14 posts tagged "Vanessa Bruno"
Bosworth, Bruno, and Bilson Toast a Year on the Town
One of the last times she saw Vanessa Bruno, Kate Bosworth was soaring to tree-branch heights in Slovenia while filming Lov, a short film collaboration showcasing the French designer’s Fall ’11 campaign. This time around, they settled on surer footing at Lucques restaurant on Melrose Avenue, where the duo, along with Rachel Bilson, Molly Sims, and Brad Goreski, toasted the Paris-based designer’s one-year anniversary in L.A. last night. As they dined just a few doors down from her first Stateside retail outpost, the designer seemed to relish her now annual trip out West. “Los Angeles wasn’t planned, but when we found this spot on Melrose, it was, how they say in French, l’evidence,” she told Style.com. “We realized how connected we were with so many people here.”
Bosworth’s Bruno connection was equally a happenstance. The actress, who is set to continue her collaboration with the brand, recalled, “I was walking along the streets of Paris about six years ago, and I happened upon her shop just like anyone else would,” Bosworth said. “And I saw some pieces in the window and thought, ‘Wow, these look like they’re very much my style.’” And the admiration is mutual. “L.A. girls like this kind of very chic, Parisian, laid-back, effortless but still sophisticated vibe,” said Bruno.
Kate Bosworth Lovs Vanessa Bruno
“The first thing I was asked when I arrived on set was whether I was afraid of heights,” Kate Bosworth told Style.com over whiskey and Cokes at London’s Brown’s Hotel last night. “And let’s just say, it’s a good thing I am not.”
For Lov, the new Bosworth-starring short film that launches Vanessa Bruno’s Fall ’11 campaign, the starlet was hoisted to the top branches of a 40-foot fir tree in Slovenia. The role also called for Kate to do backflips, ride horses, endure a broken heart, and, as she put it, “run the gamut of emotions in less than three minutes. I had to be strong in one shot, then incredibly fragile and vulnerable, then heartbroken and lashing out in the next. But you know, that is life, isn’t it?”
The Straw Dogs star is something of a favorite of Bruno’s. “It was a coup de foudre,” the designer explained. “As soon as we met, I knew she was perfect because she has intelligence about the way she wears clothes, and a subtlety that not a lot of girls have.” It probably didn’t hurt, either, that Bosworth has those classic Scandinavian features that represent Bruno’s Danish heritage—a heritage that was not only the inspiration for the collection (think Nordic knits, fur touches, and cozy bonnets) but also the film.
“Vanessa really knows how to design for a woman. The way she drapes her blouses shows off the sensuality of a woman’s neck and the clavicle area,” Bosworth added. “She has a wild ambition and a real passion for clothes that I believe comes through loud and clear in this film.” Check out the world premiere of the Lov, above.
Vanessa Bruno Hearts The Tate, Kate
“Some people go to the gym or spa to relax; I go to art galleries,” said Vanessa Bruno. “Fashion can be very draining and galleries are a great place for me to revive myself, and to draw inspiration.” If that’s the case, she had plenty to draw from last night, when she hosted the Tate’s Young Patrons party in London. “My husband is an art dealer, and I have loved art since I was a little girl, especially people like Wallace Berman and Meredyth Sparks.”
Equally art-minded were the members of the party’s organizing committee—which included co-chair Marc Ronson and Alex Dellal—and attendees like Cara Delevingne, Elizabeth von Guttman, and Elise Øverland. After a DJ session by Ronson himself (who is warming up for spinning duties tonight for the Duchess of Cambridge, a.k.a. Kate Middleton, at Arpad Busson’s ARK charity event), guests also were treated to a live set by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs—TEED, for those in the know.
Bruno took a minute from hosting duties to discuss her work. She describes her collection as being “about urban poetry, a chic French laid-back woman.” Who embodies that quality best? “Grace Coddington,” she replies with no hesitation (and admittedly, Coddington is about as French chic as you can get without Gallic blood). “I love everything about her. She sticks to her universe and her aesthetic is impeccable. And from within the younger women, there is someone I met recently in L.A. that I really did connect with—she is a smart, wonderful and chic actress, and that is Kate Bosworth. In fact, she will be the star of our next film that will be released in September. Et voilà—I let the secret out!”
Lou Doillon Hits The Beach For Vanessa Bruno
French It girl Lou Doillon has been turning more and more heads lately, but she’s been a muse to designer Vanessa Bruno for years. Doillon stars once again in the latest of Bruno’s short films, Miracle, which she created with director Stéphanie Di Giusto to spotlight her Spring 2011 collection. Bruno opened her first store in L.A. last summer, and it looks like the city’s summery vibe has rubbed off on the Paris-based designer. Joining Doillon on screen is the label’s new U.S. ambassador, the Los Angeles-based model and girl-about-town Jessica Joffe, and the spot was shot on a gorgeous beach—though, admittedly, in Cuba, not L.A.
Kate Bosworth And Rachel Bilson
Welcome Vanessa Bruno To L.A.
L.A.’s been receiving a steady stream of Euro imports this week. Mulberry’s Emma Hill blew into the Chateau Marmont on Tuesday for a dinner and pool party, and last night at the Chateau, designer Vanessa Bruno and friends were fêting her new West Hollywood store—her first in the U.S. The shop, which will carry Bruno’s collection, accessories, and Athé diffusion line, doesn’t open officially until August 5, but a few high-profile fans can barely wait. “I’m so excited that she’s opening in L.A. I can’t even tell you,” said Kate Bosworth. “She’s so connected to wanting to bring out confidence and inner beauty. It’s a passion of hers and exciting for all of us.”
Around her, Angelenas like Tara Subkoff, Liberty Ross, and Atlanta de Cadenet and fellow Frenchie Julie Delpy sipped Champagne and cocktails. The dress code of the evening? Bruno, of course—”I’m actually wearing one of her skorts tonight—and I’m feeling it,” Rachel Bilson said. Even the guys got in on the act: Stylist George Kotsiopoulos showed off a bowtie that designer Magda Berliner had fashioned for him from a Bruno lace wrist gauntlet. “Men are lucky that way,” he said. “We could be in rags, but you put on a tie and you’re set.”
“I love the fact that different girls, known and unknown, are wearing my clothes and feeling comfortable and confident,” said the guest of honor. “L.A. is a melting of all different types of girls. There’s a real Americana, Californian spirit here.” The real Californians—new and native—tucked into strip steak and halibut and then, at the end, birthday cake—Bruno, it turned out, had more than one reason to celebrate.