Giving them Elle
(NEW YORK) Simon Doonan's fabulosity has no bounds--and he clearly knew it Tuesday night, when Elle editor-in-chief Robbie Myers and Aeffe USA president Michelle Stein (along with her fashion brand Moschino), hosted an eclectic dinner at Fred's in honor of Eccentric Glamour, the newest book by the Barneys New York creative director. "When I married into the Jewish faith, I always dreamed of a bat mitzvah," quipped Doonan, whose partner Jonathan Adler was taping Top Design's second season in Los Angeles. "Voila!"
Indeed, the soiree drew not only guests from all religious backgrounds, but from the far corners of the five boroughs as well. Jessica Seinfeld came in from East Hampton, Cindy Rachofsky jetted in from Dallas, and Derek Lam returned from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Together, they joined the uptown and downtown bold-faced, including Antony Todd, Derek Lam, Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Joe Zee, Jared Kushner, Paul Ritter, Lisa Airan, Lynn Yaeger, Danilo Dixon, Tatiana Santo Domingo, Phillip Lim, Thelma Golden and Duro Olowu, Hope Atherton, and Roxanne Lowitt, who took all the portraits in Doonan's book. "I couldn't be in this one because I was a wacky chick," explained Suzanne Bartsch, while fellow downtown fixture Chi Chi Valenti roared, "I thought the real eccentric thing to do was to wear Betsey Johnson over Comme des Garçons tonight."
Surrounded by whimsical Moschino-isms displayed on clipboards throughout the restaurant courtesy of the late Franco Moschino, some lucky guests, including Amy Fine Collins and Iman, not only managed to be featured in the book, but read it as well. Veronica Webb laughed at the mere thought. "Do you think I have time to read?" the model mused. "By the time I get home and am done with the kids, I barely have time to open my invitations and fantasize about where I could've been." Webb also took the opportunity to grill Doonan on his art direction of the Barneys ad campaigns. "Azzedine [Alaïa] introduced me to the Pressman's and then I met you," she reminded him. "But I've never been in a Barneys catalog. Isn't that just wrong?"
The author, clad in a custom Moschino ensemble, including a blazer emblazoned with the phrase "Good taste doesn't exist," was, as he would describe himself, as giggly as a schoolgirl. "I wouldn't call my style eccentric, but then again, anyone with some personal style these days is considered eccentric, with all the personal stylists running around with their heads cut off," he laughed. "Do I look like I need a stylist? I'd tear one up!" Taking it all in--reservedly--was Harold Koda. "Simon is infused with personality, but one that is so culturally informed," he said. "He's really engaged in high art culture with celebrity culture. When it's a store like Barneys, where the fashion can be intimidating, his humor makes it all approachable." Mickey Boardman concurred. "He does such great things for Barneys, he deserves a raise!" he declared. "Let's not get too far," Barneys chief Howard Socol gingerly replied, while his wife (and amateur photographer) Sharon snapped away with her Sony digital camera.
During dinner, Webb continued to assault the senses by offering her critique of young designers. "You should do lingerie," she told Lam. "Or maybe slips; your dresses need slips." Lam listened quietly. "Maybe I should do a baby line," he suggested. "Maybe baby lingerie," Webb grinned. Fine Collins expressed a deeper sentiment of Doonan. "Simon's completely independent, and he's built an empire out of that," she said. "The whole Barneys thing is an emanation of his brain. He's nonconformist chic."
Over at Myers' table, talk centered around everything but fashion. And for good reason. "I plan to be boring for the rest of my life," Myers, clad in Fendi (but with a Moschino leather belt for good measure) lamented. "Wearing only black, and sometimes navy."
JIM SHI
