BlackBook
September 23, 2009
Now, here's what we call a neighborhood watch. Photography by Joe Lally. Styling by Carlos Davis. See full gallery.
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Now, here's what we call a neighborhood watch. Photography by Joe Lally. Styling by Carlos Davis. See full gallery.
Lock up your daughters: Inked, but sharly attired, a band of sartorial punks inject the mean streets of Milan with edge. Photography by Pieter Henket. Styling by Chris Benns. See full gallery.
Adrift in the City of Lights, an otherworldly out-of-towner (and her sidekick) overshadows the crowds in this season's most heaven-sent designs. Photography by Kristian Schuller. Styling by Peggy Schuller. See full gallery.
Elisabeth Moss is a smoldering star on AMC's Mad Men, which happens to be a universe thickly populated with slow burners. As Peggy Olson, Moss fist came across as a clueless naïf in the high-flying world of Madison Avenue in the early 1960s. However, though she seemed like a true tabula rasa in office assistant form, her opaque persona concealed a calculating and at times ruthless ambition. Peggy serves as both foil and reflection for Jon Hamm's Don Draper, and the two embody one of the most nuanced male-female relationships on television within one of the most creatively complex shows on television. On the heels of her own Emmy nomination for best lead actress in a drama -- among 16 other nominations for Mad Men -- Moss talks about awards, life on a "small" show, her devotion to Urban Outfitters, and that thing with Don Draper.
Calvin Klein has been stirring up a fair bit of controversy recently thanks to a particularly salacious billboard on Houston Street. The image is from a Steven Meisel-shot ad campaign that debuted in January as an especially racy (and subsequently banned) television commercial, which can best be described as a denim-clad orgy. While tut-tutting New Yorkers have filed complaints against the advertisement, Calvin Klein's own designers think the racy billboard should stay put.
"I don't get where people decide what's sexy and what's disgusting," a friend of mine tells me over instant messenger this morning. "It's like a terrible case of groupthink where people get this great creative director, and then follow him over the cliff." I wasn't going to bother writing about the newbie Calvin Klein threesomesque billboard that made its debut today on Houston Street and Lafayette in Soho; I am quite certain that there will be plenty of pro-con discussion about drawing the line and pushing the envelope. There will be heated debates by sweaty, bible-thumping conservatives, furrowed brows on baby-nursing hippie mothers, and probably a couple thousand blog posts like this one. Calvin Klein's advertisements have often been sexually charged: Brooke Shields goes commando, Natalia Vodianova enjoys sex on the beach (not the drink), pretty boys and tomboy girls suggesting androgyny. This advert seems to drive straight through the stop light of suggestion, denying their market the freedom to decide what it means for themselves, and plasters the picture with big bold words that translate to "This is a threesome." Followed by; "Possibly a foursome." Suddenly we have a paradigm shift.
Famous for bringing sexyback on many an occasion, the folks at Calvin Klein kindly remind us that the fashion megalith does, in fact, tout a venerable home collection appropriate for anybody who wants to lay their head upon the finest sleepwear going. Their shop windows currently feature a rather interesting concept, decked in simple white tones but each having its own pair of pillows monogrammed especially for the accommodation of the most coveted "it" couples of our time, from tearful pillow-biters Ennis and Jack to the hottest kind-of lesbians going (Lindsay Lohan & SamRon, of course), and even keeping a soft spot for Michelle and Barack.
Every sartorial sign of late seems to be inscribed with the same set of directions -- in times of recession, stick with what you know. Dior did it, channeling its most theatrical, classical self on a Paris catwalk earlier this week. Then there’s the recent resurfacing of trends from decades past -- from the 80s (a bandwagon carrying everyone from Beth Ditto to Topshop) to Hollywood’s golden age and the Joan of Arc. Not to mention supermodels are back and bigger than ever. Now you can ad Calvin Klein to the "new nostalgia" bandwagon.
● Ryan Phillippe’s lady love Abbie Cornish is the new face of Calvin Klein. [ElleUK]
● Shortly before his death, Marlon Brando wanted to sell goods on QVC for some extra cash…seriously. [IMDB]
● London designer Alice Temperley will show her next collection in all four fashion capitals. [ElleUk]
Calvin Klein, you magnificent bastard! The fashion icon has decided to demolish one of the most garish and gaudy homes in the Hamptons. Klein bought the 50,000-square-foot oceanfront Southhampton estate, know as the Dragon's Head, for $30 million in 2003 with the plans to tear it down and build a much smaller, sleeker home with green technology. And the neighbors couldn't be more pleased.
Lolita
Irving Mill
Inven.tory
Intermix
Calvin Klein Underwear
Salvatore Ferragamo
Giorgio Armani
Ports 1961
Tory Burch
Jeffrey New York