W articles from August 2004

W archives from August 2004

The couture conundrum.(The Month in Fashion)
August 1, 2004... The fate of fashion's highest form of expression, the French tradition of haute couture, has been thrown into question once again with the news that both Emanuel Ungaro and Donatella Versace have bid farewell to the world of six-figure gowns...

Monogram monogamy.(The Month in Fashion)
August 1, 2004... Finally, one of fashion's long-running human-resources contretemps has reached an amicable end. In the wake of Tom Ford's dramatic split from Gucci Group this year, Marc Jacobs broadcast his own unhappiness at rival conglomerate LVMH, where he...

Grand Marshall.(The Month in Fashion)
August 1, 2004... When Target Corp. announced last spring that it was putting the Midwestern department store chain Marshall Field's on the block, it was clear from the start that there were prime contenders for the coveted retailing nameplate. In the end, May...

Decades of Azzaro.(The Month in Fashion)
August 1, 2004... Loris Azzaro's career has only gotten hotter since the designer died last November. In a rare instance of fashion kismet, Azzaro's successor, Vanessa Seward--an assistant in the last year of his life--has proven to be a credible and chic...

Color forms.(The Month in Fashion)
August 1, 2004... Tokyo's esteemed Kyoto Costume Institute opened its archives recently to the avant-garde design team Viktor & Rolf for an unusual exhibition. The focus of their show, opening at the city's new contemporary Mori Art Museum on August 24, is the...

Blowing smoke.(Flashback)
August 1, 2004... We were all smitten. When Mikhail Baryshnikov arrived in New York in 1974, it seemed Americans couldn't get enough of the Russian dancer, who wore a floor-length fur coat with as much panache as he did lavish costumes and ballet shoes. "Even...

Saving Grace.(Fast Forward)
August 1, 2004... In the new film Maria Full of Grace, Colombian-born newcomer Catalina Sandino Moreno plays a Bogota teenager who becomes a drug mule, boarding a flight to New York with 62 heroin-filled capsules in her stomach. Moreno's own ticket out of Bogota...

In the hot seat.(Letter From the Editors)
August 1, 2004... August Lauded one day, vilified the next. It's a scenario all too familiar to seasoned celebrities, politicians, business tycoons and the like. But for a first-timer, the sudden transition from darling to damned can be more blinding than a...

Star crossed.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... I have subscribed to and admired W for well over 10 years, yet I felt saddened by your article on Catherine Zeta-Jones ("The Showgirl," July). She makes no apology for her privileged life and feels that everyone is critical of her decision to...

Expert opinion.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... I appreciated your article on the safety issues surrounding plastic surgery ("Doctors' Orders," June). It was thoughtful and informative. I do, however, wonder how you can call a dermatologist, Howard Sobel M.D., a liposuction expert. Please...

Ford motors.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... I want to thank you for the fabulous article ("Westward Ho," June) on Tom Ford. A bittersweet ending indeed! Like Marilyn Monroe and Fred Astaire in the cinema, Ford has become a legend in fashion. He has inspired beauty, passion, sensuality...

Belly up.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... I would like to thank you for the article on Gwyneth Paltrow ("Queen Mum," June). She is such a charismatic spirit and possesses a rare sophistication and class. I would also like to say that "Noir" (June), photographed by Craig McDean, was...

Sea for yourself.(Uncensored)
August 1, 2004... For celebrities attending the Olympics this month, privacy is a must. Fortunately, the gods are on their side. Following a change in Greek property laws last year, non-Greeks can now buy islands in the Aegean, and six sandy little retreats are...

Asset management.(Uncensored)
August 1, 2004... You may not know Paige Adams-Geller, the denim world's top fit model, but you know her behind. In recent years, Adams-Geller's tight posterior has determined the cut of virtually every pair of high-end women's jeans, from Seven and Earl to Blue...

Buying the farm.(Uncensored)
August 1, 2004... While corporate titans and their wives were bidding for a glamorous chunk of history at the recent estate auctions of Doris Duke and the Whitneys, a famous item of major provenance quietly changed hands in New Preston, Connecticut. Bill man's...

Bay watch.(Uncensored)
August 1, 2004... The nobs of Knob Hill haven't seen stars since Sharon Stone left town, but now the staid social scene--ruled by Ann Getty, Denise Hale and Danielle Steel--has a new flicker on the horizon. Michelle Pfeiffer and David E. Kelley have added a...

Winner's circle.(Uncensored)
August 1, 2004... Its not like he needed the cask, but when Karl Lagerfeld went on the French version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" in May, he played to win. The designer and his teammate, Carla Bruni, pulled in more than $56,000 to benefit Claude...

Best Western: frontier influences are taking centerstage in everything from fashion to vacation destinations.(Trend)
August 1, 2004... Did someone say giddyap? Maybe not--but there's definitely a Western wind blowing through town this season. With it come cowboy boots, a more stylish alternative to Uggs. Colorful saddle stitching turns up on the boots--as well as on blouses...

Be a sport: at Nike, science and style combine in a new range of futuristic and fabulous athletic gear.(Fashion Flash)
August 1, 2004... Just do it"--the motto by which Nike has built itself into the mother of all athletic brands--sounds simple enough: Buy the sneakers, put them on and play the game. A visit to Nike's 200-acre offices, in suburban Portland, Oregon, does...

The Ambassadors: Giorgio Armani enlists a new diplomatic corps of stylish women to spread his fashion message.(Fashion Flash)
August 1, 2004... Earlier this year, Eugenia Silva giggled to herself as she the models walk down Giorgio Armani's fall runway in Milan. Sitting in the front row, the former Armani model remembered what it was like to be under those lights, "and what it feels...

How tweed it is: forget Miss Marple and Marian the librarian. Luxurious tweeds have become It girl faves this season.(Accessories Flash)
August 1, 2004... Fashion's ode to the lady continues apace, so isn't surprising that designers have a penchant for Scotland's finest. From Chanel's gamine jackets to Versace's boldly patterned coats, revamped tweeds were showcased on the top runways for fall....

National treasure: with its first exhibition, the National Jewelry Institute honors the history of American baubles.(Accessories Flash)
August 1, 2004... Perhaps the strangest thing about American snobbery is how often it is directed toward America. It's true that painting, fashion, even ballet and haute cuisine have established grand traditions in this country, but when it comes to fine...

Sunday in the park: picnics are everybody's favorite weekend pastime, so pack your basket with these lazy-day looks.(Shopping)
August 1, 2004... 1 Tiffany & Co. Rhodolite ring, top, $21,500, and grossularite ring, by Jean Schlumberger, $36,000, at Tiffany & Co.; 800.526.0649 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2 Kate Spade Wicker and leather bag, $355, at Kate Spade nationwide;...

American splendor: everyone has an ideal of "American beauty." For a new line with that name, it's Ashley Judd.(Beauty Flash)
August 1, 2004... It's barely nine in the morning and the temperature's already blown past 90 degrees. On the outskirts of Palm Springs, California, a dusty, two-lane road that usually sees no more than the occasional tractor is packed with cars, SUVs and...

My left foot: rather than giving in to flats, our intrepid reporter opts for a bunionectomy.(Beauty Flash)
August 1, 2004... I have a large, ugly, bony, uncomfortable bump on my foot. It's right at the base of my big toe, disturbing the otherwise fluid, feminine curve that runs from my heel to my instep. When shoe shopping, I still try on the narrowest slip of a...

The best in day spas and skin care salons.(Advertisement)
August 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 "The perfect gift for all occasions."--John P. Walsh, President Elizabeth Grady skin-care products...

Smile on.(Luxe for Life)
August 1, 2004... Since its debut in 2002, the GoSmile whitening system has made fans out of boldfaced names, including Beyonce and Uma Thurman. But an aggressive amount of whitening ingredient (6 percent hydrogen peroxide) in the convenient ampoules relegates...

Scent appeal.(Luxe for Life)
August 1, 2004... Many products with cult followings have one common denominator: They're acquired tastes. This can certainly be said of Kiehl's Original Musk Oil. While some credit their love lives to the heady scent, others have deemed it a bit too much....

Shady Korner.(Luxe for Life)
August 1, 2004... Rebecca Korner comes from a long line of beauty pros: Her Hungarian-born grandmother founded the family business--the Madame Korner beauty center chain in Australia--way back in 1904. "I grew up in a very skin-conscious family that was well...

Playtime.(Luxe for Life)
August 1, 2004... One wonders what useless gift-with-purchase compact pushed the creators of Jouer Cosmetics to their breaking point. Frustrated by other companies' vast yet unwearable range of colors, Christina Zilber and Kerry Malouf created a highly blendable...

Domestic bliss.(Luxe for Life)
August 1, 2004... In the land of high fashion, life is like a musical--even the most quotidian tasks have a sense of whimsy. And so this September Tocca introduces Cucina, a line inspired by the Italian kitchen that elevates humdrum duties--from washing plates...

Life is sweet: Jacques Torres, the Mad Hatter of dessert, is bringing his cult chocolates back to Manhattan.(Going Out)
August 1, 2004... Not long ago, Jacques Tones mined on the TV and found himself bewitched--for what he says was probably the 17th time--by Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. "It's a dream, that place," Torres says of the movie's utopia of chocolate waterways...

One week, six socialites.(Eye)
August 1, 2004... How do they do it? Making it to one glamorous event without any fashion emergencies is ham enough, but these social butterflies manage to look stylish night after night after night after night--at least they did during one jam-packed week this...

Yo, Adrien: he won the best actor Oscar at 29, but Adrien Brody is still looking for the role of his life.(Eye)
August 1, 2004... Adrien Brody isn't wearing a suit. He lopes into a dive bistro in L.A. with a quicker, looser gait than his sloe-eyed look would suggest, his wide shoulders bare beneath a black tank top. The getup may be standard issue for a young Hollywood...

Starry, starry nights.(Eye)
August 1, 2004... With a celebrity roster that rivaled that of the Oscars, the Cannes Film Festival was perhaps the most star-studded ever. Cameron Diaz, Uma Thurman, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston all hit the red carpet and the whirlwind of...

Blond on blond.
August 1, 2004... Talk about lush. There's a special erotic charge to the fashion features this month, which are filled with the hair color gentlemen are said to prefer. It all starts with "La Belle et la Bete," which makes the most of a blond beauty, whose...

La Belle et la Bete: take platinum hair a la thirties Paris and add sensual lingerie. Something wicked this way comes.
August 1, 2004... [opposite] Gianfranco Ferre's navy silk lace top, at Gianfranco Ferre, New York. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [opposite] Dolce & Gabbana's lace bodysuit, from the designers' private archives. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [this page] La...

Scarlett: equal parts style and substance, Miss Johansson is one sexy starlet.(Profile)(Cover Story)
August 1, 2004... SUDDENLY, SCARLETT JOHANSSON IS EVERYWHERE. Swarming through the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute gala in a lemon-yellow Calvin Klein gown. Presenting at the Tony Awards with a kinked blond Jean Harlow bob and her whopping pout painted...

Fashion Vixen: goodness has nothing to do with it, so bring on the decadent chokers, colorful, sexy clothes and furs, furs, furs.
August 1, 2004... Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche's silk radzimir jacket and silk satin and organza skirt, at Neiman Marcus nationwide; Bergdorf Goodman, New York; Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. New York and Los Angeles, 800.832.3485, ysl.com. Leg Avenue...

Miller time: Sienna Miller and her beau, Jude Law, romp through New York.(Profile)
August 1, 2004... Sienna Miller sits in the lobby of New York's Mercer Hotel, sipping a glass of Pellegrino. She's decked out in a white Matthew Williamson dress, a vintage denim vest, dangly bracelets and cowboy boots, the kind of outfit you wear if you want to...

Prima Donna: after 20 years in business, Donna Karan takes stock of what's important in life, and celebrates it all at a party for friends and family.
August 1, 2004... When Donna Karan gives you an embrace, it's more like a body check. But then, this is a woman who often invokes the word "visceral" to describe her fondness for life's pleasures--whether tactile like cashmere and leather, or intangible like...

The state of Washington: Denzel Washington is about to turn 50, and Hollywood wants him more than ever. The feeling isn't entirely mutual.(Profile)
August 1, 2004... For a man who's won two Oscars, who earns more than $20 million a movie and who is a fixture in magazine roundups of the sexiest men alive, Denzel Washington doesn't have a whole lot of friends. As he sits in an empty Beverly Hills...

King Louis: at the ripe old age of 150, the luxury leather goods firm Louis Vuitton still rules, as evidenced by a quirky new fine jewelry line.
August 1, 2004... One of the images that best speaks to the power of modern luxury comes straight from the heart of Paris: tourists lining up by the dozens outside Louis Vuitton on the Champs-Elysees. Never mind that the landmark store is closed for renovations...