BlackBook Magazine

Following a recent onslaught of trendy everythings in the once scruffy Czech capital, comes now a pair of gleaming 21st Century hotels. The sleek new 305-room Hilton Prague Old Town flaunts David Collins interiors inspired by Czech Modernism and Cubism, as well as an outpost of London’s Maze eatery, Gordon Ramsay’s first foray into the East. And the new Imperial Hotel, an Art Deco masterpiece that had faded into a grubby but weirdly opulent student flop, has just been glamorously gussied up.

Matt Bishop, the frontman for this sundry crew of post-Franz Britpop revivalists, switches effortlessly between Bolan, Bowie, and even the Bee-Gees. From its frenzied title track—in which a smug lothario juggles misogyny and minstrelsy—to elegiac nonpareils like “The Need to Be Needed” and “Stepkids in Love,” both blithe looks at lust lost, Lay Down the Law is an assured debut album flush with morose valentines that forego happy endings for prom-ready hysteria.

Whether or not Interpol’s Carlos D and/or The Horrors can claim all the credit, it’s certainly hip to be Goth again. So it’s fitting that the world’s most fashionable city pay homage to history’s most enduringly sexy beast. Jacques Sirgent, France’s premier practitioner of Dracophilia, has now opened Musée des Vampires, his vampiric stash to all the macabre-hearted and Kohl-painted amongst the living. His salaciously creepy collection ranges from film posters to costumes and weapons; and private tours might include parlour games, discussions (no doubt many regarding the virtues of the new Bauhaus record), and even dinner parties—though you might want to scrutinize le vin rouge before imbibing.

No city in the world has been trod upon by so many art/film/whatever poseurs without ceding an inch of its character or dignity as has the beloved and mysterious Venezia. No surprise, then, that it’s most bleeding edge contemporary art museum, Palazzo Grassi, should be housed in a grandiose 18th Century palace. Its new neighboring and namesake boutique hotel’s sexy, austere furnishings are an apt complement to the futurism of the art, but neo-classical details, as well as Venetian lighting fixtures and fabrics, terrazzo floors and glass mosaics, keep the hotel firmly rooted in Venice’s unshakeable romantic historicism.

With Prada and Jil Sander having signed the divorce papers, the mega fashion house will install Miuccia’s “pet” brand in the German designer’s old space along New York’s “Bergdorf Corridor,” if you will. The shoe fiend’s paradise will also be opening anew along Beverly Hills’ glittering and mythical shopping drag.

MIU MIU, 11-13 E. 57th Street, NY; Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills.

Helmed by Manhattan stalwarts Jonathan Morr and Steven Durbahn, BondST Beverly Hills is finally open. The Sushi Empire better get ready for battle. This one is on!

Last year, BlackBook provided a sneak peek to its readers of the master blueprint for BondST, Jonathan Morr’s Los Angeles satellite of his NoHo classic sushi emporium, now celebrating its tenth anniversary.

The plan was ambitious: a multi-level, 5,300-square-foot configuration with an eclectic library lounge (with hearth), a 12-seat sushi bar (of course), and an indoor-outdoor patio, all contained within Jason Pomeranc’s just-opened Thompson Beverly Hills luxury hotel. The location at Wilshire and Crescent Drive begs the participation of Hollywood agents and their pampered clients. Already, CAA, Harper’s Bazaar, and socialites Alexandra von Furstenberg and Jacqui Getty have thrown pre-opening parties there.

One month in, we asked Morr—right up there beside Pearl’s Rebecca Charles as one of our favorite, funniest, and most talented restaurateurs—to let us know how it’s all shaping up.

As if to prove that contemporary Japanese and American culture are more alike than anyone might care to admit, new Culver City Japanophile art space Royal/T is a relentless playland of pop and kitsch, with here and there nods to somewhat higher-concepts. Under the directorship of American collector Susan Hancock, the gallery’s preview exhibition features everyone from Murakami to Brit stars like Cecily Brown, and a corresponding shop sells bespoke toys and fashions. But it’s the café, with its “youthful” servers in their rather prurient French maid outfits, that’s reminiscent of the Land of the Rising Sun’s ubiquitous pervy underbelly—bearing in mind that here, it’s looky, no touchy.

Members Only jackets are back, and looking might boss.

Back in the early 1980s, when mullets were considered cool, Madonna was a fledgling pop singer, and everyone under 30 stopped what they were doing at 3 p.m. to catch the latest adventures of Luke and Laura on “G.H.”—or “General Hospital,” as it was officially known—a very unassuming bomber jacket in ice cream colors and with a discreet label on the upper pocket that read “Members Only” suddenly and inexplicably became the rage. The deal was sealed when Anthony Geary, “Luke,” with his gangly body and receding blonde ’fro, not only started wearing Members Only jackets but starred in a commercial hawking them.

“Hi!” he says, with a “Frampton Comes Alive!” lighting that gave his ’do an eerie angelic glow. “Never thought I’d want to do a commercial but here I am for Members Only jackets. Why? Because when I put one on, something happens.”

Put the top down, and crank the stereo up!

From the Coupe de Ville to the all-mighty Escalade, Cadillac has been a pop culture icon ever since Jimmy Liggins’s “Cadillac Boogie” rocked the airwaves in 1948. Though indisputably rock-and-roll (Led Zeppelin anthems back their ads) and hip-hop friendly (Snoop Dogg reportedly christened his custom Caddy the ‘Snoop De Ville’), the brand’s aesthetic—all chiseled muscle and sharp angles—hasn’t emphasized sporty or compact in the past. But evolution is everything.

Kiwi Karen gets 'Lucky' with a revamped Den in the East Village.

A postmodern retail concept if ever, chameleon-esque East Village shop Den (330 East 11th Street, New York) has adopted young New Zealand designer Karen Walker as its next honoree, of sorts. It will, as it has in the past, be completely fitted out as a shop dedicated to the exalted (by everyone from Madonna to Björk) designer’s vision. Her spring ’08 collection, appropriately titled “Lucky,” will of course feature her much sought-after denim selections, as well as hip floral tea dresses, for those who prefer femininity to austerity.