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Benjamin-Émile Le Hay

By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 9/07/12 12:58pm

fashion week

Ryan Lochte, Anna Wintour and Dwayne Wade at Calvin Klein Collection's FNO bash.

Fashion’s Night in Hell: Why We Hate Fashion’s Night Out

The Observer positively loathes the yearly shopping-and-style populist event known as Fashion’s Night Out. While we certainly understand this social philanthropic “fashion for everyone” affair championed by Anna Wintour and friends, it absolutely obliterates the little decency that remains in luxury shopping in this city. Yes, we all find the attitudes inside the gilded foyer of Hermès to be a bit frigid, but isn’t it completely understandable that if someone was overseeing the aggressive push of $15,000 ostrich-skin merchandise to a marvelously affluent and demanding clientele day after day that they would develop an extreme snob complex? Besides which, unwelcoming as shops such as Hermès may be, the atmosphere does establish some sense of order and brand image, and people can actually browse and shop in peace.

Order means nothing during the evening of Fashion’s Night Out. Peace? Fuggetaboutit! Instead, posh shopping establishments become laden with breathing and mobile fashion atrocities. These individuals bring an uncouth, boisterous je ne sais quoi to boutiques such as Rebecca Taylor, Brunello Cucinelli, Oscar de la Renta, Alexis Bittar and Rag & Bone. They purchase nothing, spill their drinks frequently, scream, hiss, push and even fight. But occasionally order presides, publicists greet attendees and pleasantries and frivolities are exchanged. Donna Karan’s Stephan Weiss book launch party at her boutique on Madison Avenue was one such example. Read More

By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 9/06/12 5:21pm

fashion week

Anna Wintour, Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta and Sarah Jessica Parker

The Oscar: De La Renta Honored by the Couture Council

Quelle chance that the venerable philanthropist and socialite Jean Shafiroff invited The Observer to wine and dine at her table at the David H. Koch Theater for Fashion Institute of Technology’s 2012 Couture Council of The Museum luncheon.  Despite the hefty $1,000-a-head price tag, around 600 guests, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Barbara Walters, Anna Wintour, Simon Doonan, Fe Fendi, Diane von Furstenberg, editrix and realty star Nina Garcia, Carolina Herrera, Mario Buatta, Yaz Hernandez, Martha Stewart, Dennis Basso, Ruben and Isabel Toledo, YUE editor Chiu-Ti Jansen and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, paraded uptown for the ruckus.  FIT’s clout was undeniable with so many powerful New Yorkers packed into the gold-leaf foyer. Truth be told, 2012 Couture Council Artistry of Fashion honoree Oscar de la Renta certainly deserved credit for the monumental turn-out. Read More

By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 8/22/12 2:28pm

Good Sport

UNIQLO DJOKOVIC EVENT-1

Novak Djokovic Unzips at Uniqlo, Causes Commotion on Fifth Ave

At 6’2”, sinewy, with a summery brown sugar complexion and a smile that is sure to make you melt, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic cuts a fine figure. The U.S. Open men’s singles champion has arrived in New York City to defend his title, but before he takes to the court, the tennis star ventured to Uniqlo’s massive Fifth Avenue flagship to greet fans and unveil his new uniform. Mr. Djokovic was named global brand ambassador of the Japanese company before Roland Garros in May.

By the time The Observer arrived on the scene this morning, a queue of giddy Djokovic diehards was already snaking around Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street.

Inside at a press conference, Mr. Djokovic emerged from a waiting area, wearing the navy version of his special edition U.S. Open Uniqlo uniform. He was flanked by Uniqlo U.S. CEO Shin Odake and creative director Naoki Takizawa.

The store-level also displayed Mr. Djokovic’s previously worn French Open, Wimbledon Championships and London Olympics outfits, in addition to looks from the Djokovic Performance Wear Collection that will be available for the public at a later date. Read More

By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 7/30/12 11:00am

Secret Garden

5 Photos

The Sender Garden (photo by Erika Shank).

East Hampton’s Guild Hall Gears Up for Verdant Garden as Art Tour

“It started about seven years ago as the brainchild of one of the of the Guild Hall board members,” said Nina Gillman, a Guild Hall Garden Committee member, about the summer the Garden as Art tour in the Hamptons. “It was first launched with an art exhibit at the museum, which focused on all the paintings and artwork done by artists out in the area on gardens.” Ms. Gillman fired off a list of venerable East End artists that had been featured in the years since including Donald Sultan, April Gornik, Eric Fischl, Mary Heilmann and Bryan Hunt.

Over the years the garden series has become quite popular, reported Ms. Gillman. Thanks, in part, to Hamptons art bigwig Ruth Appelhof, who has championed the tour. These lush, East End gardens are prideful displays that highlight the diverse collaborations between esteemed architects, landscape and visual artists and wealthy homeowners. Read More

By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 7/12/12 9:00am

Opera

6 Photos

Phillip Gay as the King in The Glimmerglass Festival's production of Aida.

Bibhu Mohapatra Designs Glammy Couture for Glimmerglass’s Production of Aida

There are no elephants and gaudy sculptures to be found at the Glimmerglass Festival’s staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s epic opera seria Aida, which recently kicked off the 2012 season in Cooperstown, New York. Instead, opera-goers will witness a milked down, updated production of the overblown Egyptian tragedy.

“Every time I have directed Aida before this summer, I’ve done it on a very large scale,” said director Francesca Zambello. “Now, to do an intimate version of it is a thrilling discovery for me. The chance to focus on the characters and not on spectacle has allowed us to understand the story and Verdi’s music in what feels like a very fresh and contemporary way.”

One aspect of the opera that does get a dose of opulence is the costume design. Up-and-coming New York fashion designer Bibhu Mohapatra was tapped to create the couture for the production, which runs through August 25.

“I turned to Bibhu—whose clothes I wish I could wear all the time—to create a world that is evocative of the contemporary Middle East, but that could create its own mythic language,” the director told The Observer. Ms. Zambello was delighted with Mr. Mohapatra’s results, saying, “His understanding of character and translating it into color and fabric and design has been revelatory for all of us in the theater.”

Below the jump, we speak to Mr. Mohapatra about his first swing at designing opera costumes. Read More

By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 7/05/12 3:19pm

Fashion statements

13 Photos

That's one drunken Manhattan Skyline!

Queens of the Pines

They came in all shapes and sizes yesterday, but each one was a queen. This year’s installment of the annual Invasion of the Pines on Fire Island saw hundreds of amateur and professional drag queens wreak havoc on the tiny Long Island beach community. Fueled by booze, the boisterous queens gathered at the Ice Palace pool and deck in Cherry Grove to pose and prep before crowding on a water taxi to the Pines. There, each drag queen was announced by name as they sashayed down a red carpet in front of hundreds of Independence Day revelers. The Observer was on hand to document the peacock parade. Here are the most outrageous outfits we witnessed. Read More

By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 6/15/12 5:56pm

Charity Events

Whoopi Goldberg repents for her smoking sins to S. Epatha Merkenson

S. Epatha Merkerson Blames Menopause for Grateful Tears at CancerCare Gala

“I don’t know how we became friends, but we did,” began Whoopi Goldberg of her dear comrade and Law & Order star S. Epatha Merkerson.

Last night, Ms. Goldberg presented Ms. Merkerson with a Help and Hope Award at CancerCare’s annual spring gala for her considerable efforts as an advocate of the fight against cancer.

“I don’t have anyone like her in my life,” said Ms. Goldberg to the audience filling Mandarin Oriental’s ballroom. “She has never made me feel bad for the things I do.”

“Smoking!” chided Ms. Merkerson to the dismay of the undoubtedly anti-smoking, anti-cancer philanthropists.

“Yes—the legal stuff,” Ms. Goldberg confessed.

“Cigarettes!” Ms. Merkerson hissed for all to hear. Everyone chuckled. Read More

By Melissa Wiley and Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 6/14/12 4:30pm

Interviews

Todd Haynes unfortunately didn't wear 8" platforms heels to Persol's Magnificent Obsessions premiere.

Todd Haynes’s Obsession with Mary Poppins and Love of 8” Platform Heels

“We could have flown to Boston at this rate,” spat one late arrival to the premiere of Persol’s Magnificent Obsessions: 30 Stories of Craftsmanship in Film exhibition last night. For many of the film and art glitterati that attended the event at the Museum of Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, the trek, albeit worthwhile, seemed endless. The Italian eyewear brand, which has a storied history in cinema–it provided Cary Grant with sunglasses in North by Northwest and Marcello Mastroianni in La Dolce Vita–honored costume designer Arianne Phillips and director Todd Haynes at the event. Publicist-groomed celebs such as Zoë Saldana and Patricia Clarkson mingled alongside fashion legend Diane Pernet and creative cognoscenti.

On the second floor, John Turturro engaged guests in an intimate discussion on cinematography, while others soaked up the history and painstaking process of filmmaking through interactive installations on the third. Magnificent Obsessions is the second installment in a series of three, which boasts rare film props, equipment, costumes, sketches and footage to provide viewers with an insider perspective of some of cinema’s most acclaimed motion pictures.

The Observer caught up with Mr. Haynes to learn more about his unique approach to the art of filmmaking and to see if he actually likes Persol’s eyewear. Read More

By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 6/13/12 5:14pm

Booze

Julie Macklowe, Marcel Marongiu and Chiu Ti Jansen. Photo: (C) Patrick McMullan

Celebrating Empowering Women with a Healthy Dash of Rum

When society and PR rainmaker Susan Shin invited The Observer to drinks and dinner “under the stars” at 620 Loft + Garden to celebrate “stellar women,” we were curious. While the drizzly, muggy gloom didn’t allow us any stargazing, a bevy of extravagantly stylish women provided enough sparkle to form their own constellation. Co-hosts Julie Macklowe, Selita Ebanks and Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos had summoned their best gal pal, along with a few blokes, to pay tribute to non-profit Seven Bar Foundation. The organization, which works to empower women in Guatemala with sustainable work opportunities, helping them to be self-sufficient, recently inked a global partnership with premium rum label Zacapa Rum. Read More

By Melissa Wiley 6/09/12 2:42pm

Benefits

debbie-glasses

Fashion for a Cause: amfAR’s Third Annual Inspiration Gala Raises Over $1 Million for AIDS Research

Thursday night on the steps of the New York Public Library, a sea of familiar faces flooded the red carpet for the third annual Inspiration Gala–a celebration of men’s style to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).  Chaired by Kenneth Cole and Dr. Mathilde Krim, with Marc Jacobs presiding as honorary chair, the evening featured a live auction, runway shows and a performance by Scissor Sisters that raised over $1 million dollars. Read More