Gio’s Journal: Lucky Star!

“I really wanted professional dancers for a sporty shoot I worked on for W. So the photographer, Tom Munro, called up Madonna, who sent over two of her backup dancers: Brahim Zaibat, her boyfriend [above, left], and Loic Mabanza [above, right]. I had to have a picture with them; here’s my glamorous ‘lift’ moment.”

“Fendi sent me these mini Baguettes, and I thought, Why did they send me Baguettes for Barbies? Turns out they’re USB drives. I love them! Now I can put a whole shoot in a Baguette and carry it around.”

“These horn bangles, from a store on New York’s Upper East Side, perfectly match my Fornasetti pen cup. I don’t have much furniture in my apartment, so I like to make little design tableaux to please my eye.”

“Domenico Dolce threw a surprise birthday party for Stefano Gabbana. Barbara Pedrini [below, left], Anna Dello Russo [center], my sister Sara [right], and I performed RuPaul’s ‘Supermodel.’ Domenico made us gold capes that morning—we were a cross between the Supremes and ABBA.”

“At the nail salon, I came across this magazine collage of the Queen in her Diamond Jubilee year ensembles. She looks like a Pantone strip! I’m going to copy her style when I’m 70. Maybe even before then.”

“I bought these two ceramic flamingos at Paul Smith in New York. I thought they were so grandmother-from-Florida. And then I realized my Bulgari crocodile bag is exactly the same color.”

“Rihanna’s performance at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show a few months ago in New York [above] stole everyone’s thunder! At first I tried to behave, because I was in the front row, but then I said, ‘I don’t care!’ and took pictures like I was a teenager.”

“This New Year’s Eve, I stayed in Manhattan and went to a party at the Top of the Standard, where I started 2013 with a great view and a set by my favorite singer of 2012, Azealia Banks.”