Back in January, when Calvin Klein Jeans first revealed its new ad campaign shot by renowned photog Steven Meisel, company execs said it was so unbelievably racy, they wouldn't even be able to buy commercials on cable TV. But they didn't say anything about 100-foot billboards on Houston Street! "Looks like the recession isn't taming the cheap sluts and man-whores," writes Bowery Boogie. And thank God for that. [Bowery Boogie]
Fashion Week is finally coming to a close. Click through for a final recap of the shows, parties, and gossip from the past day or two.
Hamptons architecture buffs, take note: Now would be a good time to get a last look at Dragon's Head, the gaudy 50,000-square-foot castle in Southampton that Calvin Klein purchased several years ago. It's just a few months away from demolition now that Southampton's Village Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review has removed the last bit of red tape and ruled its interiors have no historical value. What can you expect to find on the property a couple of years from now? A much more low-key and minimalist manse, of course, not to mention the lilting sounds of youthful Brazilian men speaking Portuguese. [Newsday]
• It isn't easy being a disposable reality TV star. At the Jill Stuart show on Monday, a publicist barked "Show your fucking ring!" to Bethenny Frankel as The Real Housewives of New York star was getting her photo taken. She's probably used to the abuse, though. Frankel later told a reporter that she used to babysit Paris and Nicky Hilton when they were kids. [AMNY, NYO]
• Lindsay Lohan says her dramatic weight loss is simply the result on "working a lot." Of course it is. [Us]
• Monogamy is so old-fashioned: Alex Rodriguez spent Valentine's Day weekend romancing five different women, while Calvin Klein was spotted in Miami with "two model-type guys." [P6]
• Walter and Monica Noel are laying low at their home in Mustique, although they skipped the private jet and flew commercial to get there. [P6]
amfAR kicked off Fashion Week with a gala at Cipriani last night, where the long list of attendees included Donna Karan, Mary J. Blige (left), Anna Wintour, Calvin Klein, Rachel Zoe, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Liza Minnelli, Candy Pratts Price, Robbie Myers, Jessica Stam, Lily Donaldson, Kenneth Cole, Stefano Tonchi, John Demsey, Stacy Bendet, Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict, Lisa Dennison, Terence Koh, Vito Schnabel, Noemi Lenoire, Harry Belafonte, Mary Alice Stephenson, Jennifer Creel, Natasha Richardson, Stanley Tucci, Taylor Momsen, Maggie Rizer, Doutzen Kroes, Robert Verdi, Mario Cantone, Eliza Dushku, Kipton Cronkite, Derek Blasberg, and Howard and Cindy Rachofsky. [PMc, Wireimage, WWD, NYO]
Karole Armitage's Armitage Gone! dance company held its annual benefit last night at Capitale. The honorees at the Think Punk! event, Jeff Koons and Earle Mack, celebrated with their wives, Justine and Carole, as well as with attendees like Rufus Wainwright (left), Andre Balazs, Calvin Klein, Fabiola Beracasa, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, Nicole Miller, Lauren duPont, Allison Sarofim, Peter Marino, Mary Boone, David Salle, Michael Musto, Dominique Levy, Sandy Brant, Tom Sachs, Todd Eberle, Francesco Clemente, Michele Zalopany, and Jamie Niven. [PMc, VF, WWD]
Remember those controversial Calvin Klein commercials from the early '80s featuring Brooke Shields? The heroin chic ads with Kate Moss from the late '90s? How about last year's commercial for Calvin Klein Secret Obsession starring Eva Mendes, which was censored by the networks? It looks like the brand is returning to the usual tricks. WWD reports the new commercial for Calvin Klein Jeans "is so provocative it initially was banned from even late-night cable TV." Conveniently, the Steven Meisel creation will now be the "main attraction" when the company's new e-commerce site debuts on Friday. You can take a peek at the "banned" commercial below, but don't expect to see anything racier than what you'd find on your run-of-the-mill MTV reality show.
Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen may have been willing to support Calvin Klein's plan to tear down his Southampton castle and build a more modern home on the site, but it seems their enthusiasm isn't shared by all of Calvin's neighbors on Meadow Lane. Bill Williams Jr., who recently retired as a partner at the white-shoe law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, filed a letter of complaint with Southampton's Architectural Review Board in advance of a public hearing earlier this week. Williams' objection to Klein's proposal, however, doesn't have anything to do with any interest in preserving the gaudy castle. He just doesn't care for Calvin's taste.
• Vivienne Westwood may have designed Carrie's wedding dress for the first Sex and the City movie, but she'd like to write the script for the sequel, and she's even written to Sarah Jessica Parker to make her case. [Telegraph]
• Tracy Feith is the latest designer who has been tapped to do a line for Target. [WWD]
• Fern Mallis says IMG has confirmed 52 designers— including Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Michael Kors—for Fashion Week in February. [WSJ]
• Marchesa will be showing, too. [Fashionista]
• Photos of Isaac Mizrahi's new collection for Liz Claiborne. [Pipeline]
• Go alert your mom: Carolina Herrera says long hair after 40 is "out" in her book. "Women need to learn how to age gracefully." [Times UK]
A couple of weeks ago, it was revealed that Calvin Klein had asked for permission to demolish the ugly castle in Southampton he'd purchased a few years back for $30 million in order to replace it with a much more modern creation. So what does the notoriously fickle designer have planned for the beachfront plot? Intrepid blogger Sally Spanburgh filed a Freedom of Information Act request to find out, and she now has an architect's rendering to show for her efforts. The sketch seems to be more in line with Klein's minimalist aesthetic; whether recommendation letters from Aby Rosen and Ian Schrager will be enough to get him approval from the Southampton Village Board of Historic Preservation has yet to be decided.
Some people dream of owning a castle; Calvin Klein wants to tear his down. Five years after the designer paid nearly $30 million for a gaudy 50,000-square-foot Southampton estate known as Dragon's Head, Klein filed an application this week to demolish it so he can replace it with a more modest (and much more minimalist) 17,500-square-foot number. To lend credibility to the plan, Klein had neighbors Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen write letters to the Southampton Village Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review on his behalf. We're not exactly sure how having someone who was in trouble for destroying an endangered bird habitat on his property this past summer bolsters his cause, but we'll keep a good thought for you, Cal! A few more photos of what's been described as "Disneyland on LSD" after the jump.
Art Basel Miami, the most talked-about art event of the year, is in full swing and all the usual suspects have turned up. At a party on Tuesday night hosted by the Times' T magazine and hotelier Andre Balazs, faithful scenesters like Calvin Klein, Takashi Murakami, Naomi Campbell, Rachel Zoe, Yvonne Force Villareal, Dasha Zhukova, and Ingrid Sischy all put in appearances. So how is it all going? It sort of depends who you ask! Judging by the breathless coverage on sites like Fashion Week Daily, all seems to be fine and well. It's "bigger than any recession-concerned naysayers could have predicted," reports Adam P. Schneider in a piece titled "The Best of Times." Over at Dasha's table, for example, the "important topic" on everyone's lips wasn't the recession; it was the "internet craze surrounding Shiba Inu puppies." Of course it was! Unfortunately, that cheerfulness escaped New York's Alexandra Peers, who reports that the fair itself had about half as many people as last year, and that everyone is still waiting for the gazillionaire buyers—like, say, Dasha's boyfriend, Roman Abramovich—to show their faces."Everyone is asking, where are the Russians?" Yes, Miami is very much empty at the moment, as we confirmed when we made a few phone calls this afternoon.
♦ Alexander Wang was the big winner at Monday night's fifth-annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund awards at Skylight Studios. Wang and fellow nominees like Richard Chai, Jason Wu, Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai, Irene Neuwirth, Alejandro Ingelmo, Juan Carlos Obando, Albertus Swanepoel, Swaim and Christina Hutson, and John Patrick were feted by John Galliano (left, with Charlize Theron), Anna Wintour, Diane von Furstenberg, Sally Singer, Andrew Rosen, Reed Krakoff, Jeffrey Kalinsky, Julie Gilhart, Julie Macklowe, Daphne Guinness, Sasha Heinz, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Andre Leon Talley, Narciso Rodriguez, Maria Sharapova, Penn Badgley, Zac Posen, Vera Wang, Chanel Iman, Juliette Lewis, Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman, Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Ocleppo, Lauren Santo Domingo, Peter Som, Piper Perabo, Phillip Lim, Lazaro Hernandez, Maggie Betts, Calvin Klein, Damon Dash and Rachel Roy, and James Franco. [PMc, NYO, Style.com, The Daily]
Calvin Klein turns 66 years old today. Chef (and axed Dancing with the Stars contestant) Rocco DiSpirito is celebrating his 42nd. The Today show's Ann Curry is 52. Larry King may look 100, but he's (only) turning 75. Former GE CEO Jack Welch is 73. Ted Turner is 70. WNYC president Laura Walker is turning 51. Book publisher Julie Grau is 45. Jodie Foster is 46. Model Daria Werbowy is turning 25. Meg Ryan is turning 47. Sportcaster Ahmad Rashad turns 59. Actress Allison Janney is 49. Former Olympic gymnast Kerri Strug is turning 31. And TV legend Dick Cavett is 72 years old today.
Fashion Group International hosted its "Night of the Stars" gala at Cipriani Wall Street last night, where Kate Bosworth, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Prince, Karl Lagerfeld, Ashley Olsen, Anna Wintour, Isaac Mizrahi, Donatella Versace, Allegra Versace, Georgina Chapman and Harvey Weinstein (left), Debra Messing, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Francisco Costa, André Leon Talley, Stephanie Seymour, Stefano Tonchi, Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Alexander Wang, Bobbi Brown, Lindsay Price, Tom Florio, Christopher Bailey, Behnaz Sarafpour, Zani Gugelmann, Chanel Iman, Cindi Leive, Julianna Margulies, Christian Louboutin, Peter Som, Philippe Starck, Nina Garcia, Roopal Patel, Glenda Bailey, Tim Gunn, Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan, Ruben Toledo and Isabel Toledo, Justine and Jeff Koons, Jonathan Newhouse, John Varvatos, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Patrick Demarchelier, Linda Fargo, Phillip Lim, Leigh Lezark and Max Minghella, Mary Alice Stephenson, and Mamie Gummer celebrated the industry. [InStyle, Wireimage, PMc]
♦ Last night Karl Lagerfeld was in town to celebrate the Chanel Mobile Art exhibition with a cocktail party in Central Park. Undeterred by the chilly weather and/or enticed by the chance to be photographed in Chanel: Kate Bosworth and James Rousseau, Glenda Bailey, Linda Wells, Agyness Deyn and Albert Hammond Jr., Zac Posen, Dasha Zhukova, Peter Davis, Helena Christensen, Terry Richardson, Eve, Ann Dexter-Jones, Boykin Curry and Celerie Kemble, Cory Kennedy, Victoria and S.I. Newhouse, Terry Richardson, Julie Macklowe, Debbie Bancroft, Katie Lee Joel, Tiffany Dubin, Kim Raver, Christopher and Amanda Cutter Brooks, Fabiola Beracasa, Amy Astley, Stefano Tonchi, Sarah Jessica Parker, Carine Roitfeld, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Kate Schelter, Ferebee Bishop Taube, Luigi Tadini, Eleanor Ylvisaker, Jackie Astier, Fran Lebowitz, Justine and Jeff Koons, Genevieve Jones, David Hershkovits, Kate Schelter, Sophie Auster, and Vidal Sassoon. [The Daily, PMc, GoaG]
♦ Pat Field's debuted her line for HSN today. The Carrie-like dresses cost $150 a pop and each order comes with a subscription to Vogue. "If only Anna Wintour would go on the air and shill along with Pat Field." [The Cut]
♦ Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen might be feuding, their neighbors might hate them, but their fashion empire keeps expanding: They've just signed a deal with Steve Madden to create a shoe line under their Elizabeth and James brand. [WWD]
Matthew Broderick holding hands with Sarah Jessica Parker while walking in Midtown and later riding on a scooter with little James ... Maggie Gyllenhaal crossing the street ... Calvin Klein eating outside with a friend ... Carla Bruni carrying a Post under her arm ... Marcia Gay Harden and her daughter crossing the street with smoothies in hand... Katie Holmes leaving her building solo ... Sarah Palin arriving at the Colombian Embassy on the Upper East Side ... Diane Lane posing with an autograph-seeker outside her hotel ... Julianne Moore hopping into a SUV outside her West Village townhouse ... Matt Dillon stepping off the sidewalk ... Billy Bob Thornton outside NBC before taping Conan O'Brien's show ... and John Mayer all dressed up en route to a benefit.
♦ On the heels of her PBS culinary show and appearance on Oprah last week, Gwyneth Paltrow is launching a new "lifestyle website" called Goop. "Read something beautiful. Treat yourself to something. Go to a city you've never been to," reads the site's mission statement. Of course, it's a lot easier to spend your days reading novels, shopping at fancy stores, and traveling to exotic places when you're as rich and famous as Gwyneth Paltrow. [The Daily]
» Zac Posen showed the kind of pretty dresses that made him famous. What has also made him famous, of course, is his dazzling knack for networking, which was in full effect with a starry audience of Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, Marisa Tomei, Leighton Meester, Venus and Serena Williams, Anna Wintour, André Leon Talley, Bernadette Peters, Diddy, Julian Schnabel, Bette Midler, Juliette Lewis, Kate Mara, Jada Pinkett Smith, Veronica Webb, Joy Bryant, Rachel Zoe, Ingrid Sischy, and Fern Mallis. [WSJ, Wireimage]
