Karl for Sale at The Met, Tod’s L.A. Celebration, John Hardy and Lingua Franca Lunch at The Waverly
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THE KARL ECONOMY: Who wouldn’t want a Karl Lagerfeld cardholder?
As The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute prepares to unveil its spring 2023 exhibition, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” The Met Store is stocking up with a sundry list of items inspired by the late designer. Online shoppers and in-store ones will find the white ponytailed designer’s likeness stamped on all sorts of merchandise. They can also choose from some co-branded memorabilia that has been created with Chanel, Fendi and the Karl Lagerfeld brand.
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As of Monday — days before the show’s May 5 official public opening — shoppers can get first dibs on keepsakes like a $186 Karl Lagerfeld Kokeshi doll and a Chanel silk scarf with one of the designer’s sketches of the house’s namesake Coco Chanel. Designer brand-conscious consumers can opt for the $950 Fendi Karlito keychain, a $1,250 Chanel Airpod case or $1,400 Chanel fingerless gloves. The latter was a signature look for the designer, who died in 2019 at the age of 85. There are also Chanel Camellia brooches that will retail from $850 to $1,075. More affordable items can be found in the $99 KL x The Met canvas shopper tote, the $85 KL x The Met cardholder and the $85 KL x Met two-mug set. The $299 KL x Met Store leather doll is no doubt sure to be a crowd-pleaser, as will be the similarly collaborative $119 black T-shirt.
One of the most sought-after items could be the Karl Lagerfeld Bearbrick, which is being sold Stateside for the first time. There will be a limited run of 2,000 of the $7,500 Lagerfeld-esque item. When the design debuted in Paris last year, 1,000 were sold within a matter of days. Monday’s release will be the finale for the remaining editions.
To get a jump on the Kokeshi doll launch, the consul general of Denmark in New York Berit Basse and Lucie Kaas hosted a party Friday night in New York.
The Met is playing up the Karl factor to the nines — a fact that the creative would appreciate. So much so that The Met Store will pay homage to Karl Lagerfeld’s iconic office in Paris, where the designer crafted many of the sketches that will be showcased in the exhibition. Shoppers and browsers will find a smattering of books that have been selected in collaboration with Librairie 7L, the bookstore and imprint Lagerfeld started in Paris in 1999. The assortment reflects his thirst for poetry, philosophy, art and design. Librairie 7L has also dreamed up a Smythson notebook highlighting one of Lagerfeld’s key quotes — “Books should be an everyday affair” — and a 7L notepad with his preferred drawing paper. Consumers can also buy “Fendi by Lagerfeld,” a scrapbook-type book with 200 of his sketches drawn from his tenure with the company. The tome is being sold in a commemorative wooden box; the book also includes a poster comprising of 50,000 minuscule images of his sketches, a DVD, and illustrated booklets.
Showgoers can also buy postcards and prints of some of the sketches that are being featured in “A Line of Beauty.” Those who can’t get enough of the show can take home the exhibition catalogue written by Andrew Bolton, Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, with contributions from Tadao Ando, Anita Briey, Amanda Harlech, Patrick Hourcade and others. — ROSEMARY FEITELBERG
UP ON THE ROOF: Tod’s was one of the first luxury brands on Rodeo Drive to build a rooftop VIP terrace, and it put it to good use Thursday afternoon.
The Italian brand tapped stylist Elizabeth Stewart to host a lunch, and she invited an eclectic group of friends, including Wolk Morais designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais; Katherine Ross Govan and sister Jane Ross; Elaine Irwin Penske; Janice Min; Irena Medavoy; George Kotsiopoulos; Elizabeth Wiatt; Lisa Ling, and Marlien Rentmeester.
The event started with a Champagne-fueled shopping frenzy for Tod’s classic driving loafers, with many guests donning new pairs and leaving the shoes they came in behind to be boxed up. The brand’s squishy Gommini leather ballet flats were also on the menu. Everyone was having so much fun trying on shoes it was difficult to prod the bunch upstairs for lunch.
On the roof, there was a toast to Stewart, image maker for Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, Elizabeth Olsen and others, who squeezed in her hosting duties between Met Gala fittings.
A longtime friend of the brand, Stewart was looking very “Annie Hall” in a beige blazer, white vest and Tod’s T Timeless fisherman sandals. She had just come off an all-nighter photo shoot, styling the Wolk Morais designers’ next collection, which will be presented in June.
Govan was also wearing a pantsuit, custom made for her by the Los Angeles designers, who have made lots of fans in Hollywood with their tailoring.
Between the salad course and the main, the chit-chat veered to summer vacations, which most have yet to plan. Why? Between so many upcoming events and runway shows in L.A., there just isn’t time yet. — BOOTH MOORE
ALL ABOUT MOTHER’S DAY: On Thursday afternoon, the Waverly Inn opened for a rare lunch service to celebrate the Lingua Franca and John Hardy Mother’s Day collaboration.
“This place has fed me, literally and figuratively,” said Lingua Franca founder Rachelle Hruska MacPherson. The brand’s newly opened town house headquarters are located just a few blocks away from the popular restaurant.
The new “Mother Franca Project” includes embroidered cashmere sweaters and a customizable John Hardy necklace, which features a sterling silver pendant that can be engraved with the initials of the wearer’s nearest and dearest. Inside the Waverly Inn, several Lingua Franca embroiderers were at work customizing cashmere sweaters for lunch guests, many of whom were already donning the John Hardy necklace.
“This collab is really to celebrate mothers and motherhood,” said MacPherson during lunch, noting that she became aware of John Hardy creative chairman Reed Krakoff while working as an assistant at Baron Capital Management, prior to founding GuestofaGuest.com and her fashion brand. “I finally got to meet [Krakoff] 15 years later, in the flesh, and he delivered,” added MacPherson. “The thing with Reed is he’s so excited to create really fun products. It’s fun to be around people who are excitable and passionate.”
Krakoff, who joined John Hardy in fall 2022 after four years as chief artistic officer for Tiffany & Co., noted that he and his wife Delphine have been longtime fans of Lingua Franca, and that the collaboration was ultimately born out of friendship.
“I started to do some new things with John Hardy, figure out how to reinvent that brand, and the idea of craftsmanship and customization and the laid-back-by-the-pool attitude of both brands seemed like they mesh really well together,” said Krakoff.
“John Hardy has an artisan community in Bali of about 400 artisans — and as you can see, Rachelle has even some artisans here today embroidering sweaters. So it seemed like there were a lot of similarities in terms of how we both approach design. Once we started talking it really made sense,” he added. “Most importantly, it’s been easy and fun and collaborative — as these things should be.” — KRISTEN TAUER
GUCCI’S WORLD: “I’m not sure if I’m in Florence or Shanghai,” said Chris Lee, Gucci‘s global brand ambassador, at Gucci Cosmos‘ launch party on Thursday night.
The exhibition, which features a larger-than-life dome modeled after the Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence and seven other awe-inducing circular rooms that explore Gucci’s house codes via the artistic lens of Es Devlin, opened to the public on Friday at West Bund Art Center, a former aircraft factory in Shanghai.
Shu Qi, the award-winning Chinese actress, appeared in an emerald sequined mermaid gown, looking regal as usual. “I look forward to an eye-opening experience,” said Shu. “a good exhibition can be so mood-lifting.”
Chang Chen, best known for his work in auteur Hsiao-hsien Hou’s works “The Assassin” and “Three Times,” also made a surprise appearance at the event. The actor, who is preparing for a theater show launching this September, said he was surprised by the amount of multimedia content at the show. “My favorite room is the Archivio, as well as Cabinet of Wonders hidden within Archivio; it’s full of surprises,” said Chen.
Ai Tominaga, the Japanese model who hasn’t visited Shanghai since the pandemic three years ago, said she particularly enjoyed Cabinet of Wonders, which “represents Gucci’s heart.”
Xiao Zhan, the Chinese actor and singer whose big break came when he starred in the 2019 drama series “The Untamed,” said he could feel the radical power of Gucci’s “timeless appeal” when visiting the show. “You can feel that the brand is bursting with imagination and creativity,” said Xiao.
More than 20 celebrities — including brand ambassadors Liu Wen, Ni Ni, Wen Qi; friends of the house Cecilia Boey, Thai actor Billkin, Korean singer Lai Kuanlin, Chinese actresses Song Jia and Vanda Margraf, DJ Yihan “Chace” Zhu; members from the 11-member boy band Into1, including Mika Hashizume, Kornchid Boonsathitpakdee, more widely known as Nine, Santa Uno, Lin Mo and Liu Zhang — showed up at the launch party.
Once inside, in an auditorium-like compartment of the factory, guests mingled and enjoyed a surprise performance by Gucci global brand ambassador Lu Han. Dressed in a silver sequined blazer, the former South Korean boyband member belted out a rendition of “Lost Stars,” which was followed by an Into1 performance. — DENNI HU
NEW FACE: Adèle Exarchopoulos has been named a face of Yves Saint Laurent Beauté in France, where she fronts the Couture Color Clutch, a new palette of eye makeup.
YSL Beauté in a statement described her as an icon of a generation, who breaks codes and reinvents the rules of tomorrow — for beauty, included.
“Adèle is an incredible artist, who throughout her career has pushed her limits, dared and adapted, while remaining true to her personality,” said Zak Yopp, managing director of YSL Beauté France, in the statement.
“She inspires us. She embodies Yves Saint Laurent Beauté’s vision for the future of beauty: limitless, unique, lucid, radical and modern,” he continued.
Exarchopoulos believes makeup can help boost self-confidence.
“Yes, and it is very important to connect to your own strength,” she said, adding that having a diversified product offering, for everyone, is also key for her.
At age 29, Exarchopoulos has already appeared in 20 films, and garnered more than 1.5 million followers on Instagram.
She was propelled into the international spotlight in 2013, when at age 20 she shared the Palme d’Or — the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize — with director Abdellatif Kechiche and costar Léa Seydoux for the coming-of-age drama “Blue Is the Warmest Color.” — JENNIFER WEIL
CURTAIN RAISER: Paris-based specialty embroiderer Atelier Montex has worked with French contemporary artist Xavier Veilhan at the behest of Chanel to create the backdrop for the formal naming ceremony of actor Maholo Terajima, the first French-Japanese kabuki performer.
The 10-year-old actor, who started his career aged 4, will take the stage name of Onoe Maholo I on Tuesday, when he makes his debut in a play titled “Oto Kiku Maholo no Wakamusha” (or Maholo, the young warrior of Otowaya in Japanese), at Tokyo’s Kabuki-za theater as part of the Danjuro-Kikugoro festival or “Dankikusai” that runs until May 27.
The monumental traditional “iwai maku” curtain that spans the length of the stage features an abstract pixelated motif alongside Terajima’s name and family crest, in a design imagined by Veilhan.
For Aska Yamashita, artistic director of the Chanel-owned embroidery specialist, this project had “a sentimental value with a strong symbolism,” given her dual French and Japanese heritage. “Discovering and creating a connection with half of my origins the year I turn 50 — being more French than Japanese in my daily life — to celebrate young Maholo, a rare binational actor to make his official debut in kabuki, is a source of great pride,” she told WWD ahead of the ceremony.
She described working with Veilhan as a “beautiful encounter” that resulted in an intricate mix of traditional and novel techniques.
Some 8,900 organza sequins in a multicolored palette were laser-cut and individually stitched, while Terajima’s name and family crest were embroidered using a Cornely machine to achieve a trompe-l’oeil calligraphy effect.
The 25.4-meter-long and 5.3-meter-high curtain was a challenge that required 800 hours to complete, and had to be worked as 12 distinct segments. “Rather than working on tables as we normally would to print the embroidery design, we had to work on the ground,” recalled Yamashita. “For the different organza sequins, we had to unroll and re-roll the panels on a table large enough for 3-meter-wide segments.”
Terajima is the son of award-winning Japanese actress Shinobu Terajima and French art director Laurent Ghnassia; and grandson of kabuki legend Onoe Kikugoro VII, who was designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government in 2003.
Originating in the 17th century Edo period, kabuki performances combine drama, dance and music, with male actors playing roles of any gender and age, using highly stylized costumes, masks and makeup to embody each character. — LILY TEMPLETON
STELLA’S SOCIETY: The Society Management has signed Stella Maxwell.
“Change in all things is sweet like lemonade,” the model told WWD in a statement. “That first part is Aristotle, but the lemonade part is all me. I am very excited to be working with the Society family. I have been with Elite Paris for many years, so it feels very natural to be working within their network. “
The talent management company, the U.S. division of Elite Model Management, has been adding to its roster. This news comes after the agency signed Pamela Anderson this month. Launched in 2013, The Society Management has worked with the likes of Karlie Kloss, Kendall Jenner, Irina Shayk, Angus Cloud, Josephine Skriver, Jaden and Willow Smith, Amber Valletta and Liu Wen.
“The Society Management is honored to welcome Stella Maxwell to our roster. Stella is a fashion icon that has had an outstanding career over the years within the fashion sector, as well as with her admirable advocacy work,” the company noted.
Maxwell, born in Belgium, was “discovered” while at university in New Zealand. The 32-year-old has been in campaigns for brands including Hugo Boss, Karl Lagerfeld, Off White, Tom Ford Beauty, Tommy Hilfiger and Victoria’s Secret. She has walked on runways for Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Chanel, Fendi, Jacquemus, Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu and Versace. She’s been on the cover of various Vogues, including Vogue U.S., as well as V Magazine and CR Fashion Book and in the pages of Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Love, i-D, Glamour and Interview.
She’s also collaborated with fashion labels on capsule collections, working with RVCA and The Kooples.
Outside fashion, she has been an advocate for LGBTQ rights, serving as an ambassador for GLAAD, as well as a supporter of amfAR. — RYMA CHIKHOUNE
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