Society: Editors' Blog: Wmagazine.com

Leave it to Michele Lamy and her partner, designer Rick Owens, to draw one of Paris' motliest—and wildest—party crowds to Paris' straitlaced 7th arrondissement. Designers, tattoo artists, drag queens, socialites, goth kids and even a pro rugby player or two packed Chez Francoise on Friday for Lamy's one-night revival of Les Deux Cafes, the famed L.A. nightclub she launched in the Nineties (click HERE for last week's interview with Lamy). As Greek artist Konstantin Kakanias watched Lamy take the stage to croon a few moody cabaret numbers, backed by Bobby Woods' band, he enthused, "This is just like the old Les Deux. Only better."

Michelle Lamy and Rick Owens

Art installation by Scarlett Rouge

Bobby Woods

Bobby Woods, left, and Konstantin Kakanias

Christopher and Jessica Wonder

DJ Benjamin Moreau and friends

Jane Mosley and Lisa Ticknor

Louis-Marie de Castelbajac, left, and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac

Maxime Buchi

Moco, left, Dianne Pernet and Armand Hadida

Terence Koh

Photos: Francois Goize

By Christopher Bagley

October 27, 2009

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Five minutes with opera it-girl Isabel Leonard

One of the brightest young stars at the Metropolitan Opera this season is mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, a Manhattan native who is singing the part of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro this season. Leonard, 27, has been steadily on the rise since she made her Met debut two years ago in Romeo et Juliette. One of those lucky souls who seem to have talent down to their fingertips, Leonard danced ballet at the Joffrey Ballet School until she was about 12, and at one point almost chose to pursue visual arts instead of music. Her voice is pure and agile, she's totally gorgeous, and she's married to Teddy Tahu Rhodes, a hunky baritone who's known as the Brad Pitt of the opera world.

Do you ever get stage fright?
You know, I've never been nervous to an inhibiting point, even when I was a kid dancing The Nutcracker. For me, it's not nerves as much as adrenaline. If I'm prepared, I shouldn't be nervous.

Leonard, left, as Cherubino, with Emma Bell as the Countess

Even at your Met debut?
Well, I think I was prepared for it, so I wasn't really nervous. Those horrible dreams singers have are usually about being unprepared -- like you're being thrust onstage and you don't even know what opera you're singing. I've had those dreams!

What are some of the other common opera singer nightmares?
Oh, there are several. There's also the one where you're handed a score and for some reason you can't read it and the conductor is looking at you, like, "Sing!"

Being married to an opera singer and being one yourself, do you guys listen to a lot of opera at home?
Oh god, no. After singing it all day that's usually the last thing I want to hear. It drives me crazy when I go visit my mom and she's playing opera -- I have to say, "Mom, please!" I listen to a lot of jazz. I still prefer listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Etta James and Sarah Vaughn than anything else.

Tell us about Teddy.
We met the summer before last in Santa Fe and just got married last December. I think cupid had it out for us. He was singing Billy Budd and I was singing Cherubino. We were sort of avoiding each other, like high school kids with a crush. Finally, his director who must have seen me lurking around at rehearsals told him, "You have a fan -- she's been here every day." In any case, we met and sort of fell into each other immediately.

Are you going to sing together sometime?
Well, we'd be happy just being on the same continent, or the same state, maybe. This summer I was in Salzburg and he was in Australia, it was wretched!

It sounds like you had a really bohemian, artistic upbringing.
Yeah, well, I grew up in Chelsea in a walkup apartment. My dad was an artist and my mom, who's from Buenos Aires, is an intellectual with a huge artistic passion. I've always been very happy painting, singing, dancing. I'm thinking of finding a pottery class now because I'm dying to do something with my hands.

Leonard's next performance in Figaro is Friday, October 9. The production runs through December 12.

Previously on the blog: A W staffer goes gaga for maestro Gustavo Dudamel

Production shot: courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera; Tahu: Gaye Gerard/Getty Images

By Catherine Hong

October 8, 2009

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Bravo, Gustavo

The One finally arrived in Los Angeles. After a months-long build-up, 28-year-old Venezuelan conducting sensation Gustavo Dudamel gave his first performance as the new musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Saturday night. I haven't enjoyed anything so much in years.

Since Dudamel exploded on the classical scene a few years back, he has been hailed in the music press as the next Leonard Bernstein. When I attended a press conference at Disney Hall earlier this year to officially introduce Gustavo -- everyone calls him by his first name -- I thought of another comparison. With his youth, unexpected heritage, commitment to community-based music education and irresistible public charisma, Dudamel is something like the Barack Obama of the performing arts world. And just as Obama had his rallying cries of Hope and Change, Gustavo swept into town amidst a well-calibrated marketing campaign with tag-line like Pasión Gustavo! and Eléctrico Gustavo! On Saturday, 18,000 rapturous fans attended the L.A. Phil's free performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl. Seemingly every color, class and culture from across the city was there.

It was the first time I've seen Gustavo conduct -- and now I understand what all the fuss is about. Classical music critics have attested to Gustavo's extraordinary musical acumen. What I'd add is that Gustavo is also a brilliant actor in the podium. He doesn't just manage the orchestra; he uses his entire body to articulate an astonishing range of musical moods as ably as a silent-screen star. It's no wonder fans love Gustavo: he is a performance in and of himself.

For example, during the booming cataclysms of Beethoven's first movement, Gustavo's used his expressive left hand to define the orchestra's volume and scale as precisely as a mime might delineate the shape of a teacup -- or an elephant. In the third movement, the beautiful adagio, Gustavo's face was that an old roué reliving the memory of a long-ago seduction, and the music accordingly evoked the wistful lyricism of private happiness.

The encore, a repeat of the Ode to Joy accompanied by fireworks, showed Gustavo as relaxed and celebratory as an Olympic sprinter after taking the gold, and by then, 18,000 Angelenos were on their feet laughing joyously, weeping and cheering.

Gustavo is surely the only arts celebrity in Los Angeles with the star power and passion to bring together the entire city in such a public celebration. He more than lived up to the hype. On the way out, I could help but indulge a whimsical thought -- Presidente Gustavo!

By Kevin West

October 6, 2009

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Madeleine Albright on diplomacy, her pins & Vegas

In matters of diplomacy, a little bling—and a quick wink at social and sexual politics—can be quite the ice breaker. So says Madeleine Albright, the U.S. Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001, whose new book chronicling her love of buying (and, occasionally, her controversial penchant for wearing) brooches in all manner of color, shape and, yes, quality—she is a major costume proponent—hits shelves this week. Read My Pins, underwritten by St. John Knits, offers a glossy glimpse into the treasure trove of pins Secretary Albright has collected over the years, from the slinking snake she wore near her shoulder after being deemed an “unparalleled serpent” by the Iraqi press to the elegant peach-hued Chinese dragon she donned when testifying before Congress on U.S.-China relations. Now running The Albright Group and Albright Capital Management, the globetrotter spoke with W about her decidedly nonpartisan hobby.

In Read My Pins, you write that you first began wearing the accoutrements prominently in the mid-Nineties, after you criticized Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi press subsequently called you a “serpent.” I understand the symbolism of wearing a snake thereafter, but were you concerned about how it might be perceived?
I actually wasn’t at the time. And I think that having been called a serpent I thought I was entitled to wear what I wanted to and they saw a message received and that I had to respond.

Katie's Heart, Katie Albright (USA), 1972.

Very quickly your pins became an expected part of your wardrobe. Did you ever arrive at a state event without one?
It wasn’t true when I was Secretary of State but after I left office, I was out in Las Vegas giving a speech and the organizer said ‘So, what pin are you wearing tonight?’ And I said, ‘I’m not, because I’m wearing a necklace.’ And they said, ‘That’s impossible, you have to wear a pin! It’s part of who you are.’ So since I was in Las Vegas where you can shop endlessly, I went out and bought a pin—an eagle.

You write that you don’t spend a lot of money on these pins, and you mention a place in D.C. where you buy many of them, The Tiny Jewel Box. Where else do you shop for them? And do you have a price cap?
I mostly buy costume jewelry and so [price] is not a particular issue. There’s a great store called Keith Lippert in Georgetown and it’s really terrific. Mostly what happens is, this is all serendipity. I have a farm and so I poke around antique stores in Virginia or flea markets. Or when I’m traveling, I like to go to the souks, the bazaars.

Liberty Eagle, Ann Hand (USA), 1992.

Did the many dignitaries you met ever ask you to explain the logic behind the pin you were wearing, or is small talk off the table?
No, they did ask about the logic. And the reason I really wanted to write the book was in order to use the pins as vehicles for telling foreign policy stories. So for instance, one [pin] that’s in there, it’s actually an arrow. But I wore it when I was dealing with the Russian foreign minister [Ivanov] on renegotiating the anti-ballistic missile treaty. And he looked at it and he said, ‘Is that one of your interceptors?’ And I said, ‘Yes, we make them very small and we need to renegotiate.’ So they did pay attention to them.

When you teach foreign policy courses, do you ever talk about the ways in which accessories—ie your pins—can be tools of diplomacy?
Nobody’s ever said that pins are a tool of diplomacy. But I’ll tell you what I do think people don’t quite get: Even when heads of state meet or foreign ministers meet, you have to begin the conversation in some way. I have been in meetings where a head of state will say, ‘I like your tie,’ to a man...or, ‘I like your country because the weather’s good,’ or whatever. So for me, the pins in some ways were openers.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling, Designer unknown (USA), circa 1997.

My favorite in your book is the shattered glass pin—clear cracked glass attached to a gold “ceiling.” What’s the story behind it?
It came early on after I became Secretary of State. I got it from a women’s group. It all seems kind of strange now, but [the glass ceiling] was shattering when I became Secretary of State. I have to tell you, my seven-year-old granddaughter said to my daughter, her mother, ‘So what’s the big deal about Grandma Maddy having been Secretary of State? Only girls are Secretaries of State.’ Most of her lifetime, it’s true. But at the time it really was a big deal. So, I think it delivered the message that we had arrived.

By Sarah Haight

September 30, 2009

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Now, Ping-Pong is King

Located discreetly between an H&R Block and a Time Warner Office on 23rd Street is a surprising new social club where, of all things, table tennis is king. Last night, socialites, actors, models, and assorted creatures of the night convened at the opening party for Spin New York, which is owned by none other than Susan Sarandon.

Jaime Johnson, Eva Amurri, Veronica Webb, 30 Rock's Judah Friedlander and Brad Goreski (of Rachel Zoe fame) were all grabbing paddles and having a go. There were even ball chasers on hand who scurried around with tiny nets to collect the stray balls.

The theatrically lit, cavernous basement club is designed by Todd Oldham and an hotbed of sensory stimulation. Think: bright purple Olympic regulation tables, orange ping pong balls flying around in every direction, video monitors blasting. (Just don't expect to concentrate on an actual match.)

Photos by Hanuk

By Stephen Watson

September 18, 2009

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Amanda Brooks on pearl earrings, musehood, Rachel Zoe & more

Blessed with socialite status, a wardrobe to die for and a whippet-thin physique, Amanda Brooks is, as one W writer once put it, "a girl girls love to hate." But in her first book, I Love Your Style: How to Define and Refine Your Personal Style (HarperCollins/ItBooks) out September 15, the former Tuleh creative director and muse and argues that her seemingly preternatural style is actually the result of hard work. "My greatest belief about clothes is that style does not come to you unless you pay attention to it," she writes. The Vogue contributor also recommends studying magazine tear sheets, recording one's "style history" and finding fashion icons (hers are Brigitte Bardot, Marlene Dietrich and Marchesa Casati). We caught up with the new author to talk—what else?—fashion.

Whose idea was it to write a book?
It was actually two people. Diane von Furstenberg [who wrote the book's foreward] invited me over for lunch and said that she thought it was time that I did my own thing, because I've always worked for other people and she wanted to see what kind of creativity I had inside of me. Another friend of mine just said, "I think you should write a book."

Did you know that you wanted it to be a how-to kind of thing?
I wanted it to be very commercial. I wanted it to be a manual. I wanted it to be soft cover at a very accessible price point. I always knew that I wanted to sell it in Urban Outfitters and Anthropology and not just Barneys or Bergdorf's book department. I didn't want it to be a precious book—I have so many beautiful coffee table books and I can't say that I ever read.

You dissect six distinct styles—classic, bohemian, minimal, high fashion, street and eclectic—in the book. Are you in a particular fashion frame of mind right now?
I think I am always in combination of all of them. In my twenties I was just so turned off by classic clothes—I didn't have a lot of respect for things that weren't of the moment. I was always really paranoid that I grew up very preppy and that my physical features are kind of that. For instance, I would never wear pearl earrings. But after I turned 30 I became more attracted to classic clothes again. I became more confident that just because I was wearing classic clothes didn't mean that I looked preppy.

Do you have a favorite designer right now?
I really love Thakoon, I really love Proenza, I really, really love Phillip Lim. I've always been interested in young designers and watching them grow.

Are they on your fashion week agenda? And which other shows are you planning on?
Definitely. I am going to my first Alexander Wang show and I am really excited about it. I love DVF. I am going to Michael Kors, and Rag & Bone.

Is there a current trend that you kind of wish would go away?
I feel like the same proportions have been around for a while—in everyday life, not in fashion life. The loose baggy blouse with skinny jeans and ballet flats, I wear that all the time but I'm kind of ready for a new proportion.

You were a muse and creative director at Tuleh. What do you think about the term and title "muse"?
People propose me to kind of work as muse for other people and it just hasn't ever really worked since [Tuleh] and I haven't ever really wanted to do it because it's so much about the relationship between two people. You can't tell someone you don't like something unless you really love them. It is very hard to criticize someone that you don't love. To inspire them they have to trust you, so it really is really trusting each other and loving each other as people—and you can't force that.

What do you think about celebrity stylists today and their influence?
My gut says that you can't have real personal style if you have a stylist because it is someone else always telling you what to wear. But I also don't think that is true necessarily. Sofia Coppola absolutely has a fantastic sense of personal style. Same with Kirsten Dunst and Diane Kruger. I don't know if they work with personal stylists, but I can tell by the way that they dress that they have great style.

What about someone like Nicole Richie?
I think Nicole Richie is a really good example of someone who hugely benefited from a celebrity stylist because clearly she didn't have style before she met Rachel Zoe. Now that she doesn't work with Rachel Zoe I don't know if she works with any stylist at all, but I think her style is more herself.

Now that you've written your first book, would you write another?
I'm just seeing what happens, doing publicity and a book tour and seeing if another book comes out of it. Certainly the title lends itself to other books. It could be I Love Your Style: Men, I Love Your Style: Beauty, I Love Your Style: Home...

Photos: Steve Eichner.

By Jessica Iredale

September 8, 2009

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Who is Paris's poshest florist?

The son of a farmer, 37-year-old Eric Chauvin is the most sought-after florist in Paris. He opened his first shop, Un Jour de Fleurs, in 2000 on posh rue Jean Nicot in the 7th arrondissement, and last year expanded to the chic suburb of Neuilly. A modern-day romantic with long black hair, a deep tan and a half dozen bracelets on his left arm, Chauvin is the go-to guy for luxury brands like Dior and Boucheron; and, thanks to social fixture Betty Lagardère, who introduced him to all of her friends, he’s also developed an exclusive private clientele.

What have been your favorite projects so far?
There have been a lot of nice events. A beautiful dinner at Karl Lagerfeld’s home years ago and more recently, a wonderful party for the opening of the “Christian Dior and Chinese Artists” exhibit in Beijing. It took place in a magical place, all red flowers. And in June, we did the wedding of Adrien de Ganay at Courrances.

Are there any flowers you can’t stand?
I’m not into yellow flowers. They’re nice in the fields, in the gardens, but not in a house. I don’t use chrysanthemums either. I love garden flowers – irises, roses, peonies, all in large quantities because the volumes are nice.

Two of Chauvin's arrangements.

What’s the main drawback of your job?
Getting up early every morning. I work late, go to bed late, and I go to [the flower market] Rungis almost every day at 4 or 5am.

Do get a lot of irrational requests?
Sometimes I’ll get an order at 10am to be delivered before noon. Not always easy, especially if it’s a bouquet of lily of the valley in August! But most of the time, we meet the challenge.

What’s your favorite place in Paris?
I like the Bagatelle rose garden, and I enjoy walking on the quai at night. When I can get away I love to go to Venice.

Are you a romantic?
You can say that. I’m not in love though. Work is so important for me, I don’t have much time. There is too much to do.

That’s a lot of bracelets on one wrist.
I like abundance and generosity. Some are Hermes, some Gucci, Chrome Hearts and Nicolas Robert. I never take them off.

See our related blog: "The man to know in Paris—and what he knows"

By Chantal Goupil

September 3, 2009

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Making A Cameo Appearance at Steven Klein's

This Saturday, the fashion set infiltrates Steven Klein’s Bridgehampton home for “Heat,” a party to celebrate the new Ellen P. Hermanson Breast Health Center at Southampton Hospital. We got a sneak peek at the headset deejay Donna D’Cruz will be sporting at the event, and it’s quite the dazzler, with 26 hand-carved shell cameos set in sterling silver and embellished with 104 natural freshwater pearls. So how exactly did Amedeo Scognamiglio (left), owner of the Amedeo cameo shop on Lexington Avenue and co-founder of Faraone Mennella jewelry, come up with the idea for a pair of ritzy, glitzy $15,000 headphones?

“It all happened a few weeks ago, over a dinner at Il Gattopardo with Donna Karan, Fran Drescher and some other friends,” emails Scognamiglio from his vacation in St. Barth’s. “I was telling the story of my cameos and told Donna, ‘Wouldn’t it be crazy to have headsets all encrusted with cameos? It would be a modern-day techno-tiara.’ She got all excited and told me she would love to use them for a Steven Klein party in August.”

Karan happens to be one of event’s hosts, and W’s own Dennis Freedman and Alex White are auction co-chairs. Here, a look at the techno-tiara.

By Venessa Lau

August 14, 2009

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Going Greek at the Belvedere Hotel

Fashion folk have been flocking this summer to Mykonos, and the hotel of choice is the Belvedere, where Matthew Williamson, Dean and Dan Caten, Juilen MacDonald, and Neil Barrett, among others, have checked in. The hotel is the latest makeover project for design wizard David Rockwell. After reinventing the Academy Awards, he has turned his magic on the 48-room boutique hotel, a long-time island dowager. While the poolside branch of Matsuhisa, with its white marble sushi bar and blooming Bourgainvillea vines, is the coolest place to hang on the island, the real attractions are the new Rockwell-designed rooms and suites, which blend luxurious natural materials like hammered metal and carved rosewood with high-tech lighting and electronics. But the designer himself says his work pales next to the place’s natural attraction—its views of the Aegean Sea. “That incredible blue backdrop is the payoff. I couldn’t choreograph anything to top that. Mykonos is like a fairy tale island.”

Photos courtesy the Belvedere Hotel.

By James Reginato

August 10, 2009

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Bye, jewelry: This man will buy your baubles

We've all seen the Cash4Gold commercials. Kick that concept up a couple luxe notches higher and you have Circa Jewels, founded in 2001 by Chris Del Gatto. While the company, which has offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Palm Beach, Washington DC, and Hong Kong, will buy your humble castoffs—that simple gold chain or one-carat diamond ring—they've also seen their share of six-figure diamonds, not to mention plenty of ritzy baubles from Bernie Madoff victims. We couldn't help but wonder what else the gilded crowd's been unloading in these not-so-bullish times.

What are some trends you're seeing now in the re-sale market?
What's selling more than ever is signed jewelry from all the major names: Cartier, Tiffany, Van Cleef & Arpels, David Webb, Judith Ripka, Roberto Coin and David Yurman. There's still a consumer who's buying jewelry, but they're more brand-conscious.

Let's talk Madoff. Has business spiked since the fall-out?
When it first happened, reporters were camped out at our Palm Beach office. So I mean, it has had an impact. There's a certain part of our client base that was affected by Madoff and it just added to the overall pall of the recession, shaking consumers' confidence—certainly the New York, Palm Beach, upper-crust crowd. It was just kind of the icing on the cake.

What did these ladies bring you?
Everything. A ton of signed jewelry, large diamonds. They didn't bring anything unusual, just the same things that we always bought.

What about other clients—have you seen any royals lately?
I flew to Europe within the last year and a half to buy a tiara from one member of a royal family. I flew to Geneva for it.

Celebs?
One TV star recently brought in a ring from a broken engagement. Another very, very large TV personality from the Eighties and Nineties came in, and was saying that reality shows have really hurt television actors and actresses—they're not getting the work they used to.

Circa's ad campaign.

We've read that you're a polo player?
I always loved horses, but I'm born and raised in Manhattan and came from a very simple background and certainly never had the opportunity to ride. About four years ago, we sponsored one or two polo tournaments and I just really fell in love. Now I play professional tournaments. I play in the Hamptons. I play in Palm Beach. I go for a month every year to tournaments in Argentina.

And your horses?
I have seven. There's Mancha and Cha Cha. J. Lo is one. Playgirl is another. They all have very cute names.

By Venessa Lau

August 6, 2009