Five Minutes With Karen Elson: Candle Sniffing, Met Ball Prep and Jo Malone London
Back in March, Jo Malone London attempted to throw a dinner in honor of Karen Elson — but the New York weather had other plans, and a snowstorm threw a wrench into things. So when the dinner was rescheduled for Tuesday night, perhaps it was no surprise it was all but rained out, thanks to a heavy April shower.
The delay in the event meant Elson, who performed an acoustic set for guests following dinner at Norwood, could chat about her newest music, which was released earlier in April.
“This month has been madness,” she said. “I’m really keen on just selling it at this point. I’m going to be doing festivals all July in Europe, and I’m going on tour with Ryan Adams as well. And shoots in between. I don’t want to neglect modeling, as well. With my first record I struggled a bit with blending my fashion world with music, but with this record, it’s been a lot easier to seamlessly have the both worlds exist. I can just do them.”
Elson is a Met Ball regular, save for when the event falls on May 2. “It’s my daughter’s birthday, so when the Met falls on May 2, I’m obviously not going to go,” she said. But she’ll be there Monday night, in an outfit she wouldn’t disclose, but which is not sticking to the Comme des Garçons theme.
“The Charles James theme was very me — also the punk exhibit, because I did it in a very subtle way,” she said. “This one admittedly is going to be a lot harder — I don’t think I’m going to go [with the] theme this year, but it doesn’t have to be about that. Go and look at the exhibition and be blown away by a celebration of such an amazing artist. She sort of pulls apart the idea of what [fashion is].”
The model/musician/Jo Malone girl has been a fragrance devotee since her younger years — “my first scent memory was picking bluebells as a child. And my mom wore bluebell perfume” — through her pregnancies.
“I remember my ex-husband [Jack White] — I had bottles and bottles of fragrances all over our old house, and candles everywhere — and when I was pregnant, that was the thing that I just [loved],” she said. “I’d walk past and he’d be like ‘what the hell?’ And my nose! I was always sniffing candles, and I would always have a little black mark on my nose. And he’d be like, ‘you were sniffing candles again.’”
Related stories
Estée Lauder Sales Rise, Earnings Decline
Poppy Delevingne, Dita Von Teese Toast Karen Elson's Gig With Jo Malone London
Get more from WWD: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
