La Vie En Rose

¡Disco Silencio! SCI-Arc+Barbara Bestor

Visual excess? Exploring the space between social promiscuity and solipsistic trance? Sounds like our kind of night. Architect Barbara Bestor considers social and communal experiences by staging a temporary disco at SCI-Arc. The six-week installation kicks off with a party Friday night and continues on view at the downtown architecture school where she often teaches.

"The design of the structure is an over-scaled, unfolded demi-dodecahedron model that contains a strong graphic interface," says Barbara, a pal who helped create a similarly strong graphic code to the A+R interior (and we love her for it!) "The title ‘Silent Disco’ refers to both the less populated hours of the gallery and to the space itself, when it is unplugged but still dancing.”

For Barbara, this exercise wasn't about erecting something static. From the homes she builds inside out to the pop-up installations for Paper magazine, pleasure—communal, corporeal and visual—is right there in the quirky charm and simple beauty of our every day surroundings and experiences.

This Friday's dance party is dubbed ¡Disco Silencio! A second follows on April 22 as ¡Disco Callado! Both feature live deejay sets via that modern and prosaic of music lover tools, the iPad. Barbara's take on what it's all about follows:

¡Disco Silencio!
Disco Architecture encourages visual excess and explores the space between social promiscuity and solipsistic trance. Silent Disco employs technologies of superficial deception inspired by Razzle Dazzle camouflage. This WW1 military technique used bold graphic and anamorphic surfaces to mislead enemy bombers about the size, speed and direction of a warship. Within our constructed space, this deflective graphic strategy is conjoined with the reflective effect of embedded mirror ball fragments whose strategy is to distort the visual space by refracting light - a hybrid military and disco architectures of surface.

¡Disco Refugio!
This disco is a refuge, providing respite from the institutional production of architecture with a program that stimulates communal exchange. When unfolded, the shape of this over-scale three-dimensional form reveals a dance floor that invites the social and engages the physical - a polyhedron of hedonism. The plywood panels appear to advance and recede within the space, obscuring the parameters of the disco and offering up multiple spatial possibilities based on the visual perception of form. Silent Disco is a stealthy architecture, imbued with disinformation of literal form.

¡Disco Callado!
In real time, Silent Disco has a day and nightlife of its own. By day, the reflective surfaces capture and refract rays, populating the space with a silent volume of light, both tranquil and kinetic. By night, the disco has many programs - including a downloadable soundtrack and dance parties with DJs, lasers, projections and fog. Like any other club, the Silent Disco's geometry naturally offers back rooms and dark corridors, an alternative refuge to the visual din of the dance floor.

Barbara Bestor Architecture: Silent Disco at SCI-Arc, 960 East 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013. Opening reception: Friday, April 1, 7 to 9 p.m. Installation runs through May 15.

Renderings Courtesy of Bestor Architecture

Meet Yves Béhar+Ethan Imboden @ A+R

Ethan Imboden and Yves Béhar

What happens when good design takes on taboo?

We at A+R are thrilled to host “Sex, Design and the Pleasure Conspiracy,” a frank chat with two of the most innovative and provocative designers today, Yves Béhar of fuseproject and Ethan Imboden of Jimmyjane. The Thursday, April 7, evening event also marks the global launch of the Form 4 vibrator, the third and final in their award-winning collaboration, Pleasure to the People.

‘‘Disruptive companies like Jimmyjane who lead by design are central to our design venture approach at fuseproject, so it was natural that our friendship and mutual admiration transitioned into an intensive collaboration," says  Yves of the project, only the latest in Ethan's directive to reimagine sexual wellbeing with good design integral to the process and result.

As part of emphasizing good, quality lifestyle design, A+R has long stocked Jimmyjane. Why not? We realize it's an awkward topic for too many folks, yet it shouldn't be. For us, discussing the beautiful design, smart functionality and sheer delight is not unlike sharing our enthusiasm for, say, the Jambox, a cool new wireless audio speaker with built-in microphone that just so happens to also be by Yves.

I was first introduced to the brand and Ethan when he took a risk and showcased at an Oscar suite in 2001 (back when A-list stars actually visited those suites). Jimmyjane stole the show with the 24-karat Little Something, which Kate Moss had become a fan of and so I naturally had to assign a piece on it in a special WWD Oscar issue.

Flash forward, and that gilded gadget remains a coveted gem for both Jimmyjane and A+R. But nowhere near does it touch the purring popularity of Ethan and Yves' Form 2 and Form 3. We even have a few clients who've returned more than once as they make such great gifts!

We expect no less from this latest in the trifecta. The Form 4 is apparently the most powerful of its kind, thanks to a strategically placed oversized motor and a flexible shape that adapts to the contours of the body. It's also waterproof and boasts a rechargeable battery like the rest of the vibrators in the Jimmyjane collection. (We also carry the high-grade massage candles.)

Just received an advance gift of the Form 4...I would post an image of it but that would spoil the big reveal next week!

Thursday's frolic, from 7:30 to 10 p.m., with a 30-minute discussion at 8 p.m., is open to guests ages 18 and over. Seating is limited, so please rsvp now. You not only guarantee entry: you will also receive 20% off all Jimmyjane products during this once in a lifetime evening.

See you there!

L.A. Eyeworks' Window On Elizabeth Taylor

Our pal at L.A. Eyeworks, Brent Zerger, was kind enough to send this note just now about my posting early Wednesday on the passing of Elizabeth Taylor:

You gotta tip your hat when something is beautifully said or written. I particularly enjoyed:
Of course, I felt a pang at seeing the news of her death this morning. But how can we be sad for someone who walked this earth with more determination, more spirit, more beauty and lust for life than most?
She may have tripped a few times along the journey. But it was always in her own shoes.
Just lovely. She deserves all the accolades.

Thank you Brent!

And thank you for also sharing the elegant way the L.A. Eyeworks shop on Beverly Boulevard (as well as the Melrose store) is honoring our dearly departed icon.

Photo Courtesy: L.A. Eyeworks

The Reel Deal: Bill Cunningham

  Among the many, many cabinets inside Bill Cunningham's apartment stuffed with a half century of street fashion.

"Fashion," says Bill Cunningham in the new documentary on his life, “it’s the armor to survive the reality of everyday life. But you can’t do away with it—that would be like doing away with civilization.”

That statement just about slayed me as I sat in the Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Wednesday night for the Costume Council-hosted L.A. premiere of Bill Cunningham New York, the first feature film by director Richard Press and his husband, producer Philip Gefter. It took the pair about a decade to get it done, they joked after the screening, eight to convince the fiercely independent, 83-year-old lensman who is considered the first street style photographer to let them point the camera on him and another two years to actually do the work.

An anthropologist with a Nikon (loaded with genuine film of the 35-mm, 400-speed variety!), Mr. Cunningham has been obsessively, enthusiastically, chronicling the way New Yorkers year-round (and in recent years, Parisiennes during Fashion Week there) dress in real life—from the sidewalks to the society galas. He hung up his hat as a fledgling milliner in the 1950s and took up a camera he received as gift and started using it as a pencil, as the friend who gifted this new creative tool recommended. But it is the many fans who have lapped up his work over the decades since then, across the pages of original Details magazine and The New York Times, who have benefited the most from his special gift as an archivist of clothes, style and, essentially, human nature.

Annie Flanders, who gave Mr. Cunningham literally more than a hundred pages at times in Details to share his findings with readers, was among us Wednesday. She arrived with a prized gift of her own from her dear old friend, a real mallard turned into a hand muff. It was so cold that it actually proved practical on this evening. Her old friend did not see the muff Wednesday night nor the film during its L.A. showing or New York premiere last week, or at all according to the filmmakers.

But there are so many of us influenced by the images that he created and that Annie gave a platform to in that magazine (long before Conde Nast bought it)—including those of us so moved at the screening, such as Cameron Silver of Decades, designers Jeremy Scott and Michael Schmidt, provocateur Constance, author Monica Corcoran, Americana historian Charles Phoenix and myself. As teens, we were able to thwack our way out of the conventional existence we were hovering in because we could see there was another way out there, that it was OK to realize our own sense of armor in this cuckoo existence called life.

Bill Cunningham New York opens over the next three months around the country. Do not miss it.

 
Annie Flanders and her Mallard Muff by Bill Cunningham 

Costume Council's Joni Smith and fellow member flank Constance

   

Photo of Bill Cunningham and Trailer Courtesy First Thought Films / Zeitgeist Films

Ta Elizabeth Taylor

The day finally came. Elizabeth Taylor died this morning of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, according to her publicist, Sally Morrison. She was 79.

Like the rest of the universe, or at least those with a pulse and a speck of passion, I have forever been in awe of this force of nature. She not only represented a superfluity of everything: more fire, more vinegar, more beauty (including bolder eyebrows than anyone), more lovers, more talent and more generosity in her high-profile championing of AIDS—and before anyone else on that level.

It was, in fact, at a fundraiser for AIDS Project Los Angeles a decade ago when I came within Dame Taylor's reach. I was a guest of MAC Cosmetics and had great seats, in part because no one was in the chair directly in front of me. Elton John asked her out on stage before the music began, an evening filled with performances by Alicia Keyes, Rufus Wainwright and his pop Loudon, and several other artists. At the sight of her, the Universal Ampitheater filled with a rumble of applause. Lights faded out. Then on. And I found my sight view of the stage completely blocked by this colossal mass of silver hair.

It was curled and fixed with so much hair spray that I was pretty sure I'd break a nail if I dared tap it.

I went from exasperation to excitement in a snap, however. It was She. Elizabeth Taylor. Within grasp, literally.

I spent the rest of the night listening to Richie Sambora strum with Elton John, Lee Ann Rimes warble her latest radio-friendly ballad, and the rest of that season's Top 40 line-up do their thing. But I cared not a bit whether I could stand the hit parade or not. All of it seemed to go over better via the filtering presence of the guest seated before me. 

For Elizabeth Taylor more was not only more. It was her M.O. She lived life to the fullest.

Of course, I felt a pang at seeing the news of her death this morning. But how can we be sad for someone who walked this earth with more determination, more spirit, more beauty and lust for life than most?

She may have tripped a few times along the journey. But it was always in her own shoes.

A Splash of Fred Hayman+Giorgio Beverly Hills

The splash page for my second book, a bio of Rodeo Drive marekting architect and fragrance maverick Fred Hayman, is up. Yes, that Fred Hayman of Giorgio Beverly Hills and 273 fame,

It's only the first phase. A fleshed out site complete with timeline, gallery and excerpt, as well as other bells and whistles will be up in the next weeks. For now, check out the flashing quotes along the bottom bar from the likes of Jackie Collins, Lee Iaccoca, Arianne Phillips, Charles Phoenix and Jeremy Scott (talk about a crazy fab dinner party!). 

Relief for Our Pals at Tortoise

  
As each day passes since the horrific crisis in Japan hit, another story surfaces of friends directly affected by it all. Our Abbot Kinney neighbors Keiko and Taku Shinomoto, the owners of Tortoise General Store, were there when it took place and, thankfully, safe, according to their staff in the Venice shop. It was the "worst one minute of their lives," according to a newsletter the store sent out this week and, not surprisingly, they are still frightened by the on-going aftershocks.

Our thoughts go out to them. Tortoise is not only one of our favorite stores in L.A. Keiko and Taku are very lovely people and we wish them a safe and sane time while they remain in their native country.

TGS is donating 3 percent of store sales through month's end. Mikiko Ideno, their floral arrangement teacher, is assisting by making mini bouquets at the weekends sold for $20 a pop. Our manager Rafael picked up this pretty posy Saturday.

One hundred percent of proceeds from these efforts and several more listed on their blog benefit an initiative by Shigeru Ban, an innovative Japanese architect. He has gathered a team to build temporary partitions using recycled cardboard tubes, providing privacy to citizens crammed in evacuation centers. There are some  450,000 evacuees right now, packed into school gyms, community centers and other public spaces. Even a bit of privacy during these trying times in Japan can provide some solice to these poor folks.

Kate Betts In the 'Hood

Kate Betts came to Abbot Kinney tonight, with stacks of her freshman book, Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style, the latest stop across the country like a politician on a whistle-stop tour. This affair was likely one of the more intimate, given by our mutual pal Liseanne Frankfurt at her jewerly shop across from A+R, LFrank.

One of the hardest-working editors in the biz, most recently as a contributing editor at Time and a columnist for the Daily Beast, Kate's book release coincides with the hysterical hubbub (yes, that would be you Señor de la Renta) over the red Alexander McQueen gown the First Lady chose to wear for the China state dinner in January. The media turned to the biggest expert at the time on the topic, who just happened to have a book coming out on MObama's style, and, no doubt, the publisher was in raptures over the timing.

I was happy to reconnect with Kate and get a copy of the book signed for my now-former assistant Brandee, who finished her college studies Tuesday and, like Kate and yours truly another decade ago, will be entering the wide, wide world of fashion soon enough.

A Good Turn: Heath+Japan's Akio Nukaga

  Brass and ceramic teapot by Akio Nukaga

As the devastating plight of the Japanese people relentlessly unfolded this weekend, an instant of personal connection to one family took place, coincidently, on Saturday when our pals at Heath Ceramics welcomed potter Akio Nukaga and his kin. They were on their way to Los Angeles when the 9.0 rocked their world, literally. Akio's studio in the Kasama region was damaged. But he and his family arrived in L.A. for the opening, visibilly shattered but graceful guests, nonetheless.

Akio's stoneware is made for everyday use. Applying 200-year-old techniques, the plates, tea and coffee pots, bowls and vases are every bit contemporary. In addition to the shelves filled at Heath now through March 27 with Akio's work, there are several one-off pots worthy of lingering admiration.

To help Akio rebuild his studio and community, during the event, Heath raffled a grand canister it made in conjunction with Commune and Alma Allen. But the surest way we can all make this happen is by buying Akio's work. Considering this means ending up with one (or more) of his sublime pieces, this is one good turn where giving has its advantages. 

Heath is at 7525 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. 323-965-0800

The Supermodel+The Teddy Bear

 

This short featuring Misery Bear and Kate Moss is sweet, creepy and hilarious. And it somehow benefits Comic Relief in the UK.

Don't miss the final scene!

Silver Foxes at JPG

With the parade of silver-haired models at the recent Jean Paul Gaultier show in Paris, it appears this is one trend that hasn't gotten old...yet. In fact, the bodaciously beau bouffants by the Redken team, including colorist Josh Wood, thankfully washed the memory of young Tavi gone grey right out my hair, er, memory.

Top Photo: Delphine Achard/WWD

Bottom Photos: Luca Cannonieri/GoRunway.com

Coffee? Tea? Or Both!

Kind of obsessed with this dual-serving java-tea maker from San Francisco's Miam Miam. It's both a French Press and tea infuser. That's right, both all in one. Why ever did it take so long with someone to come up with such a space-saving device? Just thrilled to have it now. And it's a bargain, too.