy Amies have both been confirmed to show for the first time during the June lineup. And in true Band of Outsiders fashion, the label’s designer, Scott Sternberg, has taken matters into his own hands, tapping one model to act as a living mannequin, who will show off all the looks during the course of a 60-hour period and live in a cardboard and wood plank box. Amies will show as part of the official calendar. [WWD]
A month after parting ways with former designer Manish Arora, Paco Rabanne has promoted its young studio design director, Lydia Maurer, to creative director of its womenswear. German-born Maurer, just 29, will present her first collection for the house during Paris fashion week in October and will also oversee accessories. [WWD]
Are Shaun White and Lily Collins a thing? Following Monday night’s CFDA Awards, rumors have been flying that the Olympic snowboarder is pursuing the young Mirror Mirror actress after a short stint with model Bar Refaeli. Reps for both had no comment. [Page Six]