Who can turn a T-shirt into a...
Who can turn a T-shirt into a national fad? Well, Eddie Murphy, for one. When he wore a Mumford High T-shirt in “Beverly Hills Cop,” the hitherto unknown school was deluged with requests from around the country. And now Jamie Lee Curtis may do the same for the Sports Connection fitness centers. In Curtis’ new movie, “Perfect” (which co-stars John Travolta), she looks fetchingly flexible as a Sports Connection aerobics instructor who wears company T-shirts while she teaches. The film doesn’t even open until June, but Sports Connection vice president Nanette Patte says T-shirt business has mysteriously picked up at all five of the L.A. fitness centers since the movie was filmed at the Santa Monica and Beverly Hills branches.
Deborah Shelton of “Dallas” received the distinction of being named “godmother” of Paris designer Ted Lapidus’ fall collection last month. Not even Shelton is sure what a godmother is or does or, for that matter, how she came to be one in the first place. She says she has never worn Lapidus’ clothes, although she does own a pair of his sunglasses. “I don’t know him at all,” she said. “I guess it’s like a publicity gimmick. I don’t know all the channels involved in arranging it.” Godmother Shelton did visit the Lapidus headquarters in Paris, however, and though designer and godmother still have not met, she did receive some gifts of clothing, which will probably look great with her sunglasses.
A videocassette of “Gone With the Wind” was playing--soundlessly--on a TV set. Benny Goodman tapes punctuated the cocktail chatter. And stylish types such as Michael and Tina Chow, Constance Towers and Timothy Leary were pacing through Camp Beverly Hills one night as if they had just entered a new time zone. The Camp, as co-owner Jeff Stein likes to call it, was the unlikely setting for a show of Laszlo Willinger photographs, selling at $500 a pop, which was quite a switch from the store’s usual offerings such as pink sweat shirts and camp pants. Willinger, the MGM photographer of the ‘30s and ‘40s, who captured such faces as Vivien Leigh, Susan Hayward and Fred Astaire, seemed rather entertained by the whole affair. Asked how he liked having his work exhibited in a trendy clothing store, he replied: “Madame, I’ve so many exhibits, but most of them are in museums.”
When the first annual Nino Cerruti/Hartmarx Master Art Award for fashion illustration was given at Cerruti’s New York showroom recently, the designer ended up getting himself a little pat on the back too. After handing the $1,000 prize over to Fashion Institute of Technology student Michael Diamond, Cerruti happened to catch his first glimpse of a videotape made during his fall, 1985, women’s wear show in Paris. Cerruti told Listen: “I never get to see my designs in the show because I am always backstage. They look pretty good, don’t they?”
Want to know what an adventurous man looks like? Well, so do the folks at the May Co., who’ve been running a contest in all 34 stores to find the quintessential adventuresome one--”someone rugged, debonair, dashing, someone who could climb rocks, sky dive and stand in for James Bond in a pinch.” Those words are from Jim Watterson, the store’s vice president of special events. Watterson and a blue-ribbon panel of judges--including Pat Banta, the stunt man and James Bond double in the new 007 film, “A View to a Kill”--will select the winner from among 10 finalists tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the May Co.’s Westside store. The winning contestant gets a Daniel Hechter suit, appears in a May Co. magazine ad for Hechter suits and goes to the premiere of the film, which opens next week.
Cruising down Pico Boulevard past 20th Century Fox one afternoon recently, Listen spotted a tall, Nordic, strawberry-blond jogger. Actually, what caught Listen’s eye was his T-shirt. It read (in very large letters): “Nordstrom.” Listen wondered if the wearer was indeed a member of the Seattle-based retailing clan. So we rolled down the window and called out: “Are you a Nordstrom?” “Yes,” the man nodded, and then he jogged off into the sunset. Listen checked out the company’s annual report and matched the face to the name of none other than Bruce Nordstrom, co-chairman of the board of directors and grandson of the company’s founder, John W. Nordstrom. Nordstroms, you see, besides being a health-conscious clan, like to sneak into town when a new store opens. The one that opened May 3 was their 41st.
An American from Indiana stole the show at Italy’s Texitalia/West fabric exhibit this week at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. He’s Ken Scott, and his ‘60s-inspired prints in psychedelic colors were the most directional looking in the show. Scott’s designs for Ratti, the famous Como print house, drew raves from many L.A. designers shopping for next spring’s fabrics. Ratti’s U.S. managing director Linda Cuono traced Como’s silk-print history back to 1789 when 7,575 pieces of silk (40 to 60 yards in each piece) were exported.
Ford model Jacki Adams may be the first young woman ever to exclusively represent Elizabeth Arden Inc. for all promotional material in the company’s 75-year history. But she certainly wasn’t representing Arden’s fashion viewpoint at the party given to introduce her at New York’s Private Eyes Club. Adams came dressed in a Stephen Sprouse sequined graffiti mini-dress. Elizabeth Arden stores don’t carry the Stephen Sprouse label. Oops!
