May 2007

May 25th 2007
Florence

Girls, I have been without a computer, so here below is the latest and greatest of the last few weeks...

MONACO via CANNES - MAY 23, 2007

Last night can only be described as “Exactly What I Came Here For”.  It’s true, falling in love at Le Baron is unparalleled (see May 21), but the real reason for anyone to come to the Cannes Film Festival can be summed up in two simple words:  George Clooney.

The evening began with drinks at the Cannes Carlton with Hudson Morgan, who was also recovering from an evening of dancing into the wee hours.  As we shielded the sun and sipped our Piña Coladas, we decided that if we were going to force our hungover selves to hit the town for yet another night of festivities, we ought to make it really worth our while.  With this in mind we decided to leave the local festivities to the rookies, and instead head straight to The A-list Mothership, L’ Hotel du Cap.

If you’ve been to the Cannes Film Festival and somehow missed L’ Hotel du Cap, you may as well have skipped your trip.  As we entered the lobby we ran into a very skinny Angelina Jolie, who was sipping a soda with too-cute-for-words Maddox and a posse of multinational strangers who looked like they might be in charge of saving the world.  They seemed to be in heavy discussion on the aforementioned subject, so Hudson and I decided to settle in for a drink with fabulous New York movie premiere guru Andrew Saffir and Vie Luxe’s divine Daniel Benedict. 

As the night wore on the stars kept rolling in, and in a few short hours we had cocktailed with the entire cast of Ocean’s Thirteen and more, including Sexiest Men Alive Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and, yes… George Clooney. 

I will stop here to tell you that for some reason I had the idea that when I finally got the chance to meet these stars I would be very unimpressed.  However, judging by the fact that I swooned at the very glimpse of them, I guess that I was wrong.  Matt Damon was tall and handsome.  The very sight of Brad Pitt, who I have never particularly fancied, made me weak in the knees.  And George Clooney, my longtime Hollywood crush, is the world’s most consummate movie star.  Does anyone look better in a crisp white shirt than George?  Absolument non.

From L’Hotel du Cap lobby we headed down to the pool at Eden Rock, where deGrisogono Jewels was hosting a rip-roaring party DJ’d by Kid Rock and star-studded with everyone from Harvey Weinstein to Mischa Barton to Kimora Lee Simmons and her new beau, Blood Diamond’s handsome Djimon Hounsou.  By 2am I was feeling the former night’s pain and decided that having cocktailed with Angelina & Brad was enough star dosage to call it a night. 

I’m sorry there are no pictures of me and George, but the need to photograph celebrities and/or ask for autographs is something I’ve never understood unless, of course, it’s someone you would really put in a frame above the mantel and pass down to your children, like David Hasselhoff.

Today am back in Monaco where I plan to hit the beach before the Grand Prix chaos consumes the town…

CANNES - MAY 22

Our goal when we left the house last night was to be home and fast asleep by the very respectable hour of 1am.  It was clear as we pulled in the driveway at 8am this morning that we had not only failed miserably, but we were definitely going to pay. 

The trouble began when we agreed to go to dinner with a group of Cannes locals, who assured us that dinner in Nice would be much more chic than anything anywhere near Cannes.  After all, the good restaurants in Cannes had been booked for months by horrible Hollywood agents, and in order to avoid the Film Festival riff-raff, Nice was the only way.

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed to be stuck eating somewhere that was Pamela Anderson-Proof, but it was also very civilized to have dinner with a group of chic locals at one of the Cote Azur’s finest restaurant gems, Le Petit Maison.  The dinner ended up being divine, and we decided that when on the Riviera we would do as Rivierans do, and partook of more than our fair share of delicieux Pastis throughout the meal.

By the time we finished at midnight we were ready for Cannes, and headed directly to the Riff-Raff Capital, Nikki Beach.  I knew there was a problem when I, being no one remotely famous and certainly unrecognizable in Cannes, was whisked automatically into the VIP section just so they could have someone in the area that wasn’t wearing a half-shirt and cowboy hat.   Needless to say, I got on my blackberry and began texting away, realizing that finding the really good parties in Cannes was going to take some due diligence.

Thankfully my Men’s Vogue & Swarovski pals Hudson Morgan and David Gruning also happened to be in town for work, and told us to meet them at Villa Murano on the sea where Latino hotties Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna were having a fiesta to celebrate their new film Deficit.  Being huge fans of both muchachos guapos, Karine and I grabbed a cab and were on our way.

At Villa Murano the pool had been covered in clear Plexiglas making the perfect dance floor for Shakira-style hip shaking to songs like my personal Reggaeton fave, Gasolina.  We danced the night away and Hudson even challenged Gael to a dance-off, which he declined knowing he could simply not compete with The Hudster’s dance floor mastery. 

After a few cervezas and mucho bailando, Karine and I headed to Jimmy’z where the Eurotrash were living it up to a horrifyingly bad club version of the former hip-hop masterpiece, Drop It Like It’s Hot.  If it ain’t broke, please Euro mix-masters, don’t try to fix it.  At Jimmy’z we ran into the lovely Daphne from Jalouse magazine and decided that we would all head to Paris transplant nightclub, Le Baron.  For those of you who don’t know, Le Baron is le très chic dive of a nightclub made famous in Paris, and now popping up at art fairs and movie festivals around the globe (see diary: March 10^th, 2007).  It seems that no matter where there is a Le Baron, there are always the familiar faces, which makes it a bit like a traveling version of Cheers.  At Le Baron we ran into everyone from Paul Sevigny to Olivier Zahm to Vito Schnabel to Lou Dillon, and I feel madly in love with a dashing genius piano player by the name of Golden and danced the night away until sunrise.  Oh la la. 

MONACO - MAY 21, 2007

I’ve just arrived in Monaco where they are in a frenzy setting up for the Formula One Grand Prix, and where my fabulously chic pal Karine Warda happens to be spending her summer.  Monaco is like living on another planet, where gazillionaires cram into skyscraper apartments all in the name of tax evasion.  Wouldn’t it be better to have a yard and just pay your taxes? 

As soon as I arrived Karine took me to meet her friends at Riva Yachts, which are the most beautiful wooden boats in the world, and were made most famous in the 1950’s by Brigitte Bardot who cruised around the French Riviera on her Riva looking très, très chic. If you happen to be in the market for a motor yacht, there really isn’t any other way to go.

From Riva we visited all the local shops, including my all time fave Hermès, which had the largest towel selection of any I’ve seen.  I know it’s strange to have a fascination with luxury towels, but I like to think of them as works of art on the medium of terrycloth, which is the only way to justify paying $498 for a simple dry-off tool.  As an expert in the field I know that while Hermès in NYC may have 12 towels, and Hermès in Paris may have 22, Hermès in Monaco has literally 69 variations of towels in every size and shape.  It makes perfect sense to me that if you’ve got the 130 foot Riva, you’ll need at least three dozen Hermès terrycloth masterpieces as décor, which would explain the large selection.

While wandering around town we ran into a male Italian friend whose name I won’t mention, who seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere with a beautiful Russian companion.  Naïve as Karine and I are, we tried to make conversation and when Karine, just trying to be polite, asked the girl if she was in Monaco working, they both looked at us a bit puzzled and promptly ended the conversation.  Bien sur she was “working”, and was presently on the clock and on her way to a hotel, so, needless to say, they had no time for polite conversation.  Between the tax evasion and working girls, Monaco makes Las Vegas look like Provo, Utah.

In the evening we headed to Sea Lounge, which is the canopied lounge on the best private beach in Monaco and will definitely be the place to see and be seen at this year’s Grand Prix.  Tonight it’s off to Cannes for the Film Festival, so stay tuned…

FLORENCE - May 19, 2007

As you can see from photos right, Thursday night was HOLLYWOULD’s big benefit party for TAPS at the Russian Tea Room.  TAPS is an amazing charity organization which supports the families of soldiers who have lost their lives in military service, and with my younger brother currently serving in Afghanistan, I have a soft spot for our troops.  At the party we had the privilege of meeting many family members and supporters of TAPS who came out in droves.  Thanks to everyone who came out, as well as TAPS coordinators Bonnie Carroll and Dan Sudnick, and our sponsors Nexxus, Moet Chandon, and Imperia Vodka.  For more information or to make a donations to TAPS, visit http://www.taps.org/.

Merci beaucoup to everyone else for supporting the cause, and especially all of the girls who came wearing HOLLYWOULD, including Ali Nichols, Byrdi Bell, Lydia Fenet, Marianna Olszewski, Darcy Jones, Kate Schelter, Flo Fulton, Lindsay Powers Fox, Alexandra Wolfe, Shabnam Henry, Lauren Remington Platt, Blair Clarke, Vanessa Brown, Whitley Bouma, Laura Meiland, Shabnam Henry, Tataina Papanicolou, and many more.  Thank you!!!!

And last but not least, a big shout out to DJ Abby Klein, the best DJ in NYC, who flew in from Turkey via Jamaica just to play for our party and can be booked by emailing iheartrecords@hotmail.com.

From the Russian Tea Room we headed for a HOLLYWOULD staff dinner at the famous “Burger Joint” tucked away in the Parker Meridian Hotel, and then downtown to The Beatrice Inn and later to The Box, where La Lindsay Lohan was perched in her usual spot.  If you have not yet been to The Box you really must go once, and once is just about all you’ll need.

Despite the fact that I arrived home post-3am, I managed to make it to work the next morning and then hop on a plane to Florence the very same day.  I would not recommend your visit to The Box being the same day as a long-haul international voyage, but if you read this diary you may know that I’ve survived in much worse shape (see diary: August 28^th, 2003).

NYC - MAY 14, 2007

The fun began on Thursday when I met my old pal from my days at Christian Lacroix, Lars Nilsson.  Anyone who knows the first thing about fashion knows that Lars has not only been a design director at Christian Lacroix, but also at Ralph Lauren, Bill Blass, and Nina Ricci, and is now venturing into furniture design where I’m sure he will WOW us yet again.  Lars and I headed up to the opening night of the International Fine Arts Fair at the Armory, where Lars managed to find something he liked for a mere $400,000, and I fell in love with a Manet for a steal at $4,000,000.  My birthday is in two weeks.  Needless to say, we passed on our bargains and headed downtown for dinner at The Waverly Inn.

For those of you who haven’t heard, The Waverly Inn is a restaurant owned by Vanity Fair’s kingpin Graydon Carter and is supposedly not yet open, does not take reservations, and no amount of bribery tip can get you in the door.  Thankfully, Lars and I had the star power of our hilarious dinner companions Hervé Pierre and Gary who had somehow made a reservation where they are not makeable, at a restaurant that does not yet exist.  For a nonexistent restaurant the food was beyond divine, as were the other diners, including Naomi Campbell, Candice Bushnell, Calvin Klein, and Harvey Weinstein & Co. 

The following night I headed out to a benefit for Operation Smile, which was hosted by Naomi Campbell (yes, two nights in a row), and raised beaucoup argent for a very, very worthy cause.  Then on Saturday night my favorite partner in crime, Kate Schelter, and I headed backstage for the taping of Saturday Night Live with hostess Molly Shannon.  There is no better show on television than Saturday Night Live, and getting to watch it live from back stage with the writers will definitely rank on my Top 10 List for highlight of the year.  Big shout-out to Kate for the invite, and Molly Shannon for being the most hilarious person alive.  Go see her movie. 

May 15th 2007
NYC

And if you happen to be in NYC...

May 14th 2007
New York City

The fun began on Thursday when I met my old pal from my days at Christian Lacroix, Lars Nilsson.  Anyone who knows the first thing about fashion knows that Lars has not only been a design director at Christian Lacroix, but also at Ralph Lauren, Bill Blass, and Nina Ricci, and is now venturing into furniture design where I’m sure he will WOW us yet again.  Lars and I headed up to the opening night of the International Fine Arts Fair at the Armory, where Lars managed to find something he liked for a mere $400,000, and I fell in love with a Manet for a steal at $4,000,000.  My birthday is in two weeks.  Needless to say, we passed on our bargains and headed downtown for dinner at The Waverly Inn.

For those of you who haven’t heard, The Waverly Inn is a restaurant owned by Vanity Fair’s kingpin Graydon Carter and is supposedly not yet open, does not take reservations, and no amount of bribery tip can get you in the door.  Thankfully, Lars and I had the star power of our hilarious dinner companions Hervé Pierre and Gary who had somehow made a reservation where they are not makeable, at a restaurant that does not yet exist.  For a nonexistent restaurant the food was beyond divine, as were the other diners, including Naomi Campbell, Candice Bushnell, Calvin Klein, and Harvey Weinstein & Co. 

May 14th 2007
New York City

The fun began on Thursday when I met my old pal from my days at Christian Lacroix, Lars Nilsson.  Anyone who knows the first thing about fashion knows that Lars has not only been a design director at Christian Lacroix, but also at Ralph Lauren, Bill Blass, and Nina Ricci, and is now venturing into furniture design where I’m sure he will WOW us yet again.  Lars and I headed up to the opening night of the International Fine Arts Fair at the Armory, where Lars managed to find something he liked for a mere $400,000, and I fell in love with a Manet for a steal at $4,000,000.  My birthday is in two weeks.  Needless to say, we passed on our bargains and headed downtown for dinner at The Waverly Inn.

For those of you who haven’t heard, The Waverly Inn is a restaurant owned by Vanity Fair’s kingpin Graydon Carter and is supposedly not yet open, does not take reservations, and no amount of bribery tip can get you in the door.  Thankfully, Lars and I had the star power of our hilarious dinner companions Hervé Pierre and Gary who had somehow made a reservation where they are not makeable, at a restaurant that does not yet exist.  For a nonexistent restaurant the food was beyond divine, as were the other diners, including Naomi Campbell, Candice Bushnell, Calvin Klein, and Harvey Weinstein & Co. 

The following night I headed out to a benefit for Operation Smile, which was hosted by Naomi Campbell (yes, two nights in a row), and raised beaucoup argent for a very, very worthy cause.  Then on Saturday night my favorite partner in crime, Kate Schelter, and I headed backstage for the taping of Saturday Night Live with hostess Molly Shannon.  There is no better show on television than Saturday Night Live, and getting to watch it live from back stage with the writers will definitely rank on my Top 10 List for highlight of the year.  Big shout-out to Kate for the invite, and Molly Shannon for being the most hilarious person alive.  Go see her movie. 

May 11th 2007
New York City

…And for those of you who didn’t believe high heels could help solve the world’s problems, well, think again.  From now until September you’ll be able to purchase HOLLYWOULD’s DARFUR Ribbon Sandals while simultaneously helping the Save Darfur Coalition.  These gorgeous sandals are Limited Edition, and 50% of the $345 pricetag goes directly to the cause.  So, whether you’ve got a passion for World Peace or just want to look fabulously Rasta-rific this summer, email shop@hollywould.com (subject: “Shoes for Darfur”) to get on the list for your Limited Edition pair.

May 9th 2007
New York City

Hello Girls! I'm finally back in the USA and enjoying sunshine after spending my entire yesterday on the plane. I love airplanes. While most people hate to travel, to me there is nothing better than 8 hours spent in Air France's version of the Lazy Boy chair watching back-to-back movies, eating bon bons, and being 100% unreachable by phone or email. There is something about watching movies on the airplane that makes me particularly emotional, and for years I assumed I was being brought to tears due to the sheer brilliance of the movies I was seeing in the sky. It wasn't until I found myself crying over the oh-so-touching endings of movies like Dodgeball and 2 Fast, 2 Furious that I realized that maybe the altitude had something to do with it.

Now that I'm back I've spent all morning getting caught up on yesterday's emails, many of which happen to be from shopping websites. With an inbox so full I usually end up deleting most of these emails before even opening, but this morning an email caught my eye. It was titled "Just In: Shimmering Metallics" from one of our favorite shoe websites Piperlime.com, and because at this time of year every girl needs a bit of shimmer, I clicked to open and was delighted to see our HOLLYWOULD Silver Lacey Ballet as one of their picks! If you haven't yet been to Piperlime I highly suggest you go, and I've made it easy for you by adding the link below:

http://www.piperlime.com/browse/categorySearch.do?cid=19965&mlink=20195,190556&clink=190556

And speaking of Piperlime, we've heard that they're auctioning off some of our favorite HOLLYWOULD shoes in Ebay which have been signed by the amazingly talented & beautiful Jennifer Hudson and Rosario Dawson for the Souls 4 Souls charity! Both of these girls picked their favorite pair of HOLLYWOULDs and were kind enough to sign them, so you may want to put in your bids today:

Jennifer Hudson's signed HOLLYWOULD (click here)

Rosario Dawson's signed HOLLYWOULD (click here)

Happy shopping and stay tuned...