Affordable fashion and VIP Cocktail Party or Mayor Bloomberg don’t usually coexist, and for a time, neither did affordable fashion and Fifth Avenue. But Canadian retailer Joe Fresh’s latest opening last night added to the growing roster of wallet-friendly retailers on the famous stretch. And yes, Bloomberg was there too.

Joe Fresh's Fifth Avenue location

Guests like Jessica Stam and Tommy Ton turned out at the 510 5th Avenue landmark building (the Harry Bertoia 70-foot gilded screen is still there) to sip orange cocktails, mingle, and shop—with a portion of the proceeds going to the Public Art Fund.

Jessica Stam

And in another unexpected mash-up: Joe Fresh-inspired videos from Ellen von Unwerth, Deborah Turbeville, and Sue de Beer dotted the second floor. Click here for an exclusive look at de Beer’s video featuring Theodora Richards.

Self-described South African “farm girl”-turned blonde bombshell Candice Swanepoel walked her first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2007, just when she was on the verge of quitting her modeling career. She’s been with the brand ever since, becoming an Angel in 2010. At the recent Victoria’s Secret Swim launch in New York — she covers this year’s catalog — we chatted with Swanepoel about celebrity crushes, all things VS, plus her other longstanding relationship — that with boyfriend Brazilian model Hermann Nicoli, who she met in Paris in 2006.

Candice Swanepoel at the Victoria’s Secret Swim launch

Where’s your favorite place to go for a swim?
Brazil, I’m totally obsessed. I’ve been going since I was 17, and the first time I went, I fell in love with it. Just the energy, and I feel alive when I go down there. But I also love to go to St. Barts to shoot Victoria’s Secret Swim. The water is so still and amazing, and there’s a great energy there, too.

Where in Brazil do you like to go?
We try to go to the north, to Bahia, and we travel around there, have a Jeep there. We do some road trips, and we stay in one little town and the next day go somewhere else. I like to stay in the north because there’s a big African influence there, and it kind of makes me feel at home.

How do you get yourself bikini-ready?
I’m usually bikini-ready all year round. I try to train as much as I can, as much as my schedule allows it. Sometimes I’m too tired after work, so I try to work out in the morning. Usually like three or four times a week. Or, even if I do 15 minutes of running on the treadmill or yoga at home. You know? Just something to keep it up. If I’m on holiday, I’m active on the beach, I play tennis, I run, I swim a lot. It’s just about making the workouts fun, I think, and then it doesn’t really feel that bad.

Any vacation plans, since summer’s coming up?
Not yet. I usually go to Brazil — I have a place there, so it’s just a no-brainer to go and relax down there. But this year I want to go to a couple of new places: I want to try Thailand, I want to go to Jamaica. We go to Tulum, I don’t know if you’ve ever been there, it’s amazing. It kind of has that Brazil feeling, that very rustic feeling on the beach. I actually stayed in this place last time we went there, it’s kind of a hippie place, no electricity, nothing. You’re just in this hut on the front of the beach. It’s called Uno. After being in New York so much, you really have to go back to basics and teach yourself to relax: No electronics. The first couple of days, you’re like, ‘What should we do? What should we do?’ And then after you learn how to relax again.

You’ve been working with Victoria’s Secret for five years now. Do you anticipate working with them for another five?
Hopefully, if they’ll have me. It’s gone so fast already. I remember going to the casting for the show [in 2007] and being so nervous because I wanted it so badly. And then once I was at the show — I took my mom with me, flew her from South Africa — I saw that kind of family vibe that they had. I’d been traveling alone for so long, and when I saw that, I said to my mom, ‘I want this so badly, I just want to be a part of something.’ Not just being alone in the fashion industry. And then I started working for the catalog … It’s kind of been like that throughout my career, where I’ve set those goals and been like, ‘Okay, all I want now is to shoot the catalog.’ And then I do that, and then I kind of move up that way.

Swanepoel on the runway at Victoria's Secret's 2011 fashion show

So what’s your next goal?
You know, I’ve been thinking about maybe doing a line for Victoria’s Secret Swim. It’s in the pipeline. I’ve always been obsessed with swim, so maybe in the future I can do my own take on the whole thing.

Any specific vision yet?
There’s a couple of ideas that I like. It’s inspired by Brazil — how small [the bikinis] are … the backs are just so much more flattering. I love that small triangle … all the colors … there’s so much you can do with swimwear.     

There are three Angels pregnant right now! Could you ever see yourself having a family and modeling at the same time?
I mean, it’s difficult. I have a dog and it’s like, wow. I think about the girls taking care of their business and their children and everything. It’s a lot. But you make it work, and at a certain point you long for your own family, something more than just work. So yeah, I do think about it. But I still have a lot more to do. I’m only 23.

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In 1946, Moravian-born architect Bernard Rudofsky introduced a collection of lace-up leather flats that established him as the father of modern-day Grecian sandals, and for the next 30 years he designed shoes that were adored by society’s chicest. Bernardo Vintage Couture is reissuing his most beloved hits, including the Big Button (1946, above right), which is part of the permanent collection at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art; the bejeweled Emilio, from a 1964 capsule collection designed with Emilio Pucci; and the Jackie O (1970), a chunky-heeled sandal the style icon used to wear on holiday in Capri. ($195–$395, Bergdorf Goodman, New York)

Imagine an amazing flea market—silver tea sets, vintage Fortuny silk pillows, antique framed wallpaper panels—without the crowds, junk to sift through, or commute. That’s exactly what One Kings Lane is offering with their new Vintage & Market Finds section, launching today.

Branching out from their usual array of discounted home goods, the Finds are all hand-selected by a top-tier group of designers like Michael Crispen of Twentieth Century Objects and Gosia I. Korsakowski of Architectural Anarchy. And the range of prices may surprise you: while they can rocket upwards of $25,000, these unique items start at just $50.

Here’s a look at some of our currently available top pick:

1930's compass box


Picquotware English four-piece tea set


Vintage roulette wheel

Since opening in 2010, Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster Harlem has emitted an uproarious hum of clinking glasses and voluble conversation from its perch on 125th St and Lenox Avenue. Reservations at prime time are still a prized commodity and the Siren call of the mouth-melting cornbread and the perfect fried chicken—not to mention can’t miss cocktails from house-infused bourbon—has reached non-Harlem residents from the West Village to Brooklyn.

But while the theater of an evening at one of Red Rooster’s tables—and the activity of the open kitchen—might prove entertainment enough, Samuelsson wasn’t content to leave things be. And so he, along with partner Andrew Chapman, has turned the private dining areas in the restaurant’s basement into Ginny’s Supper Club, which opened to the masses last week.

Ginny’s Supper Club

Red Rooster Lite it is not. Taking cues from Harlem’s 1920s supper clubs and speakeasies (the name Ginny was popular in those times), the space combines live performances with small, shareable plates and specialty elixirs in a cozy environment that is more intimate than its upstairs companion.

“We wanted to give our guests a killer venue to listen to music, while enjoying food and drinks,” explains Samuelsson. “The décor is inspired by two decades: the 1940s and the 1970s. A lot of the vintage pieces are from the 1940s, while the musical vibe of Ginny’s embodies the 1970s.”

So on any given night, you could take in a soul, R&B or Brazilian band from your perch in a vinyl booth, meant to evoke a vintage car seat (a rotating roster of guest DJs take over on non-performance nights). A long wooden bar greets guests, who can choose to sip a Rooster Colada (coconut rum, strawberries, pineapple and cream) or a Good Times (gin, thyme, lemon, colonial bitters), courtesy of mixologist Eben Klemm. Amber lights and Italian chandeliers cast an ever-flattering, sepia toned glow on diners. In one corner is an old phone booth, both a nod to the venue’s back-in-time vibe and a good place to make a call without distracting fellow patrons. A back wall facing the bar is covered in a fabric pattern and wooden paneling whose honeycomb appearance is meant to resemble a vintage speaker. It acts as a backdrop to the stage once the booths in front are moved aside for performers.

On a recent evening, a woman sat at a table with her young son (sporting a very on trend varsity jacket) grabbing an early dinner, while across the room, a couple of Italian tourists perused the executive chef Jeremie Tomczak’s multi-cultural menu of “Relishes,” whose standouts include a 5 Spice duck breast with scallion pancake (a riff on Peking duck) and the Bobo chicken and waffle. As the room grew more packed, the high-energy Samuelsson worked the space, introducing himself to diners at every table, greeting friends. The manager made the rounds, too, complimenting clients and making sure their glasses stayed full.

After a generous sampling of the Powell (a peach and pecan bourbon, sloe gin and lemon creation that is utterly addictive—and dangerous), I made my way up through Red Rooster’s jovial din towards the exit. The tables were noisier, the voices reverberated off the walls, the servers moved a little faster. If Red Rooster is a chorus, then Ginny’s is an a cappella solo, both worthy of your attention, depending on your mood.

Photo credit: Monika Sziladi

Photographer Alex Prager, the award-winning, MoMA-exhibited, W-featured, Hitchcockian mastermind is continuing her foray into the world of film with her latest project: Compulsion.

On the set of La Petite Mort

"I think that there was a point with still photography that felt like I'd gotten all I could from it at that moment. I was getting restless and needed to shake things up. That's when I did my first short film, Despair," she says of her beautifully suspenseful 2010 project featuring Bryce Dallas Howard.

Her new project, La Petite Mort [the film component of Compulsion] starring French actress Judith Godreche, explores the mystery of death through "a woman experiencing the boundaries of her body and those of this world." Prager also teamed up with Director of Photography Matthew Libatique, whose resume includes fittingly evocative, moody titles like Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream.

"With La Petite Mort it's more like a real movie to me...like a feature film in a condensed form on acid," she says. "I feel like film has really been an organic step for me, but definitely in no way is it going to take the place of photography. It's more of an extension for me."

Check out an exclusive preview of La Petite Mort and interview with Prager. Compulsion opens at M+B in Los Angeles on April 7, Yancey Richardson in New York on April 5, and Michael Hoppen Contemporary in London on April 20.

Loyalty is hard to come by in the fickle world of fashion brand support of charity circuit events. Quick, can you name the last four sponsors of New Yorkers for Children's annual gala? How about the New York Botanical Gardens' Winter Wonderland? I'm guessing no. But if you were referring to the Metropolitan Opera's opening night gala, the answer would be simple: Yves Saint Laurent. The French house has forged a multi-season partnership with the Met since 2008, a friendship that came to a close Monday night when it sponsored its fifth and final gala, the premiere of "Manon." (Shrewd observers would note that this coincides with the departure of Stefano Pilati as designer.)

Co-chair Mercedes Bass (left) and Barbara Walters (right)

The YSL mark on opening night was apparent from the very beginning of the six plus hour marathon event (despite the absence of honorary committee chairs Salma Hayek and Francois-Henri Pinault) that began with cocktails on the Met's balcony level. Alongside usual operatic suspects like co-chairs Mercedes Bass and Ann Ziff, and Barbara Walters, was a smattering of actresses, more likely to be seen at the Independent Spirit Awards than the opening of what to many might be considered a more mature art form. Chloe Moretz arrived with older brother Trevor. And though the 15 year-old wasn't a total neophyte (she's seen "Madame Butterfly") the outing marked an initiation of sorts. "It's my first actual formal dress, like a full, full red carpet dress," she gushed of her long navy dress (YSL, naturally, as was Trevor's matching suit). "It's great! It's comfortable, except for the shoes."

From left to right: Chloe Moretz, Amber Heard, Emmy Rossum, and Emma Roberts

Her contemporary, Emma Roberts, experienced some wardrobe issues of her own. Just before cocktails ended, the petite actress was rushed to the bathroom, stylist by her side brandishing a large pair of scissors. Turns out the inner zipper in Roberts' strapless jumpsuit had broken and needed to be cut out. Problem solved, she headed downstairs to the Grand Tier for a pre-performance supper of smoked salmon and sautéed sole. There she, Moretz, January Jones, Emmy Rossum, Dree Hemingway and a dollop of models were sprinkled amongst fuchsia-peony bedecked tables like fairy dust amongst the editors and society doyennes in attendance.

Patricia Clarkson, a longtime fan, divulged that in her post-college days she used to buy $15 tickets for seats "waaay up."

"Now I can buy the real thing," she laughed, as she brushed off a waiter's generous hand with the champagne. "No more, I have five hours to go," she told him.

January Jones (left), Patricia Clarkson (right)

Indeed. Dinner began around 6pm, a rather geriatric hour considering the youth blooming across the room. As the non-VIP opera goers made their way in, they gathered on the upper tiers, observing our meal, iPhones in hand, not unlike curious onlookers peering into an aquarium.

"It's like we're on the Titanic with all these people staring," quipped one girl. Then it was off to the first third of "Manon" starring Anna Netrebko as the titular role. Next came a trip back to the Grand Tier for dessert, before three more acts and another intermission. A rather hefty endeavor, to be sure, but some like Amber Heard were relishing the occasion.

"I get embarrassed because I love it so much, perhaps it's one of those things chemically that connects to you as a human and you don't know why. I admire the guts it takes to get up and open yourself up to that experience. Because it's so unlike my work with cuts, where you get cuts and you get a small crew," said the actress, who added a few nights to her NYC stay so she could indulge her theater fix with "Death of a Salesman" and "Venus in Fur." "It's such a luxury being from LA where's not really part of the culture," she offered.

Or as the New York-born Rossum put it, glancing at her boyfriend Tyler, "Our normal date is bowling in the Valley."

I’ve been doing a lot of casting work with W’s Bookings Director Claudine Ingeneri this week—I’m loving these new girls this season. xoxo—Edward Enninful

Ava Smith


Franzi Mueller


Iris Van Berne


Kati Nescher


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