HBO's Horatio Alger tale for the hipster set is full of advice about how to become the big, rich, fabulous New York City success you always dreamed of. This week, discover why networking with models is awesome!
• When you first heard the Olsen twins were breaking into fashion, you had a good laugh, didn't you? Well, it's been a few years since then and now "their success in a field as competitive as fashion is impossible to deny," says an enthusiastic Cathy Horyn today. Of course, it hasn't hurt that they're super-famous and worth a gazillion dollars either. [NYT]
• Things you didn't know about Vogue's André Leon Talley: He's partial to Juice Couture shorts at home, loves Uggs ("it's a cozy shoe"), and says The Golden Girls is his fave show on TV. [TONY]
Twins Charlotte and Samantha Ronson turn 32 today. David Duchovny is turning 49. Charlize Theron is 34. Author and radio personality Garrison Keillor is 67. Conservative political commentator Alan Keyes turns 59. Wayne Knight, the actor best known for playing Newman on Seinfeld, is turning 54. And Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is 43 today—at least according to his Wikipedia page. A handful of weekend birthdays—including that of Michael Kors, Chris Cuomo and Dustin Hoffman—follow below.
• Kate Moss is teaming up with Topshop boss Philip Green and Simon Cowell to launch an entertainment conglomerate that will "rival Disney." At least that's what one British newspaper is reporting. [Daily Mail]
• Sad: Escada may be forced to file for bankruptcy in the near future. [Vogue UK, Fashionista]
• Sadder: Jon Gosselin may be teaming up with Christian Audigier to launch a kids' clothing line. [E!]
• Saddest: The rumor floating around Moscow is that Pop editor/It girl Dasha Zhukova and her billionaire boyfriend, Roman Abramovich, have gone their separate ways. [FWD]
A crowd of nearly 400 made their annual trip to the Bronx last Friday night for the New York Botanical Garden's 10th annual Winter Wonderland Ball. The black-and-white dinner, sponsored by Chanel, featured appearances by the likes of Cristina and Chris Cuomo, Nina Garcia, Marjorie Gubelmann, Byrdie Bell, Poppy Delevingne, Minnie Mortimer Gaghan, Steve and Christine Schwarzman, Dalia Oberlander, Gillian Hearst Simonds, Alex Kramer, Alexandra Lebenthal, Molly Sims, Holly Dunlap, Erin Fetherston, Margherita Missoni, Zani Gugelmann, Coco Rocha, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, Bronson Van Wyck, Patrick McDonald, Stephen Knoll, Jessica Joffe, Jill Kargman, Lauren Remington Platt, Coralie Charriol Paul, Joe and Nazee Moinian, Kate Schelter, James and Whitney Fairchild, Lydia Fenet, Maggie Betts, Meredith Melling Burke, and Pamela Fiori. [PMc, Style.com, NYSD, The Daily]
Celebrating birthdays today: Real estate broker Deborah Grubman—who also happens to be the wife of Allen and stepmom of Lizzie—turns 56. Party planner extraordinaire David Monn is 45. Designer John Varvatos turns 54. Dustin Hoffman is 71. Two former boy band-ers, Drew Lachey and JC Chasez, both turn 32 today. Tennis star Roger Federer is 27. And Robin Quivers is 56. Saturday is the big day for Chris Cuomo (left) who will be celebrating his 37th. Michael Kors will be turning 49. Allure's Linda Wells will be 50. And real estate broker Larry Kaiser and designer Peter Marino will be a year older on Saturday, too. On Sunday: Fashion icon Betsey Johnson will be 66, actress Angie Harmon will be 36, and real estate developer Harry Macklowe will turn 71.
Born and raised outside scenic, prosperous Detroit, Michigan, the menswear magnate began his design career in 1983 at Polo Ralph Lauren. After about 16 years of jumping back and forth between Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein and holding various positions high-profile at both, Varvatos started his own self-titled brand, which debuted in 2000. Varvatos's line usually features nonchalant slick duds and a full line of manly accessories, including that man-purse your boyfriend won't admit he's been lusting after. Varvatos manages to perpetually pull off collections that are simultaneously classy and edgy; aesthetically pleasing while pushing the envelope, but never too extreme.
Why did Radar honcho Maer Roshan look so good at last night's Radar party at the New Museum? Was it all the drinks I had? Was it that I was sucking up to him for a job? Or was it his suit? Yes. It was his suit. Turns out it was a narrow peak lapel, two-button flannel suit from John Varvatos' Fall/Winter 07 Collection. We hear that rather than pay the $1,495 tag price, Roshan worked out a deal to have his outfit sponsored by the designer. Crafty!
At long last, facially-reconfigured semiotician Alex Kuczynski has returned to her old stomping grounds in the Times' Thursday Styles section, and she's more inscrutable than ever! Yay! Reporting on John Varvatos' new Hamptons outpost, she describes the popularity of the designer's signature laceless Chuck Taylors: "The first time I saw a pair, they adorned the feet of a Hamptons-hopping Beverly Hills money manager. You see what I mean. They're not just sneakers; they are the footwear equivalent of the white man's overbite." This might be the most inaccurate usage of the phrase "you see what I mean" in history!
If this weekend's Journal Pursuits is to be believed, the centuries-long mega-trend of boys who want to be pretty like girls has colonized one more of the 5.5 human senses. Guys are buying perfumes by the likes of Burberry, John Varvatos, as well as Kenneth Cole's R.S.V.P., and Tom Ford's "Tuscan Leather" and "Tobacco Vanille"—many of which are "more evocative of women's perfumes than traditional male fragrances." But compared to such foppish florals, say the Journal's sniffers, Armani's new Attitude "exudes old-school machismo" with its lemon-coffee- lavender-cedar blend and Zippo-lighter bottle. Then again, Armani's new scent—let's call it 'Tude!—and its manliness might actually stem from something else altogether, according to crazy court records.
