After Hours: High Gear

lorenzo-martone-amanda-setton.jpg Lorenzo Martone and Amanda Setton.

What: The New York City launch of Martone Cycling Co., Lorenzo Martone's new line of stylish street-ready bicycles.

Where: The Paramount hotel.

When: May 21

Who: Marc Jacobs, actress Amanda Setton, Aby Rosen and Samantha Boardman, Peter Som and a host of muscular guys in tight shirts roamed the perimeter of the hotel's second floor, sipping champagne and admiring the bikes, which come in five colors, weigh only 26 pounds and sport a "MCC Duomatic" special two speed gear system with an automatic shift.

marc-jacobs.jpg Marc Jacobs.

Why: "The idea came a year ago. I've been biking forever. I went to school in Paris and literally everyone rides a bike in France. And I moved here and I got a bike right away. And last year I moved to the West Village and I started putting my bike in the living room and I thought, Whoa it needs an upgrade. I collect mid century furniture. At this point I was just looking to buy a new bike that has more of an aesthetic that looks as good outside as it does inside. I started looking and didn't find it and I thought, you know what? What if I start designing a city bike that I feel comfortable riding and is gonna look great inside my apartment?" said Martone. And no need to worry about packing an extra set of workout clothes. Thanks to the lower speed gear system, Martone insists you can still look chic post-ride. "I don't want to go too fast because I don't want to be sweaty because I'm wearing a suit and going to my office. The idea is you don't want to change clothes to ride. I ride the gold one and I feel, like with accessories, it goes with everything."

Photos: Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com

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After Hours: Picture Perfect

acria-unframed-silent-auction.jpg Michelle Harper and Olivier Theyskens.

What: ACRIA's Unframed 2013: Focus on Photography, a silent auction and cocktail party hosted by Olivier Theyskens and curated by Stewart Shining.

Where: The Sean Kelly Gallery in New York.

When: May 20

Who: A mix of fashion editors in airy, summer ensembles; designers like Peter Som, Prabal Gurung, Johan Lindeberg and Bibhu Mohapatra; and artsminded girls about town Sofia Sanchez, Arden Wohl, Rebecca de Ravenel and Michelle Harper.

Why: The intersection of fashion, art and photography can prove an irresistible mix--especially for such a good cause (proceeds went to ACRIA's support for and research of HIV and AIDS). Theyskens even had a hand in adding work by Craig McDean, Arthur Elgort and Thomas Whiteside to the silent auction offerings. "I thought I could propose people who are more famous for fashion photography but also have a great, artistic voice," said the designer, who owns works by Ellen von Unwerth and Karl Lagerfeld and had his eye on a photograph by Edward Mapplethorpe.

Photo: Neil Rasmus/BFAnyc.com

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Chanel Resort 2014: One Look One Line

chanel-resort-14.jpgChanel Resort 2014

The Chanel woman is always pulled together and perfectly accessorized, this season with a single drop earring.

Photo: courtesy of Chanel

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After Hours: Five Star Hotel

Thanks to Eloise, many a girl has grown up with the fantasy of living in a hotel—or at the very least, running amok in one for a night. Well, apparently it isn’t only gals who can be stricken with an Eloise complex. Thursday night, Aby Rosen, an unlikely Kay Thompson groupie, took over the newly renovated Paramount Hotel’s lobby to celebrate his birthday with a bash hosted by Lyor Cohen, Bob Colacello, Diego Marroquin, Alberto Mugrabi, Stavros Niarchos and Vito Schnabel. Yes, that’s right, he didn’t rent the penthouse or the ballroom or anything pedestrian like that. He took over the lobby. And the mezzanine. And probably the hotel restaurant’s kitchen, too.

blog-aby-rosen-birthday-paramont-hotel.jpg Samantha Boardman Rosen and Aby Rosen

 To be fair, he certainly put every inch of the space to good use. In one corner was a mini-wall of real flowers in front of which guests could pose for photos. Bookending the second floor booth, where DJ Nick Cohen manned the turntables, were two dancers performing some kind of meditative, interpretative routine. And in between two downstairs bars was a woman in a flowing white gown whose sole purpose was to fly through the air on a multi-story swing, like a lost Cirque du Soleil acolyte. Every so often, a man named Victor would sweep her into his arms and whisk her out of the room, presumably to rest, before carrying her back out for another round on the swing.

 “I’m just trying to keep everyone safe,” he said, as he watched her sway.

 “Everyone” was an appropriate word choice considering the boldface names that packed the lobby, lounging on oversized velvet ottomans and tufted sofas. There was Eva Chow chatting with Vera Wang. And Carlos de Souza posing for cameras with Nicky Hilton. And Bono being trailed by Guy Oseary, who acted as a bodyguard shooing away fans (even among the famous, there is a hierarchy, after all). And Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis in a red cap, not unlike what a bellboy would wear. And Olivier Theyskens who eyed the swing and said, “I want to try that,” but obviously didn’t.

 Waiters passed out everything from smoked salmon with caviar to cotton candy and tequila shots, complete with a bowl of limes.

 “I know how to drink tequila,” said one woman when a server tried to explain the process to her.

 There was a popcorn machine, too—I mean, why not?—giving one corner of the lobby the enticing scent of a buttery movie theater.

 “This IS like a movie,” shrugged Cynthia Rowley as she grabbed a box for herself and moments later confetti dropped from the ceiling to ring in Rosen’s birthday.

 Well, if one were to think in cinematic terms, Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby would have to come to mind. What was it Jordan said about large parties? “He gives large parties and I like large parties. They’re so intimate. Small parties, there isn’t any privacy.” The woman has a point.

Click here to see more photos.

Photo: Billy Farrell Agency

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Style Notes: Jennifer Meyer Maguire

Los Angeles jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer Maguire has won a loyal fan-base among celebrities and fashion folks alike with her unassumingly elegant gold pieces, like her signature nameplate necklaces. A first runner up for the 2012 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award, she’s been busy with her collaboration for J Crew—and a few red carpet appearances alongside husband, Tobey Maguire, for his film The Great Gatsby—not to mention a recent nomination for the 2013 CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessory Design. Here, a few of Meyer’s favorite things.

jennifer-meyer-blog.jpg Jennifer Meyer Maguire

Define your style in three words:
Southern California, happy and grown up, when I need to be.

Daily uniform:
Vintage Levi’s, navy Converse high-tops and an Isabel Marant t-shirt—with Jennifer Meyer jewelry, of course.

Greatest hits:
My vintage hippy dresses that I always seem to gravitate towards when getting ready. My well-worn J. Crew jean shirt and striped shirt—I don’t know which I wear more often. My amazing Chanel tweed jacket that I worship.

Preferred footwear:
For day, I love my Rag & Bone booties. For night, my Tabitha Simmons “Ruby” shoes. (I like to think she named them after my daughter.)

Finishing touches:
My mini Celine bag, a hair tie and my diamond wishbone necklace.

Jennifer-Meyer-Jewelry.jpg Jennifer Meyer jewelry, from left: Rose Gold Diamond Wishbone Necklace, $2,525, barneys.com; Lapis Pyramid & Pink Sapphire Drop Earrings with Diamonds, barneys.com

Nighttime look:
My Jennifer Meyer one-of-a-kind lapis and sapphire drop earrings, The Row leather leggings, new pink Chanel heels, and a clean white t-shirt.

Best recent discovery:
Magazines on my iPad—I know I am behind the times, but that discovery blew my mind.

Favorite stores:
L.L.Bean—I will monogram anything. Barneys New York—my home away from home. My neighborhood bead store, where my daughter and I spend hours and hours making necklaces.

Style pet peeve:
Taking your style too seriously.

Style icons:
Jenna Lyons, Diane von Furstenberg and Dolly Parton.

Last purchase:
The Honest Company’s hand sanitizer, it’s a staple in my bag.

blog-hand-sanitizer-01.jpg The Honest Company hand sanitizer

Lusting after:
The perfect bra. Any suggestions?

Favorite haunts:
In Los Angeles, Nate ‘n Al, the best deli in the world. In New York, Café Gitane for their avocado toast. Brasserie Lipp in Paris for not only the food but the experience.

Next vacation:
Hopefully on a beach. And soon.

Warm weather must-have:
Sunscreen. Don’t leave home without it.

Portrait: Fairchild Archive

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After Hours: New Versus

The Lexington Avenue Armory is, in most fashion minds, deeply associated with Marc Jacobs. If one of the designer’s shows isn’t happening there, does the place even really exist? Leave it to Donatella Versace to put her own imprimatur on the palatial space, as she did Wednesday night when she hosted a party and runway show for Versus Versace and J. W. Anderson’s capsule collection for the line. There was no mistaking the evening for anything but a Versace event: exclusively male bartenders were straight out of central casting, their tightly muscled physiques visible beneath gold medusa-emblazoned black t-shirts. The event’s scale was staggering, with DJ Maxwell housed in a booth a good story and a half above the throngs. And the crowd? Well, let’s just say there were a lot of studs (interpret as you will) and black leather and everyone and their mother seemed to have a bodyguard.

blog-donatella-versace-new-versus-line-01.jpgDonatella Versace

But lest anyone think this was a rehashing of past glory days, guests were given bracelets proclaiming “#newversus”. The night served as a launching pad for the, well, new Versus line, now a seasonless collection of brightly colored knits and graphic black and white ensembles. “We decided to bring the new Versus Versace back to New York because this is where it all started and where it belongs,” said Versace. “This city represents the energy of the brand and its rebellious and unconventional nature.”

Forty-five minutes into the party, the lights came up on a huge glassed-in rectangular room—a makeshift backstage where Versace and Anderson could be seen tending to models before they stomped around a U-shaped runway, punctuated with performances by Angel Haze, Dead Sara and Grimes, all projected on two huge screens. Fans pressed themselves up against the glass for a glimpse of Donatella as she, variously, paced through the room; tweaked models’ outfits, and at one point, sat on a zebra-striped ottoman with Anderson to watch the show on smaller TV screens. It was all rather meta.

“Oh my god, it’s Donatella!” screamed one long-haired chap, seemingly on the verge of a hysterical breakdown.

“She’s JUST like she should be!” sighed his companion.

Forget the clothes—as charming as they were. This was theatre and performance art rolled into one sweaty, throbbing package.

And Versace and the musical talents weren’t the only source of entertainment. Throughout the night, guests could hitch a ride on a tricked out pedicab decorated with a tower of handbags. “I can take you anywhere you want,” said Miles, the dapper driver, grinning slyly. “Over the rainbow and back. No, seriously.” I might just have believed him.

Photo: Sherly Rabbani & Josephine Solimene

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Five Minutes With Alison Gingeras

As a former curator at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and then at François Pinault’s Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Alison Gingeras is used to a fairly large stage. Her latest curatorial platform, Oko, (Russian for “eye”) is a 110 square-foot storefront in New York’s East Village. The gallery is a collaboration between Gingeras and Daniella Luxembourg and Amalia Dayan. And despite its diminutive size, Gingeras has already packed a punch with shows of early-career paintings by Julian Schnabel and works by the Polish artist Jerry "Jurry" Zielinski, as well as a book signing for Rob Pruitt. Tonight she opens "The Spirits That I Called" which features two of Dan Colen's new fairy dust spacescapes —laboriously layered pigments in the form of astral arches — inspired by pre-Rafaelite fairy paintings and Disney in equal measure. "This is the beginning of a bigger series for Dan and I don't think he was ready to show a whole gallery's worth of paintings, but he got very excited by the idea of showing these two completely finished pieces here," Gingeras says. "There seems to be a community beginning to grow around the space. It's just the start of it, but it's exciting."

blog-Colen_Oko_03.jpg"The Spirits That I Called" at Oko

What was the impetus to open Oko?
Well, I had this vision...I have always lived in the East Village and I'm an art historian so I'm thinking all the time about the layers of the history of this neighborhood and its relationship to the art world and the Eighties. I was walking by this storefront and I thought, "The paradigm needs to change in how we're looking at art." We're not going to change the whole system but it would be nice to have a space that's a curatorial laboratory to do amazing, rigorous things in a tiny storefront in the East Village.

What was here before you moved in?
It was this vintage jewelry store called Magic Fingers and that's what we really wanted to call the space but the lady who ran it for many years and she felt very territorial about the name. At the same time I saw the space I'd seen these incredible fairy dust paintings Dan Colen was working on—he was calling them Magic Arches. So the whole thing has been very organic, it just grew out of a lot of serendipitous things, but also a deep thinking about how we look at art in New York City.

How so?
The whole paradigm of a huge bloated art space in Chelsea is not very agreeable for looking at art in my point of view. This place has a really reasonable rent, it can really be about ideas and looking at stuff as opposed to having to put on super commercial shows. Amalia and Daniella really get it; they're complicit in that idea and they're also great partners because the share my idea that it would be crazy to be walking down 10th Street and see a 19th century painting or something totally unexpected in a storefront that's next to a bunch of Japanese restaurants.

blog-Colen_Oko_02.jpgDan Colen, TBT (to be titled), 2013

So what made you want to open the space with Julian Schnabel?
Actually, Schnabel wasn't really the first show. I let Danny McDonald have the keys before I renovated and he made art here and had this incredible performance of his alterego Mindy Vale. She's like a gypsy, old lady drag queen so we wanted her to do something for Halloween, but then Sandy happened, so Danny would work here all night and he went to Cooper Union so people would come by and it was like a social club. He didn't change anything he just added his space to this old vintage jewelry store and after that we renovated, changed the name and did this Schnabel show and the space has become a way to connect to younger artists.

Like who?
The next show after this are two really young artists in their Twenties, Borna Sammak and Alex Da Corte. I met those two guys through all these layers, so I said, "Let's do a summer show here." And they're going to do something in relation to the storefront in reference to Claes Oldenburg. One of these guys shows in a small gallery on the Lower East Side and the other guy is from Philadelphia and his career is just gaining a little momentum and he hasn't shown too much in New York yet and they're just excited to do a project in this space. They're talking about this space where you look at it from the window, you don't even come inside, so it's really about the vitrine and the storefront. The most exciting thing for me is that I'm constantly texting and talking with them about, "What is it going to be?" It's the same experience I had at the Centre Pompidou only it's this tiny little storefront. It's like a project room and a museum all at once, except that there's no board of trustees.

“Dan Colen: The Spirits That I Called” is on view at Oko, 220 East 10th Street. Okooko.org

Photo: Christopher Burke, courtesy Gagosian Gallery

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Winner's Circle

blog-kerry-washington-red-marc-by-marc-jacobs-dress.jpg Who: Kerry Washington

Where: The Entertainment Weekly and ABC-TV Upfronts party at the General in New York City.

When: May 14

What: A red leather Marc by Marc Jacobs dress and gold and black House of Lavande vintage earrings.

Why: Washington, who always seems game to take a fashion risk, proves she can also do straight-forward sizzling hot. And why not?

Photo: Getty Images

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Five Minutes with Jane Coxwell

As a princess, the wife of a media mogul and a fashion phenom of more than 40 years standing, it’s safe to say that Diane Von Furstenberg has tasted the very best life has to offer, both literally and figuratively. But when it comes to food, her most memorable meals have not been the work of a triple-starred Michelin toque or king of the New York restaurant scene. Her hands-down favorite chef, she says, is an under-the-radar young South African woman named Jane Coxwell who, since 2009, has served as Von Furstenberg’s personal chef aboard Eos, her spectacular (and enormous) yacht. Von Furstenberg calls Coxwell “the best cook I’ve ever met” and “a magician.” In the interest of sharing that magic with the rest of the world, she encouraged Coxwell to write a cookbook, Fresh, Happy, Tasty, out today from William Morrow. Full of bright, healthy, accessible recipes—and glimpses of just how delicious and glamorous life is aboard Eos—it’s dinner with a side order of voyeurism. Here, Coxwell offers up a few more glimpses behind the scenes.

blog-fresh-happy-tasty-jane-coxwell-cookbook-02.jpg Jane Coxwell

How did you end up cooking for DVF?
After culinary school, I cooked on private yachts for about 5 years and then took a break to work as the executive chef at a winery in the Napa Valley. I loved it, but I decided I wanted to do a bit more learning and traveling right around the time that the job became available on Eos… lucky for me! We’ve since circumnavigated the globe, and it’s been incredible.

What is the most memorable meal you've served aboard Eos?
I actually really like the meals that venture just off Eos and on to a beach close by. For DVF’s birthday one year, we found a very remote beach in Costa Rica and set it up with tea lights and a bonfire and cooked outside. DVF’s birthday happens to be New Years Eve, and there were Chinese Lanterns for everyone to send up into the air. The water was filled with newly hatched baby turtles. There was something really special about that night.

What is the biggest difference between cooking on land and on a boat?
On the boat you have to be prepared and very organized—there’s no running to the store if you’ve forgotten something. Space utilization is also crucial. The movement can be pretty strange, too. It’s usually very calm but on crossings, it can get a little rough and sometimes I find myself catching produce rolling off the counter, or stopping pots from sliding around on the stove. One great thing is the ever-changing view from my “office” window.

blog-fresh-happy-tasty-jane-coxwell-cookbook-01.jpg Fresh, Happy, Tasty

Are there any special challenges involved with cooking for the many members of the fashion world that Diane hosts? The old cliché is that stylists/models/designers survive on Diet Coke and cigarettes. Now it seems everyone is gluten free or on a "cleanse"…
I haven’t really been exposed to any of that. DVF is my favorite person to cook for. She loves the type of food that I like to make, which is lucky for me. My food is clean and fresh. It’s not health food, but I do try and make food that won’t make you feel uncomfortable or heavy after eating. I like to think of it as tasty fuel. Especially being on a yacht, you want to make the most of the day after lunch and hike up a mountain or swim, not slow down. DVF loves life, and for that reason, she eats clean, fresh, real food. The people that I’ve cooked for in the fashion industry seem to like the same, fortunately.

What is your favorite seasonal recipe to cook this time of year?
Basically anything green! Anything in the pea family, asparagus, ramps, artichokes… There’s a green pea salad with lemon and mint in my book that is perfect for spring.

Photo: Katie Osgood

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Winner's Circle: Anne V

anne-v.jpg

Who: Anne V

Where: The American Ballet Theater Spring Gala sponsored by Dior at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

When: May 13

What: A navy blue wool jacket and skirt and metal ring sandals, all by Dior.

Why:
In a sea of ball gowns, the model stood out in a short, chic and feminine take on classic men's tailoring.

Photo: Billy Farrell Agency

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