W articles from August 2007

W archives from August 2007

Moscow man.(The Month in Fashion)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... In May, as Bush and Putin were trading barbs about missile defense systems and the meaning of democracy, Ralph Lauren was doing his part to improve Russian-American relations. The designer--with family in tow--traveled to Moscow to open his...

Giorgio [love] NY.(The Month in Fashion)(Giorgio Armani plans to open massive store )(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Giorgio Armani is in a New York state of mind. In May the designer announced that he'll open a massive store on Fifth Avenue at 56th Street in fall 2008. At a whopping 47,000 square feet, the shop will have room to offer the designer's...

Generation gap.(The Month in Fashion)(Patrick Robinson appointed at Gap Inc.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Perhaps inspired by recent successful collaborations with Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, Thakoon Panichgul and Doo-Ri Chung, Gap hired fashion darling Patrick Robinson as executive vice president of design for North America. The...

Secondhand news.(News)(Decadestwo decided to expand the shop)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Where once used threads were sneered at by fashion snobs, they now carry a kind of insider cachet. Decadestwo, the Los Angeles resale shop where A-list actresses have been known to offload their gently worn clothes, has surely had much to do...

Hot chocolate.(The Month in Fashion)(Henri Bendel Inc. opened chocolate bar cafe)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... It's double the decadence. Shoppers at New York's Henri Bendel can now cap off a day of splurging on fashion with a peanut butter and chocolate bar sandwich, a batch of popcorn with chocolate dipping sauce and a warm spicy chocolate brownie...

Split ends.(The Month in Fashion)(Michael Vollbracht resigned at Bill Blass International L.L.C.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Another month, another round of designers hanging up their sketchbooks and pins. In May Bill Blass creative director Michael Vollbracht resigned after four years at the fashion house. While his collections were sometimes panned for being too...

Diamonds forever.(The Month in Fashion)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Ivanka Trump is something of a daddy's girl. The striking heiress serves as a senior vice president of her father's real-estate company and appeared as his sidekick on the last two seasons of The Apprentice. But for her latest venture she has...

Double time.(News)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Turns out Mary-Kate and Ashley aren't the only fashion muses in the Olsen clan. For their latest venture, a women's contemporary collection unveiled in May, the trendsetting twins used their younger sister, Elizabeth, and older brother, James,...

Farewell, Ferre.(Flashback)(Gianfranco Ferre)(In memoriam)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... "I hardly ever think of my ideal customer as particularly beautiful," Milanese fashion designer Gianfranco Ferre, who died in June of a brain hemorrhage at 62, told Win 1981. "But she must have one important thing--intelligence." Indeed,...

Face time.(Fast Forward)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... "Somewhere there's a museum show in here," says sculptor Matthew Monahan as he tramps through his Los Angeles studio. "Each day I'm trying to find it." As Monahan, 35, prepares his first solo museum exhibition, opening at L.A.'s Museum of...

Summer lovin'.(Letter From the Editors)
August 1, 2007... What with the strangely satisfying incarceration of Paris Hilton and the mercifully lengthy rehab stint of Lindsay Lohan, summer got off to a calm start. The relative absence of the gossip-page staples also made it clear that the tabloids could...

Style over star power.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... Thank you for showcasing Naomi Campbell so exquisitely on the June cover. The article and layout ("The Naomi Diaries") were also refreshingly creative. I must admit that lately I have been turned off by your magazine's increasing practice of...

A fond farewell.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... I was saddened to read in your June issue that New York socialite Pat Buckley had died ("One of a Kind"). While I didn't know Mrs. Buckley personally, I loved reading articles in W about her. It's hard for me to believe her death is having this...

Health nuts.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... As a certified fitness professional, I was frankly confounded by the health regime of personal trainers Jerzy and Aniela Gregorek ("Body Language," June). Five minutes of meditation and the idea that "in balance is wisdom" are certainly...

The opposite of sexy.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... The models in your May fashion shoot "Revelation" looked starved and depraved. I can't begin to understand how that helps sell the shoes and clothes that were featured in the photos. I get the set: The marble floors are great, and the edgy feel...

A hard pill to swallow.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... I was disappointed to read that John Travolta shares fellow Scientologist Tom Cruise's negative views on psychiatric medication ("Stayin' Alive," July). I hope that in the future your magazine will feature celebrities who are willing to talk...

Big good night.(Uncensored)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Spider-man cast a wide net at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art's annual Fresh benefit this summer. Art collector Tobey Maguire could be seen actively bidding in a silent auction of works donated by Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari and...

Put a cork in it.(Uncensored)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Joel Robuchon is hardly an oenophile. "My favorite wine is a wine that can be drunk without moderation--and without making you sick," he says. But that hasn't stopped the French chef from opening La Cave de Joel Robuchon, a wine store off the...

Give 'em the book.(Uncensored)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... An English featherweight is targeting Hollywood's heavyweights. Smythson of Bond Street--the venerable stationer known for its "featherweight" blue paper--is opening on Rodeo Drive in August. But don't expect the blueblooded firm to go bonkers...

Band aid.(Uncensored)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... With his diamond and platinum skull on the market for a cool $90 million, Damien Hirst is the furthest thing there is from a struggling artist. But, it seems, he hasn't forgotten the little people. Hirst recently bankrolled the debut album of...

Icing on the cake.(Uncensored)
August 1, 2007... Should society wedding-cake queen Sylvia Weinstock be quivering in her custard? Ritzy New York City event designer DAVID MONN has lately been whipping up cakes for his high-profile friends. Bergdorf Goodman senior vice president LINDA FARGO is...

Trend: in the thick of it: size matters--at least when it comes to this season's knitted goods.(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Everyone loves a cozy knit. Now the cold weather favorite gets bigger, beefier and bolder with amped-up texture and proportions. On the fall runways, designers moved away from refined takes in favor of oversize knits that were chunky and raw....

Loud and clear: the message in accessories? Go bold or go home.(Accessories Flash)
August 1, 2007... From top: Etro's beaded silk scarf. $1,475, at Neiman Marcus 888.888.4757: Balenciaga's viscose and linen scarf with gold and metal coins, $2,595, at Balenciaga, New York, 212.206.0872: Alexander McQueen's chiffon scarf, $435, at Alexander...

Jewel intentions: just hue it: make a dazzling statement in a bevy of bright, bewitching tones.(Shopping)
August 1, 2007... Escada Wool coat, $2,590, at Escada; 800.869.8424 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Blumarine Duchesse silk dress, $3,085, at select Neiman Marcus stores [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ports 1961 Silk charmeuse dress, $725, at select Nordstrom...

Smooth operator: Giorgio Armani debuts a silky new skincare line.(Beauty Flash)
August 1, 2007... Every summer, Giorgio Armani bids arrivederci to the Milanese palazzo he calls home and flies to the Sicilian island of Pantelleria, where he spends August at his sprawling mountainside abode overlooking the jewel-toned sea. With its arid...

Dress rehearsal: for New York's young socials, getting ready for a party is now an occasion in itself.(Beauty Flash)
August 1, 2007... It's not yet teatime in the penthouse suite of the SoHo Grand and already many of New York's young socials are on their second glass of wine, waiting their turn to get their hair and makeup done for the evening's black-tie Costume Institute...

Room to share: when hotel suites don't suffice, destination clubs can be a home away from home.(Travel Flash)
August 1, 2007... In her younger days, New York socialite Susan Fales-Hill hotel-hopped in style. She jetted to Paris at a moment's notice, checked in to the Ritz and ordered breakfast in bed. In Italy she and her husband, Aaron, stayed at Positano's tony hotel...

Late bloomers.(EYE)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... It was a springtime lovefest in New York as artists and designers were showered with honors. At the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, Kate Bosworth, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Ellen Barkin and a tardy Oprah Winfrey (she was an...

Fight the power: forget money and Maybachs, M.I.A. would rather rap about war.(EYE)
August 1, 2007... The Sri Lankan rap artist known as M.I.A. is literally missing in action. It's late May, and she's supposed to be en route to the Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington, where, to promote her new album, she was booked to perform alongside Bjork...

Life after Prince Charming: it's not easy being a royal ex. Can London's hottest new bachelorette, Kate Middleton, break the curse?(EYE)
August 1, 2007... Prince William? Who's he, again? Royally spurned Kate Middleton, the freshly minted ex-girlfriend of Britain's future king, has so far been managing her new singleton status with trademark aplomb. One minute she's off to Asprey for a book...

Cannes dos.(EYE)
August 1, 2007... "Cannes is like meeting up with the family," said Juliette Binoche between air kisses during the perennially glittering French film festival. But what family includes Catherine Deneuve, Carla Bruni, Matt Damon and Ellen Barkin? They, along with...

What, me worry? Angst is an asset for actor Adam Goldberg.(EYE)
August 1, 2007... Adam Goldberg can pinpoint the very day he became neurotic. "It was the week before I turned 13," he recounts. "Before that, I was a kid who played Little League, and then all of a sudden I was a full-fledged neurotic, with panic attacks and...

Letter from London: the latest news from Britain's mad, mad art world.(EYE)
August 1, 2007... He's like a greedy octopus, grabbing everything in his long tentacles," says a London curator about Sir Nicholas Serota, the director of the Tate and, according to ArtReview, the third most powerful person in the art world, after Francois...

Secrets and lies: Sophie Gee's new book proves that hooking up and gossiping are hardly modern phenomena.(EYE)(In memoriam)
August 1, 2007... Sophie Gee's debut novel, The Scandal of the Season, is a work of historical fiction centered on Alexander Pope. But before you give in to that tickle of a yawn in the hack of your throat, consider this: According to Gee, Pope was not just an...

Dark hours.(W.08)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... There's a little black magic at work this month. When the toys begin to play, for instance, beware! That's the message of INTO THE WOODS, our fashion feature starring a fairy-tale heroine dressed in bows and furs, big-shouldered or detailed...

Into the woods: toys come to life as a beribboned, befurred doll--wearing chubbies and long-haired numbers with bold shoulders--gets caught up in a sinister teddy bears' picnic.
August 1, 2007... Etro's fox fur coat, at Etro, New York; Rosamosario's Lycra spandex and viscose briefs with handmade silk chiffon rosettes, rosamosario.com. Chanel bow; Wendy Gell bear. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fendi's goat fur jacket, at select Fendi...

Forty something: something mysterious this way comes: dark pieces that blend a strong dose of forties film noir with a dash of seventies divine decadence. Think streamlined gowns, narrow frocks and sharply shaped coats, punctuated by smart hats.
August 1, 2007... Calvin Klein's cashmere dress, at Calvin Klein Collection, New York. Fallon earrings; Etro bracelet and ring. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Roberto Cavalli's sequined silk taffeta dress, at Roberto Cavalli, robertocavalli.com. Etro rings;...

American idols: stripped down, sexy and worth a fortune, the UK's hottest couple, David and Victoria Beckham, prepare to hop the pond. Their goal: total domination. 90210, meet your new neighbors.(Cover story)
August 1, 2007... It's a hot May afternoon, and Victoria, clad in a tight red tank top and short shorts, is berating a rather hapless-looking gentleman with a long list of items she needs for her imminent move to Los Angeles--now! Tabloid readers would instantly...