ONE WAY OR ANOTHER: There’s just something about a Marc Jacobs party. The designer, who Wednesday night was celebrating the opening of his Prince Street store, had taken over the lower levels of the Mercer Hotel — Sartiano’s and Submercer — for a late-night party. It was a familiar location for Jacobs, whose husband Char Defrancesco brought him there for a surprise birthday party back in 2018.
Debbie Harry performed on Wednesday, toasting her “one way or another brother,” Jacobs. The room, which included Lil Uzi Vert, Tommy Dorfman, Jenna Lyons, Kelela, Richie Shazam, Anok Yai, Ladyfag, Selah Marley, Hilary Taymour and more, stilled as Harry descended down the stairs, dressed in black-and-white polka-dot tights and gloves and a black-and-white Marc Jacobs logo minidress.
“Hi everybody, so nice to be here with you all tonight and celebrate with Marc,” she said, as the crowd cheered back at her. “Woo!”
Harry performed a two-song set, “The Tide Is High” and “One Way or Another,” drawing Jacobs onto stage with her at one point.
“We’re gonna launch that flagship,” she told the room.
Prior to the Blondie singer’s performance, English rapper Shygirl took the stage for two songs, including her single “Cleo,” warming up the crowd.
“Did we come here to party?” she asked the room. “Did we come here to look cute?”
It wasn’t even 11 p.m. yet, but based on the cries back to her — and the many Marc Jacobs looks in the room — the answer was a resounding, “Yes.” — LEIGH NORDSTROM
CORRUPTION AND CONVERSATION: Los Angeles designer Lizzie Grover Rad invited friends into her tony West Hollywood home Wednesday night for dinner and the launch of her fourth collection, titled “Corporate Corruption: Deal With the Devil.”
Tania Sarin, Lizzie Grover Rad and Casey Fremont celebrate Grover Rad Collection 4 in Los Angeles on Oct. 18.
Courtesy image/Jason Sean Weiss/BFA.com
Thirteen Lune founder Nyakio Grieco; AnOnlyChild designer Maxwell Osbourne; Jen Wonders Studio founder Jen Azoulay; chef Camilla Marcus; fashion sourcer Gab Waller; Art Production Fund director Casey Fremont, and fashion entrepreneur and influencer Tania Sarin were among those gathered at the art-filled home wearing the two-year-old brand’s thoughtful designs, which have tackled social issues such as reproductive rights (season one), the billionaire space race (season two), the eternal quest for youth (season three) and now the wolves of Wall Street.
“America has turned into a corporatocracy with all the greed and abuse of power, and I thought it’d be interesting to talk about,” said the designer, who has never worked in a corporate world herself, and looked at it as an outsider.
She researched the rise and fall of civilizations after the accumulation of extreme wealth, especially Europe and in the Medieval merchant era, all the way up to Wall Street in the 1920s and ’30s.
A pair of jeans features a print that’s the front page of the Los Angeles Times from Oct. 30, 1929, after the stock market crashed, and a silk skirt and top were patch worked in graphics including a ’30s oil painting of Wall Street tycoons.
She used cultural depictions of evil as graphics on mesh sets, tube top sand dresses, including three-headed roosters, the gates of hell, dragons and monsters adapted from etchings and artwork by Gustave Dore, Albert Weisgerber and Nikolai Konstantinovich, giving the pieces a collectible quality.
“The wolves of Wall Street and the gender bias in corporate America kept coming up, which took me to the unexpected use of wolves in Little Red Riding Hood. There’s actually a huge underground world of Little Red Riding Hood porn,” Rad said of some of the more cheeky images that appear on the lining of a coat.
Grover Rad has found the casual silhouettes that work for her customers, and also delivered sharp chocolate brown suiting, which was new, alongside her exquisite-quality hand-beaded pieces and statement coats.
Sold direct-to-consumer through the designer’s website, the brand has doubled sales every season, and Rad is looking for the right partner to launch retail.
Prices are $120 for a T-shirt to $1,995 for a coat, and she’s aware of the irony of simultaneously selling to — and poking at — the .01 percent. She said, “I would like to think that the wearer is aware of it, too.” — BOOTH MOORE
ANDRÉ’S STYLE: What Goes Around Comes Around has rolled out items that were previously owned by the late fashion editor André Leon Talley.
A commandeering creative force in the fashion industry and a former longtime staffer at Vogue, Talley died last year at the age of 73. During his lifetime, he helped forge the way for future generations of Black creatives.
Caftans are among the items from the André Leon Talley collection that will be auctioned at Christie’s.
Madison Voelkel/BFA.com/Courtesy Christie’s
The 49 pieces that are being sold by the pre-owned apparel and accessories site were acquired during the “Collection of André Leon Talley” auction last year at Christie’s, as well as through sourcing archival pieces directly from Talley’s estate. As a fashion insider, he was once a confidante to designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Manolo Blahnik.
Shoppers will find such keepsakes including designer finds, custom luggage and luxury accessories. A Chrome Hearts leather motorcycle jacket was being offered Thursday afternoon for $9,500 and an Hermès Rouge H box haut a courroies “HAC” Birkin 60 was listed for $75,000. Even steeper was a monogrammed Louis Vuitton x Stephen Sprouse canvas trunk with white graffiti for $150,000. A similar version with beige graffiti had the same asking price. There is also a black alligator Lisse Kelly sellier 35cm bag from Hermès retailing for $36,500. The collection is being displayed in What Goes Around Comes Around store in Los Angeles.
Interest in Talley’s career and life among aspiring and established design and fashion professionals alike helped to boost the auction sales at Christie’s earlier this year. The in-person February sale at Christie’s Rockefeller Center location sparked $1.38 million in sales with all 66 lots selling out. And the online added an estimated $2.1 million.
Separately, another auction of Talley’s personal belongings that was held last month exceeded pre-sale estimates. The Hudson, N.Y.-based Stair Galleries rang up $526,336, which was significantly more than both the pre-auction low-end and high-end estimates of $193,985 to $302,175, according to a Stair Galleries company spokesperson. — ROSEMARY FEITELBERG
FRESH FACE: Brilliant Earth is looking to a famous face to celebrate its new collection.
The fine jewelry brand has tapped actress and model Camila Morrone to be the face of its Sol collection. Morrone appears in the ad campaign modeling rings and bracelets from the collection, which will be available for purchase on Thursday.
“It was an honor to partner with Brilliant Earth on this special campaign, a true celebration of individual style and personality,” Morrone said. “Brilliant Earth marries beauty, craftsmanship and responsibility to create elegant, timeless pieces. There is something to be said about feeling good in the jewelry you’re wearing.”
Camila Morrone for Brilliant Earth.
Courtesy of Brilliant Earth
Brilliant Earth’s Sol collection offers eight pieces designed in recycled gold and silver and with the brand’s “Beyond Conflict Free” diamonds. According to the jeweler, the collection was inspired by “the warmth and energy of the sun” and is meant to evoke a timeless and elegant style.
“Today marks an incredible milestone for Brilliant Earth as we launch the Sol collection,” said Brilliant Earth chief executive officer Beth Gerstein. “It’s a testament to the strength of our brand, our growth as a company, and our steadfast commitment to elevated design, impeccable craftsmanship and sustainable practices. This collection is a celebration of personal style and it was amazing to partner with Camila, who truly embodies the spirit of the collection.”
For the collection, Brilliant Earth collaborated with artist Clym Evernden who created custom artwork that will be seen online and in Brilliant Earth showrooms across the country. — LAYLA ILCHI
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