Meet Olivier Zahm: Either the Best or Worst Human Being in New York
You have probably slept with this man. He's French! He founded Purple magazine! He hangs out with famous people! He accidentally mentioned that Beatrice Inn is reopening! He wears the same clothes every day! He takes pictures of naked ladies!
The Parisian magazine magnate has long been a fixture on the Manhattan scene; he even sometimes gets his own area at high-end parties in which to take pictures. But, apart from his own musings on nightlife in the city, has mostly avoided doing press. Now Blackbook has picked up on this Japanese magazine interview with the indoor sunglasses-wearer.
"People recognise him," says the unnamed journalist, "by his signature tousled hair and stubble, a pair of tear-drop sunglasses, a tight-fitting leather jacket, pointy boots, a gold wristwatch… an intriguing mix of sexiness and discretion."
"This is a disguise," explains Zahm. "Five or six years ago, I decided to wear this kind of outfit and behave as if I were a celebrity. It's not out of narcissism. It's for the magazine. For an independent magazine to exist, I had to incarnate it personally,"
Take a look at these pictures, from Zahm's blog, and judge for yourself. There are plenty more if Thursday morning is a pensive, French, black-and-white kind of time for you.
A naked lady in Paris:
Terry Richardson leaping:
A naked lady in Paris again:
Paul Sevigny with a surfboard: