Making its debut on October 8th, the eve of what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday, is the touching biopic, Nowhere Boy. W spoke with lead actor Aaron Johnson about his film role as a young John Lennon, depicting the boyhood heartbreaks and teenage exploits that shaped the man whose music forever changed the world.


Were you a fan of John Lennon or The Beatles growing up?
I’m British, so it’s embedded in our history and culture. I love the Beatles, of course, and the music.

How did being a fan affect your portrayal of John?
I never knew the in depth backstory of John Lennon. The script was my first insight into it. I guess not being a Beatles fanatic or from that generation allowed me to look outside the box and study, really observe what went on then. The pressure is on when you are playing anyone who was once alive. It being a true story, I wanted to do as much research as possible.

How did you prepare for the role? I read that you had to learn how to sing and play the guitar. Was this easy for you?
The producers were casting musicians, actors and look-alikes at the time. Luckily, I got in there. They thought I was fine to do the acting but they wanted to get someone to dub the songs and cut to someone else strumming the guitar. I thought to myself that if I played Lennon, I needed to sing and play the guitar. I couldn’t just do 60% and have someone else do the other 40%. It kinda pushed me… made me more determined to do the best I could and prove them all wrong.

Do you still sing and play the guitar?
No. Literally, the day we finished filming I put the guitar down and I haven’t picked it up since. I learned about ten-twelve songs to play and sing…. but I’ve moved on to something else.

How influential were Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono in shaping how the story was told?
Paul and Yoko were hugely involved because they granted the rights to three songs — “In Spite of All the Danger” one of the first songs that The Beatles ever recorded, as well as “Hello Little Girl“ and “Mother” which Yoko owns the rights to. These songs were vital to telling the story. Two of them we had to perform and film before they even gave the rights to, so we had our fingers crossed. Luckily, they gave their blessings. It’s unique because Paul and Yoko had never, together, given rights to any one film.

Aside from your personal relationship with Sam Taylor-Wood, how was it working with her as a first-time director?
Sam’s a fantastic director. She really knew exactly the story that needed to be told. From really early on, she was hands on. She didn’t want me to do an impersonation of Lennon. She didn’t want any of the actors to do an impersonation, but to rather embody the spirit, the essence, and the whole of the person. The way it’s shot was beautiful due to her background as a photographer and her great working relationship with the cinematographer Seamus McGarvey. Sam’s just one of those women who walks on set and lights up the room. She’s really warming. She has that ability to befriend everyone and everyone wants to do his or her best for her.

What moment in John’s early life that was captured in the film most greatly defined the man he was to become?
I think it’s a combination of these two women and the role that they played in his life. Aunt Mimi really brought him up to be well mannered and was strict with him. She was very cultured and taught him about the greats — Oscar Wilde, Van Gogh. He learned very early on from her, when Uncle George died, how to keep his emotions in and lock them away. And then he met his mother, who was very open and spirited. She taught him about rock and roll, this whole other world. He fell in love with her. I think that was a special gift she gave him to play music. It became the voice to his art form. And when she died, he went back to what Aunt Mimi taught him — how to close barriers and go on with his life. Elvis made a huge impact as well. Lennon saw how women would fall in love with him, and he really wanted the love of these two women [his mother and Aunt Mimi]. . . more than anything in the world.

What do you hope audiences will take away from the film?
If you learn the backstory of any artist, it always makes their work more intimate and interesting. This movie shows all these aspects of John that no one knew about because he was always putting on a front or a show. He had all of these vulnerabilities and insecurities hidden away. To explore that, to go on a journey with it, is an experience in itself. It makes you appreciate his art, his music, and his poetry more.

Nowhere Boy is in select theaters October 8th.

You know you’ve made it into New York’s social swirl when you receive an invitation made by Ellen Weldon. The professional calligrapher got her start creating Christmas cards for Cartier; when Estee Lauder saw Weldon’s work, she hired her – practically on the spot – to design the invitations for the cosmetic queen’s private dinner parties. Now head of her own studio, Weldon’s clients include Chanel and Lancome, as well as girl-about-town Lauren Santo Domingo.

On Wednesday, Weldon will donate her talents to a fundraiser for Sanctuary for Families, a New York nonprofit that helps victims of domestic violence. For a $25 donation, guests pick an ink color, paper and envelope liner, after which Weldon will inscribe their names or monograms on the stationery, to be printed on location at Weldon’s Fifth Avenue studio. All proceeds will benefit Sanctuary. Weldon hopes the event will be educational, in more ways than one. “My main goal is to get people to know about Sanctuary for Families,” she says. “And I want to make people aware that stationery and good manners are not dying.”

222 Fifth Ave., fourth floor, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. An RSVP is required to attend; guests should e-mail info@weldondesign.com to guarantee a space.

Ellen Weldon: ellenweldondesign.com

Sanctuary: sanctuaryforfamilies.org

Make room on the coffee table—four new fashion tomes have arrived. First up is La Maison (Steidl, $125), an 11-volume whopper that goes behind the scenes at Hermès and was shot by South African photographer Koto Bolofo over the course of seven years. Meanwhile, Roberto Cavalli’s namesake line is hitting the big 4-0, and the master of flash is celebrating the milestone with Roberto Cavalli (Rizzoli, $85), featuring 200 images photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Matthew Williamson, who wasn’t even born when Cavalli presented his first collection, all in leather, in 1970, also has an eponymous hardback (Rizzoli, $65), dedicated to the boho brand he started 13 years ago. And Postcards From the Edge of the Catwalk (ACC Editions, $45) covers not one but hundreds of designers, as well as models, friends, and hangers-on, captured over the past three decades by fashion writer Iain R. Webb.

By Sarah Taylor Books: Courtesy of Rizzoli and ACC Editions

They called it fig-gate. A year ago, when Momofuku chef David Chang publicly proclaimed that "every restaurant in San Francisco is just serving figs on a plate with nothing on it," he set off an East Coast-West Coast war of the words to rival Biggie vs. Tupac. (One headline from that time: SAN FRANCISCO TO DAVID CHANG: GO MOMOFUKU YOURSELF.) Now, the food fight has given way to an old-fashioned cook-off. This weekend at New York's P.S. 1, the second annual Le Grand Fooding festival pits Chang and six other Big Apple chefs against six major San Francisco toques. Nate Appleman, now the chef at Pulino's, is in a unique position, having arrived in Manhattan just last year after a very successful nine-year-stint in San Francisco. Appleman chatted with W about where his loyalty truly lies.

What are the biggest differences you notice cooking in New York?
First, the clientele is very different. San Francisco diners are just really food-focused. In New York, the atmosphere and the scene are just as important as the food. It's frustrating at times, but I'm adjusting.

What do you miss most about San Francisco?
Overall, the produce is much, much better there. It takes a whole bunch of East Coast carrots to equal the flavor of one California carrot. There'd be times in California when I'd add just a little parsley to a dish and be like, "Holy shit, now the whole thing tastes like parsley!" Everything is just so much more flavorful.

Does that force chefs in New York to be more creative?
Definitely. When we first opened Pulino's I tried to make everything ingredient-driven, kind of like what I was doing in California, but it didn't necessarily work out. It's been a huge challenge.

So do you think there's truth to David Chang's "figs on a plate" claim?
Yes, that's San Francisco cooking, but I don't necessarily think it's a negative thing. That's how I cooked in San Francisco. I would put figs on a plate. I would celebrate that fig. Things are changing though--ten years from now it will be different.

Different how? Less ingredient-driven?
Not at all. Even more ingredient driven but, whereas before it was very rustic, now there are these guys who've worked in many different realms and didn't necessarily come up through the Chez Panisse way of thinking. They're still using the best ingredients but they're also pushing the envelope creatively and that's going to lead to a resurgence of people looking to the Bay Area for inspiration.

What will you be making for Le Fooding?
I'm slow-cooking beef in its own fat and then serving it room temp with anchovy butter and fried garlic on crostini. Though Pulino's is a pizzeria, we're very meat-centric. We only bring in whole animals so we look for ways to use all the parts, even the fat.

What else are you working on now?
I'm concentrating on Pulino's and in the process of writing a children's book. I read to my three-and-a-half-year-old son all the time and these books are just so boring. Mine will to be food-focused and one of my sous chefs is doing the illustrations.

Sometimes fashion can seem as interpretative as dance: Take the case of the collaboration between La Scala and Tod’s. Owner Diego Della Valle has tapped the 232-year-old Milan theater to choreograph a conceptual ballet depicting five of the steps involved in the construction of a Tod’s driving moccasin—the leather sourcing, cutting, hammering, punching, and stitching. (We warned you it was conceptual.) Directed by Matthias Zentner, the piece features 13 La Scala dancers; a video of the performance will be shown at a Tod’s party during Milan Fashion Week, and a live version will be presented in Beijing in October. “I decided to partner with La Scala because of our shared heritage and commitment to craftsmanship,” says Della Valle. Thankfully the dancers do not pirouette in pebble soles, but a $575 ballerina shoe inspired by the event lands in Tod’s boutiques in November.

Illustrations by Bella Foster

You might not have heard the name Asher Levine yet, but chances are you've seen some of his clothes. The young designer has been making a splash creating custom garments for the likes of Dangerous Muse, Sam Sparro and, most notably, Lady Gaga. Remember that white "straightjacket" dress she wore through a Houston airport? That was his brainchild.

This past fashion week, Levine showed his second menswear collection - a quasi-goth, kind of grunge and very hip collection that calls to mind gothic icons Rick Owens and Ann Demeulemeester. We recently visited the self-proclaimed science geek's studio and were immediately struck by not only how nice he is but also the complexity of his pieces. Standouts included a motorcycle jacket which looks like snakeskin but is actually fish leather (made from hundreds of karp) and gauzy jersey pieces photo printed with the thorax of a lace bug at 25,000 magnification. By far the most interesting were his jumpsuits that could be unzipped different ways to transform into a number of different jacket versions -- 12 to be exact. "I want to give people their money's worth," he winked.

Check out his website for the latest collection and the inspirational videos he's made to accompany each season. Asher Levine is definitely a designer to keep an eye on!

Rescue Beauty Lounge's Ji Baek is out to de-tackify frosty nail polish. In her fall collection, titled The Real Housewives of Tudor Dynasty, she skipped heavy, pearlized ingredients in favor of subtle, micronized shimmers, which she blended to create dark khaki, aubergine, slate, and light greige shades. Says Baek, "On my tombstone it will read 'Here lies Ji Baek she made a chic shimmer that fashion snobs wore.'"

rescuebeauty.com

Photo: Hannah Whitaker

L'Wren Scott spring 2011. Photo by Monica Feudi

Hair is usually parted somewhere, so is it such big news to report that side parts were ubiquitous at the New York shows last week? It is when you consider the array of beautiful interpretations, many of which were created by Odile Gilbert. At Rodarte, she kept hair full and unfinished, then clipped one side loosely so hair could hang low over the forehead "like a teenager, when it hangs, almost like you're hiding." At 3.1 Phillip Lim, she kept it on the side, but loosely twisted it back, then pinned it up in an easy chignon. We think Gilbert was at her most innovative, however, at L'Wren Scott, where she crossed over into the makeup area, with the blessing of Lancome's artistic director for makeup, Aaron de May. De May created 12 vibrant eyeshadows for L'Wren, which he divvied up among the models. Gilbert then took the shadows and neatly covered each girl's part with the matching shadow. Could this turn into a new division of products, Lancome?

From left: 3.1 Phillip Lim spring 2011; Rodarte spring 2011

It's been an action-packed 2010 for 20-year-old Chinese model, Shu Pei Qin. In February, Patrick Demarchelier photographed Shu Pei (along with Mirte Maas) for the cover of Chinese Vogue as one of the modeling world's newest faces to watch. Then followed a Gap jeans campaign, the September cover of Chinese Vogue, and most recently a lucrative cosmetics contract with Maybelline. Shu Pei will join veterans Christy Turlington and Erin Wasson at Maybelline with a print campaign debuting later this fall. At the tail end of New York Fashion Week, W sat down with the hard-working, international beauty:

What have you been up to this summer?
I went to the west coast with my family for two weeks before fashion week. I love the weather there. It is so hot in New York this summer.

From left: Alexander Wang spring 2011; Altuzarra spring 2011

Congratulations on your new Maybelline contract.
Thank you. When I shopped for Maybelline's mascara in drugstores I used to dream how wonderful it would be to become a Maybelline girl one day. When it happened to me I finally understood what it's like to have a dream come true!

Do you feel any pressure as one of a handful of Chinese models who have cracked the Western market?
It has never occurred to me. All I did was work work and work. When it comes to the pressure I think it is more from myself wanting to do everything the best I can.

What's your most recent shopping purchase?
My iPad! I have so much fun with it.

What are your beauty secrets?
Drinking a lot of water. I always carry a bottle of water with me wherever I go. There is also a red lipstick in my purse all the time.

How do you spend your free time?
I love traveling. But on weekdays, after work I will go to try new restaurants with friends. We also cook a lot at home. I love good food.

From left: Carolina Herrera spring 2011; Jason Wu spring 2011

What are your favorite guilty pleasure foods?
Gelato. I love gelato in Italy. Can't stop eating it when I am in Italy. In New York I substitute it with Pink Berry.

Who are your closest model friends?
Liu Wen and Ming Xi are my close model friends from my home country. Here in New York, Karlie Kloss is such a sweet friend.

From left: Gap ad campaign fall 2010; Vogue China February 2010

What do you see for yourself in the year ahead?
Keep working hard!

New York Dolls at Max's Kansas City, ca. 1970. Courtesy Anton Perich/Steven Kasher Gallery, New York

Since legendary music venue Max's Kansas City and its storied backroom closed in November of 1981, the cool that used to hang thick around the place -- around William Burrough's table, Andy Warhol's backroom, and Debbie Harry's backstage -- has dissipated and gone on to as many scenes as its former habitués.

Today, Max's Kansas City, or 213 Park Avenue South, is a deli and not even an especially interesting one -- a detail Andy Warhol would no doubt relish. Now, getting into the space that once housed the 1970's most exclusive music scene is as easy as buying a bag of chips. Not that the mystique of Max's Kansas City was ever dependent on its location. Lou Reed, Robert Rauschenberg, Willem de Koonig, the New York Dolls and tastemakers Mickey Ruskin and Peter Crowley made Max's.

Earlier this week, Max's cool descended upon the Steven Kasher Gallery for the opening of an exhibition accompanying the launch of a new book from Abrams Image entitled Max's Kansas City: Art, Glamour, Rock and Roll. Lou Reed and Danny Fields were among the Max's regulars who came out to look back and remember the original downtown scene. For your chance to slip past the velvet ropes, see the show before it closes on October 9^th.

Photos by: Christos Katsiaouni