He'll forever be a romantic hero to millions of BBC-watching Jane Austen fans—but I found out last week that there's a lot more to actor Colin Firth than brooding gazes and frock coats.
The actor's chic wife, Livia Giuggioli, recently invited a clutch of London journalists to the launch of Eco, the new green-minded housewares store that the couple (together with business partners Nicola Giuggioli, and financier Ivo Coulson) have set up in the leafy West London suburb of Chiswick.
Sadly, filming commitments kept Mr. Darcy—er, Colin—from the event. But still there was plenty to ooh and aaah over. Chic glassware, vases and furniture. Graham & Brown's wallpapers made from managed timber sources. Even a plasma screen television encased in rich Sapele wood, made by the Irish company Iameco.
For those interested in further "greening up their homes," as Livia put it, there's a consultancy area where customers can choose fabrics and wood floors or get advice on economical heating. So while Firth might not be a regular fixture in the store, he'll still be raising customers' temperatures.
Ellsworth Kelly; Frank Stella
Cory Arcangel with Hanne Mugaas
It was impossible to stroll through MoMA's Tuesday night opening of "Color Chart," a group show of bright minimalist and contemporary works, without having hues on the brain. So I couldn't help but ask some of the legendary artists, many of whom were there for the event, whether they pledged allegiance to any particular shade.
"I have no color prejudice," Ellsworth Kelly told me as he admired a Gerhard Richter. "They are all top." Robert Ryman also refused to name a single color, and Frank Stella, pausing in front of one of his paintings, sighed and said, "Oh, honestly, I don't have a favorite color." Then he pointed to the sequined clutch of a coiffed socialite. "Right now I love that orange in her bag."
Young Brooklyn-based artist Cory Arcangel, who lowered the average age of the show's artists by a few decades, had a definitive answer: Red. As he explained, "As far as I can remember red has always looked good to me—on cars, on Detroit Redwing uniforms." Clad in a insane-looking sweater by Zurich designer Christa Michel (see photo), Arcangel was stationed far from his piece, "Colors 2005," a digital manipulation of the Eighties gang warfare flick "Colors." When I asked him to tell me about the work, he laughed and directed me to the helpful description card. "It explains everything."
Photos by Scott Rudd courtesy of MoMA
As it turns out, W's design director Edward Leida has been up to much more than creating those groovy graphics that we featured a little while ago. He recently brought into the office a stunning and ingenious easel of his own design.
Made of blackened cold-rolled steel and inspired, as he explains, by Carlo Scarpa and the Bauhaus, the easel is fully adjustable in height to hold a framed artwork up to 38" tall, up to four inches thick and any width. Adjustable clamps with thumb turns and mounting brackets hold the piece in place. The cantilevered base, explains Eddie, is the "sexiest part" because when viewed from the front, the artwork almost looks as if it's being held up by a very thin line.
Here are some shots of the easel in Eddie's office. (And yes, that is a taxidermied fox head—not everyone's favorite object here.) We hear that Eddie is having a limited number of the easels fabricated for friends and other interested clients over the next couple of months.
While most of us fashion folk were scrambling across 42nd street and herded into the Bryant Park tents for the New York shows, European fashionistas were treated to a catwalk display of a decidedly less cramped variety: the Gudrun & Gudrun show, held February 4 in a cavernous airplane hangar in the Faroe Islands. Never heard of that locale? You're not alone. Comprising 18 teeny, high-peaked islands nestled between Iceland and Norway, the region has a population of only 45,000. That's just fine by Gudrun Ludvig and Gudrun Rógvadótti, the designer and businessperson, respectively, behind the burgeoning knitwear line, which is based there. The duo employ Faroese and Jordanian women to knit their light-as-cotton-candy pieces, which include the requisite sweaters and vests as well as less expected numbers, such as a billowy, strapless gown and transparent tanks (Rógvadótti formerly lived in Jordan, where there is a strong knitting tradition amongst women). "We flew about a hundred people in, and then invited about three hundred Faroese locals," says Rógvadótti. "It was only an 18-minute show, so we did a scenic tour and served food. We had to show off a bit." And what of the integral members of the Gudrun team who were unable to make the festivities? The local sheep, from whose water-resistant wool the line is made, stayed put, as Rógvadótti said, "happily out in the fields."
Dior, Rick Owens
Oh, Baby!
Baby Jane Holzer, that is. She was one of the inspirations for John Galliano's very pretty fall collection for Christian Dior, which skillfully mixed glamour and restraint. The big hair and ladylike accessories were all part of the fun.
Cher Michel Klein
Balmain
Bruno Pieters
Manish Arora BETC EURO RSCG
Rick Owens
Bless
Peachoo + Krejberg
AF Vandevorst
Veronique Leroy
Gaspard Yurkievich
Robert Normand
Christian Dior
Isabel Marant
Sharon Wauchob
Photo by Giovanni Giannoni
We know who took home the Oscars, but what about the fashion winners? W editors thought Heidi was hot in John Galliano Haute Couture, while Renée was the epitome of chic in Carolina Herrera. And two thumbs up for Tilda, who looked lovely in Lanvin. See the rest of W's picks, and vote for your red-carpet champs.
Check out the Top Ten.
Vote for your favorite.
Renée Zellweger, Katherine Heigl
Cate Blanchett
Talk about saving the best for last. The final twenty minutes of the E! red-carpet coverage offered us the top looks of the evening. Renée Zellweger was so glam in her Carolina Herrera silver gown. Cate Blanchett looked chic and modern, as always, this time wearing Dries Van Noten, while Katherine Heigl was beyond gorgeous in Escada. Still, I have one question: Did Ryan Seacrest really wipe his brow and flick his sweat at the camera?
Photos: Zellweger, Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com; Blanchette and Heigl, Lester Cohen/WireImage.com
Keri Russell, Cameron Diaz
Second-installment time. My mood is lifting as things on the red carpet are looking up. Cameron Diaz in Dior and Keri Russell in Nina Ricci both are stunning. The greater opinion—at least in my living room—seems to be that the more natural the hair (Diaz's ponytail, for instance), the more we're liking the woman and her overall look. As for the most-improved category, Jennifer Hudson is, so far, the current winner, hands down. But when it comes to Marion Cotillard in that Jean Paul Gaultier scale-like number, she looks like, well, a fish.
Jennifer Hudson, Marion Cottilard
Stay tuned: wrap-up to come in twenty minutes.
Photos: Diaz, Russel and Hudson, Steve Granitz/WireImage.com; Cottilard, Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com
Heidi Klum, Amy Ryan
First things first on tonight's Oscar red carpet. Ryan Seacrest's tux looks horrible but at least the E! team is hitting a theme as Kimora Lee and
Giuliana Rancic appear to have hired the same stylist. I'll make my first observations quick since the fashion highs are tip-top and the lows are bad, as in ice-skating-costume-bad.
As of 7:15 EST in order of appearance: Heidi Klum is fantastic in red
John Galliano Haute Couture; Amy Ryan looks so, so chic—and minimal—in Calvin Klein, and
Amy Adams is very cool and sexy in Proenza Schouler.
As for the so very bad: Saoirse Ronan. My best friend wore the exact
same dress to her eigth-grade piano recital. More to come...
Amy Adams, Saoirse Ronan
Photos: Heidi Klum and Amy Ryan Lester Cohen/WireImage.com, Amy Adams and Saoirse Ronan Steve Granitz/WireImage.com
