backstage

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

margiela without the man

for being the first season without martin margiela doing the designing himself, the fall 2010 collection was still very much in his spirit. the crazy fur “cages” seem like a direct evolution of previous seasons hair coats. (i seem to recall seeing something very similar at the fever ray concert last fall…) and the quirky dimensions continue – this time the house redefined the waist. so unexpected and surprisingly chic. by kv

CATEGORIES: backstage, fashion

Ivans blog-sters: where do bloggers blog from?

one of ivan’s, and our favorite blogs, the JJJJound blog from montreal, canada.

yours truely, tomorrow started, from a planet not so far away

keehnan konyha the 2thewalls blog

ivan terestchenko has been gathering and posting his favorite bloggers pads for all to see. it is a very personal approach to a very faceless hobby. here are 2 of our favs and one we are rather familiar with. check out ivans blog for this and much more. by dd

CATEGORIES: backstage, design, read

Ivans blog-sters: where do bloggers blog from?

one of ivan’s, and our favorite blogs, the JJJJound blog from montreal, canada.

yours truely, tomorrow started, from a planet not so far away

keehnan konyha the 2thewalls blog

ivan terestchenko has been gathering and posting his favorite bloggers pads for all to see. it is a very personal approach to a very faceless hobby. here are 2 of our favs and one we are rather familiar with. check out ivans blog for this and much more. by dd

CATEGORIES: backstage, design, read

The Wooly: New yorks latest down-and-out hot spot


the somewhat hit-and-miss decor of the wooly. nice vintage wallpaper mixed with a feeling of drywalls and quick cheap construction. its unfinished as eric himself admits…


grrrowl!!


the wretched financial district has finally gotten its break… right in front of city hall park! after smith & mills (technically tribeca) and the Warren 77 bar comes the wooly to save the poor soles that live there. the space itself, located in the wollworth building, is very haphazardly done by the very man that has just recently done the windows at colette for the house of waris. the space aside, as with all places, it’s the people that make the joint… not the place itself. some trigger happy editors have already compared it to the jane hotel bar, but i must say the place itself is no where near as cozy and atmospheric as the jane.

what is nice is that there is a small stage for performances. it’s quite intimate and the crowd is cool and easy. we once saw mark borthwick perform his agit-atmospheric music there. last night the wooly was the hosting grounds to the lovely fashion designer (and better half of photographer barnaby roper) camilla staerk’s christmas party. the ruffian christmas party was also there, and others who have strolled through the joint include: charlotte ronson, sean lennon, PP lepou, derek blasberg, milla jovovich, kimberley norcott, rebecca guiness, waris ahluwalia, and dd from tomorrow started. by dd

CATEGORIES: backstage, ny places

Waris Ahluwalia’s love letter of a book: to india with love

waris at the pierre hotel in new york for his new book “to india with love”


natalie portman, waris whluwalia

james ivory page from the book to india with love


photographer karen collins, kimberley norcott



aslaug magnusdottir, president of house of waris with ucef hanjani

my favorite room at the pierre where salvador dali spend days chasing the mocked up clouds

author tina bhojwani, president and CEO of louis vuitton daniel lalonde, designer/author waris ahluwalia and author mortimer signer

since the crash of the economy it seems like we are all attending more parties rather than pulling late nighters. that, i assume, is the silver lining in all of this. the good news is that not all parties are just to wine-and-dine new yorks newest most-needy-class. this was waris’ week. this shindig, at the newly re-opened pierre hotel (owned previously by the 4 seasons group) had something substantial behind it, an effort to remind us of not only the beauty of india, but to support the victims of mumbai’s 2008 terrorist attack.

the book is filled with memories and photographs of contributors like silvia fendi, elizabeth hurley, natalie portman, owen wilson and the like from their past visits to india. owen wilsons photo taken by his mom was one that stood out for me. unfortunately the book, published by respected publisher assouline, was rather disappointing for its lack of attention to detail and their hack-saw compositions. the love put in by waris and the gang somehow did not translate into the assouline’s team. that said, i personally bought 2 books and highly recommend a copy as the proceeds will go directly to the victims of the attack. hard cover $49.95

contributors include: Adrien Brody, Kenneth Cole, Silvia Fendi, Diane von Furstenberg, Elizabeth Hurley, Evelyn Lauder, Natalie Portman, Rachel Roy, Owen Wilson, and Matthew Williamson, among others. to learn more mumbai: we got your back. by dd

CATEGORIES: backstage, books