2009 November | Lisa Shops

Monthly Archives: November 2009

Design Hunting: Art and Shopping at Prada and the Gagosian Gallery Store

November 30, 2009 – 3:09 pm

Sir Paul Smith at the Rug Company.

Just in time for the holidays, our tireless editor Wendy Goodman finds inspiration while browsing at Prada, the Rug Company, and the new Gagosian Gallery store, and discovers how artists nest during the Design Trust for Public Space’s evening benefit.

The Crillon Ball Welcomes a Personal-Style Blogger This Year

November 30, 2009 – 2:50 pm

Shoes is in the stripes.

The Crillon Ball took place in Paris on Saturday. The annual event, dreamed up by a PR bigwig nineteen years ago — because why not? — provides an opportunity for teenage girls closely related to or associated with famous people to do some fancy pageant walking on the arm of a fantastically named male escort on a world stage. Most important, each gal wears couture and enough diamonds to put Lil’ John to shame.

The 25 debutantes at this year’s ball included ladies with names like Lady Kitty Spencer, the 18-year-old niece of Princess Diana, who was escorted by Richard Dennen. Forest Whitaker’s 17-year-old daughter Autumn Whitaker also attended, escorted by William Bellingham. Personal-style blogger Jane Aldridge, the 17-year-old author of Sea of Shoes, also attended, wearing Chanel Haute Couture, escorted by none other than Cambridge University student Octavian Donnelly, whose parents clearly named him with this very day in mind.

Vogue recommended Aldrige for the event this year. And why shouldn’t she enjoy the honor? She’s designed two capsule collections of shoes for Urban Outfitters, has made a cameo on The City, and owns plenty of fabulous items of apparel. And she hasn’t dropped out of school to bask in the glory of it all — she’s finishing up her senior year of high school with wonderfully convenient home schooling. But just because she’s fabulous enough to walk arm-in-arm with Mr. Octavian Donnelly doesn’t mean we plebes can’t relate. Just have a look at her Twitter page: She uses “fuck” freely.

Quick post before I fly home [Sea of Shoes]
No Chinless Wonders At The 19th Annual Paris Crillon Haute-Couture Ball, In Pictures [Anorak UK]
Debs Delight in the Bal Crillon [WWD]

Read more posts by Amy Odell

Filed Under: $ea of $hoe$, autumn whitaker, crillon ball, jane aldridge, lady kitty spencer, sea of shoes

By Amy Odell | Posted in Fashion News |

Guess What Freddie Fackelmayer Has Been Up To?

November 30, 2009 – 2:20 pm

His run on The City may have been brief, but his boldface name endures. Cityfile reports that the remarkably tan Freddie Fackelmayer was spotted — like a real celebrity! — shopping with his girlfriend at Kmart on Sunday. Now Whitney Port knows what she’s missing. [Cityfile]

Read more posts by Amy Odell

Filed Under: orange people, freddie fackelmeyer, inner city life, the city, whitney port

By Amy Odell | Posted in Fashion News |

Holiday Pop-up Overload

November 30, 2009 – 1:50 pm

‘Tis the season of pop-up shops, as dozens of designers dive into New York’s retail fray for a holiday boost. We’ve rounded up more than fifteen temporary shops selling everything from party dresses and handbags to tech gear and art books, so you can cross off everyone on your gift list. Check out a new candy shop for design-lovers in Soho, Japanese music and lo-fi cameras in Dumbo, luxe knitwear from German designer Anuschka Hoevener on the Lower East Side, and more. Click here for the complete guide.

Jesus Luz Now Leads Lucrative Life As a Slash

November 30, 2009 – 1:20 pm

Jesus Luz D.J.-ing on November 25.

The week before last, Jesus Luz D.J.-ed at a party in the penthouse of the Hotel on Rivington. This was the night of P. Diddy’s birthday and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show after-party at the classy, illustrious M2 nightclub. But in addition to us, numerous reporters from outlets including the New York Times and Life and Style (who the Times mocked, perhaps out of their own embarrassment by association) chose watching Jesus preen above turntables over mingling with hungry, overly body-shimmered models or drinking Champagne in Diddy’s honor. Because Jesus Luz is the man, the model, the boyfriend of the moment, and now is his time to shine brighter than the gold-leaf letters that Diddy probably had lain in calligraphy on his birthday cake.

So! It’s high time for a serious profile on this increasingly serious, very good-looking fellow. Allow the Times to clear up a few things you thought you knew about him.

• His name is pronounced “Zhay-ZOOSE. Loose.” Like Zeus the Greek God!
• The day of the W shoot on which he met Madonna was the last his agent in Brazil ever heard from him.
• Modeling in Brazil, Jesus made $500 a day. Currently, some places are willing to pay $15,000 for him to D.J. a 90-minute set.
• Madonna doesn’t give him an allowance, he says.
• “I don’t talk about my girlfriend,” he says.
• Jesus doesn’t think of himself as a slash, but a career man. “It’s good to have two careers going on, modeling and D.J.ing. I feel good,” he says.
• Before Madonna man-napped him, he had studied Buddhism and yoga. An ex-girlfriend got him into Kabbalah, which he says has made him “strong.”
• … as has working out! Which he does five days a week with a trainer from the Tracy Anderson camp (no word on how awkward that is now).
• He’s friends with Marc Jacobs’s fiancé and fellow Brazilian Lorenzo Martone.
• He really likes us! “I like the strong energy of the people in the city and how they work and run behind your ideals here,” he says. How could we not support a 22-year-old hunky Brazilian slash who ends his D.J. sets with a mash-up of Madonna’s “Revolver” and his own track, “We Come From Light,” while making faces like the one pictured here?

For Madonna’s Boyfriend, Fame by Association [NYT]
Related: Who Is More Famous: Jesus Luz or Christian Siriano?

Read more posts by Amy Odell

Filed Under: slashies, biblical beings, designers, jesus luz, lorenzo martone, madonna, marc jacobs, models, p diddy, victorias secret

By Amy Odell | Posted in Fashion News |

Tomorrow’s Events and Sales: 70 Percent Off L.A.M.B.; 50 Percent Off Hanky Panky Lingerie

November 30, 2009 – 12:50 pm

EVENTS
• Shop for a good cause at M.A.C. Cosmetics on World AIDS Day. The company will match 100 percent of the sales for all Viva Glam lipstick and lipglass ($14 each) and donate it to the M.A.C. AIDS Fund. M.A.C. Columbus, 148 Columbus Ave., nr. 66th St. (212-769-0725); 10–7. M.A.C. Harlem, 202 W. 125th St., nr. Seventh Ave. (212-665-0676); 10–8. M.A.C. Flatiron, 1 E. 22nd St., nr. Broadway (212-677-6611); 10–8.

• Plaza Beauty by Warren-Tricomi is doling out free gifts. Receive free mascara from AmazingCosmetics with the purchase of concealer; a free Lucy B perfume vial for the first 50 shoppers; a free Whish Essentials set and free gift wrapping with any Whish purchase; and more. The boutique will donate 5 percent of all profits from the event to Volunteers of America. The Shops at the Plaza, 1 W. 58th St., at Fifth Ave. (212-223-4694); 5–8.

SALES
STARTING TOMORROW
• Receive more than 50 percent off lingerie at the annual Hanky Panky sample sale. The low-rise zebra-print lace thong is $10 (originally $22) and the original-rise signature lace thong is $10 (originally $18). All thongs are buy twelve, get one free. Through 12/4. 260 Fifth Ave., nr. 28th St. (212-725-4996); T–W (8:30–8), Th (8:30–7), F (9–1).

• Couture bridal dresses and evening-gown samples by Kelima K are 30 to 60 percent off. An ivory sheath with chiffon ruffles is $960 (originally $2,400), a silk taffeta ballgown with a shirred bodice is $895 (originally $1,695), and a short embossed silk dress is $575 (originally $895). Through 12/5. 229B Mott St., nr. Prince St. (212-334-6546); T–S (3–7).

• Handbags from L.A.M.B., Harajuku Lovers, and Kidrobot are up to 70 percent off. Prices range from $5 for small Kidrobot accessories to $150 for large L.A.M.B. handbags. The Keaton bag is $150 (originally $495), the Fisher clutch is $75 (originally $495), and the Kidrobot Slinger is $20 (originally $98). Through 12/3. 42 Greene St., nr. Broome St., second fl.; T (8–8), W–Th (10–7).

• Cashmere, cashmere-blend, and cotton apparel is up to 75 percent off at the Autumn Cashmere sample sale. 12/1–12/4 and 12/7–12/11. 31 W. 39th St., nr. Seventh Ave. (212-398-2244); T–F (9–7) and M–F (9–6).

Nike Stands by Tiger

November 30, 2009 – 12:22 pm

“Tiger and his family have Nike’s full support.” read a company statement released Monday.

By WWD Fashion Headlines | Posted in Fashion News |

Daul Kim’s Agency Blames Work Pressures for Her Apparent Suicide

November 30, 2009 – 12:20 pm

Backstage at Yigal Azrouël’s spring 2010 show.

Last week we learned that Daul Kim instant messaged with a friend about her abusive boyfriend hours before she was found hanged in her Paris apartment in an apparent suicide. Her agency finally spoke last week. “She was not able to live the normal life other girls did at her age,” agents at Next said in a statement. “We suspect that she felt confused and lost after reaching the top of her career.” Autopsy results released last week rule out the possibility that Kim was murdered. Her parents had said they didn’t believe their daughter would kill herself.

Korea’s Kate Moss pleaded for help hours before suicide [Times UK]
Autopsy Results Rule Out Murder In Death Of Daul Kim [Jezebel]
Related: Daul Kim IMed With a Friend About a Physically Abusive Boyfriend Hours Before Her Death

Read more posts by Amy Odell

Filed Under: sad news, daul kim, model tracker, models

By Amy Odell | Posted in Fashion News |

Boîte: No Autographs. Just Initials, Please.

November 30, 2009 – 11:25 am

The Simyone Lounge keeps the lights down low.Stars are always in search of a hideout to escape prying eyes. These days, that place is Simyone Lounge, or simply SL to those in the know.

By By LIZA GHORBANI | Posted in Fashion News |

The Sheikh Who Was Supposed to Buy Christian Lacroix Didn’t Submit His Paperwork on Time

November 30, 2009 – 10:40 am

We hope you enjoyed the last couture collection.

Things are not looking good for Christian Lacroix. The Ajman sheikh who was close to closing a deal to buy the beleaguered label for 100 million euros failed to submit financial guarantees to the Paris court charged with determining the fate of the house. The papers were due last Thursday, but neither Hassan Bin Ali al-Naimi nor the Borletti Group — the front-runners so far in the bidding — submitted the necessary paperwork. And they’re foreign, so Thanksgiving was no excuse.

Tomorrow, the court will rule on how to move forward. They could accept the restructuring plan submitted by the Falic group, which currently owns the label. Their dismal proposal includes keeping only eleven employees and paying off debts by way of licensing deals — so much for couture and ready-to-wear.

Because this is France and they care deeply about fashion and pretty things and the heritage of the Lacroix brand, administrators remain optimistic. The AFP reports:

[J]udicial administrator Regis Vaillot said: “It is not all over yet, anything could happen,” predicting that new players could emerge in the next few months, while acknowledging that for the time being there was “no plan B”.

He added that “serious” new bidders currently wary of tedious court procedures may emerge in the coming months. The court could turn down the Falic plan, though Vaillot said that would be “unlikely.”

To think, the sheikh sounded like such a sure thing! As randomly as he swept in on his steed with his buckets of money and promises, brandishing grand plans for Lacroix yachts, palaces, and candlesticks in addition to apparel, he may just disappear.

No firm buyer seen for Christian Lacroix fashion house [AFP]

Read more posts by Amy Odell

Filed Under: save lacroix, borletti group, christian lacroix, designers, hassan bin ali al nuaimi