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 7/12/12 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 Erica Schwiegershausen 6/26/12 12:30pm

Young Ones

Instagram photo from @rookiemag.

Rookie Road Trip: Teenage Editor Tavi Gevinson Eats Cupcakes With Fangirls in Brooklyn

By the time Tavi Gevinson arrived at Littlefield in Brooklyn yesterday afternoon a full hour late (her plane had been delayed), the venue was packed with waify, whimsically dressed teenage girls in carefully considered outfits. There were some shrieks from the audience as the revelation that Ms. Gevinson had arrived spread around the room, and a few trembling “oh my god’s” were emitted as the 16-year-old editor-in-chief took the stage. Pink crepe paper streamers were strung along the walls and metallic stars were had been stuck around the stage. There were boxes of cupcakes on the tables and a few moms chatted in the background.

Ms. Gevinson read from her Rookie DIY article “How to Bitchface,” demonstrating each of the facial expressions discussed and drawing loud laughs from a generous audience. Her voice had an air of self-assured confidence and grace, which was a welcome change from the syrupy tone of the young Rookie writers who read before her, even when she slipped up on a few notes in the text. “Sorry, I should have looked over this more,” Ms. Gevinson apologized to the audience. Read More

By Laura L. Griffin 5/24/12 2:38pm

Book Parties

23 Photos

Author Ari Seth Cohen with Lynn Dell Cohen, one of the Advanced Style fashion plates

Feathers, Leather, and Bragging About One’s Age at the Advanced Style Book Party

A generation-bridging mutual admiration society set up shop on Tuesday night at the Sky Room at the New Museum for a party celebrating the release of the book Advanced Style—a compendium of photographs and profiles of the adventurously dressing elderly women of New York City adapted from author Ari Seth Cohen’s street fashion blog of the same name—hosted by Nowness.com.

Mr. Cohen, the primary documentarian of this phenomenon, worked the room in a hot pink suit and dark blue oxfords, introducing his proud mother (who had “Ari’s Mom” painted on her thumbnails to mark the occasion) to the room full of his muses. Read More

By Drew Grant 3/29/12 4:41pm

Thursday Styles

bigang

Mob Wives Now Worthy of Thursday Styles

When The New York Times Sunday Style section wrote a 2000 word profile on Snooki back in 2010, the criticism was unending. How dare the Grey Lady cover Snooki as a real cultural phenomenon? Don’t they know that if you just ignore something for long enough, it goes away (or gets pregnant)?

Instead of taking the hint, today’s Thursday Styles section features a big cover story on VH1′s grown-up version of the Jersey Shore (but with guns), Mob Wives. Read More

By Drew Grant 3/12/12 12:06pm

fashion

soroscarney

George Soros and Dov Charney: An American (Apparel) Love Story

Just one day after billionaire George Soros was accused of trying to bribe the cousin of his Brazilian super-model ex, Adriana Ferreyr, with $250,000 to convince her to drop her lawsuit against the octogenarian, he’s already on to bigger and sexier purchases. No, not that pot legalization thing again.

George Soros plans on saving American Apparel and making sure we do not run out of underfed models in tube bras. Read More

By Drew Grant 3/08/12 6:31pm

fashion

marni

Stop the Madness: Marni at H&M Newest Example of Retail Couture Gone Crazy

Look, we’re all for designers making lines for lower-end fashion houses. Why shouldn’t tweens be able to say they are wearing Versace (from H&M) or Missoni (from Target) or Christian Siriano (from his Payless collection)? Who are we to say that only very rich, spoiled children should be able to afford these outfits? We’re not snobs.

But the literal mobs that form whenever one of these designers put out of an affordable collection make us wonder if the hefty price-tags for haute couture are there for a reason…to keep people from killing each other. Read More