For $349, ‘I do’
THE lawn was scattered with white rose petals, Pachelbel’s Canon and Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” were being played by a string orchestra and the bubbly was flowing, and French by God, served in crystal flutes. Last weekend, H&M; threw a wedding -- and maybe the ultimate cheap-chic affair: The venue was a Bel-Air manse, but the “bride” wore a $349 gown by Viktor & Rolf.
The party was a blowout premiere for the store’s newest designer collection for men and women. It arrives Thursday, the same day the chain opens its new outpost in the Beverly Center. Naturally, the designers, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, were outfitted in modern tuxedos and two-toned wingtips from the collection.
The 600 guests -- including Owen Wilson, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, China Chow, Lara Flynn Boyle, Kanye West and Chloe Sevigny -- wound their way around the Champagne fountain to a tent that had been erected over the tennis court. Truffles were passed, cigarettes smoked, and finally the runway show started.
Models descended a staircase that curved around a 12-foot-tall wedding cake and onto the runway, wearing filmy blouses, flirty dresses and the ultimate high-low piece, a denim tuxedo, all from the fabulous forthcoming collection. White confetti rained down on the crowd at the close of the show. Then a bouquet toss and cake cutting capped the affair, the biggest H&M; has ever produced.
I got a preview of the clothes earlier in the week, and up close, they look even better. They reflect the girlish aesthetic that Viktor & Rolf have become known for in the six years since they launched their own collection, and the quality is better than you’d expect for the price. The fabrics are sturdy, and plenty of attention has been paid to details -- arrow-print silk linings, heart-shaped buttons, quilting.
This is the third designer collection H&M; has produced. Previous partnerships with Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld were enormously successful, with pieces selling out in a matter of hours and lines snaking around the block at stores.
“These collections have become iconic in fashion,” Horsting said, sitting on a couch in his Chateau Marmont penthouse room. “We tried to avoid doing the ‘best of’ Viktor & Rolf,” added Snoeren, who was wearing some killer Kermit the Frog sneakers. “We wanted to create a new story.”
It’s a love story that began with a wedding dress. “We thought it was symbolic of the union of the democracy of H&M; and us coming from the other extreme,” Horsting said.
The romantic theme plays out in the women’s wear with a heart motif -- heart-shaped lace cutouts on the lapels of a black tuxedo jacket, a ruffled heart on the front of a sheer cream blouse and heart-shaped buckles on the belt and cuffs of an amazing full-skirted trench coat. Satin sandals come with a heart-shaped heel and a silk scarf in a bow print. Prices range from $12.99 for a pair of heart tights to $129 for a white puffer jacket with heart-shaped quilting.
The men’s collection revolves around arrows -- embroidered on a silk necktie, on pajamas, even incorporated into the argyle on a red-and-white sweater vest, priced from $9.90 for a cheeky bow-tie underwear brief to $299 for a tux. For those who want to not only dress in Viktor & Rolf but also look like them, there are eyeglass frames based on the nerdy ones the two wear.
In their other life, Horsting and Snoeren are known for their over-the-top Viktor & Rolf productions. Their Blue Screen and Russian Doll collections will be featured in the upcoming “Skin and Bones” exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Snoeren said, “It’s great that we can be in H&M; here and in a museum at the same time.”
In L.A., that means the Beverly Center location. The line will not be sold at the Pasadena store.
Also arriving in stores in time for the holidays is the newest Go International collection at Target designed by Behnaz Sarafpour. The New York-based designer, responsible for Barneys New York’s private label collection before launching her own line in 2001, is known for her ladylike aesthetic and for her use of lace, both of which translate here.
A faux Persian lamb bolero ($89) is sophisticated, as is a gold silk blouse ($39), but the jewel applique T-shirts ($19.99) and lace-trimmed cardigans ($39.99) look as cheap as they are. Sarafpour follows Luella Bartley, Tara Jarmon and Paul & Joe’s Sophie Albou in the design program. Her collection will be in stores and online for 60 days.
Even Gap is getting in on the class-to-mass trend, trying to interest shoppers in its flailing brand by collaborating with indie talent Roland Mouret. Using signatures such as his folded cap sleeves, the French designer created a collection of wool jersey dresses and tunics (from about $85 to $144) that, sadly, will not be sold online but only in seven New York stores and all European stores.
And look out, Japanese fast-fashion company Uniqlo is invading the U.S., opening its first store in New York’s SoHo next week with plans to quickly expand west. The brand is taking a page from H&M; too, tapping Phillip Lim, Lutz & Patmos, Alice Roi, Cloak’s Alexander Plokhov and other up-and-comers to design capsule collections.
‘Little Black Dress’
charity auction
Louis Verdad, Petro Zillia, Jennifer Nicholson and other designers will offer their versions of the little black dress to be auctioned at the fifth annual “Little Black Dress” charity gala held at the Holmby Hills Fleur de Lys mansion on Nov. 18. Proceeds will benefit the Pediatric Epilepsy Project.
Christie’s will be on hand to conduct the auction, and to display the famous black dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” This will be the only appearance of the iconic Givenchy dress on the West Coast before it is auctioned in London next month.
And man, has that dress been busy. Natalie Portman wears it on the cover of this month’s Bazaar. For more information, go to www.lbdevents.com.
Paper looks to
party in L.A.
Paper Magazine is coming to Los Angeles on Tuesday for six days of special events celebrating neighborhoods. There’s a cocktail party in Venice, an art show in Chinatown, a beach bash with surf brand RVCA in Malibu and a special appearance by the Detroit-based “Hair Wars” styling pros at Rudy’s Barbershop in Silver Lake. Of course, the whole beer-soaked experience will be documented for the February 2007 issue.
Founded in New York in 1984, Paper was one of the first glossies to bring the underground to the mainstream. Long New York-centric, last year the magazine turned its eyes on L.A. where, said editor-in-chief and publisher Kim Hastreiter, the underground is thriving.
“Unlike New York, where the cost of living limits things, there’s so much creativity here because people can keep moving into new territory, creating new neighborhoods,” Hastreiter says. “My favorite one now is Frogtown,” she adds, referring to the area just north of downtown and named after the frogs that used to inhabit the L.A. River.
Paper moves into an event space on Hollywood Boulevard at Western Avenue next weekend, where London fashion sensation Gareth Pugh will show his clothes, along with Benjamin Cho and Threeasfour from New York, and local talents Jeremy Scott, Rodarte, Show Pony and more. On Sunday, the magazine’s Fashionmobile will be parked out front, where Hastreiter, fashion maven Mr. Mickey and special guests will be waiting to offer advice to (and get inspired by) any and all designers-in-the-making. For more information, go to www.papermag.com.
