VeraWang

Vega Wang has had fashion lines in ranges from very expensive (her Vera Wang line) to discount (Simply Vera for Kohl's) but it's her mid-range line that is in trouble. WWD reports that Wang is taking a fresh look at her contemporary Lavender label after major department stores Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue appear to have dropped the line for spring and Neiman Marcus has reduced the number of stores that will stock the line of dresses and casual wear. Wang has said that the line was " in some cases overpriced for the landscape of contemporary" and that she is rethinking the line. As the retail world continues to shake out it seems that lines such as this which tread the lower edge of luxury are particularly vulnerable.

At $7,000 per night, the Premier Suites at the beachside Halekulani resort in Hawaii are among the world's priciest. However, the posh getaway has just added a luxurious new amenity that gets you a lot more bang for the buck. Called "Art in Motion," the program consists of a fleet of custom designed exotic autos, included at no additional charge as part of the Premier Suite guest experience. These include the Royal Suite, the Vera Wang Suite and the Orchid Suite.

The fleet features a Bentley Continental GTC convertible (above), Maserati Gran Turismo, Lotus Elise and Lotus Exige S. With the Bentley and Maserati guests have the option of being chauffeured around the glorious landscape in Waikiki, while the Lotus collection features GPS-guided thematic tours of the island, such as Culture, Adventure and Romance. Each car also comes with personalized leisure itineraries prepared by a Halekulani concierge.

Add Monique Lhuillier (at the finale of her Spring '09 show, at right) and Naeem Khan to the list of prominent designers opting to skip out on New York fashion week this February.

Designers like Vera Wang, Betsey Johnson and Temperley bowed out before the New Year, perhaps sparking a welcome trend for up-and-comers hoping to save the significant expense of showing at Bryant Park, an expense that can easily surpass the six-figure mark.

Lhuillier and Khan, who share a publicist, indicate that an intimate presentation as opposed to a traditional runway show is an appealing alternative for buyers and press with Energizer bunny-like schedules come early February.

Instead of a blur down the catwalk, guests will have a couple of hours during which to examine the clothes, talk to the designers and maybe even finish a whole glass of champagne.

[via WSJ]

Vera Wang & Arthur Becker, Alejandro Santo Domingo, Anne & Mario Grauso, Brian Atwood, Debbie Bancroft, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Eleanor & Jon Ylvisaker, Fern Mallis, Gigi Mortimer, Helen Lee & Tim Schifter, Kimberly Kravis, Lakshmi Menon, Marina Rust & Ian Connor, Melania & Donald Trump, Nate Berkus, Ralph & Ricky Lauren, Roopal Patel, Samantha Boardman & Aby Rosen, Somers Farkas, Steven Kolb, and Veronica Webb were all in attendance last Thursday at the opening of Vera Wang's new boutique in Soho.

While we all know Vera Wang is unmatched in bridal apparel, she is also making fragrance and beauty-related products (Coty Prestige, Inc.), eyewear (Couteur Designs, a division of the Kenmark Group), china, crystal, silver and gifts (Wedgwood), Vera Wang suite (Halekulani Hotel), fine papers (William Arthur), mattresses (Serta Mattress Company), Lavender Label handbags (Accessory Network) and Lavender Label shoes (Brown Shoe).

Her ready to wear designs and more are available for browsing in person at the new Vera Wang Fashion Flagship, located at 158 Mercer Street, 212-382-2184.

Fashion designer Vera Wang is famous for her extravagant wedding dresses but the most expensive dress she ever made is one we never got to see. In an interview on CNBC's "Conversations with Michael Eisner" that will air Monday, Vera Wang said the that the dress she created for Jennifer Lopez's canceled wedding to Ben Affleck was the most expensive she ever made. The dress was made of couture fabric and had 18 tiers. Wang says that it was the most expensive and the most time consuming to sew. I wonder what ever happened to the dress, was it destroyed or is it somewhere in Vera Wang's archives?

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--The official listings for Julian Schnabel's Palazzo Chupi have hit the market. We covered these listings as our estate of the day recently but the listings have a few more pictures. The $32 million listing is here and the $27 million listing is here.
--Springsteen guitarist and Sopranos star Steven Van Zandt and wife Maureen have closed on a three-bedroom penthouse in a converted Methodist church at 135 West Fourth Street for $6 million.
--A townhouse at pricey Beekman Place that belonged to the late William Rupp is now listed at $25 million. It sounds like Rupp was a bit of a grump, he built a massive wall on top of his house which he refused to remove. Now the wall is being torn down. The townhouse is one of only nine on the river side from 50-51st Street. The 12-room townhouse also has plans for a three-story addition on top of the existing two-story extension which have been approved by the city and would add another 1403 sq. ft. The listing is here.
--Yankees player Bobby Abreu has listed two-bedroom condo at One Beacon for $7.9 million. The spare and bare apartment, shown above, is listed here.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Cameron Diaz has picked up a five-room renovated residence in a prewar doorman building, with an asking price just under $3 million.
--Brooke Shields has been spotted looking at homes in New York City. She and husband Chris Hency have been seen checking out a four-bedroom townhouse on West 20th Street with close to a $7 million asking price.
--Holly Speyer Lipton, the daughter of Rockefeller Center owner Jerry Speyer, has purchased a 12-room Park Avenue co-op for $12 million.
--Alain Levy, the former head of EMI Music, has paid $6.274 million for a two-bedroom, two-plus-bath apartment with Fifth Avenue views from the 18th floor.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--As previously reported by the Real Estalker back in November, Vera Wang has listed her family's Palm Beach oceanfront mansion for $19 million. In November, the estate, which belonged to her father Cheng Ching Wang, was listed for $23 million.
--Jason Brand, president of Merrill Lynch Pacific Rim, has bought a Hawaii oceanfront house for $15.9 million, which is a full 39% below its original listing price.
--As we mentioned in January, the former Atlanta estate of the late Robert Woodruff, longtime chairman of Coca-Cola Co., is for sale for $13.9 million. Check out pictures at the estate of the day post here.

From Berg Properties Celebrity Big Time Listings:
--It's official, Richie Sambora has paid $4 million to purchase a Calabasas home from San Diego Padres starting pitcher Randy Wolf.
--Model and actress Kelly Van Halen (formerly married to Alex Van Halen) has listed her five-bedroom house in Encino. It is our estate of the day later today.
-TV talk show host and entertainment mogul Byron Allen has gone into escrow on the Hollywood Hills home that he had listed for $6.995 million.
--An Encino mansion that Macy Gray sold in December 2006 for $4,750,000 was listed at $11.7 million after a major rehab. It is now down to $9.96 million. The listing is here.
--Movie producer Gilbert Adler has listed his house in Beverly Hills for $7.9 million. The listing is here.


From the Real Estalker:
--Home makeover television host Ty Pennington has picked up a two-bedroom condo in the West Chelsea neighborhood in New York City. It had a $2.495 million asking price.
--Rumor has it that the nearly one-million-dollar two-bedroom apartment in New York that Nicole Richie and Joel Madden recently purchased may be back on the market soon.
--via Page Six, Jon Bon Jovi has sold his Upper West Side condo for $5.484 million.
--via Newsday, the home next to Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's estate in Brookville, New York has been listed at $2.229 million. To get to the five-bedroom home you have to pass through the same "million-dollar gates" that Lopez and Anthony installed for protection. The listing is here.
--Also the nine-bedroom home next to Lopez and Anthony in Bel Air is also for sale for $6.995 million. The virtual tour is here.
--Jude Law has reportedly purchased the London house he's been leasing in the Maida Vale neighborhood for around £3,500,000.
--The Real Estalker Mama covers the real estate dealings of real estate agent Kurt Rappaport who sold his house on Calle Vista Drive in Beverly Hills to Tom Cruise for $30.5 million. He has now purchased a lavish home on N. Crescent Drive in Beverly Hills for $15.99 million.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--As the Real Estalker previously reported, actor Sean Hayes has listed his Hancock Park home for $8.95 million. We covered it as our estate of the day a few weeks back.
--Stan Jolley, a movie art director, a TV producer-director and one of the original designers of Disneyland has nearly completed his work on a Maya-themed home in Rancho Mirage. He bought the house for $7.7 million and spent another $3.5 million on renovations and furnishings.
--A home that once belonged to 1940s Oscar-winning actor Van Heflin is listed for sale for $6.595 million. It currently belongs to Barry and Kathy Silverton. She was named the 23rd District's Woman of the Year by the state Senate in 2005. The listing for the home is here.
--An Outpost Estates home that was built for actor John Barrymore and has also been lived in by orchestra conductor André Previn and actors James Coburn and Lee Marvin is listed for $3.2 million. I wish the pictures were larger in the listing because this is a real slice of old Hollywood and has some very quirky details.

From the Times Online:
--8 St. James Square in London has set a new property record, with a price expected to be between £115 and £120 million. The property will be turned into six lavish apartments.

It was this same week two years ago that we first heard about the opening of Vera Wang's first lifestyle boutique at the Halekulani resort in Waikiki. The small 600-suare-foot boutique sold clothing, sunglases, jewelry fragrance, china and crystal but will now close after selling off the store's inventory. In an article by Fashion Week Daily, Donna Bebber, the boutique's owner said that Wang's decision to discontinue her high-end jewelry line led to a drop in sales. Bebber has three years left on a five-year lease with the hotel that says she can only stock Vera Wang merchandise but hopes to change the lease so she can add other products. If not, the boutique will be permanently closed. In the two years since the Vera Wang boutique opened, the brand has spread all over the place including a low-priced fashion line at Kohl's and Bebber mentioned that some customers may have felt that she is spreading herself too thin.

Last weekend, at a friend's house I was taken with their heirloom china, thin, light and rimmed in gold. At the time, I mentioned that they don't make china like that any more. Perhaps that isn't entirely true. Vera Wang's Gold Lace china from Wedgwood. As pretty as the famous dresses Vega Wang creates, this china has gold lace bands and wispy florals. Each five-piece setting with a dinner plate, salad plate, bread and butter plate, cup and saucer sells for $139.

Last year Vera Wang designed a luxury suite for the Halekulani resort, now WWD reports that she is opening her first lifestyle boutique at the Hawaiian resort. The store, which opens tomorrow, features all sorts of Wang-branded products including clothing, sunglases, jewelry fragrance, china and crystal. The space is small, (at 600 sq. ft. it's much smaller than the 2,135 sq. ft. Wang suite) but is expected to lure in hotel guests and others. Vera Wang has a both a bridal store and a bridesmaids boutique in New York but the new store is the first one to carry her ever-increasing lifestyle brand.