A marathon day in Beverly Hills yesterday, starting early on the set for a magazine cover shoot and ending late enough at the gilded digs of the godfather of Rodeo Drive. (And just one more page in the wacky ways my life unfolds).
With a crew that included New York-based photographer Christian Witkin, we pulled off an urbane, even sexy portfolio of people you should know about and which I can't wait to share with you all when it appears in The Los Angeles Times Magazine's Style issue on March 2. Can't reveal who the hot six are just yet, but all of them are on the cusp and most of them just below the mainstream radar.
The day had its highlights, not in the least working with such a lovely group. Standouts, however, include being able to finally hold those Christian Louboutins that Kate and Laura of Rodarte designed for their Spring '08 collection. There were several styles in that show, but these particular ones with the cat claws are the fiercest. We all went mad for them when they came out of the box.
Another memorable moment? When none other than the "Six Milion Dollar Man" Lee Majors came strolling through one of our set-ups. For once, I didn't have my camera on me, having left it upstairs in the wardrobe suite. Can't go into where we were or whom we were shooting, but it made for a totally wacky moment when work halted so we could meet the man of our 1970s TV hour. After he left, we all couldn't help ourselves but break into a chorus of the sounds his bionic body would make on the show.
Could've used some of those hi-tech powers at the end of the 13-hour shoot day, when I had to smear on some bright lipstick and race over just blocks away to the home of Fred Hayman. Known as the Godfather of Rodeo Drive for his efforts in putting the tony thoroughfare on the map, the 82-year-old Mr. Hayman sealed his fortunes when he and his third ex-wife sold off their wildly successful and strong Giorgio of Beverly Hills fragrance. At the store by the same name, he hosted a book bash in 1978 for Judith Krantz when the then-Cosmpolitan editor released her first novel, Scruples. With its power woman heroine who fucked like a man and ruled a glamorous fashion boutique (based on Giorgio's), the book and subsequent made-for-TV film was a hit. And it attracted fans from Kansas (including a young Jeremy Scott and his mother) to the store in droves.
Last night, Mr. Hayman and Mrs. Krantz, as well as a few other glam folks, regaled Andy and me with tales of Ali MacGraw, Bob Evans, Steve McQueen and Charlton Heston over coq au vin. I couldn't take my eyes of the wide gold cuff engraved with the scrolled Scruples logo on Mrs. Krantz's bony wrist. It was truly (another) epoch.