Susan Kirschbaum has written features - covering trends, fashion, and art -- for various publications including Harper's Bazaar, London Times, New York Observer, and New York Times since the late Nineties. She has worked as a web editor for both fashion and art concerns and as a founding editor to Fashion Wire Daily, when it served as a wire service to the Associated Press. She has written both synopsis and forwards to photography books by Steidl Dangin. Currently, she is a contributing editor to Whitewall - a seasonal art magazine - that sets new visual and story telling standards to cover the art world. She also writes for Purple, the French fashion magazine.
Her first novel, WHO TOWN, a dark social satire is now being reviewed by several publishers through rock star agent Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic.
(All photos on this blog are taken by Susan Kirschbaum on her Canon SD850 digital point and shoot, unless otherwise noted - please credit all photos accordingly)
Alvin Valley crop pants, $240 on his website. Customize your own style!
Madonna, JLo, Eva Longoria, Gwyneth Paltrow, Beyonce, and Lauren Conrad from "The Hills," (see photo): Alvin Valley's private client list reads like a paparazzi dream. New York's socialite packs -- girls with names like Tinsley and Olivia and Fabiola -- have flocked to Valley's Soho showroom for close to a decade to enjoy his private touch, attention to body type and style. Now, online shoppers at alvinvalley.com can come close.
Valley, the innovator deemed from New York Magazine to Vogue as "Lord of the Pants," initially began making trousers to pull in the tush. When white folks became accustomed to JLo's 'junk in the trunk,' he got requests for trousers that lift. So, he created the "Wonderbutt," with sewn in points to enhance curve. In his studio a few years back, Kate Winslett was trying on several pairs. She raved to me that post baby delivery, Valley was the only designer to make her figure look good.
Since he's always been ahead of the curve commercially, I'm not surprised, he's the first high end designer to post a personalized, customized online shopping site where gals can plug in their body types and get visuals from his collections that fit. The five categories -- full chest, full shoulder, hour glass, petite, straight, figure and tall-- result in at least thirty choices each. Shoppers can also browse by trends, "romantic, "metallic," or "skinny pants," for example, or by occasion: "night out, weekend, office."
A few years back, department stores like Barney's, Bergdorf Goodman, and Neiman Marcus -- the latter two that sell Alvin Valley -- turned the "sell through" liability back to the designer. This meant that whatever pieces of collections that were not bought during the season, the designers would need to buy back. Valley, an acute businessman, now provides a shopping site so that not only will more pieces sell, but women will get the benefit of his individual styling online. As they say, it's 'win win.'
Of Cuban/Spanish descent, Valley got a degree in architecture from the University of Miami, thus, he pays close attention to line and tailoring. Armed with a needle and thread, Valley's former nanny, Tati, works side by side with him.
Beyond pants, I think he's a master of the jacket and not to be underestimated in the boogie down dress department either. A blue velvet bubble frock with amber bow has scored me compliments and champagne everywhere, including the Marc Jacobs post show party last September. Lots of oohs and ahhs. Check it out: http://alvinvalley.com PRICES RANGE ON WEB FROM $200 (Alvin's line and ASIS diffusion line) to $600, for individual pieces, blouses, halters, trousers, dresses.
Lauren Conrad in Alvin Valley white goddess top/On sale on his site
CLICK BLUE BOXES BELOW FOR SOME OF THE LOOKS SELLING ON ALVIN VALLEY'S NEW E-SHOPPING!
Artist Rita Ackermann's daughter Marika gives the signal.
(Photos by Susan M. Kirschbaum)
What always seemed great about Andy Warhol was that he courted fame for fame's sake and made no bones about it. Like a lurking psychologist, Andy surveyed, then appealed to people's vanity, painting them in big bold colors, making them overnight superstars. Some of them, already superstars, he bolstered to new heights. But, when he founded Interview Magazine in 1969, he legitimized his private voyeuristic fetish, sitting celebrities down with celebrities. He gave them tape recorders so the responses would remain spontaneous.
Almost forty years later, after the reign of editor Ingrid Sischy from the mid Nineties, owner Peter Brant decided to clean house -- and Ingrid, the lover of Brant's first wife Sandra -- to bring in a new regime. They were toasted last evening at Mr. Chow's uptown.
Glenn O'Brien Co-editorial Director (with fashion ad king Fabien Baron) and Christopher Bollen, the former Editor of V Mag, hosted several friends and creative cohorts. Designers Marc Jacobs, Francisco Costa (Calvin Klein), Adam Kimmel (very cool menswear), and Zac Posen, freshly gorgeous without nerd glasses, arrived to pay homage. Master photo retoucher Pascal Dangin,photographers Todd Eberle and Terry RIchardson also stopped by. Champagne flowed. Guests chowed down on beef skewers, crab corn dogs, and chicken satay, that my friend, gallerist Melissa Bent ate and unfortunately described later in explicit sexual terms. Richardson's girlfriend, Jen Brill, showed off her Chris Kane silver tipped lace up anklet boots (see photo.)
Glenn O'Brien, a veteran writer, art critic, and original member of Andy's club promised "surprises" with the new layout debuting in September. And there are three more rollout parties before the official first issue. Current issue features Maggie Gyllenhaal and stories on musician Jakob Dylan, film director Harmony Korine, and painter Richard Prince.
Jen Brill's dangerous heels, by Christopher Kane
CLICK BELOW! FOR MORE STORY AND PARTY PIX... BLUE LINE, HIT IT!
Caricature of Anna Wintour and original benefactor Sy Newhouse/Observer
Last night, the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrated its sixtieth anniversary with a ball, celebrating the exhibit "Superheroes," co-chaired by Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour and Italian designer Giorgio Armani. Both count as icons, Ms. Wintour as the first queen of England to ever rule over American insecurity and Mr. Armani, for making menswear tailoring acceptable for emerging power women in the Eighties.
In a press conference in Milan in February, Mr. Armani mentioned that Ms. Wintour prefers French designers to himself and other Italians in her editorial content. He also stated publicly when it came to her, he was "indifferent." Please note, that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. My, how fashion makes strange bed fellows!
And since celebrity now counts as fashionable, then last night's gala fit the bill. In super hero terms, we can interpret. George Clooney (Mr. Movie Star Handsome) Maggie Gyllenhaal as Scarlet O'hara in full skirted purple Peter Som gown ( American Girl Next Door), Tom Cruise (Mr. Gay) and his fake wife Katie Holmes still pretending to be a woman in red Armani gown (Artifice Girl) JLo! (Latina Wonder) Jimmy Fallon(Mr. Funny Man Looks Hot in a Tux!) Bill Mahr (Please explain???)
At least, the lovely trio of Misshapes represented the downtown kids with Leigh Lezark in an opal shimmer dress and Geordon Nico in what I'd spy to be Hedi Slimane Christian Dior slick slim suit.
Hats off to Zac Posen for wearing Clark Kent glasses. Here was an actual couturier casting off his real life persona as super designer -- versus Superman-- to arrive as a geek. At least somebody gets it!
Zac Posen chanels Clark Kent, with date Kate Mara
(Photo above, courtesy of Wire Image)/Click blue lines below... more pix
Esther Silber shows off her "extra" signed Christian Louboutin heel
"I got tricky." Winks Esther Silber, as she lifts her Christian Louboutin heels on Barney's fourth floor to show me the fat signature, "Pour Esther," scrawled underneath. She had just escaped the throng on women lined up to pre-order fall styles, and to have just one pair of Spring/Summer signed by the man himself, sitting behind a long desk in checked brown jacket.
As waiters elegantly slipped through with champagne flutes and truffles, Silber tells me, "I wore these and when I got to him, I said, Christian I know you're only signing one but please, would you do these?" She flips open a box of slingbacks. Indeed, she had scored "Love Christian" with drawn hearts.
Mon Dieu! No one inspires shoe frenzy quite like Louboutin, who sat down like a rock star for four hours last Thursday afternoon. He's held the top post for hot French shoe cobbler, until a year ago, when Pierre Hardy, a favorite of French Voguettes, edged him out for a moment.
Kimberly Oser, PR Director at Barney's, told me the Fall styles, ordered to arrive in September, were completely off limits to photographers. A whole mess cracked open last season when a spy from Steve Madden shot the shoes in advance, then knocked them off. But to give you a teaser for autumn, black platform ankle boots with odd heels have reappeared, the platform pumps, and fringed black and fuschia boots: think Nancy Sinatra girls!
A bit of champagne and toe grazing at Barney's
CLICK BLUE LINE FOR MORE STORY AND BOXES FOR STYLES....
New York this week brimmed with many men about town or at least testosterone radiating from female bodies.
Madonna debuted at Roseland with Justin Timberlake, showing crowds (and Verizon webcam watchers), at almost fifty, she's got balls. She once told the media, "I am a gay man trapped in a woman's body." Let's call her club queen style. Slick suit wearing Timberlake, her current accomplice and good boy pop prince, represents clean style.
Meanwhile, downtown, Valentino dined with several boys at the Waverly Inn. V is pure velvet style. And the Verve played Madison Square Garden, thus the resurrection of Richard Ashcroft, whose Seventies shag and round glasses have inspired guy style.
The chicest men of the week, in terms of giving, were represented at Free Arts. Tally for Tuesday's auction capped at $800,000 beating the previous year. Top contender for live auction went to Chuck Close, sixty-five thousand, seen above in split profile. Photorealist and painter Close, a quadrapelegic, paints with a brush between his teeth. He been confined to a wheelchair for many years, but he's still one bad ass dude.
The silent auction winner, Yoko Ono -- with " I Love U," (seen below) for eighteen thousand-- I also consider a dude. She's like a warrior prince caught in a woman's body. The woman makes no apologies for what she considers art. She once sat on a stage and had audience members cut off her dress with a scissors. Her latest work, an exhibit called Touch Me, is now up at the Le Long gallery in Chelsea.
This says... white on white.. "I LOVE U" by Yoko, $18,000 for Free Arts
CLICK BLUE LINE BELOW FOR MORE ON YOKO'S CHELSEA SHOW, NOW UP!
Glenn O'Brien, new co-Editorial Director of Interview is exceptionally talented. I have a lot of faith in his vision and looking forward to checking out the new issue in September.
Do I care about Madonna, how could you not! While I'm no slave to her rhythm she is a remarkable woman breaking all former generations rules for what a woman of 50 should act and look like. That being said, how much longer does she have to be our pop princess? Is it still cool to be wearing bodysuits with tights when you're 60??http://media.uber .com/images/60x45 .jpg
Merci Lucille! Je comprende. Tu t'en fou de la vie ici' mais quand meme, tu lis le page. Souvent je m'en fou de la vie ici' aussi. Beaucoup de la betisse! xo!
keep up the good work <" To be a star you must shine your own light, follow your own path and not be afraid of the darkness, for that is when stars shine brightest."> peace 2008
susan, did you ever get my message or are my messages broken too? cause If I wrote hundreds of personal messages to people for nothing I'm going to cry
Certainly a different side to Gwenyth...but I like the unscripted element- I didn't know she had this in her! Great blog- always love reading your posts!
Thanks! I think you're spot on about creativity and madness, and how a lot of it has to do with personal choices. I try to focus on the positive as much as I can, and look for ways to work through things using the creativity that I have. I heard that's what J.K. Rowling did. :-)
Hey, Susan K! I just wanted to thank you once again for taking the time to write that wonderful comment on my blog. Every time I look at it, it really lifts me up and inspires me to keep doing all this stuff that my mother doesn't understand, lol. You have a generous heart and for that you definitely deserve credit.
Hey Susan, if all goes to plan i think will be in NYC around 10th April.I Am shooting a job for a Japanese jewellery company and there talking about shooting it there at the moment rather than coming all they to London or me going all the way to Japan, which i would really love! Should know in the next week whats going on but would be great to get over to NYC as i have not shot there for about a year i guess, and its a good place to be in the spring.
Hey D., I'm afraid the big Armory show closes on Sunday night. Then the world goes away from the Pier and the galleries here in Chelsea. When you are in, check them out along streets 22nd through 26th, btw 10th and 11th Aves. If you are coming in to shoot, let me know... I can post a shout out on the blog.
Hey there! That sounds like a pretty cool show, hopefully in NYC in the next couple of weeks so will check it out if i have time and its still on? Dennis Hopper.... How cool is he! Thanks for the nice comment by the way. Best Dominic
