Is anyone still shocked by Balenciaga's famous 2022 ad campaign featuring teddy bears in harnesses? Apparently not Kim Kardashian, who was “reevaluating” her relationship with the fashion house in the wake of the scandal those ads caused, only to be named brand ambassador this week.
Neither is Patricia Field. Ms. Field, 82, a retailer, costume designer and lifelong advocate of funky alternative style, is a star of Balenciaga's new “wardrobe” campaign alongside Ms. Kardashian and Nicola Peltz-Beckham.
Looking formidable in a black leather trench coat and carrying an updated version of the brand's Le City bag ($2,450), a smiling Ms. Field appears in an ad posing in front of shelves filled with newly minted versions of the house's best-selling bags. .
“When they first contacted me, I thought they wanted my services as a stylist,” she said. “But I was very happy to discover that they wanted me as a model. My reaction was like, 'Really? Me?'”
Pat, don't be shy.
Zac Posen dresses the “swans”
Ryan Murphy, creator of “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” has described the TV show’s noble protagonists (Babe Paley, Slim Keith, CZ Guest and other Park Avenue guys whom Capote called his “swans”) as the originals. “Real Housewives”. But there was nothing remotely domestic about them, and even less about their clothing.
The show, premiering on FX on January 31, centers on Capote's betrayal of his closest confidants in society. The highlight is an episode based on the writer's legendary black-and-white ball held in 1966, featuring costumes prepared by Zac Posen.
When creating them, Posen sought verisimilitude. “These women were style icons at the time, so I wanted to honor their looks but with a Ryan Murphy twist,” Posen, 43, said.
“I tried to find the music that was played at the gala and the video of the swans in their complete appearance,” he added. “But we weren't recreating history. “We were reinventing history.”
Did it hit the target? Judge for yourself when the episode airs on February 7.
An expensive spray of tulle
It's amazing what some people will pay for some foam. In case you haven't heard: The tutu that Sarah Jessica Parker wore in the opening credits of “Sex and the City” was recently for sale at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, California.
It sold for $52,000, a surprising sum considering the tutu was purchased for $5 by Ms. Field, the show's costume designer, who said she found it inside a scrap bin in the garment district. from Manhattan.
A gentleman at the Brooklyn Museum
“Where do you put the knight, before or after the name?” Dianne Brill, the fashion designer known for her hairstyle, asked with a perfectly straight face at the French consulate in New York later this month.
Brill, a former figure of the New York club scene, was referring to the French knighthood. The honor had just been conferred on his friend Matthew Yokobosky, senior curator of fashion and visual culture at the Brooklyn Museum, during a ceremony at the consulate. Yokobosky, who was named a Knight of the National Order of Merit, is known for organizing extravagant exhibitions that have highlighted the work of French designers such as Christian Dior, Thierry Mugler and Pierre Cardin.
He received the honor for his “contributions that helped shape our culture” and for his “forward vision,” said Damien Laban, acting consul general of France in New York. Guests watched from gilded chairs as Laban placed a gold medal (the ultimate high-end adornment) on the curator's lapel.
Yokobosky said his inauguration sent him back to his childhood in southwestern Pennsylvania, when his piano teacher rewarded successful lessons with postcards in French. The gesture ignited in Yokobosky a lasting passion for Gallic culture and, especially, for French style. “When you're in Paris, you often feel like you're in a very fancy movie,” he said.
For the record, he and Ms. Brill determined (via a Google search) that he may be addressed as Chevalier Yokobosky or, more simply, as monsieur.
