backstage

le cabinet de curiosités: thierry despont, claudio bravo, manolo valdez with steinitz gallery

dayassi olarte de kanavos at the le cabinet de curiosités exhibit

wooden books in wooden shelves

creative director ucef hanjani and kimberly norcott at the le cabinet de curiosités exhibit

mechanical insects

francesa vuillemin david victor rose at the le cabinet de curiosités exhibit

original map table belonging to napoleon

pilar molyneux juan pablo molyneux at the le cabinet de curiosités exhibit

mitchell alfus michaela cordes at the le cabinet de curiosités exhibit

last night we stopped by marlborough gallery artists/architect thierry despont’s opening at the mercantile exchange which was transformed into an 18th century french residence peppered with everything including a renaissance bulls head, various mechanical insects, and an original map table belonging to napoleon himself. the original 18th century wall paneling containing the show belong to the steinitz collection and were transported exclusively for the show from france.

the topic of the show “le cabinet de curiosités” was a brilliant one and one i’m obsessed with.  the lighting and mood were appropriately set with dark walls and sage green panels. my favorite pieces were the monochromatic parcel painting by chilean painter, claudio bravo, that reminded me of christo and jeanne-claude in their puritan form. also the beautiful wooden bookshelves, fully equipped with “wooden” books, by spanish artist manolo valdez. i simply wanted to drag them back home with me. the mechanical over-sized insects were created from various industrial pieces and while quite immaculate, i have personally developed an new affinity for the real specimens from amazonia. it was a beautiful transformation and worth a visit… the only thing missing was some krug champagne… the show is on until january 31st 2012. by xy

CATEGORIES: backstage, ny places

fashion is so senseless and shallow… unless you’re one of the three… or maybe four

waris ahluwalia and threeasfour designer gabi

threeasfour designer adi gil with her usual “naughty” smile

sean lennon and the lovely charlotte kemp

patterns by threeasfour using a range of religious icons

patterns patterns patterns

threeasfour angel… designer angela

photographer, amazing artist, and fabulous cook, mark borthwick with threeasfour designer gabi

the show unfortunately did include a few models!!

yoko ono who had in the past collaborated with threeasfour


our good friends, the vanguard designers of threeasfour did what they always do best. create a show that will at least draw your attention to something worthy, something beyond your selfish extravagances. something that is effecting us all. the show was about one such region: the middle east. some have accepted violence and rancor as the inevitable conclusion when disparate ethnic and religious groups come together. but threeasfour is living proof it’s not—among them, they represent an israeli, a lebanese, and a russian, all of different backgrounds, who have come together to create. may the next generation have more of these than ours. photo credits tamara weber. by xy

CATEGORIES: backstage, fashion

New York Fashion week: many fantastic men, so few gentle women! l’officiel at boom-boom room and fantastic man at cielo

the hand that rocks the cradle is mine

handsome photographer

paper vixen and vogue contributor lynn yaegeri stole terry’s glasseslovely yana k sans her usual red lips

karen collins and ucef hanjani

fab photographer hanuk mid-kiss

JLG and his ever present aton camera

joey jalleo and friend

beyonce and pod

lovely mister richard chai sans bike

and my favorite picture of the night

 

so it was the battle of the magazines night and looks like commercial rag l’officiel won the boom boom room over fabulous mens mag fantastic man which had its party at cielo. not that we are so keen on boom boom room but if you “have to” do something in the retched neighborhood of meat-packing district then you might as well head to the top. i was to meet a friend, and not excusing myself, but i really went there for that. he showed up at 1:30 and after a few drinks we ended up at cielo and then the standard grill at 3:30 for a late night food fest. we are still working on shedding those pounds. in any case not sure why “fantastic man”, which we quite like, would pick a place like that and in that area? but probably the idea was to keep it in the same hood and encourage some party hopping which it indeed did. the parties were fun, and i can’t complain about the music being retro this round, but it still wasn’t right either. i felt like i was in ibiza circa 2006… except i wasn’t. i have to say music is the hardest, and the best i’ve heard was about 2 years ago at the women/supreme management party when chris gay was there. i even got the dj’s name afterwards, i was trying to track down every other song they played. cielo was packed to the gills and unless you were into that “karate class smell” the crowd and the sweat was a bit challenging. after all best to stay home or stick to wooly. all photos by our lovely friend: hanuk.  by dd

CATEGORIES: backstage, fashion mens, ny places

Shiver me timbers: pirates/sailors/rockers at the wooly watering hole on bastilles day

barnaby roper, camilla staerk and eric-adolfsenaly, walk with me…. sailor/rock star, sune rose wagner of the raveonettes and yana Kterror of the high seas; lila wolfe and “captive”david thielebaul and friendunidentified flying objectkaren collins and ucef hanjanithe dapper cobi leviunidentified flying objectkerry youmans, yana k and betressa mandelbaumcamilla staerk and nicolas makhatadzea broken victor glemaud and monique nguyenrichard chai and friendskate shelton and friend

 

 

vanitas staring the royal danish ballet’s rising stars, josephine berggren and hilary guswiler

 

our dear camilla does it again. fun debauchery and the usual suspects at the wooly on bastille day. always fun always easy. the gathering was to celebrate the preview of fashion designer, camilla staerk’s autumn/winter 2012 collection which was the basis of the film vanitas (above) by director barnaby roper, styled by sarah ellison. the film was inspired by photorealist painter hans henrik lerfeldt known for his over-sized insects juxtaposed with classical beauties… in this case, the royal danish ballet’s rising stars, josephine berggren and hilary guswiler. music score by sune rose wagner of the raveonettes. by xy

CATEGORIES: backstage, ny places

summer selecta at 675 hudson

675 has been known in some circles, for over a decade, for a series of wild and unexpected pop-up shindigs. new york times once made the error of writing it up in 2008 causing repeated raids by new york’s finest. the digs stopped, but once in a while the doors open to a certain “friends and family”… transient dj’s, the ceft coalition, known to have frequented the premises was once again present this summer. not quite sure what was more impressive the music selection or the horse they came on. vintage norton courtesy of shadi and company. by xy

CATEGORIES: backstage, ny places

nars cosmetics: new york launch party for “makeup your mind” the book and the interactive website

 

francois nars, the lovely and talented grace coddington and underwear giant calvin klein who seems to be getting younger by the day

london “it” girl alexa chung whom i ran into at old navy over the weekend in ny… that made her quite cool to be sure

the launch event at cedar lake nyc, that’s me in the black suit and white shirt

lake bell and francois nars

the very blond erin fetherston

ok the twins where not a stunt act but rather the djs from paris: ladies and gentlemen, les jumeaux

francois and amanda lepore keeping it real as usual

catering was supplied courtesy of martha stewart – that’s a joke.

makeup artist bad girl sarah sophie flicker

how to become a narsissist: the new interactive website with the same name as the book, where you can follow instructions and upload your picture for a chance to win 1 of 12 prizes


ok as always we are a bit behind schedule, recovery has its own perils… last tuesday nars cosmetics held their launch event at cedar lake in nyc to celebrate the launch of the book “makeup your mind: express yourself” (good thing there is no tax on word count) and its corresponding social media website makeupyourmind.com. the event was done as expected of nars, fully polished, and star studded with francois celebrity friends. everyone from the cheerful and talented simon doonan, to carol alt, elise overland, and anna sui turned up for a drink and a quick makeover. i ran into the lovely gender bender model andrej pejic who was charming and tall as usual. he looked rather flat next to amanda. the drinks were colorful and cold, i had a couple of champagnes, and eyed the under-lite trays of yellow tale sashimi’s swimming by. the event was from 7-10 followed by an after party which i wasn’t invited to. i dashed out at around 8:30 to make room for the ever flowing fans, as the party must go on… the instructional book “makeup your mind: express yourself” finally available was beautifully design by baron & baron and the website which contains the instructions “makeup your mind” was designed and produced by ceft and company new york by xy

CATEGORIES: backstage, beauty

THE SECRET OF “THE WOOLY”

host victor glemaud and the handsome james penfold – this boys got groove!

fabulous designer and host camilla staerk with brian coats and david thielebeule

the ever present yana k

julia restoin-roitfeld and monsieur andre, or in this case lauren tabach bank and david thielebeule

fashion photographer karen collins and ucef hanjani (ceft and company)

beautiful! actually this photo is from another party but she looked too fabulous to pass

annabel tollman and photographer and charming host of the night hanuk

michael carl and demetria white

douglas and amanda wurtz

 

 

 

 

 

straggling down new york’s financial district one would expect to find dinosaur bones scattered around from the jurassic financial era, but not a live, hopping, wooly underneath the woolworth buidling!! everyone from waris, to mark borthwick, to karen ellison have graced its thrift-store decor which seems to grow and accumulate with each of my visits there. the wooly has officially become the go-to place for recapturing the intimate parties that gave new york the old reputation it once had. this last saturday fashion designer camilla staerk along with her friends, victor glemaud and hanuk hosted a small but super fun gathering. as expected an eclectic and fun crowd of friends coupled with good music (may kwok & rod) melted the night hours away. all photo credits go to our charming host hanuk. by xy

CATEGORIES: backstage, fashion, ny places

Red hot: grace Coddington

grace in paris

now here’s a graceful woman who has stood the test of time. anna has ridden on her tailcoat for long enough. merry christmas grace. may your hair remain as red as santas drunken nose. by dd

CATEGORIES: backstage, fashion