The Moment Blog
By MARINA CASHDAN
Courtesy Pierogi A view of the Boiler, an annex of Pierogi Gallery, during its transformation. While some Chelsea gallerists are downsizing, the grass-roots-minded art hero, artist-cum-gallerist Joe Amrhein is finding a way to broaden his business. Amrhein, who opened his
Pierogi Gallery in Williamsburg way back in 1994, is opening a massive new space, located in a former industrial boiler room, just a few blocks away this weekend (191 North 14th Street). Marina Cashdan asked Amrhein a few questions about opening the Boiler in the new art economy.
Isn't it a pretty tough economic climate to open a new space? It's a bit counterintuitive to open a space during this time. We had this idea in mind before the economy really crashed, and we decided to follow through with this because I just think it's the right initiative. And being out in Williamsburg, we have a little more leeway in terms of overhead.
Three years ago, while the rest of the New York art world was moving to Chelsea, you decided to open the space in Leipzig, Germany. What's happening with the gallery in Leipzig? I'm still excited about that space, but since last year — when the gas prices went up and shipping costs went up and the dollar plunged — it became a little bit more expensive to operate there. And also the attention in Berlin is so dramatic that a lot of
The Moment Blog
By ALIX BROWNE
Right: Catwalking/Getty Images Was 1980s Ungaro, left, on Nicolas Ghesquière's mind as he designed the latest Balenciaga? An
early review of the Balenciaga fall collection, which was shown Wednesday morning in Paris, declared that it was strictly "all about Yves." Certainly Saint Laurent, whose worldly possessions were auctioned off at the Grand Palais last week, is on a lot of people's minds. But was Saint Laurent the only thing on Nicolas Ghesquière's mind? We detected a whiff of Emmanuel Ungaro in the air.
By ETHAN HAUSER
Steven Rothfeld Alexander Lobrano PARIS — During my 25 years in this city, I've often wondered at the resilience of one of the most enduring American myths about my adopted hometown, which is that it's shockingly expensive. Like so many cherished
idées reçues, this one is just plain wrong. To be sure, you can spend $500 a head in a snap going to dinner in any of the city's three-star restaurants or drop $40 on a flute of Champagne in someplace like the Café de Flore, but the happy truth is that once you disregard the yo-yo exchange rate (currently better than it's been in months, by the way), Paris puts New York to shame in terms of honestly affordable but really excellent midrange dining. Why? Because the true genius of eating in Paris continues to be found in its neighborhood bistros, which have undergone a spectacular renaissance in the last 20 years, since chefs like Yves Camdeborde (La Regalade, which he's since sold), Eric Frechon (he closed his eponymous place in the 19th when he became chef at the Hotel Bristol) and Thierry Breton (his Chez Michel is still thriving, still excellent) came on the scene. Barely a week goes by, in fact, without grapevine news of another new must-try bistro.
Photos by Bob Peterson
By BROOKE HODGE
The Japanese fashion house Comme des Garçons has opened another concept shop. This time it's all BLACK. Literally. And dark, too. The two-story space on Tokyo's Kotto-dori street, most recently occupied by the label's temporary CdG x Louis Vuitton venture, has, in true Comme des Garçons fashion, been completely transformed, again. (Die-hard fans will remember the initial transformation of this space several years ago during Comme's collaboration with the Belgian artist Jan De Cock.)
By JONATHAN S. PAUL
Once again, we invite you to look at some of the most creative fashion show invitations we've received this season. This time, we bring you the best of Milan. Check out the slide show above and tell us what you think — is the trend for using fabric scraps clever or obvious economizing? Say what you will, New York's invitations were far more multimedia — see them here and here.
By NATHAN LUMP
Stroud/Express/Getty Images Cheap flights to Europe? Jump on that. Skip right over this if you, like me, endlessly plug city pairs into booking engines and therefore have a pretty good handle of how much it would cost you, at any given time, to get on a plane and fly somewhere divine. But because in this case ignorance is not bliss, I just want to make sure that everyone is aware how amazingly cheap fares are to Europe right now. The other day I bought a round-trip ticket from New York to London on British Airways the base fare of which was $120. That's right, $120. Now, after all the taxes and fees, that ticket ended up costing me $474, quite a bit more but still a pretty good deal. If you've got some flexibility with dates, flying other places in March is even cheaper: New York to Stockholm on SAS for $383 (base fare: $74!). To Barcelona on Continental for $378. To Dublin on Delta for $307.
By JONATHAN S. PAUL
Lars Klove Silver Lining's new German-made Henry eyeglasses. Jordan Silver and Erik Sacher have a vision. The duo behind SoHo's
Silver Lining eyewear shop are selling small-batch frames,
blogging, dressing celebrities like Jay-Z and curating vintage styles, all in the hopes of turning spectacles into fetish objects. So far, they're steaming up glasses all over town. For New York fashion week, Silver and Sacher collaborated with some of the week's most insider-cool labels — Band of Outsiders, Antonio Azzuolo and Lorick — to style the models in vintage glasses.
Catwalking Models at the Band of Outsiders wearing vintage frames from the Silver Lining archive. Now Silver Lining has its own private-label frame called the Henry (top), inspired by period Michael Caine specs and the clunky mid-century glasses of European health care systems.
By STEVEN HELLER
Aquadeco, left, resembles a perfume flacon.
Steven Heller, a former art director at The New York Times, is a co-chair of the MFA Design Department at the School of Visual Arts and a blogger and author. I was intrigued when Fiji introduced a rectangular water bottle, and Fred Natural Spring Water was packaged in what resembled a whiskey flask. I was seduced by Voss, which comes in a pristine cylindrical container akin to an ultramodern vase -- and is priced two times higher than the average bottled water. At least when I finished the Voss, I had a vessel for my long-stemmed roses. Indeed, why shouldn't water bottles be designed with panache (and multiple uses) for an upscale consumer's tabletop? These are examples of conspicuous pretension, yet what's the harm if someone's willing to pay for it -- and if the bottles look good in the bargain? Then I came across the
Aquadeco bottle. At first charmed, I quickly asked myself how much design should be a driving force in a product as fundamental as water. The name says it all: Aquadeco is spring water in an Art Deco-style container that looks like a vintage 1930s perfume. The 75-ml glass bottle (about $12) comes with an optional illuminated base to provide a romantic candlelight aura, and a decorative sack to suggest an opulent gift. Now, I understand design fetishism. What's more, I am a bona fide Deco fan -- I have written books on Art Deco graphic design (and published a card set of Art Deco fans) -- but Aquadeco and its "matched Art Deco-inspired accessories," as they are described on the company's Web site, are taking premium design to a ridic
By J.J. MARTIN
Stefano Trovati At the Cavalli party, huge lanterns, massive banquettes and cleavage galore. A 150-person dinner to toast the new
Roberto Cavalli Mastercard.
Where: Milan's Teatro Franco Parenti, a bilevel multiplex with an outdoor Olympic-size pool.
Dress Code: Cleavage galore. Bustiers, push-ups, underwires -- whatever it took to get that Italian showgirl silhouette. Lots of ruching, draping, beading and plenty of lip liner, tinted eyewear and python skin as second skin. Clothing coverage diminished as the night wore on and the unclad masses infiltrated the exclusive dinner.
Drinks: The evening began with Mumm's champagne served on silver platters by white-gloved waiters. Later, Cavalli's own Tenuta dei Dei (2006) was served.
Décor: Huge lanterns and massive banquettes blanketed with Cavalli's own floral printed silks and more roses than the gardens of Valentino's French chateau.
Music: Opera during the cocktail hour; the British singer Malde May backed up by a live five-piece jazz band during dinner. The Italian journalist Jo Squillo was so taken that she parked her dinner chair in the middle of the dance floor and tapped the evening away alone. Cavalli acted as house paparazzo and snapped everyone in sight.
Food: Bacon-wrapped shrimp, pici pasta with thyme, fennel-crusted branzino. Then they stopped serving because no one could take the fourth lamb course.
Gift: Iridescent python credit card holder.
Perks: White-coated waiters outnumbered guests. At 11 p.m. the dinn
By DARYOUSH HAJ-NAJAFI
Let's hear it for the boys. To cap off London fashion week this year, the British Fashion Council dedicated the week's grand finale exclusively to men's wear — a first in its 25-year history. (They call it "MAN" day.) A highlight from the festivities was the just-launched label New Power Studio, a collaboration between the stylist Thom Murphy and the women's-wear designer Ebru Ercon. Here, a video from the label's "White Mice" installation capturing its sportswear odyssey.
By STEFANO TONCHI
New York fashion week hinted at it, and the first few days of shows in Milan confirmed it: the '80s are back -- again.
By SHONQUIS MORENO
The automat, that '50s-era icon of American ingenuity known for vending rubbery sandwiches from glass compartments, is back, and this time it's boutique. Exhibit A: The most opulent and cheeky element of the Mondrian South Beach, a Marcel Wanders-designed hotel that opened in Miami in December, is a vending machine that now anchors the lobby. The Semi-Automatic was designed not by Wanders but by Mari Balestrazzi for the Morgans Hotel Group, to conquer the cliché of the gift shop.
By STEFANO TROVATI
Stefano Trovati A model backstage at the Jil Sander show at Milan Fashion Week. Scenes from the photographer Stefano Trovati's exclusive fashion week diary..
By GREG KESSLER
The photographer Greg Kessler captures the transformations of Milan Fashion Week. Here, the model Eniko Mihalik of the Marilyn Agency before (above, top) and after makeup by Charlotte Tilbury and hair by Paul Hanlon. (Drag the orange bar up to reveal the full transformation for the Moschino Cheap & Chic show.).
By SAMEER REDDY
Mama Shelter Mama Shelter may be inexpensive, but it isn't exactly an exercise in deprivation. The Paris ready-to-wear shows don't start for a couple of days, but already there are fresh signs that the fashion crowd is tightening its belts. The new Philippe Starck-designed hotel
Mama Shelter, where the rooms start at 79 euros, is the latest favorite address for usually spendthrift editors having to watch their expenses. When I stayed at the hotel during the couture shows in January, it was
the no-vanancy hot spot, and for this week only the 299 euro rooms are still available.
By MELISSA VENTOSA MARTIN
Good style mixes high-ticket items with brilliant but affordable gets. In this column, T's fashion team finds the cheap and the chic. What: Silence & Noise Moto Skirt
How Much: $68 at
urbanoutfitters.com Who: Melissa Ventosa Martin, T Magazine's women's fashion associate What with the '80s primed to make (yet another) comeback this fall, a chic leather skirt is a great quick fix to get you through the remaining days of the winter at hand. This one, made of faux leather, by Silence & Noise has a streamlined, pencil silhouette and an exposed back zip that ups the chic factor.
By GREG KESSLER
The photographer Greg Kessler captures the transformations of Milan fashion week.
By JUDITH PUCKETT-RINELLA
Photos © Elinor Carucci, courtesy of SEPIA InternationalElinor Carucci, "Cherries," 2005 Elinor Carucci's latest body of work, "My Children," focuses on — you guessed it — her own brood, in this case her 4-year-old twins, Eden and Emmanuelle. The Israeli-born Carucci takes the viewer through the many stages of raising a child, from pregnancy to bath time. Every image — whether it's capturing the tension of a haircut or a face covered in cherry juice — has a visceral yet beautiful quality, which any parent can relate to. Carucci's photos, along with works by Sunil Gupta, Amy Jenkins and Angelika Sher, will be featured in the show "Intimate Line," which opens tomorrow and runs through April 18 at the
Sepia International Gallery in Chelsea.
By ALEXANDRA MARSHALL
Haywood Magee/Picture Post/Getty Images The fashion model Bronwen Pugh (a relative of Gareth?) at Paris fashion week 1957. Do like Pugh — explore Paris. It's Paris fashion week and because deciding how to work the leg-of-mutton sleeve can't take up all your time, here are some diversions.
The Shopping
Have we re-entered the age of the multibrand boutique? This week, two make their debuts in Paris.
Merci, in eastern Marais (111 Boulevard Beaumarchais), is the brainchild of Marie-France Cohen, formerly of the posh tot brand Bonpoint. You'll have a hard time hanging on to your euros with cosmetics, men's and women's fashion (Belgian and cheerful French), fabrics, vintage clothes and even some hardware in the mix. One
arrondissement away is
Hotel Particulier (15 Rue Leopold Bellan), brought to you by the ladies behind La Cantoche Paname, a kicky little bistro also in the neighborhood. Look out for independent labels (Kris van Assche, Gaspard Yurkevich) and upscale "erotic beauty products." Should you prefer your consumption genitalia-free, starting Tuesday,
Colette (213 Rue Saint-Honoré) introduces a week of Barbie appreciation for the old girl's 50th anniversary, with Goyard Barbie trunks, Bruno Frisoni Barbie shoes and more. (It helps to have permanent tippy-toes.).
Couresty of Georges As clubs in Paris fell out of favor, restaurants such as Georges, above, took the torch for those seeking glamour after dark.
