W articles from November 2003

W archives from November 2003

Designers' true colors.(The Month in Fashion)
November 1, 2003... Are red and blue the new black? Recent Federal Election Commission records and a poll of designers show that some key players in the industry have already begun backing candidates in the 2004 presidential election. A full year before the...

Playing the field.(The Month in Fashion)
November 1, 2003... As usual, this fall's advertising campaigns are chock-full of celebrities posing for the world's leading fashion houses. But none display as much passion as UK soccer star Freddie Ljungberg, who appears in provocative images promoting the debut...

A fresh remix.(The Month in Fashion)
November 1, 2003... Perry Ellis and Generra, two brands that draw distinctive memories of the slouchy sweaters and sporty skater streetwear that epitomized the teenage spirit of the Eighties, are both trying to become relevant to another generation of American...

Portable paintings.(The Month in Fashion)
November 1, 2003... Not since the Seventies art-to-wear movement has fashion been so synergistic with the art world. Following Louis Vuitton's monumental success with its recent accessories collaborations, more companies are approaching bag design with a painterly...

Picture perfect.(The Month in Fashion)
November 1, 2003... Here's one example of a corporate partnership moving in a focused direction: Hermes, which owns a 31.5 percent stake in Leica cameras, is collaborating with the high-end, high-tech camera company on a limited-edition line. The first of the...

Boot camp.(The Month in Fashion)
November 1, 2003... The Australian footwear brand Ugg knows the value of celebrity endorsement. It made a recent push into the American market by placing its big sheepskin boots on a whole array of Hollywood stars and working them into episodes of "Friends" and...

Horsing around.(The Month in Fashion)
November 1, 2003... Apart from having been Donna Karan's husband and the primary force behind the development of her company, the late Stephan Weiss was also known as an accomplished artist. Before his death in 2001, Weiss created plans for four large bronze...

Treasure chest.(The Month in Fashion)
November 1, 2003... Legendary fashion editor Polly Mellen is famous for supporting young designers and waxing rhapsodic on the future of fashion. On October 28, however, Mellen will look back--if only for a moment--on Yoox.com. The Web site, known for selling...

Out of Africa.(Flashback)
November 1, 2003... All she wanted was a trip to Africa. Instead Lauren Hutton caused a sensation. In 1964 the gloriously gap-toothed beauty, who turns 60 this month, left New Orleans with $200 in her pocket to answer a newspaper ad placed by Christian Dior in New...

Hot topic.(Fast Forward)
November 1, 2003... His sorry-sounding Friendster.com profile describes David Haskell as a 24-year-old street vendor living in Brooklyn. "I edit a magazine full-time but it doesn't pay me.... So in the meantime I'm selling homemade lamps on the corner of Prince...

TV time: November.(Letter From the Editors)
November 1, 2003... November "Something suddenly came up." If you're a member of Generation X or a devotee of TV Land, you probably are able not only to identify the TV show that spawned that line ("The Brady Bunch") but also to give a synopsis of the episode...

The J.Lo down.(Readers React)
November 1, 2003... Thank you, thank you, thank you for putting Jennifer Lopez on your cover ("La Vida Lopez," October)! The shots and accompanying story made my day. I wish her the very best in life, and may she continue to dazzle me and countless others with her...

Water works.(Readers React)
November 1, 2003... I absolutely loved seeing the pictures of Diana Dondoe in "On the Waterfront" (October). She's a real model with "oomph" and style. I'm so tired of shallow, vacuous and boring models--please show us more like Diana! Lynda Nevins ...

Paper trail.(Readers React)
November 1, 2003... I read with amusement the quote by Brett Ratner ("The Player," September) where he describes how he has in his possession letters and documents from my grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Meyer Lansky. As executor of the estate of Meyer's widow, Teddy,...

Liv it up.(Readers React)
November 1, 2003... At first I was a little upset with W for "Tyler Made" (August), an article announcing that Liv Tyler would be the face of Parfums Givenchy. I like Liv Tyler, but I was worried that you would make comparisons to the brand's most famous face,...

Ladies first.(Readers React)
November 1, 2003... In the last few months, the Countess has found the need to comment, often unfavorably, on the lives of Bill and Hillary Clinton. In a recent column ("Louise and Mrs. Bush," September), the Countess says she admires the way Mrs. Bush gracefully...

Gathering Moss.(Readers React)
November 1, 2003... Forty wonderful pages of Kate Moss ("OK!," September)--could this put an end, at last, to years of Kate bashing? Though criticized for being a waif, Moss has always seemed to exist in a sort of comfort zone that most top models never achieve....

Patron saint.(Readers React)
November 1, 2003... While I could not agree more about most of the choices you made for your article about wrecks ("The Wild Bunch," August), I take umbrage at the reference to Princess Michael of Kent and her children. She is our Royal Patron at the American...

Pedigree peeve.(Readers React)
November 1, 2003... Your September issue was delicious. I pored over the beautiful Kate pictures and found the fashion story "Castle Queens" sumptuous and luxe. I have just one criticism, though. It seems that with every issue, W places an increasing focus on...

Snap decision.(Uncensored)
November 1, 2003... What writer would dare publish a book without resting chin on fist and submitting to the lens of Marion Ettlinger? Not Erica Jong, Truman Capote, Joyce Carol Oates, Gore Vidal, Tom Wolfe or any of the other 200-odd authors whose pictures appear...

All about Eva.(Uncensored)
November 1, 2003... Not everyone can ring the dinner bell quite like Marjorie Merriweather Post, as poor Eva Maria O'Neill learned at a recent Salzburg Festival benefit in the Austrian music capital. Rising for a speech, the German jet-setter, cochair for the...

Cabin fever.(Uncensored)
November 1, 2003... Wondering what to get your favorite editor in chief or supermodel for Christmas? How about a Concorde nose cone? With Air France's Concorde fleet grounded since earlier this year, the company is recouping a few euros by putting its stock of...

Shady lady.(Uncensored)
November 1, 2003... Jennifer Lopez's breakup with Ben Affleck may have sent her running for cover, but even when it comes to mourning gear, La Lopez likes to break out the bling bling. Karina Klishtein of the L.A. optical shop C by Karina has made numerous pairs...

Through the fire.(Uncensored)
November 1, 2003... Last year, when Venice mayor Paolo Costa promised to resign if the legendary La Fenice opera house, destroyed by fire in 1996, was not rebuilt by this December, many thought he'd fling himself off the parapet, Tosca-style. Instead the mayor may...

Bubble yum.(Uncensored)
November 1, 2003... There's good news on the horizon for those who can't quite pony up the millions required to buy into Richard Meier's West Village apartment towers-and for those trying to think of a fitting housewarmer for Nicole Kidman when she moves into her...

Sports authority: get in gear, girl. The season's sporty motif will have you moving-in and out of the gym.(Trend)
November 1, 2003... Tennis, anyone? Or how about yoga, Pilates or even jogging? The winter chill may keep you indoors, but that's no excuse to send good exercise habits into hibernation. This season offers an even better incentive to keep in shape: Designers are...

Girl power: fresh, frothy and flirtatious, the New York spring collections were full of color and charm.(Fashion Flash)
November 1, 2003... Cyndi Lauper's angsty Eighties urchin and Linda Low, the feisty songbird with crossover dreams in "Flower Drum Song," may have been worlds apart socially and in matters of style, but they had one thing in common--both knew all about girl power...

Shear energy: a whiz with mink, fur designer Gilles Mendel has become a man of the cloth, too.(Fashion Flash)
November 1, 2003... To say that Gilles Mendel is hell-bent on changing the stubbornly tradition-bound fur business is tantamount to saying it's cold in winter. He's experimental to the core. To wit: Not long after his father, Jacques, passed him the reins to J....

Museum quality: Mona Lisa, move over. Viktor & Rolf is at the Louvre, part of a new craze for fashion at museums.(Fashion Flash)
November 1, 2003... Does fashion belong on people's backs--or behind glass? You might start to think the latter, given the number of designers who are exhibitionists (literally) in our midst. Viktor Horsting and Roll Snoeren of Viktor & Rolf, the Dutch wizards of...

Transparent things: naughtiness gets ethereal at Jean Yu's SoHo boutique, 37=1, as she takes lingerie to the next level.(Fashion Flash)
November 1, 2003... It's easy to miss Jean Yu's sliver of a lingerie and dress shop, named 37=1, after her address and a bit of numerology. Although just a block from tourist-laden Broadway, her quiet stretch of SoHo's Crosby Street doesn't attract the shopping...

To a T: look out, Juicy. The Left Coast's latest must-have is causing a commotion all over the country.(Fashion Flash)
November 1, 2003... Just for the record, even without the Midas touch of Oprah Winfrey, Cheyann Benedict and Claire Stansfield's fledgling line of T-shirts, C&C California, would be trucking along pretty as you please. Still, as the two women sat in Stansfield's...

Act one: find your seat and dim the lights: three designers bring their opening acts to New York's fashion scene.(Fashion Flash)
November 1, 2003... Sebastian Pons Ask Sebastian Pons, 30, about the secret to his success as a fashion designer, and he may very well say, "Organization." This is, after all, a designer who was asleep by 11:30 the night before his spring New York debut. And...

Chic haven: with nearly a century's worth of glam clients and fabulous fashion, on the eve of its facelift Bergdorf Goodman has plenty of lore in store.(Fashion Flash)
November 1, 2003... If there were ever to be a palace of American fashion, it would be Bergdorf Goodman. Shopping under its chandeliers is a rite of passage for New Yorkers, while its singular mystique once lured the denizens of distant cities to phone in orders...

Twinkle toes: pamper yourself this fall with most opulent shoes of all: rhinestone-encrusted sandals.(Accessories Flash)
November 1, 2003... As colorful jewelry moves to the forefront of fashion, it's no wonder that shoe designers are taking note, even offering their own interpretations: stunning, glittery sandals. Bare and ultrahigh, these sexy looks are drop-dead takes on jeweled...

Get the skinny: slim, slinky gold watches with a retro flair are the perfect jeweled accents for an evening out.(Accessories Flash)
November 1, 2003... Sporty watches are wonderful, but this is a ladylike fashion moment. And when it's time to dress up and hit the town, what's a girl to do? Now, taking inspiration from Forties timepieces, jewelers are introducing slim bracelet watches that...

Hard candy: think big. Colored gems in delectable tones are the stars of the most dramatic new jewelry.(Accessories Flash)
November 1, 2003... Lollipops and jawbreakers may have a nostalgic, penny-candy appeal, but there's nothing quite like a gumball-size stone to give a grown-up girl a sweet sensation. The fall collections emphasize color--from Alberta Ferretti's muted hues to Marc...

The rock garden: talk about the birds and the bees. Jewelers are creating them--and the flowers, too--in gemstones.(Accessories Flash)
November 1, 2003... All the leaves may be brown and the sky gray, but it's not too early to catch a glimpse of spring. Just turn to fine jewelry. The latest designs celebrate the charms of plants and animals, turning a brooch, bracelet, ring or watch into a...

Bolly good: take a passage to India with glittering gold accents and striking shades of red and pink.(Accessories Flash)
November 1, 2003... The vivid colors, bold patterns and rich materials of India have been a source of enchantment for centuries, charming artists, jewelers and architects alike. In the days of the Raj, brightly embroidered Indian silks and paisley shawls became a...

Snake charmers: it's a den of vipers out there. At the moment, jewelry has fallen under a serpentine spell.(Accessories Flash)
November 1, 2003... Some say it all started in the Garden of Eden. But no matter where it began, snakes have long played leading roles in mythology and history, and still fascinate today. With the explosion of croc pumps and shagreen bags on the fall runways,...

A driving passion: speed thrills. Designers are putting the pedal to the metal with watches inspired by car racing.(Accessories Flash)
November 1, 2003... Call it an obsession. The relationships between people and their cars can be more intense than the most torrid of romances, and that has watch designers smitten. Fashion and sports, of course, are mingling more and more each season. So it's...

Pale fire: the pastel shades and soft shapes of the latest jewelry evoke the work of Claude Monet.(Accessories Flash)
November 1, 2003... The gentle beauty of Impressionist painter Claude Monet's oil and watercolor canvases is irresistible. And his work has something in common with certain fine jewelers, whose new designs convey a quiet elegance in a similar palette. There's...

Italian treasures: five first-rate jewelers create unique designs the old-fashioned way.(Accessories Flash)
November 1, 2003... Master Class Tucked away on a quiet street near the Duomo in Florence is the 20-year-old Bottega Orafa Penko, where medieval jewelrymaking methods flourish. "To create an object of high quality; an artist needs to take inspiration from...

Snow day: let it snow, let it snow, let it snow--you'll stay warm and snug in these chic winter wonders.(Shopping)
November 1, 2003... Ben Kahn Fox-trimmed mink stole, $6,700 & Taylor, New York Michael Kors Alligator-trimmed mink bag, $8,800, at Michael Kors, New York Peter Som Merino and silver fox sweater, $1,450, at select Neiman Marcus stores; Bergdorf Goodman and...

Split decision: at the new Split Rock Retreat, patients get some plastic and leave fantastic.(Beauty Flash)
November 1, 2003... Plastic surgeon Nell Gordon had a vision. The Westport, Connecticut-based doctor, who has remodeled his share of nobility (both the British and the Hollywood varieties), wanted to combine the medical nature of his work with the rather more...

The big bang theory: from aging sexpots to surgery addicts, many women of a certain age are going out with a bang.(Beauty Flash)
November 1, 2003... Have you taken a good look at Goldie Hawn, Suzanne Somers, Farrah Fawcett or Dyan Cannon recently? Focus... focus... they're there somewhere, barely discernible behind their hair. Observe the cover of Somers's new fitness book, The Sexy...

Beauty buzz: Jane Larkworthy spreads the word in the name of beauty.(Beauty Flash)
November 1, 2003... Smooth Landing Word's just out that Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson will be opening his first nonairplane-related spa at Natirar, a resort being built on 80 acres of a 500-acre estate in Somerset County, New Jersey. Along with 70...

Primetime coupling.(Special Advertising Section)
November 1, 2003... The provocative new NBC comedy series, Coupling, is a hip look at six thirty-somethings living in Chicago who are either involved, formerly involved or looking to become intimately involved with each other. Here's an inside look at the sexy...

Trained wrecks: pick the wrong personal trainer and the result may be all pain, no gain.(Beauty Flash)
November 1, 2003... There is a classic Woody Allen joke: Those who can, do; those who can't, teach, and those who can't teach, teach gym. To that we may add: Those who can't teach gym, sometimes teach gym anyway. From the explosion in the popularity of...

The best in day spas and skin care salons.
November 1, 2003... 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 or all occasions."--John P. Walsh, President Elizabeth Grady skin-care...

Novelty act: fall's focus is on total luxury and the most curious packaging.(Beauty Flash)
November 1, 2003... Sure Shots Now that looking young is practically synonymous with getting injections, Active Organics Labs has packaged its skin care line to resemble--what else?--syringes. A professional supplier of raw materials like aloe and seaweed...

Interior affairs: with two new books, New York's fanciest rival decorators go DIY.(Home Flash)
November 1, 2003... It's fair to say that one would not traditionally call hyperexclusive New York decorators Sills & Huniford or Jeffrey Bilhuber for DIY tips. Glossy partners Stephen Sills and James Huniford (clients: Tina Turner, Vera Wang, Alberta Ferretti)...

Get inspired: furnishings pay homage to Matisse, gold bracelets and Formula 1 race cars.(Home Flash)
November 1, 2003... Rose-Colored Glasses William Yeoward Crystal's Lulu collection, based on an English decanter from 1820, marries textured glass with colored embellishments, yielding results that are as dazzling to the eye as they are useful. The handmade and...

Aged to perfection: the world's hottest restaurants have defied the seasons to stay very much in fashion.(Going Out)
November 1, 2003... How does a restaurant defy the odds, opening with a bang and then keeping its mojo--stellar reviews, addictive cuisine and a fabulous crowd packing the tables night after night--for years, even decades, on end? After all, the problem with...

Critical eye: the Mitfords' bad seed ... movies get serious ... and The Strokes do another lap.(Reviews)
November 1, 2003... Remember high school history? Neither do we. Although if we'd been taught a bit more social history--more affaires de coeur, fewer affaires d'etat--perhaps it would have stuck. As it happens, anyone who stumbles into a bookstore this month will...

Renzo the magnificent: a series of important U.S. commissions is about to bring the poetic, understated architecture of Renzo Piano to a wider American audience.(Arts Flash)
November 1, 2003... An appointment with Renzo Piano is about as hard to come by as an audience with the Pope. Piano--one of the world's preeminent architects--is definitely more difficult to track down, however. His headquarters is located on a steep hillside...

Mix a lot.(Eye)
November 1, 2003... As the best hosts know, the thrill is in the mix--just ask the far-flung group that gathered for a dinner at Matsuri to celebrate the artistic ode to Kate Moss in the September issue of W. Luminaries of the art world came. Swans of the social...

Playing it cool: with his fine turn in The Cooler and (relatively) serene new outlook, Alec Baldwin rides out the storm.(Eye)
November 1, 2003... Not to tempt fate, but at long last, things just might be looking up for Alec Baldwin. Consider the evidence: First, word began circulating in Hollywood that his latest performance, as a volatile casino operator in the gritty indie drama The...

Swann's way: already a bona fide literary talent, Maxine Swann gets serious about her debut novel.(Eye)
November 1, 2003... It seems like fate that Maxine Swann, whose debut novel Serious Girls (Picador) will be published this month, shares her last name with a character in Marcel Proust's definitive study of the inner life, Remembrance of Things Past. Swann just...

We are family.
November 1, 2003... It was all in the family at New York Fashion Week. Lillian and Damian von Stauffenberg brought their sons, Sebastian and Frederick, to the Tuleh show. Amanda Hearst hit the Ferragamo store opening with her cousin Gillian Hearst-Shaw. Sissy...

Miracle worker.
November 1, 2003... You know how women check each other out, right? Surreptitious glances to uncover beauty sins and secrets: Pilates or power yoga, highlights or natural, Prada or Gucci. I'm guilty of it all, and lately, it's getting worse, I've actually found...

Going Dutch: Colin Firth, the thinking woman's sex symbol, stars in a new film as painter Johannes Vermeer.(Eye)
November 1, 2003... When Colin Firth's female friends found out he'd been cast as high-born hunk Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the reaction ranged from uproarious laughter to utter disbelief. "I don't look like a...

Honor roll: this fall, New York is getting its first injection of serious Japanese food since Nobu came to town.(Eye)
November 1, 2003... In mid-September, less than three weeks before his new restaurant, Riingo, opened in New York, Marcus Samuelsson was right where any self-respecting chef with a yen for Japanese food should be--cruising along the Los Angeles freeway. ...

Over the rainbow.
November 1, 2003... Eight-year-old girls everywhere would have squealed over the My Little Pony palette of the 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, held in Los Angeles. Nary a star wore black; in fact, most gowns ran that dainty gamut from periwinkle to pink. Poppy...

Nobody's fool: Hollywood legend Robert Benton brings Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain to the big screen.(Eye)
November 1, 2003... Robert Benton has been nominated for seven Oscars and won three. His credits include many a cornerstone of Hollywood cinema: the screenplays for Bonnie and Clyde and Superman, and his own films, including the divorce drama Kramer vs. Kramer,...

Sole survivors.(Eye)
November 1, 2003... With both excitement and trepidation, New York's fashionable types left the comforts of the beach, coming face-to-face--and even closer--at a party to celebrate the opening of Tamara Mellon's new Jimmy Choo boutique. "You could get in a...

Tony winner: Angels in America scribe Tony Kushner takes on something completely different: the musical.(Eye)
November 1, 2003... The playwright Tony Kushner typically dresses as if he fears he might suddenly be called upon to double as stagehand, wearing the baggy black sweatshirts and neutral-toned pants of someone whose chief goals are invisibility and mobility. It's...

Round and round.(Eye)
November 1, 2003... Narciso Rodriguez loved every minute of his first official trip to Los Angeles, including a bash held in his honor at Barneys and sponsored by Audi. The champagne-loving crowd, including Lucy Liu, Rene Russo, Amber Valletta, Karolina Kurkova...

Battle of the network stars: four years after leaving ABC, Jamie Tarses stars a new company with her former deputy.(TV Flash)
November 1, 2003... The most hated woman in Hollywood. That was Jamie Tarses' unofficial moniker throughout her tenure as ABC's president of entertainment in the late Nineties. According to her detractors, she flirted with bosses and colleagues to get her way,...

Office job: Ricky Gervais is bringing the wickedly deadpan humor of his hit BBC sitcom "The Office" to America.(TV Flash)
November 1, 2003... Unlike many comic actors, Ricky Gervais loves being silly even when it's not required. He's neither shy nor moody as he settles into a corner of the library like bar at London's Russell Hotel. "Do you know why we're talking so quietly?" he...

The daily kitsch: the Trio network's offbeat mix of high and low has the critics applauding. Will viewers follow.(TV Flash)
November 1, 2003... It's time for the morning meeting at Trio, the nerdy, irreverent, highbrow, lowbrow and still relatively obscure critical darling of a cable channel, which has brought us a documentary about the mullet hairdo and a variation on Debbie Does...

Dream team.
November 1, 2003... As the cold weather closes there' nothing like a little fantasy to raise the spirits. And there's plenty of that available in Brazil. It's a vibrant mix of cultures and worlds , and our "Sao Paulo" feature, with its slice of city life, shows...

Sao Paulo.
November 1, 2003... Sao Paulo is a city that mixes magic with realism, debutantes with Carnaval revelers. The fashion, too, is a study in contrasts. Stylist Chiara Gadaleta wears Tommy Hilfiger's cotton blouse and wool dress, at select Tommy Hilfiger stores....

Madame Dandois: antiques dealer and longtime mistress of Baron Elie de Rothschild, Ariane Dandois stirs controversy in both business and society.
November 1, 2003... Antiques dealer Ariane Dandois is in the driver's seat of a small, banged-up Honda, gunning it across the gilt-embellished Pont Alexandre III over the Seine. The windows are open and the air-conditioning blasts, but it's no comfort against the...

Heavenly creatures: ethereal young girls are lost in a country dream, in looks at once preppy and nostalgic.
November 1, 2003... Giorgio Armani's silk and velvet dress, at select Giorgio Armani stores. Bloch slippers. Fred Perry's black polyester jacket, at select Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue stores; Liberty's white and mutlicolored floral cotton...

Jennifer's primetime: real-life superhero Jennifer Garner proves that nice girls finish first.
November 1, 2003... Jennifer Garner is too good to be true--so unanimously beloved that one can't help feeling just a little bit cynical at times. Like when awards show booker Danette Herman begins a chat about her by saying, "Well, I don't mean to gush, but...."...

Armaniwood: he came, he saw, he seduced. Giorgio Armani visited Hollywood for the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style gala and took the town by charm.(Feature)
November 1, 2003... On a Tuesday afternoon in early September, inside the V.I.P. salon, one of the white-lacquered rooms above his Rodeo Drive store, Giorgio Armani is needlessly tugging at a black, thigh-gazing miniskirt worn by actress Sarah Wynter. The skirt...