W articles from April 2004

W archives from April 2004

The long goodbye.(The Month in Fashion)
April 1, 2004... For those who haven't heard, Tom Ford is leaving Gucci. But as designer of both Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche and Gucci, each with lines for men and women, Ford has found himself in the awkward position of taking that final runway bow four...

Saks ramps up.(The Month in Fashion)
April 1, 2004... Saks Fifth Avenue is rounding up some big talent for an ongoing effort to upgrade its entire merchandising mix and the look of its 62 stores--underscoring the mission of its new chief executive, Fred Wilson, who was recruited from Donna Karan...

Williamson's homecoming.(The Month in Fashion)
April 1, 2004... After showing his collections in New York for several seasons, British designer Matthew Williamson is opening his first store this month, in London. Situated at 28 Breton Street, just off New Bond Street, the 2,500-square-foot space will stock...

Changing spaces.(The Month in Fashion)
April 1, 2004... Hot property Hedi Slimane is taking a different approach to helping Christian Dior amass a collection of contemporary art, by inviting a far-flung group of artists to create fitting rooms for its Dior Homme stores. The first, by...

Money where their mouthes are.(The Month in Fashion)
April 1, 2004... The aftermath of LVMH's legal victory over Morgan Stanley has hardly caused the investment bank to back away from the fashion business. Although Morgan Stanley almost immediately ceased its analyst coverage of the luxury conglomerate following...

The Dell code.(The Month in Fashion)
April 1, 2004... It was only a matter of time before designers got inspired by Dan Brown's best-seller The Da Vinci Code, which focuses on arcane messages hidden in Renaissance artworks. Tim Gardner, the former creative director of Calvin Klein, was listening...

Beauty and the beat.(The Month in Fashion)
April 1, 2004... By the company's own admission, Tommy Hilfiger's fragrance business, which dipped about 30 percent last year, needs "a new energy" So the designer turned to pop star Beyonce Knowles--who's been flirting with the fashion world for some...

The balance sheet.(The Month in Fashion)
April 1, 2004... The financial activity surrounding some of luxury's hotter small brands is heating up, with several new transactions giving credence to a turnaround. Compagnie Financiere Richemont took a minority stake in the New York jewelry designer Mimi So,...

Keeps getting better.(The Month in Fashion)
April 1, 2004... There's a reason that merchandise in your average mall looks a lot better these days: Seventh Avenue has become obsessed with launching new collections for the "better" market-which, some have joked, is not so much a reference to the quality...

Curves ahead.(Flashback)
April 1, 2004... Azzedine Alaia is hard to pin down. He doesn't like to discuss exactly when he went into business. He offers the stores old styles when he doesn't have any new ones to share. He shows his collections when he's in the mood and on his own terms,...

Princesses Grace.(Fast Forward)
April 1, 2004... It's tempting to call them the Parisian Hilton sisters. But that would be unfair to Elisabeth and Maria-Theresia yon Thurn und Taxis, the two budding bombshell daughters of Princess Gloria yon Thurn und Taxis. Like the Hilton girls, the young...

The magicians of radiance: three products that excel in the art of creating the illusion and how better than any other how to capture the light and magnify the complexion. They can be used alone or in combination to reveal the radiance on each face. In short, they are indispensable and very Yves Saint Laurent.(Advertisement)
April 1, 2004... TOUCHE ECLAT pen-brush Like magic instant highlighter The favourite product of stars and top models, Touche Eclat is the greatest of highlighters. With a single "click", it releases an ultra-fine texture, which catches the light and...

Family ties.(Letter From the Editors)
April 1, 2004... April As anyone watching the radiant faces emerging from San Francisco's city hall this winter could attest, love doesn't come in just one form. Judging by the scores of children accompanying their newlywed, newly legitimized, same-sex...

Candid Cameron.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... Robert Haskell's assessment of Cameron Diaz ("The Movie Star," February) was so on target! She does make Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna seem like squares, and it is clear that she's the one making movies like Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle so...

A lot of bull.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... Regarding your news about Carolina Herrem Jr. and the Baez bullfighting dynasty she is soon to become a part of ("Suzy," February), I don't think that the bulls being tortured to death in the modern coliseums would consider bullfighting a...

Arcane mutiny.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... A recent "Letter From the Editors" (February) compares Hollywood's old-fashioned power structure to the "arcane" tribal rituals of the Yanomami. In fact, their rituals are anything but arcane. They grow gardens that am in harmony with the...

Mail persuasion.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... I am subscribing to your magazine right away! Judging from the February issue, W has just what I've been looking for in a fashion magazine. Michael Thompson's "Dance Fever" is fantastic--I love the captured movement, emotional expressions and...

Highs and lows.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... Countess Esterhazy's recent column employs a strange set of values ("All Fall Down," February). She criticizes Kenneth Lay, but fails to acknowledge the dubious connection Lay has to President Bush and Vice President Cheney. She praises Bush's...

Talking shop.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... After reading numerous articles about LVMH and its chairman Bernard Arnault, I have come to a conclusion: It's Bernard Amault's world--we just shop in it. Alan V. Vives Chicago, Ill.

Class act.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... Please accept my heartfelt thanks and admiration for your tibute to C .Z. Guest ("Great Dame," January), who in my estimation was, and remains, one of the greatest social stars and fashion icons of all time. They threw the mold away after...

Lost in Versailles.(Uncensored)
April 1, 2004... Sofia Coppola is going to need a new translator. The Lost in Translation director plans to set her next film in a world as foreign as modern Tokyo: 18th-century Versailles. Coppola has optioned Lady Antonia Fraser's biography Marie Antoinette:...

Happy camper.(Uncensored)
April 1, 2004... Karl Lagerfeld has found an unlikely alternative to private jet travel: a luxury RV. Frustrated by frequent weather delays to Biarritz, Lagerfeld decided to customize his very own sleek, silver camper trailer with a Sixties-chic, white leather...

Suite thing.(Uncensored)
April 1, 2004... Are hoteliers the new rock stars? Dating the lead singer used to thrill Hollywood's leading ladies, but now hooking up with a hotelier appears to be increasingly de rigueur among celluloid sirens. First there was Urea Thurman's liason with...

The Hillz are alive.(Uncensored)
April 1, 2004... Paris Hilton may make her big debut at Cannes this year--but not necessarily in the way she'd planned. In 2002, before striking reality-TV gold, Hilton starred in a low-budget indie called The Hillz. "It's not Gone With the Wind," admits...

Speak of the devil.(Uncensored)
April 1, 2004... Who will play the bobbed boss in the film version of "The Devil Wears Prada"? It's a pressing question in Hollywood as the script adapted from the best-seller nears completion. Word is that screenwriter Howard Gould's villainess is tailor-made...

Fantasy islands.(Uncensored)
April 1, 2004... Brioni chief executive Umberto Angeloni is developing a sprawling luxury resort on the suitmaker's namesake islands. Before it was bombed during World War II, the Brioni archipelago, in the Adriatic Sea, was a playground for Europe's...

Blues clues: a staple at home, on the town and everywhere in between, denim goes far beyond basic.(Trend)
April 1, 2004... If you're singing the blues, you're in good company--at least if those blues are of the denim variety. Sure, one could make the argument that denim never really goes out of style what girl doesn't have that favorite go-to pair of jeans, after...

Pretty young things: designers have discovered the value of looking stylish and feminine, and fall fashion showed it.(Fashion Flash)
April 1, 2004... Once upon a time, an old adage reminded young ladies that pretty is as pretty does. This season, fashion has amended that a bit. Now, as far as New York designers are concerned, pretty is as pretty looks. During the recent fall collections, an...

The insider story: three industry veterans find their own grooves, making hits at the same time.(Fashion Flash)
April 1, 2004... The mothers of invention are actually many, but necessity is still probably the best. So when three New Yorkers with packed fashion resumes launched lines that are rooted in things that they both need and love, it's not surprising that...

Star turn: aided by Carolina Herrera, Renee Zellweger makes a big impact on the red carpet.(Fashion Flash)
April 1, 2004... When a major movie star like Renee Zellweger climbs out of her limo and onto the red carpet, she knows that fashion watchers from Hollywood to Hoboken to Hong Kong will take the opportunity either to relish or to rip into her outfit. Strutting...

Male order: with John Galliano and Alexander McQueen behind the wheel, men's wear is running at full throttle.(Fashion Flash)
April 1, 2004... Tony Ward--Madonna's muscled ex-boy toy and sometime film star--stalked the runway like a sexual predator: his torso and thighs oiled and gleaming, his buttocks practically bursting out of his tattered denim shorts. Other models, cavorting...

The high life: head-turning wedges in glittering hues with pearlized accents are spring must-haves.(Accessories Flash)
April 1, 2004... Once a Seventies retro look, the wedge sandal is making a glamorous comeback. But forget wearing it with flared pants and peasant shirts. This season, the strappy numbers look best with the decidedly feminine dress code of the moment. For...

Welcome to the jungle: add a little edge to spring's feminine fashions with a fierce animal ring.(Accessories Flash)
April 1, 2004... As the weather warms up, pretty young things will be stocking up on playful spring dresses, strappy sandals and ultrafeminine accessories. Designers such as Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana and Miuccia Prada are showing vivid combinations of...

Treasure islands: for Burmese ruby earrings or a ring of Golconda diamonds, go on a hunt to private jewelry salons.(Accessories Flash)
April 1, 2004... Jewelry is a luxury, but it's a far more personal purchase than, say, a fur coat, a Bugatti or even a vacation in St. Barths. A woman wants to feel that her pink diamond necklace or cabochon sapphire ring is something that she alone possesses,...

Sole food: this season's sandals have a corner on comfort, and you don't have to leave the glam behind.(Accessories Flash)
April 1, 2004... One of the most telling signs that the winter season is turning from icy and dreary, to warm and playful is the debut of spring's first pedicure, And now this season's thaw is making way for a new crop of frisky sandals. Sparkle and glitz...

All abloom.(Shopping)
April 1, 2004... There's nothing better than getting flowers--specially when delivered in bold prints or dazzling gems. Echo Silk scarf, $30, at select Bloomingdale's and Marshall Field's stores [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Moschino Cheap & Chic Canvas...

The S-curve: from the red carpet to the operating table, the femme fatale figure returns.(Beauty Flash)
April 1, 2004... Watching celebrities flaunt their flesh at this season's premieres and award shows, it was easy to forget that the social X ray was ever in vogue. Actresses from Charlize Theron and Scarlett Johansson to Christina Ricci and Renee Zellweger...

Dangerous liaison: with a new scent, Boucheron creative director Solange Azagury-Partridge gets herself in Trouble.(Beauty Flash)
April 1, 2004... Talk about baptism by fire. If being tapped by Tom Ford to update the image of a fine jewelry, house as venerable as Boucheron wasn't enough pressure, try being asked to create a brand-new perfume at the same time--with zero fragrance...

Kiss and makeup.(Beauty Flash)
April 1, 2004... Ever since it launched the now-classic scent Beautiful 18 years ago, Estee Lauder has had a fragrant connection to the blushing bride. This month, the company introduces the Beautiful Bride Collection, filled with products created not only with...

Room service.(Beauty Flash)
April 1, 2004... It's not uncommon to travel to another city for a lift or tuck, but the best dental work can also mean changing time zones. With that in mind, New York's power dental duo, Marc Lowenberg D.D.S. and Gregg Lituchy D.D.S., have created the...

A day at the beach.(Beauty Flash)
April 1, 2004... Bored of hot stones? Trade them in for warm shells, nature's newest massage tools and the first stage of the Ultimate Facial, offered at the new Babor salon at haute Japanese emporium Takashimaya. This posh European spa has a Palm Beach outpost...

Queen tut.(Beauty Flash)
April 1, 2004... If anyone can make mummies cool, it's Pat McGrath, who transformed models into over-the-top pharaohs at the recent Dior couture show. "It's all based on Egyptians and the Fifties. We've used a lot of gold, so it's extremely rich," she says. Her...

Grin and bare it.(Beauty Flash)
April 1, 2004... Skin-care guru Cindy Barshop--who already has a cult Manhattan following thanks to her high-tech facials and Intense Pulsed Light hair-removal treatments--has recently opened her fourth day spa, Completely Bare at Barneys. Those who don't want...

Ring in spring fever.(Advertisement)
April 1, 2004... Exclusively from the Emotions Collection featuring the Jubilant Crown[R] Diamond, the "Fever" ring is a striking platinum three-stone diamond ring that captivates untamed desire. The Jubilant Crown's 73 facets make the diamond remarkably more...

Top-secret strategies for remarkable skin.(Advertisement)
April 1, 2004... You won't believe your eyes after using Reparative Formula, the latest breakthrough creation from Dr. Michelle Copeland Skin Care. This elegant cream, loaded with the latest anti-aging complex, greatly diminishes fine lines and wrinkles around...

Join the fight!(Advertisement)
April 1, 2004... Purchase this exquisite Elisa Ilana Breast Cancer Awareness bracelet and help fund breast cancer research and awareness. Many exclusive designs are available including a wide selection of mother's bracelets and custom jewelry. Call (402)...

Beauty without compromise.(Advertisement)
April 1, 2004... Have anti-aging treatments left your skin red and irritated? Even the most sensitive skin will benefit from the hottest new skincare craze, amino acids, boscia's Restorative Amino-3P Firming Treatment uses Palmitoyl Penta-Peptide, a combined...

Color chameleon: new Lancome creative director Gucci Westman gives the French company an American beauty.(Beauty Flash)
April 1, 2004... Gucci Westman is the Naomi Watts of makeup artists. She has labored under the radar for years, occasionally dispensing advice in a magazine story or being filmed working backstage at runway shows. But now. Westman's name is finally up in...

Life-changing beauty: from shimmer to gloss, this season's best products add the glamour to DIY.(Beauty Flash)
April 1, 2004... Bobbi Brown Beige Shimmer Brick Compact The sequel to Brown's blockbuster Bronze and Pink Shimmer Brick Compacts, this new quintet of luminous beiges offers a subtle glow for every complexion. The individual stripes may be used as eye...

The best in day spas and skin care salons.(Advertisement)
April 1, 2004... East Coast: Elizabeth Grady Skin Care Salons (800)FACIALS 30 salons in 5 states: CT, MA, NH, NY & RI website: www.elizabethgrady.com "Where Beauty Meets Medicine[TM]"--John P. Walsh, President Elizabeth Grady skin-care...

Heath wave.(Home Flash)
April 1, 2004... Talk about fashion plates. California company Heath Ceramics may have been around for 55 years, but its mid-century modern designs have never been hotter. Tastemakers like Tom Ford, Spike Jonze and publisher Lisa Eisner have all begun...

Mat time.(Home Flash)
April 1, 2004... ABC Carpet's new Shanti runners frame ancient Nepalese meditation mats with textured Tibetan wool rugs. Designer Madeline Weinrib, whose grandfather founded ABC, was eager to incorporate the mats she came across in her travels into something...

Screen idol.(Home Flash)
April 1, 2004... When the late French designer Jules LeLeu began crafting furniture from rare woods and precious metals in the Twenties, some of Europe's wealthiest families commissioned his pieces. Now a retrospective at New York's Maison Gerard will exhibit...

The Maloof manner: for Las Vegas casino king George Maloof, the party never ends. After all, it's his job.(Going Out)
April 1, 2004... "Everyone wants to know someone in Vegas," says George Maloof as his cell phone's endless buzz is drowned out by the ringing slot machines on the rollicking casino floor of the Palms. It's Superbowl weekend in Las Vegas, and a conga line of...

Outrageous luxuries.(Advertisement)
April 1, 2004... Luxury Style at its best... indulge in the season's over-the-top diamonds, decadent gems and timepieces. Louis Glick Exceptional diamond jewelry exclusively by Louis Glick. More glamour, more dazzle, more fashion. Price upon request....

Critical eye: Plum Sykes's fun-filled novel ... and Isabella Rossellini's beer-filled legs.(Reviews)
April 1, 2004... Journalists, let s face it, were never a particularly well-liked bunch, ranking somewhere between telemarketers and building contractors on the social food chain. But they're not all Jayson Blair-style sneaks and nut jobs. Take, for...

Party animals.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... "Naomi Campbell needs champagne," a harried waiter screamed furiously into his headset. Trouble was, so did everyone else who forced their way into the crowded Louis Vuitton store-opening party during New York's Fashion Week. Antonio Banderas,...

Unchained melody: with a new love and a risky new album, jazz chanteuse Diana Krall is singing a different tune.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... It's not exactly Britney and Justin, but for culture junkies of a certain vintage, hearing the news of silky-haired torch singer Diana Krall's romance with pop-punk pioneer Elvis Costello was one of those "Can you believe it?" moments in music...

Beauty and the beast: like tea and scones, cashmere and pearls, gorgeous women and big ugly men are a classic combination.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... The metrosexual's life, with its Paul Smith suits and weekly manicures, may be attracting new adherents every day, but women will always have a weakness for the manly man: the big, swarthy; sweaty--lug preferably with diamond cuff links--who...

Solid gold.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... In an effort, perhaps, to relieve the anxiety of waiting for the winner's envelope to open, Hollywood stars collided--literally at a spate of parties leading up to the Golden Globes. In West Hollywood, Cartier, MAC and W celebrated with Uma...

Everybody's all-American: he sings, he dances, he plays golf! Clean-cut Patrick Wilson is also turning into a serious film star.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... When describing his wrenching, Golden Globe-nominated performance in HBO's Angels in America, Patrick Wilson sounds like an athlete reviewing game film."I could sit here and watch it right now and want to do things a lot better," he says. "It's...

Roll call.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... Fashion designers rarely shun publicity, especially, at the glitziest of Parisian parties, where they are treated like royalty But at the Sidaction MDS benefit dinner, held in the Bois de Boulogne during Couture Week, no one dared to budge an...

Sugar Dandy: a new biography of Count d'Orsay reveals a 19th-century It boy who dressed for success.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... If there was ever a person born to pen a biography of Count d'Orsay, the famously charismatic dandy who counted Byron, Dickens and Disraeli among his fans, it's Nick Foulkes. Sporting a tweed check double-breasted suit, his jacket lined in...

The pom queen: with her passion for pomegranates, Lynda Resnick hopes to conquer Hollywood, and the planet.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... Lynda Resnick may be a billionairess with a splendid beaux arts mansion in Beverly, Hills, a big pile of art ranging from Boucher to Ruscha and a war chest of diamonds that even J. Lo would envy, but these days, the thing that really excites...

The first wives club.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... As first ladies go, California now boasts two of the chicest in recent memory San Francisco's new mayor, Gavin Newsom, took his inaugural oath at City Hall, while his wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom, stood proudly in a Chanel suit--and Maria...

Friendly skies.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... The stars flew TGA-that's Travolta Global Airways-to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, for a surprise "Jet Fete" in celebration of John Travolta's 50th birthday, thrown by his wife Kelly Preston, Sol Kerzner, Donna and Dan Aykroyd and Colleen Camp at...

Out of Africa: Alexander McCall Smith struck gold, and won over the social set, with his hefty lady detective.(Eye)
April 1, 2004... In the two-and-a-half years since his book The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was released Stateside, Alexander McCall Smith took a break from teaching medical law at the University of Edinburgh and found he didn't have much time to devote to...

Grand tradition.(April)
April 1, 2004... Thomas Gainsborough knew a thing or two about beauty and beauties, and so do the two women in our Gainsborough-inspired piece, "Painted Ladies," which features one good girl and one bad. The clothes are remarkable and include evening styles...

Painted ladies.(Fashion)(Cover Story)
April 1, 2004... In sprigged silk, dotted cotton and lace, these dressed-up women could have some straight from a Gainsborough. Rochas's silk and polyamide georgette jacket, at Barneys and Jeffrey, New York; Ikram, Chicago. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Springbreak.
April 1, 2004... There's nothing more all-American than preppy classics such as polo shirts, tennis sweaters and school blazers, under the Palm Beach sun. Balenciaga's acetate dress, by Nicolas Ghesquiere, at Emphatics, Pittsburgh. Louis Vuitton mules;...

Interiors.
April 1, 2004... Like pictures at an exhibition, beautiful, elegant gowns take on the quality of still lifes in a striking modern apartment. From left: Stella McCartney's silk chiffon dress, at Stella McCartney, New York. Nina Ricci's silk chiffon and lace...

Modern family: in the case of Donald and Mera Rubell and their children, the family that collects art together stay together.
April 1, 2004... Forty years ago, when Donald and Mera Rubell were newlyweds, he on his way to becoming a successful Manhattan obstetrician, she a Head Start teacher in Harlem, they began collecting art. With an initial budget of $25 a month, they gradually...

Earth angel: ethereal indie queen Tilda Swinton is suddenly turning up in studio films. Is Swinton going Hollywood, or is Hollywood going Swinton?(Profile)
April 1, 2004... She has studied at Cambridge and trained with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but somehow, it has all come down to this: standing in a pool of water in Burbank, California, taking a punch in the face from Keanu Reeves. Tilda Swinton,...