September 2008

September 29th 2008
Paris Paris Paris

Newsflash!  Tonight on TV’s hottest show, Gossip Girl, everyone’s favorite star, “Serena” (aka: the lovely and talented Blake Lively), will be wearing HOLLYWOULD’s Fall python criss-cross booties!  This is clearly the show of the season to watch and we’re sure Blake will look divine in her HOLLYWOULD.  We love you Blake!

In other gossip… I’ve been in Paris for the past week catching up on the latest and greatest in France, and there really isn’t any place better than Paris in autumn.  The week began with the Premiere Vision textile show, where fashion designers from far & wide came in droves to pick out their must-have fabrics for Fall 2009.  Based on all of the glitz, texture, print and color my favorite fabric mills showed, Fall 2009 is going to be très, très fabuleux.

Of course, a designer can’t get all her inspiration spending her days at a massive convention center on the outskirts of Paris, so I chose to spend my evenings with all of my very favorite Parisian accomplices, sipping bubbly rosé at all of our very favorite boîtes. 

The first night began with drinks at Le Costes with my NYC/LA pal Blythe Barger who was in Paris to wrap filming a surprise from Christian Dior which was directed by Sophia Coppola, stars “the next Scarlett Johansson”, and you will hear more about in November.  Oh la la, now that’s some good gossip. 

After partaking in my favorite boisson from Costes (a cocktail called “The Hef”) I was met by pal Camilla Bendetti, who recently left her job working for me at HOLLYWOULD in Florence and moved to work for Alber Elbaz at Lanvin in Paris.  Clearly this was a step down on the résumé.  (For those of you who haven’t surmised, my tongue is firmly in cheek as Alber Elbaz is one of the greatest fashion geniuses of our time, so big congrats to Camilla!)

Speaking of fashion geniuses, after a round of drinks Camilla and I headed to the gorgeous home of another fashion (and apparently interior design) genius, Monsieur Lars Nilsson, who was having une petite fête entre amis.  (Yes, I realize my writing in French is extremely annoying, but I really can’t help myself.  Stop. Arrêt.  Stop.)  Anywho, Lars had a bunch of guests over to his fab apartment including some of my favorite long lost pals who I’m only lucky enough to see during French Fashion Week, the talented and handsome Karl Treacy & Peter O’Brien, who will now love me even more than ever for being described as “talented and handsome”, which they both really and truly are. 

Also in attendance at Lars’s fantastic house party was Joel Arthur Rosenthal, the famed creator of the coveted, appointment-only, one-of-a-kind, we-don’t-care-if-you’re-Madonna, our-best-friend-is-Liz-Taylor, our-Place-Vendome-shop-is-closed-to-you-unless-we-think-you’re-interesting, jewelery brand, JAR.  For those of you who don’t know about JAR, well, let’s just say… you should.  It’s serious.

Speaking of serious jewels, the following evening I met Florentine transplant and genius jewelry designer Olga Corsini for champagne to toast her new engagement and fabulous job at Chaumet.  Auguri Olga!  From there I met up with former Parisian (and now New York’s hottest menswear designer) Victor Glemaud for dinner at a favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant, Fardi, where the food was as hot as the waitstaff, and that’s très chaud.

From Fardi we headed to a place I like to call home, Bar Hemingway at Hotel Ritz.  There is only one person I know who really deserves to call Bar Hemingway “home”, and that was our partner in crime, the brilliant style director George Cortina, who at this point probably has “Hotel Ritz” listed as his return address on his personalized Smythson envelopes.  Also joining us was fashion stylist whiz Polina Aronova along with fabulous friends, and we all sipped flowered cocktails until the last drink bell (which is a literal cow bell) was rung.

Geez Louise, I’m only on day two and I’m already getting gout just thinking about the cheese, macaroons, champagnes, fois gras and liqueurs that were consumed.  Honestly, I wish I could say it stopped there, but it didn’t.  To make matters even worse, the next night I dined with my whole crew at our favorite restaurant La Poule au Pot, which is definitely listed as Victor’s return address on his Smythson stationary, and specializes in cherry absinthe and deep fried fois gras.  Oy vey.  From there we ended up back at Bar Hemingway and the rest is a bit of a Ritzy blur…

The following morning I met my Nantucket/NYC partners in crime, Jen Bell and Devon Wilson, for a hangover brunch at Café Flore.  Thankfully they needed it as much as I did, as they had spent an equally late evening on the town, which may or may not have lead to dancing on tables.  These girls are true jet-setters, and had come to Paris for the premiere of the Patrick Demarchelier photography exhibit at the Petit Palais.  (If you read this diary and somehow have never heard of JAR jewels, you are forgiven.  If you have never heard of Patrick Demarchelier, you are not.  Google him now.) 

After the perfect brunch we headed over to Luxembourg Garden to further recover on the lawn, where we all decided we would never allow our children to learn how to juggle.  Tennis class?  Yes.  Golf lessons?  Maybe.  Juggling apprenticeship?  Never.  It’s actually the only skill that makes someone worse off for having it.  OK, maybe it ties with pantomiming.  Whatever the case, juggling should be banned.

It’s clearly getting late.  Stop reading this and go watch Gossip Girl…

September 21st 2008
Florence, Italy

There’s so much to tell I could write a short novel, but instead I’ll spare you the details and recap the past few weeks as succinctly as I possibly can, starting with HOLLYWOULD’s celebrity news…

This month we’ve had Gossip Girl’s fabulously pretty Michelle Tractenberg and Charmed’s famously gorgeous Alyssa Milano pop in to shop chez HOLLYWOULD. We’ve also filled a request for shoes, handbags, and clothes from none other than the hilarious & beautiful Chelsea Handler, so look for HOLLYWOULD on upcoming episodes of Chelsea Lately on E!  And last but certainly not least, we’ve received an order for shoes directly from The World’s Most Stunning Supermodel and Ultimate Style Icon… the dazzling Elle MacPhearson.  I am now in possession of Miss MacPhearson’s personal email address, which I am willing to sell to the US Treasury Department for a mere $300 Billion.

In other headline news… Big shout-out to Maurice Villency Furniture & Lavande Jewels for co-hosting HOLLYWOULD’s screening of the 1980’s Brook Shields classic, The Blue Lagoon, in East Hampton.  For those of you who don’t know, Maurice Villency makes the chicest modern furniture around, and has recently launched a brand new line of eco-conscious furniture called “Pure” which is as gorgeous as it is guilt-free (www.villency.com).  And in case you haven’t been studying your Vogue magazines, Lavande vintage costume jewels are all the rage with supermodels and starlets, and their divine wares can be found in person at Henri Bendel in NYC or online (www.houseoflavande.com).  Pics of our party and fabulous guests are posted to the right.

From East Hampton I headed out to Montauk with my genius friend Annabel, who talked me into taking my first surf lesson ever.  I’ll admit that like any girl who has ever seen Blue Crush, I have always wanted to know how to surf.  The only reason I hadn’t taken it up sooner was two-fold: (1) my acute aversion to water temperatures under 85 degrees, and (2) my severely irrational phobia of sharks, who I have believed lived in lakes and even swimming pools since my feathered-haired, tube-top wearing babysitter forced me to watch Jaws years and years ago.

Nevertheless, Annabel and I put on our wetsuits and headed into the waters with our amazing surf instructor Tony, and before I knew it we were riding the waves like Kelly Slater.  Almost.  The highlight of day might have been when we realized the man who had been chatting with us (via Tony) in the waves all morning was none other than Sir Jimmy Buffet himself.  If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.

From the waves of Montauk I headed straight to NYC’s Hotel Rivington penthouse for a party to launch my friend Adwa Cooper-Henry’s new jean line.  Girls, these jeans are H.O.T. hot.  Adwa showed the collection on a gaggle of young models who wore the jeans with bra tops and HOLLYWOULD heels, and I ended up getting not one, but two fabulous pairs.  For pics of the party and a sneak peek at the hottest new jean line around, visit Adwa’s website (www.adwanewyork.com).

Adwa’s party kicked off fashion week in style, and from there the events began with too many to mention.  There was the party at Christies for my favorite vintage clothing store Resurrection; the tea at Henri Bendel for my favorite vintage jewelry dealer, Tracy Smith of Lavande; the HOLLYWOULD Spring 09 Presentation (stay tuned for more, and see photos right); the US Open where HOLLYWOULD fave Serena Williams (see diary Nov 7, 2005) ruled the courts again; a night that started at the Lever House and ended at Beatrice Inn at 3am with Kirsten Dunst and Kiera Knightly; a fab dinner with Lydia Fenet & co at Paloma; a star-studded evening at the New Yorkers for Children gala (Beyonce!) which ended at Rose Bar (big ups to my hostess Marisa A); an art performance by Sabrina Mezzaqui at Galleria Continua in San Gimignano, Italy (www.galleriacontinua.com); and today, finally, the world’s best cappuccino & sfoglia al cioccolato in Florence, Italy.

The fashion weeks haven’t ended yet and I’m off to Paris this week, so stay tuned…