W articles from March 2007

W archives from March 2007

Corrections.(Correction notice)
March 1, 2007... In "Venezia," (February 2007), the hat on page 238 was incorrectly credited. It is by Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen. In "Totally Tokyo" (December 2006), the address listed for the tearoom Higashiya was incorrect. The correct address...

Special K.(The Month in Fashion)
March 1, 2007... Don't underestimate the determination of the Kaiser. After the plug was pulled on Karl Lagerfeld's eponymous contemporary line by parent company Tommy Hilfiger last June--before the first samples were even shipped to stores--a less driven...

Gwen and how.(Gwen Stefani to launch perfume with Coty Inc.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Before Gwen Stefani became a pop icon and budding fashion mogul, she was just a girl from Orange County, California, who earned her dough selling sportswear at a department store in the Anaheim Plaza Mall. Her dream, in those days, was to work...

Logo motion.(The Month in Fashion)
March 1, 2007... In January Fifth Avenue regulars were scratching their heads at the sudden surge of shopping bags printed with obscure black and white logos. Had a new retail powerhouse opened its doors in midtown? Turns out the bags were from Saks Fifth...

Perfect 10.(Colette department stores)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... It's not uncommon to see the lights on at Colette well past closing time. Colette Roussaux and her daughter, Sarah Lerfel--the team behind the famed boutique on rue Saint-Honore in Paris--often work into the wee hours spiffing up displays and...

Lickety splits.(The Month in Fashion)
March 1, 2007... Judging by the recent goings-on in the fashion industry, breaking up isn't so ham to do. Days before Christmas, designer Cynthia Steffe parted ways with Bernard Chaus Inc., which owns her label. Steffe, whose contract had expired, wouldn't...

Fresh from Paris.(Paris Hilton endorses Dollhouse brand for BBC Apparel Group)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... After taking a largely forgettable stab at singing and acting, Paris Hilton has decided to give fashion a go. In early January, the famous-for-being-famous blond signed a deal with BBC Apparel Group--which owns the teen-focused Dollhouse...

Having a Blass.(The Month in Fashion)
March 1, 2007... Even in this age of mergers and acquisitions, hanging a FOR SALE sign on the door of a storied fashion house doesn't always guarantee an instant transaction. Such was the case with Bill Blass, which searched for almost two years before landing...

Fit for royalty.(News)
March 1, 2007... Many little girls dream of being a princess. For designer Nupur Jordon, being just a princess wasn't enough. Born Nupur Rana Jaisl Kapoor Pratup Singh Jordon, princess of Jaislmer, in Rajasthan, India, Jordon was expected to marry an Indian man...

Walking papers.(Council of Fashion Designers of America to prevent anorexia in fashion models)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Madrid Fashion Week's ban on ultrathin models was laughed off by more than a few fashion snobs. Spain's runways, after all, don't exactly attract cream-of-the-crop supermodels. But when 21-year-old model Ana Carolina Reston died from anorexia...

Smart cookies.(The Month in Fashion)
March 1, 2007... Underweight models looking to pack on a few pounds before their mandatory pre-Fashion Week weigh-ins need look no further than their favorite designer boutiques. Increasingly, the top labels are discovering that the surest way to a customer's...

An American sale.(Endeavor Acquisition Corp. acquires American Apparel Inc.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Dov Charney, the perennially outspoken founder of Los Angeles-based American Apparel, has created a worldwide phenomenon with his colorful T-shirts, sexually charged advertising campaigns and rapidly growing chain of boutiques. While the...

Sweet smell of style.(Bond No. 9 introduces Bryant Park scent)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... "It's not discreet. It's not quiet," says Bond No. 9 founder Laurice Rahme of her latest scent, Bryant Park. "It's for people who are not afraid to be daring and audacious." Clearly Rahme knows a thing or two about the crowd that fills the...

For the boys.(Continental Bath & Health Club )(Organization overview)
March 1, 2007... How did a gay bathhouse located in a dank Upper West Side basement become one of New York's hottest nightspots in the Seventies? For starters, it booked Bette Midler as a cabaret act. In 1970 the Continental Bath & Health Club (nicknamed the...

Dutch treat.(an interview with Carice van Houten )(Interview)
March 1, 2007... There were severe/things that made 30-year-old Dutch actress Carice van Houten a shoo-in for the leading role of a Jewish lounge singer who escapes death by seducing a Nazi officer in director Paul Verhoeven's new World War II thriller, Black...

Step class.(Letter From the Editors)
March 1, 2007... In an age when fallen celebrities seem to treat rehab like a 30-day personality makeover--anti-Semitic? homophobic? fond of one-night stands? even more fond of underage interns?--it's easy to be cynical about the whole 12-step culture. Under...

February sweeps.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... I just received my February W in the mail, and I have to say that it is outstanding. I had actually been feeling rather dismayed with the fashion and photo shoots featured in your magazine recently, but this issue is by far the best I have...

Artistic license.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... I'd like to clarify comments I made in the article "A+" (January) regarding my project sleepwalkers that was projected on the surfaces of the Museum of Modern Art. My comments suggested that our filming in an old subway tunnel on Atlantic...

Down on Dolce.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... As the owner of a professional cosmetics studio who displays W in my shop, I would like to comment on your very prominent photo layout "Stefano + Domenico's Dolce Vita" (February). Both my customers and I felt that the pictures were in bad...

Laugh lines.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... Thank you for profiling the comedic actress Catherine O'Hara in your December issue ("Funny Lady"). I am ashamed to admit it, but since Ms. O'Hara is close to my age I sometimes scrutinize her face to see if she has had any cosmetic surgery. It...

Weight watchers.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... While I loved every piece of clothing that the model was wearing in your January fashion spread "Bare Essentials." I was shocked by her minuscule figure. Nothing could mare me stop reading your magazine, but I feel this issue should be...

Miller high life.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... When I read the January profile on Sienna Miller ("Miller Lite") detailing her mid-interview indulgence in Pinot Grigio and cupcakes, I envisioned her as a friend of mine who just happened upon being famous. I've always admired Ms. Miller for...

Oval office panache.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... Thanks for featuring Nancy Reagan in your January issue (Flashback). While some dismiss the former first lady as a clotheshorse, I think she was a perfect specimen of the American woman. As a star, wife, mother and government representative,...

Golden Gate grumbles.(Readers React)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... Larry Sultan's photographs of San Francisco's social set ("Pacific Heights," January) are really funny stuff; for instance, the shot of socialite Dede Wilsey where her maid is lighting a candelabra in the foreground. Unfortunately, the article...

Royal flush.(Uncensored)(Segolene Royal )(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Attractive, slender and possessed of a winning smile, French presidential hopeful Segolene Royal is very mediatique, as they say in France. Yet in a country chockablock with couturiers, there has hardly been a rush to dress the Socialist...

Market forces.(Uncensored)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Tom Parker Bowles, Prince Charles's foodie stepson, is hitting the British airwaves with a new cooking show called The Market Kitchen. Parker Bowles will be one of a panel of food experts--including Gordon Ramsay's wife, Tana--hosting the show...

Generation gap.(Uncensored)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... A Beverly Hills grande dame is getting gussied up to meet Hollywood's junior party crowd. In April the staid Beverly Hills Hotel will open Bar Nineteen12 across the lobby from the Polo Lounge, a local institution with a piano-bar vibe that...

Eau de Huit.(Uncensored)(Owner Any Sacco)(Antica Farmacista)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Soon you'll be able to bring the scent of New York City's ever popular Bungalow 8 into your own home. And, no, it won't smell like vodka, cigarettes and sweat. Owner Any Sacco has teamed with Antica Farmacista to create a signature aroma for...

Quack attack.(Sense About Science)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Celebrities aren't the sort to let facts get in the way of a nifty sound bite. MADONNA once claimed she was involved with "finding a way to neutralize radiation," while ELLE MACPHERSON deemed food additives "harmful. Now the UK charity Sense...

She's come undone: the key to spring's romantic look is dressing perfectly imperfect.(Trend)
March 1, 2007... Dishabille"--such a funny word. Hardly the most glamorous of terms, it suggests a wide range of loose sartorial states, from mildly careless to completely unkempt. Yet there's something wonderfully intriguing about it, especially when it comes...

Avril blooms: once the reigning teen of punk, Avril Lavigne polishes up her look.(Fashion Flash)
March 1, 2007... Five or so years ago, it seemed as if every teenager--and anyone related to one was overloading on the too-sweet pop confections of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson. Then all of a sudden from the north (Napanee, Ontario,...

Simons says: Raf Simons fits the role of Jil Sander designer like one of his expertly tailored jackets.(Fashion Flash)
March 1, 2007... The latest addition to Raf Simons's groovy, James Bond--worthy apartment in Antwerp is a George Nakashima wooden sofa, its base wrought from a giant slab of walnut and the backrest a chorus of pencil-thin hickory spindles. When a visitor...

A Starck style: Nori Starck, the newest member of Venice's glitterati, believes in minis, tutus and trapper caps.(Fashion Flash)
March 1, 2007... At the Venice apartment of Nori Vaccari Starck the fun starts in the closet, where clouds of frothy tulle hang from the ceiling. Here, tutus aren't mere girly decoration; they're Starck's wardrobe staples. "My closet is a bit of a costume...

The small stuff: Cordelia de Castellane channels her love of fast fashion into a children's wear collection.(Fashion Flash)
March 1, 2007... One of the most beautiful members of Paris's young social set, statuesque brunette Cordelia de Castellane always looks red-carpet magnificent in her Emanuel Ungaro cocktail dresses and Christian Louboutin heels. But this young fashion fanatic,...

Monkey business: with his coveted label A Bathing Ape, cult Japanese designer Nigo is going global in his streetwise style.(Fashion Flash)
March 1, 2007... Remember Planet of the Apes? Nigo does. Thought to be the owner of the world's largest collection of memorabilia from that sci-fi film franchise, the 36-year-old Japanese deejay-turned-designer made it the springboard for his A Bathing Ape...

Hash landing: after years on the fringe, the quirky Anne Valerie Hash is ready for her spotlight.(Fashion Flash)
March 1, 2007... When Anne Valerie Hash first emerged as an upstart ready-to-wear designer on the couture circuit in July 2001, her topsy-turvy collection struck a chord. The show, titled Fille-Male, a deconstructed tale best remembered for its hybrid...

Style bytes: from cashmere to T-shirts, fashion that shows your stars and stripes.(Fashion Flash)
March 1, 2007... Naught-tees When Gareth Pugh took his bow during London Fashion Week dressed in a House of Holland T-shirt bearing the slogan GET YER FREAK ON GILES DEACON, it sparked a mini fashion-quake. "I can't keep up with demand," says Henry...

Pretty, please: tired of wearing modern art on your feet? For spring, delicate shoes are on the rise.(Accessories Flash)
March 1, 2007... A few seasons ago, designers re-embraced chunky platforms and wedge heels with gusto, and the fashion flock was instantly abuzz. Editors trilled about inflated shapes and fashion's love affair with volume. With that, a major trend was born yet...

Bud light: tiny blooms usher in the season.(Accessories Flash)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Come spring, the return of the floral motif to fashion is almost as reliable as April showers. This year's blooms have been miniaturized, as on Louis Vuitton's cotton scarf, the season's ultimate accessory with its playful print and gauzy...

Royal jewel: meet working princess Lucia Odescalchi, a designer who takes gems--but not her title--seriously.(Accessories Flash)(Biography)
March 1, 2007... Don't call Lucia Odescalchi a principessa. Although the Italian jewelry designer officially landed the title after marrying Carlo Odescalchi in 1987 (his family traces its noble lineage, which includes a pope, back to medieval Italy), the...

Magic time machine: jeweler Andreas von Zadora-Gerlof is changing the face of time.(Accessories Flash)
March 1, 2007... Andreas von Zadora-Gerlof likes to say that he's turning time on its side. After all, the faces of his new bespoke watches feature not mundane hour and minute hands but elaborately bejeweled miniature frog princes, snakes and, for more delicate...

The shining: spring's most decadent baubles are loaded with gems.(De Beers Group S.A. introduces Verdura's brooch line of necklaces)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... When the sun sets, it's time for women adorned with truly opulent jewels to light up the night. And who wouldn't want to be the evening's grandest star by flashing a showstopping piece of jewelry? With its dizzying array of round and...

True blue: denim returns to its dark roots.(Accessories Flash)
March 1, 2007... From Dolce & Gabbana to Target, everyone's done denim: stonewashed, faded, distressed or fashioned into thigh-high couture boots, the latter courtesy of Chanel's ever fascinating Karl Lagerfeld. While such fare may flow in and out of fashion,...

Color me beautiful: classic watches get a boost from rainbow-bright bands.(Accessories Flash)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Burnt orange, blue-violet, brick red and Granny Smith apple. The list of colors sounds straight from the contents of a Crayola box, but it's also the vibrant lineup of new, exotic-skin band offerings from a slew of stately watchmakers. After...

All that glitters: highlights from the gem world to keep you sparkling all season long.(Accessories Flash)
March 1, 2007... Gold Rush Mikimoto brought cultured pearls to the masses at the turn of the 20th century, but the company's latest offerings are all about exclusivity. The Collection Couleur Soleil, comprising 23 one-of-a-kind pieces made in Japan, pays...

Dress conference: whether with discreet decoration or all frilled up, dress to thrill this season.(Shopping)
March 1, 2007... Salvatore Ferragamo Silk organza dress, $3,800, at Salvatore Ferragamo, New York [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Alberta Ferretti Silk and acrylic dress, $1,995, at select Saks Fifth Avenue stores [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hussein...

Jane Larkworthy finds peace in dentistry, microdermabrasion and hair care.(BEAUTY BUZZ)
March 1, 2007... 1 | THE WHOLE TOOTH These days there's a lot more to "natural" dental care than Tom's of Maine toothpaste. The one-year-old Sutra Dental Spa in La Mesa, California--where patients can indulge in an oxygen bar and massages after their Invisalign...

Hair today, gone tomorrow? One woman's quest to find a fix for her thinning tresses.(the ultimate solution to prevent hair thinning)(Viewpoint essay)
March 1, 2007... I have long envied glamorous women like Maria Callas or Eva Peron who could effortlessly pull their hair back into glossy chignons the size of a softball. When wrestled into a chignon, my hair--if we're keeping to sports analogies--bears closer...

Sweet release: a new season brings a fresh crop of spring florals--shimmery skin smoothers and soft scents.(Beauty Flash)
March 1, 2007... Sugar Buster Everyone knows that eating too much sugar can cause cavities, but many aren't aware that sugar promotes glycation, a biological process that, among other things, weakens collagen and hardens elastin, causing skin to wrinkle....

Water shed: salons are offering quicker and cleaner methods for mani-pedis-[H.sub.2]O not included.(Beauty Flash)
March 1, 2007... In the late Nineties, when manicurist Deborah Lippmann worked backstage at fashion shows, she'd crouch under tables to clip and lacquer near all sorts of electrical outlets, video cameras and blow-dryers. Carrying basins of water around was not...

French connection: Kim Moltzer reclaims high furniture design.(Home Flash)
March 1, 2007... Kim Moltzer sits in his dimly lit study above Paris's Place Saint-Sulpice commenting sotto voce on the thick dossier of archived projects cluttering his desk. As the 69-year-old furniture designer inspects a sketch of colorful squares that...

Dream of Africa: with its bustling nightlife and careworn glamour, Mozambique's capital city of Maputo is drawing a new generation of posh Euros.(Travel Flash)(City overview)
March 1, 2007... Deco buildings and swaying palms line the sunny beachfront. Though deserted in the morning, it's throbbing by afternoon with soccer games, beer vendors, Latin music and locals sashaying to and fro. The vibe is straight out of South Beach, but...

Great expectations.(EYE)
March 1, 2007... Rarely do you find Park Avenue ladies loitering on the Lower East Side, but Chanel persuaded a train of uptown girls--including Marjorie Raein, Jennifer Creel and Brooke de Ocampo--to head downtown to nightspot the Box to celebrate its new fine...

Alicia ascendant: singer-songwriter-pianist-producer Alicia Keys adds film acting to her resume.(EYE)(Interview)
March 1, 2007... This past September, Alicia Keys went on her first real vacation. This wasn't some weekend getaway attached to the end of a tour or a stopover to break up a long flight like she had always done in the past. No, this was a "vay-cay-tion," she...

Photo ops.(EYE)
March 1, 2007... As the run-up to the Golden Globes proved, there's nothing like champagne to settle pre-awards show jitters. David Yurman, W and Chanel each threw star-studded fetes, with the French fashion house attracting Kate Bosworth, Rachel Bilson and...

Recovery mission: drug overdose and scandal behind him, Agnelli heir Lapo Elkann emerges with a new attitude.(EYE)(Biography)
March 1, 2007... For someone who is often called Italy's best dressed man, Lapo Elkann, the 28-year-old scion of the Agnelli clan, manages to reveal a lot more about himself when he takes his clothes off than when he puts them on. Scattered across his arms,...

Bubblicious.(Guggenheim Artist's Ball)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... A nearly naked performance artist in a bubble, a cigarette-smoking mime and an army of dancers on stilts were among the entertainers drawing stares this year at the Guggenheim Artist's Ball, honoring Pipilotti Rist. "I think they're aliens,"...

The cable guy: as president of HBO Films, Colin Callender attracts big talent to the small screen.(EYE)
March 1, 2007... It 's a sparkling, afternoon in January, but inside HBO Films president Colin Callender's Santa Monica office, heavy wooden blinds filter the daylight almost to the point of gloom. "I'm an Englishman," says Callender, just days before HBO Films...

Miami vices.(party at Craig Robins )(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... "Art Basel is a souk," joked conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner at a dinner thrown by Miami Design District developer Craig Robins at Robins's Sunset Island home. It was just one of a countless number of bashes during the December art fair in...

A family affair: in a revealing book, writer David Profumo opens up about the scandal that rocked his childhood.(EYE)(Interview)
March 1, 2007... Many adults can still remember the day they found out there isn't a Santa Claus--some can even picture the bigmouthed kid who relayed the news. For London writer David Profumo, the Santa revelation is overshadowed by a far more dramatic...

American idol: after more than two decades on the radio, This American Life host Ira Glass takes on television.(EYE)(Biography)
March 1, 2007... Last spring, Ira Glass, host of the much beloved public-radio storytelling show This American Life, packed up his apartment in Chicago, the city he'd called home since 1989, and moved to New York. It sounds like a big change, but to hear Glass...

Night at the museums.(EYE)
March 1, 2007... "I wouldn't miss the opening of a door," the late Nan Kempner often said. So, though the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's fashion exhibit "Nan Kempner: American Chic" was quite the opposite, it was fitting that so many of her...

Mr. clean: married, sober and on the road to career salvation, Robert Downey Jr. pulls no punches.(Interview)
March 1, 2007... Robert Downey Jr. drops himself onto a long white leather sofa in his Brentwood, California, living room, places a tiny blue ashtray and pack of unfiltered Camel cigarettes on the coffee table and reaches down for one of two elegant boxes on...

Ruffled feathers.(Marc Jacobs's annual holiday bash )(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Masked revelers at Marc Jacobs's annual holiday bash at Gotham Hall took the Venice Carnival theme to heart, partying as if the city of canals would be underwater by morning. Gondoliers hit up the champagne fountain, French poodles flirted with...

History girl: art mines the past to tell a very different story.(biography of Kara Walker)(Biography)
March 1, 2007... The art is fierce. Raunchy, defiant, grotesque, in your face, unsettlingly violent, racially charged, epic, fiendishly satirical. And fierce. The woman who makes the art is not. On a crisp winter morning in New York's garment district,...

Spring ahead.
March 1, 2007... Oh, to experience the glamour and extravagance of Truman Capote's famed Black and White Ball, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott journey back in time with WELCOME TO MY WORLD. Next, in Craig McDean's painterly HOTHOUSE, Karen Elson sizzles while...

Welcome to my world: join us in masked glamour, witty banter and sexy extravagance.
March 1, 2007... Tao's white cotton blouse, at Barneys New York and Comme des Garcons, New York. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From left: Alexander McQueen's hooded black silk crepe jacket and skirt, at Alexander McQueen, New York. Shaun Leane for Alexander...

Hot house: hot enough for you? It's easy to get steamy in brief, colorful cocktail and party numbers that are all dressed up with no place to go.
March 1, 2007... Prada's silk satin top and silk gabardine skirt, at select Prada stores, 888.977.1900: Agent Provocateur's silk briefs, at Agent Provocateur, New York and Los Angeles. Prada belt. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [this page] Gucci's silk...

X-Urbia: in a suburbia on the verge of a physical breakdown, stylish battle gear is what's needed in the form of sleek, linear clothes with an air of armor.
March 1, 2007... Yves Saint Laurent's leather top, at Yves Saint Laurent, ysl.com; Dainese's leather paints, dainese.com. Wolford hosiery; Balenciaga shoes. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From left: Etro's silk tank top, at Etro, New York; Jil Sander's...

Ellen: a decade ago Ellen DeGeneres made a decision that left her career and her personal life in ruins. Thriving once more, she talks about the long road back and her date with Oscar.(Profile)(Interview)
March 1, 2007... Legendary Balanchine ballerina Maria Tallchief once told me that she became an Ellen DeGeneres fan after watching her on Hollywood Squares. Joseph Kuhn, a gay art-semiotics major at an East Coast university, Tivos DeGeneres every day. And at a...

Ile de la mode: a day at the beach provides an excellent excuse to pile on the accessories. Channel Millicent Rogers or a young Diana Vreeland in elaborate sunglasses, stylish shoes and, of course, towering head wraps, along with short shorts.
March 1, 2007... Louis Vuitton's cotton tank top and silk taffeta and organza skirt, at Louis Vuitton, 866. VUITTON, louisvuitton.com. Louis Vuitton headbands, sunglasses, scarf, bracelets, bag and sandals; Alyssa Norton bracelets; Bottega Veneta belt. ...