Missoni's David on FW's Friday:5ive

Recently, the Meatpacking District became home to an odd new visitor. Here, FashionWhirled visits Michelangelo's David, as re-thought by the artist dEmo and Luca Missoni.

FashionWhirled:  Would you be so kind as to tell FashionWhirled's readers what role fashion, or style, plays in your life? 

dEmo's David a la Missoni:  Con piacere!  Fashion never, ever, played any role in my life. Until now, I have been naked my whole 511 years!  

Sometimes I get to admire a stand-out sense of style that I might see pass me by as I stand in the Galleria dell'Accademia, but unfortunately, I see a lot of bad tourist style. How you call it? T-shirts, Tevas, tube socks. Eccola! My twin in the Palazzo della Signoria gets quite another view, the beautiful Italian women and girls that parade by him every day, with their amazing, inimitable style. E' un peccato!


FW:  Who is your favorite fashion designer? 

D's D:   Questo dipende. Currently, I would have to say Missoni, though that might be just because I am a little predisposed to their designs right now. I hear horizontal stripes make you look bigger, wider, but my body has been out of proportion for hundreds of year, so I think this helps give me an edge. The signature Missoni chevron flame stripe adds a bit of flair and flash to me, too, no? I have been wearing this since the collaboration between Spanish artist dEmo and Luca Missoni. Originally, I was installed in front of the Missoni boutique in Madrid in 2010 for Fashion's Night Out, making an appearance in Barcelona for FNO there and now for NYC's FNO. I think I prefer the Meatpacking District the best!

FW: Who is your muse or inspiration for your quiet demeanor?

D's D:  You may laugh at this, but for centuries it was the Mona Lisa. But now the world is opening up to me. I have seen a lot of beautiful models pass by me from my perch here at 14th and 9th Avenue. [Sigh.] It's quite a stylish corner of the world.

FW:  If you could have any notable individual -- dead or alive -- stop be to see you in your new attire in the Meatpacking district, who would it be and why?

D's D: Ovviamente, it would be Michelangelo. He created me, me -- one the world's finest pieces of design, most stylish pieces of Italian art to date. I would like him to see me modernized, fashioned, legitimized for this time, this era of fashion pop culture. It might kill him, si, but he is dead already. Non importa!

FW:  What fashion legacy do you hope to leave to the future?

D's D: Hmmm. This is difficult. But, Io suppongo di it would be that even a nude statue can look better with a little bit of fashion in its life. Mille grazie, Missoni. Mille grazie, FashionWhirled. Ciao, bella!

Donna Karan's Urban Zen Calm during FNO Downtown

 

As the West Village began to percolate Friday night, the soothing sounds of world musicians enticed FNO shoppers at the entrance of Greenwich Street's Urban Zen, Donna Karan's oasis of consumer calm, where the philosophy is one of philanthropy, well-being and empowerment, with proceeds helping the Urban Zen Foundation.

Men's and women's fashion and home pieces are re-salvaged, re-purposed and really, really gorgeous, with luxurious fabrics that begged to be touched (think cashmere, people! this is Donna Karan, after all) and statement necklaces that underscore Donna's global travels. It was the calm before the maelstrom for FashionWhirled and our friend, Loup Charmant, the first stop on our destination of Fashion's Night Out shopping and bopping.

Waiting for friends, in particular, the designer of Artemas Quibble, one of the spectacular jewelry collections that Donna embraces, we were entertained with a thorough and lovely presentation of the boutique and the Urban Zen mindset by Peter, our tour guide and boutique manager extraordinaire.

The rustic wooden dining table with matching benches played perch to candles poured into cyclinders rolled from pieces of old scrap tanks and left-over metal war materials salvaged from Rwanda, with proceeds going to help the villages there.

 

Distressed and lovely, leather  belts and necklaces draped a vintage mannequin in front of one artist's striking photography of village women. 

 

Loup Charmant and I bid farewell to Peter, finished our fruit juice concoctions and exited, en route to the Teen Vogue fashion show, Juicy Couture, John Bartlett, the Meat Packing district, Opening Ceremony at the Ace Hotel, Barneys and then the zoo that was to be Bergdorfs.

Fashion's Night OUT Barneys NY: Get "Untouched," Then Touched by Johnny Rozsa

My East Village neighborhood, in particular 7th Street, rocks.

For years I have walked by a huge blowup of a glitter-y gold bikini bra wearing Mariah Carey (who actually used to be the coat check girl at a restaurant I worked at years ago, but that's a whole 'nuther story...) hanging in the window of Luster Photo on Avenue A. The blogger EV Grieve recently noted that the "arm pit sniffing photo" has been replaced. I think it's now a photo of a lotus flower.

Photo courtesy EV Grieve (http://evgrieve.com/2010/08/on-avenue-a-flower-replaces-armpit.html)

Turns out, the Mariah shot was lensed by Johnny Rozsa, my neighbor down the block, who I have bonded with over time regarding dogs and fashion. He's got 2 Chinese Cresteds who model and a scruffy but adorable terrier-chihuahua mix named Stella.  He's also incredibly fun and humorous with a a great sense of style. And, he loves the beach.

I ran into him earlier today and asked him what he'd be wearing to his book signing event at Barneys New York tonight, part of the Fashion's Night Out extravaganza there. He said that he'll be the "Queen in green," and described his plans on popping with color, from his preppy style purple and green Burberry pants to a raw silk sport coat from Hong Kong he found that he says fits him perfectly.

With his cool sense of style, he could wear anything tonight and look amazing.

He'll be there tonight autographing his new book, Untouched, which will be available for sale and signing from 7 to 11. Here's what amazon.com has to say about his book:

"In this never-before-seen collection of 160 untouched photographs of some of the biggest names in Hollywood before they were Hollywood-ized by plastic surgery and makeovers, luminary photographer Johnny Rosza offers intimate glimpses, capturing nearly 30 years of his work. Rosza has photographed for the likes of Vogue, the Sunday London Times, and Ritz. Just some of glamorous stars included in this collection include Muhammad Ali, Halle Berry, Daniel Day Lewis, and Winona Ryder."

Woot woot! Go 7th Street! Go Johnny! Go Fashion's Night Out!
Barneys. Be there!
xoxokimmie

Payless offering FREE fashion rides tonight for FNO!

payless fashion rides / nycgo.com

The kind peeps at Payless ShoeSource are offering everyone who doesn't have the limo already reserved a way around town tonight for tonight's infamous Fashion's Night Out.

P.S. RUN, don't walk to slip your tootsies into Isabel Toledo's platform foot candies. I'm just sayin'. Especially the booties with slatted plaid insets and the all-black nylon booties that fold over and button on the side.  Christian Siriano, Lela Rose, Patricia Field and Isabel's IT labels go on sale this Friday in select stores and you can find them, of course, online at payless.com (I saw the scrumptious things at my 14th Street, in the 'hood shop...).

Spend all that money you will save on time & transport and ~ Go forth and SHOP!

xoxokimmie

To boldly go where no man has gone before....

As Fashion Week continues...Day 4...a bagpipe serenade opens the Farmers Market at Tompkins Square Park this a.m. The East Village screams its way awake, literally, via either the homeless (hello, Hot Dog), the crazies (hello, Hot Dog, again) or the dirty-stay-out partiers in the park.

Favorite new fashion news sources this week: StyleList.com (holla, LM!) and Fashionista.com (fun, cute stuff, but they need to learn to spell check). Old stalwarts remain Sartorialist.com, wwd.com, NYMagazine.com. Oh, and of course, The New York Times, The NY Post, both online & on page. Oh yeah, and twitter, sometimes.

Wondering if Anna Wintour's Fashion's Night Out was the financial impetus and shopping success she hoped for? I read fabulous snippets of amazing cocktail parties, but it sounded kind of like a pub crawl for retail. I expected everyone in drag or Dior, with a be-bobbed party puppet corralling party goers for the next stop: "Okay! Everybody! Ten more minutes with Zac! [Posen, spray painting chic, expensive frocks in Bergdorf's windows.] Over and out here! Jonathan's at the wheel next! [Throwing pottery at Barneys with partner Simon Doonan spouting philosophic inanities to The NY Post. Cocktails on Mary Kate and Ashley! [The Olsen Twins, bartending.] Open Ceremony after! More champers, people! More buying! Com'on! Credit cards OUT! Drink up! Drink UP! People! PEOPLE! "



Sorta like a Santacon fest, I thought, without the garish santa or sexy elf costumes. A blogger at Huffington Post stalked elusive buyers throughout the evening. I, for one, passed through the Big K earlier that day for a curling iron, just doing my part to spur the economy. Ran into one of fashion journalism's greats, who was NOT buying a hair appliance for his golden-ish head of curls, but with a most sweet & lovely woman at his side, who I assumed was his beautiful wife.

In all fairness, my "bargain buying" included expensive wrist splints for BOTH hands, a new office chair (lumbar support and all), laptop riser, wireless keyboard and mouse. I would have preferred to have blown those purchases off and secured some Balenciaga boots for the season and a Kate Moss Top Shop shopping spree, but...due to nerve damage to my fingers and seven of the reasons for irregular blogging as of late...I've had to opt for more functional fashion swipes.

Anyway. Rock on, Fash-On Week....