Summer may be almost over, but we’re taking a wistful look back at some particularly stylish vacations.

Chris Benz

“After a whirlwind couple of days in Florence for the Pitti Filati yarn exhibition, I spent the weekend in Lacoste, France in the Provencal countryside doing a watercolor class at the Savannah College of Art & Design campus there. It was so beautiful—the colors, lavender-scented air, and relaxed lives people live there. I loved being back in the ‘classroom’ doing artwork and giving my mind a little break from the crazy fashion calendar!”—Chris Benz

Lacoste

Get the downtown wild child look from September's "KAPOW!" shot by Mario Sorrenti.

Delfina Delettrez’s Rapunzel silver and pearl necklace, $3,370, at Opening Ceremony, openingceremony.us.

Christopher Kane’s cashmere top, $1,728, at Barneys New York, barneys.com.

Devi Kroell’s python bag, $3,400, at Devi Kroell, devikroell.com.

Adam’s wool sweater, $395, shopadam.com.

Giuseppe Zanotti Design’s python bootie, $895, at Giuseppe Zanotti Design, Bal Harbour, Florida, 305.868.0133.

J. Crew’s cotton denim vest, $98, jcrew.com

Brunello Cucinelli’s cashmere tunic, $2,985, at Brunello Cucinelli, New York, 212.627.9202.

Photos: Kapow!: Mario Sorrenti; still lifes: Pamela Cook

Edited by Karla Martinez and Vanessa Lawrence Tom Dunn clearly bursts the stereotype of the all black-clad fashion toiler, with his penchant for tie dying his own t-shirts and his admission to loving Birkenstocks. Chalk it up to his Berkeley, California upbringing, though years of working in PR and merchandising haven’t quashed his colorful choices.

This past spring Dunn (above), who continues to work as a fashion consultant, decided to lend his eclectic eye to his charming new interior design boutique Overbey & Dunn on Christopher Street. The store acts as a revolving vignette of meticulously curated furniture and home accessories, centered around a chosen motif, with all items for sale before the shop is changed up every eight weeks or so. Its newest theme is “Gentleman/Boudoir” by Russell Piccione.

Here, Dunn professes his love of caftans, horseback-riding and his eight year-old goddaughter’s inimitable style.

Define your style in three words: Immediate, refined bohemian, sentimental.

Daily uniform: Slim pants with a t-shirt or button down. From DIY tie-dye shirts (I tie dye vintage or used pieces and have stacks of white clothes waiting to be done) with Simon Spurr trousers to a linen madras button down with Gucci patterned pants.

Dunn in one of his tie-dye creations.

Greatest hits: My Lanvin caftan...well all of my caftans. YSL tuxedo shoes with large grosgrain bows.

Preferred footwear: Gucci, Birkenstock and Pierre Hardy.

Finishing touches: Santa Maria Novella Patchouli and my vintage Greek gold pinky rings.

Nighttime look: I never know until I get into my closet.

His work by artist Zak Prekop.

Best recent discovery: Artist Zak Prekop.

Style pet peeve: Not being comfortable with your choices.

Style icons: Jerry Garcia (for his purple crochet poncho he wears in Gimme Shelter), my eight year-old goddaughter Ladybird, she's a mini bohemian princess and completely uninhibited in her style choices.

Last purchase: A large antique painting of an urn with flowers.

Lusting after: Time to ride my horses, I have four Icelandic ponies on my farm in Pennsylvania and dressage horses kept at my trainer’s barn.

Dunn’s vintage Greek pink rings.

Favorite haunts: Hotel Ritz Paris, Bar Mathis in Paris and my house in Pennsylvania.

Next vacation: A friend’s wedding in Lake Como.

What he’ll pack: Doyle and Mueser cranberry linen suit, crocodile and linen monk strap shoes, good music and my appetite.

Summer may be almost over, but we're taking a wistful look back at some particularly stylish vacations. Here, Gucci Westman shares memories from England and France.

"First we went to England to attend two weddings. This is Gray having homemade blackberry ice cream at the Wellington Arms, one of our fave pubs in Hampshire!"


"Dash is washing his dad's car in England!"


"This photograph is from Cordes Sur Ciel. We love it here, got married here, and go every summer. David's mom has a house nearby, look at the view!"


"My favorite place in the world to have lunch, at David's mom's house called Donnazac in the South of France. We're sitting just above the lavender field under a big shady tree."


"Here we are at a neighboring farm owned by a man named Marcel Rocs. There's a vineyard right next door!"

Kelly Bergin (left) designs her two-year- old line of sleek, richly fabricated basics with her friends in mind. Among them is artist and writer Liz Goldwyn (right), who in turn has taken inspiration from Bergin and penned a poem about her fall collection: “She slinks/Glistening along highways/Uncontained by mountains, valleys/She slithers…” Enticed?

Read the piece in full at kellybergin.us.

Photo by Glynnis McDaris

Since her breakout in Francois Ozon’s 2003 Swimming Pool, in which her feisty, bikini-clad Julie was a beguiling foil to Charlotte Rampling’s buttoned up Sarah, Ludivine Sagnier has earned admiration for her provocative, sensual performances in a host of independent French films. So the actress, 32, was both surprised and pleased when she read the script for Love Crime, opening September 2, and discovered she was being cast as the capable but dowdy Isabelle.

“You know how it works with actors, sometimes you get this tag on you like ‘Okay, she’s been naked in swimming pools so she has to be the sex kitten for the rest of her life. She has to be the bimbo forever,’” says Sagnier. “I was glad to be the ugly one.”

Sagnier as Isabelle

Ugly might be stretching it, but as Isabelle, a socially inept, fashionably-clueless executive assistant, Sagnier convincingly trades in racy lingerie and bedroom hair for ill-fitting button downs and stringy chignons. The perfect coifs and stylings are left to Christine, Isabelle’s ambitious, egomaniacal boss, played with a gleaming smile by Kristin Scott Thomas in this cat and mouse—and then mouse and cat—thriller.

Yet despite her appearance (“Usually I keep the clothes [from films], but these I didn’t take,” quips Sagnier), Isabelle is young and smart, a threat to Christine, whose every move she worships until the latter takes advantage of her efforts, pushing her to actions with irreparable consequences.

“Even at the beginning, I think she’s very unbalanced and when the humiliation hits her, it’s too strong, it’s a feeling she can’t cope with,” muses Sagnier of her character. “The director, Alain Corneau, was really precise about this point that humiliation could lead someone to a murder because that’s one of the biggest traumas you can have.”

Fortunately, no such competition existed in real life: the younger actress’ initial concerns that the formidable Scott Thomas might prove intimidating were quickly displaced (“She’s like a little girl playing dolls,” she remarks). And while expressing an understanding of Isabelle’s psyche and the allure of the mentor-mentee relationship, Sagnier, who has acted opposite such greats as Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve, is too well-equipped to fall prey to even tamer versions of such scenarios.

“If I had someone who was starting to harass me and set up a really toxic relationship, I would see it coming and beware and protect myself much earlier than she does,” she says. “Isabelle just gives herself away like Little Red Riding Hood—straight in the wolf’s mouth.”

Sagnier’s own path into acting was much more measured. The daughter of an English teacher father, raised in the town of La Celle-Saint-Cloud in northern-central France, she began studying theater at an early age as an escape from classical music, the preferred profession of her father’s family. She made her first film, Les maris, les femmes, les amants, when she was eight years old.

“I wasn’t like what you call a child actor in the US. I wasn’t famous. I would shoot a few movies here and there…and went to school just like a regular schoolgirl,” says Sagnier, adding, “It was almost like a failure, to be an actress was not much of a value in the beginning.”

When she was nineteen and began landing plum leading roles, like in Ozon’s Water Drops on Burning Rocks, her childhood endeavors naturally segued into an adult career.

Now a mother of two daughters, ages six and two and a half, Sagnier is quite in demand. She can currently be seen as Uday Hussein’s mistress in The Devil’s Double and will soon appear in Les bien-aimés, as a Roger Vivier shoe clerk turned prostitute, whose older counterpart is played by Deneuve. If anything, her children have helped keep her grounded in the face of such a challenging industry.

“A journalist once told me when you’ll be on your deathbed, it’s not the movies that’s gonna hold your hand,” she says. “So I guess it’s my statement now.”

Photo: Courtesy of IFC Films

Inside Baldwin Denim's men's store

W favorite Baldwin Denim has given us another reason to book a trip to its hometown of Kansas City: a brand-new men’s store, featuring the line’s rugged-luxe jeans, oxfords and chukkas designed with George Esquivel, plus workwear-friendly touches like a giant sewing machine for customizing purchases on site. Best of all, guys aren’t the only ones to get a new place to shop: Baldwin’s founder, Matt Baldwin, just revamped Standard Style, his boutique stocked with women’s wear from designers like Diane von Furstenberg and Rebecca Taylor. KC is looking pretty good this fall.

A look at the remodeled Standard Style

Visit baldwindenim.com

Edited by Karla Martinez and Vanessa Lawrence The Paris-born Camille Rowe-Pourcheresse seems to be adjusting to her relatively new Manhattan life with ease. The model and new face of Chloé’s fall fragrance campaign has already racked up some local dives (The Bowery Hotel and Tartinery) and found her style groove (Acne jeans by day, Sixties-esque mini dresses at night). Here, our September It Girl reveals where she satisfies her croissant-cravings, her favorite namesake flats and her must-stops for when she leaves New York.

Daily uniform: During the day I dress pretty casually: Acne jeans, men’s t-shirts or sweaters, I love buttoned up white shirts, paired with Martin Margiela boots or Repetto shoes. I have a thing for overalls as well.

Greatest hits: I have a vintage fur coat that looks exactly like Margot Tenenbaum which I absolutely love. I recently purchased these amazing tight black Chanel boots that look very 60s, so cute. I have a few kimonos that I like to wear as dresses in the evening, there is one in particular that I found in a vintage store in Montauk that's a real hit. Finally my Burberry leather jacket because it’s a classic.

Preferred footwear: I hardly ever wear heels during the day unless I need to go to castings. Margiela makes the best boots. In the evening I'll go for heels—I like them colorful. I also love to wear my dirty low-rise white Converse sneakers with a pretty fancy dress, though.

Finishing touches: I hardly wear jewelry except for two gold hoops in my left ear and the Chanel Camelia ring that I never take off. I finish my outfits with a spray of perfume—I alternate between Rose Noir from Byredo and Chloé.

Nighttime look: It depends on my mood: I usually go pretty 60s inspired. I love ridiculously short dresses with little ballet pumps (my favorites are from Repetto and are called Camille! with a tiny little heel). I love kimonos as well, and in the summer I love wearing white with very colorful heels and red lipstick. If I’m planning on dancing, though, I need to wear flats.

Best recent discovery: I just moved to NYC and I’ve been missing my French croissants. A friend just introduced me to Ceci-Cela bakery. Their pastries are Paris worthy! Another recent discovery is Netflix, they have all my favorite French films and great documentaries.

Favorite stores: I love La Hune bookstore in Paris for French books. The Dries van Noten store in Paris is beautiful and I love their clothes. Opening Ceremony always has a great selection. Kisan concept store in Soho is great as well, they have great books and DVDs and I recently bought the cutest pillows for my new apt.

Style pet peeve: Too tight…

Style icons: Marianne Faithful, Bonnie Parker, Kate Moss.

Last purchase: A vintage 1970s bikini for my summer in Corsica and Marni boots with a big velvet bow on top.

Lusting after: Celine’s fall collection, holidays...

Favorite haunts: In NYC: Bowery Hotel for their ginger drink; Tartinery in Nolita is my cantine, I go there almost every single day. They have charming French owners and delicious desserts. In Paris: "Marche des enfants rouges" on rue de Bretagne is a great world food market. "Les deux amis" on rue Oberkampf has the best food and wine! Deyrolles' I love going there because I collect butterflies, it’s like a museum. In London, Fat Faced Cat is one of my favorite vintage stores, it’s my first stop whenever I’m there.

Read September's "It Trend, It Girl," featuring Camille-Rowe Pourcheresse

Photo Credit: Edward Keating

In head-to-toe St. John, Kate Winslet, the new face of the iconic brand, turns on her Oscar-winning screen-star-magnetism in three short films directed by Craig McDean. “You turn on the film camera and she just looks at you. Literally, Craig, the cameraman, and I all at the same time went, [gasps],” says Trey Laird, the legendary ad man and head of Laird + Partners responsible for forging this partnership. “It was like a magnetic force field being projected.”

Kate Winslet for St. John

On the heels of St. John’s collaboration with Angelina Jolie, Laird, who famously brought on Madonna to revive a fledgling Gap in 2003, wanted to move in a “more authentic” direction. “It’s not about, ‘Oh, what celebrity will we pick?’ It’s really trying to find these people that will really bring your brand to life,” says Laird. “When it’s an authentic fit, it’s really a powerful thing.”

The authenticity also resonates with Winslet’s well-publicized commitment to what she calls “real shape”—an image free of overzealous retouching. “She’s ageless and the idea of trying to make her totally Photoshopped and airbrush-y was so not appealing,” says Laird. “I don’t think that would have represented what we wanted to say.” On-screen, her face beautifully displays the tiny lines and wrinkles other starlets might have wanted wiped away, and she flaunts an amazing hourglass figure in a sexy body-hugging number. “She just really is the real deal. She’s a really really smart, cool, intelligent, great personality, great person to be around. I couldn’t have had a better experience,” says Laird.

And as if those glowing remarks weren’t enough, Laird was quick to recount that Winslet recently saved Richard Branson’s mom from a burning building while vacationing on his private Island. “Kate ran back inside and got Richard Branson’s 90-year-old mother and carried her out of the house,” says Laird. “So now, not only is she amazing and beautiful and intelligent and talented, she’s also a hero!”

Click here to watch Kate Winslet in action on set.

A woman walking down the street toting a Louis Vuitton bag, emblazoned with Takashi Murakami’s colorful print is not likely to prompt any double takes. A Cadillac Escalade whose entire interior is lined in a version of Takashi Murakami’s design for Louis Vuitton? Definitely pause-worthy.

That was certainly artist Luis Gispert’s reaction when he discovered the latter on a trip to Miami about two years ago. Gispert, who works in multiple mediums, had originally embarked on a photographic project to shoot sublime landscapes and superimpose them into the windows in his images of specialty vehicles. The 39 year-old had already hunted down custom tractor trailers, military airplanes and customized cars in his endeavors when he found this Murakami number.

“I was just fascinated with this car so I took a picture of it and started to talk to the owner. And I brought up Takashi Murakami and he had no idea who he was, nor did he seem to care,” recalls Gispert. “He was interested in ‘Louis, Louis, Louis.’” Realizing he had stumbled upon a subculture of car—and home and clothing—decorating, he changed tack, setting out to find as many similar examples as possible.

Dreaded MCM

The result is “Decepcion,” opening at the Mary Boone Gallery on Fifth Avenue on September 8th. The show includes images of these logo-bedazzled cars, landscapes viewed through their front windows; women and men who have crafted entire outfits out of ostensibly fake designer textiles, like a DJ who made a jacket and pants of plasticized MCM material, and even a room covered in Versace’s signature medusa motif.

Gispert’s travels took him from coast-to-coast and brought him encounters with both everyday folks and those whose professions he dared not enquire about. There was the mailman who took his late 80's Mercedes and did a DYI Gucci job on everything from its seats to its dashboard and the man whose lime green Cadillac sported an equally blinding shade of green mixed with Stephen Sprouse’s graffitied Louis Vuitton print.

Sprouse Gouse

“There’s this class anxiety where they understand that these brands index some kind of wealth, higher class. Now they’re appropriating that. They’re not trying to copy high fashion, they are creating their own things,” explains the Buschwick-based Gispert, who studied film and sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago and got a masters in sculpture from Yale University before moving to New York. “These cars become their fantasy vehicles, spaces they’re creating because they have pretty normal, average lives.”

Well, most of them do. Less so the Florida-based drug dealer whom Gispert surmises was a big deal in the 80s. His mansion, “looked like a set from ‘Scarface,’” says the artist, who focused his lens on the guy’s bedroom, which boasted a round bed covered in a Versace duvet and pillows, a fountain in the back, mirrors on the ceilings, a hot tub and color-coded walls stenciled with Versace’s signature Grecian pattern.

Versace bedroom

What would possess a person to trick out their bedroom like this is something Gispert prefers to leave to the imagination of his viewers. “Decepcion” (Spanish for disappointment or disillusionment) is his first solely photographic exhibit—he normally combines film, sculpture and photography into a fictional narrative—and as such, he preferred not to have the photos, with their colorful, slightly surreal quality, appear as a commentary on the objects and people captured therein.

“The subject was so hot, I needed to cool it off. I wanted the landscape to appear in the car to make it kind of hyper-real,” says Gispert. “I didn’t want it to have an exploitative, documentarian kind of thing.”

Photos: Courtesy of Luis Gispert and Mary Boone Gallery