Off the Saddle
Designer Calvin Klein and his wife Kelly joined the horsy set several years ago and now, unfortunately, he’s earned his spurs and then some. Klein was thrown from a horse at a Long Island stable on Wednesday and suffered several broken ribs, a bruised lung and several cuts on his head. He is resting in good condition at a Manhattan hospital where he will stay for about a week. Klein spokesman Paul Wilmot said he has talked with the designer by telephone. Asked whether Klein mentioned riding again, Wilmot said, “I don’t think you’d want to ask him that today.”
* SIBLING ARTISTRY: Paris designer Jean-Paul Gaultier first saw the paintings of Madonna’s brother, Christopher Ciccone, at a Thanksgiving dinner in New York last November. This month, from July 8 through 26, the designer will transform his Rue Vivienne boutique into an art gallery to give the 29-year-old artist his first one-man show. On the walls will be a dozen 4-by-4-foot paintings, many with religious themes. In his other role, Ciccone designs the sets, directs and chooses the Gaultier wardrobe his sister wears on stage. Asked about the price of his paintings, the artist looked ill at ease. “I don’t know. And I have to be honest, I’m not exactly a starving artist who needs to sell to live.” He claims he gives most of his artworks to his friends and that his best known collector is his sister.
* ONLY THE NOSE KNOWS: Listen’s seaside source spotted Donna Karan, her husband-business partner Stephen Weiss and 16-year-old daughter Gabriella in St. Tropez at the Hotel Byblos (no relation to the design team.) The family tour was in honor of Gabby’s 16th birthday. Was Donna making side trips to nearby Grasse, where one of the world’s most famous perfumeries is housed, to work on a signature scent, we wondered? Sources in her New York office would only confirm the birthday bash.
* STARS POSE AS GODDESSES: Daytime drama fans can see their favorite stars play fashion model in the new J. Gerard “Ultimate Goddess Collection” catalogue. Silk and jersey separates that drape the body are modeled by Robyn Bernard Leslie Charleson and Maree Cheatham of ABC’s “General Hospital,” among other soap stars. The featured designs, created by L.A. designer Julia Gerard, are also sold in her Melrose Avenue boutique. Copies of the 36-page catalogue are $12.50 (including postage and handling). Call (213) 657-3336 to order.
* HAVING THE CAKE AND DISHING IT TOO: Prada recently marked its first six months in Beverly Hills with a lavish Italian lunch for some of its best customers. Being sticklers for detail, however, we noticed one slip-up in the culinary department: the birthday cake, shaped like one of Prada’s ubiquitous quilted bags, was black, while color bags are the big trend now. To whit: after the meal several top shoppers marched in and bought a total of 20 quilted bags ($265 and up) and only four were black, the others were apple-green, topaz, rust and lobster red.
* THE TIE IN: Bill Lagattuta, the weekend news anchor on Channel 4, is tuned into neckties--witness the offbeat patterns he regularly wears on the air. But his conversational collection has never included ties with television sets, test patterns or remote controls--until now. The fashion savvy newsman has discovered the “newscaster edition” of vibrant, hand-painted ties by Marienbad, the design team of Stanley Steinberg and Patrick Groenendaal. Says Groenendaal, “Wearing TV sets in the business world is like saying, ‘Yes, there is life besides work.’ ” Marienbad ties sell for $65 at I. Magnin.
