28 posts tagged "Simon Doonan"
Mad T By Alexander Wang
Last season, Alexander Wang featured fashion’s favorite Mickey Mouse-wearing badass, Azealia Banks, in his T by Alexander Wang ads. But for Spring ’13, he decided to go a completely new route: a comedy sketch. “We wanted to do something different, outside of music, and I wanted to bring humor into our campaign,” Wang told Style.com. But we’re not talking just any comedy sketch. Wang has revived MADtv’s 2007 “Bon Qui Qui” segment, a cult classic in which two decidedly disgruntled employees of the fictional King Burger berate, harass, and pretty much verbally assault their hungry (and often baffled) customers. The ads will star Miss Bon Qui Qui herself, comedian Anjelah Johnson (above). “I first watched Bon Qui Qui three years ago,” recalls Wang. “The part when she complains about taking out the blender is a classic!” he says, referring to the sketch in which BQQ tells a customer who’s ordered a cookies-and-cream milkshake that she doesn’t “even know how to use that blender with all those crazy buttons” and insists on giving him a Coke. “I still watch it once a week when I need a pick-me-up,” says Wang. Directed by Gavin McInnes, the film will feature cameos by personalities such as Simon Doonan, Alessandra Ambrosio, Shannan Click, Natasha Lyonne, and rapper A$AP Rocky. “It was fun to bring in some friends and people from the industry, and to see how they interacted with BQQ. The chemistry, or lack of, was the cherry on the cake.” Keep an eye out for T by Wang’s funny film, which will debut on the brand’s Web site and YouTube channel on Wednesday.
New York Is Burning
Anyone who has seen the seminal documentary Paris Is Burning or tried to “strike a pose” like Madonna is familiar with voguing—the gender-bending posing that flourished during the late eighties and early nineties with New York’s “ball culture.” Last night, W Hotels paid tribute to the “legendary” underground movement by putting on its own Love Hangover Ball—a voguing competition—in support of amfAR and World AIDS Day on December 1. Hosted by Kelly Osbourne, the walk-off drew a crowd of club kids and fashion fixtures, including models Karlie Kloss, Anja Rubik, Anne Vyalitsyna, and Lily Donaldson, and designers like Richard Chai, Zac Posen, and Prabal Gurung.
“I used to go to all the voguing balls back in the day,” said Simon Doonan, who judged the event alongside a panel that included Fergie, Mickey Boardman, and Jason Wu. Wearing a fur coat and a necklace constructed out of Liberace charm bracelets, Doonan reminisced about the old days. “I knew all those people and houses: the Xtravaganzas, the House of Dorian Corey, the Mizrahis. The level of style and preparation that went into the balls is beyond description. Drag queens would still be painting on their lashes at 10 p.m., and the balls would take hours and hours, going until 3 or 4 in the morning. Hopefully that won’t be the case tonight.” W‘s style director Edward Enninful was also a judge and voguing veteran. “I’m a huge fan of voguing. Growing up, it was a very important part of all our lives,” he said. “It’s a great art form. It’s glamorous. It’s fashion. I think the new generation is really inspired by what it represents.”
Speaking of the new generation, Donaldson and Kloss were just babies during the fad’s heyday, but were quickly swept up. By the end of the performance, both girls were pounding their fists on the makeshift runway, finger-wagging, and yelling, “Work!” When asked to compare her posing abilities to the divas onstage, Donaldson enthused, “These girls are on a completely different level. I wouldn’t stand a chance against them.” Perhaps Pat McGrath summed up the evening best: “Drama, drama, drama. Fierce, fierce, fierce. Realness.” Amen.
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.”
A Bid To Save The Earth, Powered By Stella McCartney
Last year, Christie’s brought in $1.36 million with its annual Bid to Save the Earth live auction in New York, where attendees bid on airplane rides with Harrison Ford and a day with Bill Clinton. The auction house has equally exciting items and experiences lined up for this year’s April 11 gala (Anna and Graydon Carter, Salma Hayek and François-Henri Pinault, and Susan and David Rockefeller are among the co-chairs), but ahead of the big event, Christie’s launches an online auction this morning, powered by Charitybuzz. Tea with model Elettra Wiedemann, a limited-edition reissued vintage Fendi Baguette handbag, and an afternoon of shopping with Simon Doonan (along with $2,500 to spend at Barneys) are all in the loot, but Style.com has its eye on the six bespoke Stella McCartney bags going up for auction today. McCartney, a dedicated green activist, teamed up with five artists to create one-of-a-kind bags for the auction. Style.com has the exclusive first look at the bags, featuring art by the likes of Mr. Brainwash (pictured, above), Bunta Inoue (pictured, below), and Peter Tunney, here. The bags will be for sale this morning through April 19 on Charitybuzz.com.
On Our Radar: Bidermann For Barneys
Jeweler Aurélie Bidermann’s Gallic chic has a new, American counterpart: Bidermann, her new collection exclusively for Barneys. At a dinner in her honor at New York’s Il Buco Alimentari and Vineria last night, she looked every bit the Parisienne, surrounded by a cadre of Frenchwomen, including hostess Garance Doré and the Webster’s Laure Heriard Dubreuil, and decked head to toe in Alaïa—which, she revealed to an envious group of U.S. editors—is her usual. (An aunt in the fashion industry has been supplying it to her since she was a teenager.) She was also wearing, of course, a few key pieces from her new collection, which traipses between girlish clovers and pansies (pictured) to gladiatorial cuffs and collars, in brass and enamel. So were several of her dinner guests, like Rachel Chandler Guinness. Between platters of beets and ricotta, roast chicken, and gelato, Bidermann proclaimed herself “very, very excited” about her first-ever capsule collection. So are her new partners at Barneys. The store’s creative ambassador at large, Simon Doonan, gave dinner’s kickoff toast, proclaiming his great affection for the woman and her wares. Then he situated a Frenchy evening firmly on American soil: “Welcome to Arby’s,” he joked.
Bidermann is now available at barneys.com.