Toast to a Reigning Paparazzo and His Subjects
Oscar week has never felt so much like an L.A. fashion week. This year, a record number of big name designers (Donatella Versace, Tom Ford, Alberta Ferretti and Angela Missoni to name a few) are in town hobnobbing in the hopes of landing a gown on the red carpet. What this fashion frenzy adds up to is parties and air-kissing all week long.
One of the weirder events was a celeb-heavy cocktail reception Ford hosted Wednesday for legendary paparazzo Ron Galella at the Gucci store in Beverly Hills. The Bronx-born lensman, who made a career out of harassing Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, is having a moment in the sun as a society darling.
“It seems odd to fete a paparazzo, someone you spend your life trying to get away from, but I think he has been elevated to iconic status,” said Rita Wilson.
The party was pegged to the release of “Photographs of Ron Galella” (Greybull Press, 2002), which has a foreword by Diane Keaton and an intro by Ford.
“Gucci owes so much of its history to the paparazzi photographs of the 1960s and ‘70s--the Jackie bag, people arriving at the airport carrying all those GGs,” said Ford, 40.
The designer added that Galella’s photos of Robert Redford, Marlon Brando and hundreds more boldface names were a benchmark for his generation. “Like a lot of other people my age, I lived vicariously through them,” he said. “Even though there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding Ron, he’s a great photographer. If you look at those pictures now, no one looks bad.”
Not one to hang with the VIPs, Galella, 71, spent most of the party outside on the sidewalk, camera in tow.
“Who is this guy?” the snap-happy photographer asked, his shutter firing away. “Oh, I know who that is, it’s Usher.” (It was Cuba Gooding Jr.)
Sure he could have gone inside, but why? Galella was already in heaven. He said, “I just can’t let it go.”
Later that night, Women’s Wear Daily hosted its second annual pre-Oscar party at the mid-century modern “White House” on Rossmore Avenue in Hancock Park. The bash is fast gaining a reputation as the one pre-Oscar party where people actually party. (Imagine Imitation of Christ designer Matt Damhave brandishing a gin bottle and you’ll get the picture.)
For the all-white event, L.A. club promoter and party planner Bryan Rabin transformed the private residence into a temple of mod with white shag rugs and cube-shaped tables and chairs galore. Outside, by the pool, Rufus Wainwright played a set on a white piano.
Party co-sponsor the Diamond Information Center supplied some serious rocks for the diorama-like display cases that adorned the walls of the living room. (In one, two white rats scurried around an exercise wheel that had a diamond necklace fastened around it. )
Gina Gershon, Rose McGowan, Lisa Marie and Portia de Rossi glammed it up in white gowns, along with WWD editors Rose Apodaca Jones and Merle Ginsberg.
“Tonight, it’s not about who’s going to win or how much money a film is going to make,” Ginsberg said. “We’re saying it’s OK to think about the superficial and how people look.”
But Gwyneth Paltrow ignored the dress code altogether, showing up in corduroy pants and coat from Abercrombie & Fitch. “I’m in town doing some reshoots, and [the party] was on my way home,” she said nonchalantly. “I thought, ‘I never go out in L.A., I’ll stop by and at least pretend to be social for a while.’”
Yep, that’s pretty much the drill.
