Anna Wintour

The Fashion Statement: Bryant Park Tents, the Spectacle

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On any given minute of any given day, rain or shine, lookie loos crowd the entrance to the Bryant Park tents during fashion week. Who are they hoping to see? Do they see them? And how much time do they spend hanging out?

Here's what a few said as the Max Azria show let out this afternoon:

"I read my fashion magazines and I find it quite fascinating--the whole excitement around it," said Clare Payn, an investment banker and photographer from London.

"I don't know what's really going on, but it's exciting. I just saw [a pair of] super heels." said Jenni Lanfear, a personal assistant in Australia. "New York fashion week is huge...especially coming from Australia.

"I'm hoping to see Anna Wintour [Editor in Chief of Vogue]," said another Aussie Jimmy Mouzakiotis, buyer for a supermarket chain. Mouzakiotis had already seen The September Issue (which, BTW, is more than I can say).

And, finally, I approached Noreen Young, a makeup artist brandishing a camera. "Wait. Wait. I'm trying to get Linda Wells [Editor in Chief of Allure magazine]." She got her shot as well as that of InStyle's Fashion Director Hal Rubenstein. "He was just kissing somebody," she beamed.

Average hanging-around time, according to my informal poll? 10 minutes.

Great sightings like Mickey Rourke and Lucy Liu were at the show, but publicists make a point of letting celebs know how to slip out the back way.

Tags: Allure, Anna Wintour, AnnaWintour, Hal Rubenstein, HalRubenstein, Linda Wells, LindaWells, Lucy Liu, LucyLiu, Max Azria, MaxAzria, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Mercedes-benzFashionWeek, Mickey Rourke, MickeyRourke, Vogue

Luxe Stationer Dempsey & Carroll to the Rescue

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping

Last month we reported that stationer Mrs. John L. Strong, one of the world's leading boutique luxury brands whose customers included Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Oprah Winfrey and the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor, was shutting down after 80 years. Many of them were caught out short when the New York-based firm abruptly ceased all its operations; as a result the costly handcrafted metal dies and engraving plates (above) used for luxurious engraved stationery which customers had stored at Strong's for decades may never be recoverable.

Another luxury stationer, Dempsey & Carroll, is coming to the rescue. It is actually a much older establishment than Strong's, founded in 1878 by engraver John Dempsey and businessman George D. Carroll in New York. The firm soon became a society staple, providing the best in engraved cards and writing paper to the city's Gilded Age elite, a tradition continued to this day. Through the end of the year D&C is extending a special offer of reduced cost for custom engraving to all former Mrs. John L. Strong clients placing new orders, and has set about recreating their precious stationery.

Dempsey & Carroll custom stationery is created using hand-engraved steel dies and copper plates made to specification. Words and images are cut into the metal in an incuse fashion, a method similar to that used in manufacturing coins that has changed little since the 16th century process of engraving ascended to an art form. D&C is one of only a handful of stationers still using these distinctive hand-engraving techniques to create beautiful luxury paper products with their own unique stamp of history and tradition.

Tags: Anna Wintour, AnnaWintour, Dempsey Carroll, DempseyCarroll, engraved, engraving, Mrs. John L. Strong, Mrs.JohnL.Strong, New York, NewYork, oprah winfrey, OprahWinfrey, stationery

Oprah & Tom Cruise's Luxury Stationer Shuts Down

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Celebrity Shopping

Stationer Mrs. John L. Strong, one of the world's leading boutique luxury brands whose customers included Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, is shutting down after 80 years. The company has decided to close its Madison Avenue atelier, its boutiques, web site, catalog, wholesale and corporate businesses due to the recession, the Times reports.

Nannette Brown, the company's chief executive and creative director, said that an inability "to finance the business's expansion plans combined with a challenging retail and economic environment, left the company with no alternative but to close." Efforts to sell the company also failed. "This is a sad day for Mrs. John L. Strong," Brown said in a statement, "and a sad day for luxury as the world has become increasingly bereft of unique, hand-finished products." Indeed.

Gallery: Luxury Brands In Trouble

Source

Tags: Anna Wintour, AnnaWintour, Madison Avenue, MadisonAvenue, Mrs. John L. Strong, Mrs.JohnL.Strong, Oprah Winfrey, OprahWinfrey, stationery, Tom Cruise, TomCruise

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