SHOWING SUPPORT: LaQuan Smith packed his front row on Monday night with famous faces from music, fashion and sports. Teyana Taylor was seated next to Lil Nas X and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (who received enthusiastic praise from building staff on his way out); other guests at the Rainbow Room included Julia Fox, Duckie Thot, Ubah Hassan, Coco Rocha, Madisin Rian, Prabal Gurung, Kimora Lee Simmons, Ming Lee Simmons, Bethann Hardison and Ashley Biden. The evening kicked off with pre-show cocktails in the iconic Rockefeller Center venue, located on the 65th floor.
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“I love LaQuan, and I’m all for Black excellence. I’m so proud of him, I’m happy to be here and to support,” Taylor said ahead of the show. She was dressed in a bright red floor-length leather coat over a brown suede bra-and-pants set with zipper detailing, and donned a pair of oversize red aviator sunglasses.
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Taylor is gearing up for the March 31 release of her film “A Thousand and One,” which premiered at Sundance last month and won the festival’s grand jury prize. The actress garnered rave reviews for her lead performance in the film, set in New York during the ’90s and Aughts and directed by A.V. Rockwell.
“I’m very, very proud of the project,” said Taylor, who also debuted her own fashion line last summer. “I’m excited for the world to see it. At first I was nervous at Sundance, but once I saw all the reviews and everything, I’m like, OK cool, I can relax. The reviews and the critics are crazier than actual viewers,” she added. “So I’m really excited about that.” — KRISTEN TAUER
MARKING THREE DECADES: It’s a BFC Newgen celebration at the Design Museum.
The London museum revealed Tuesday that it will unveil a major fashion exhibition from Sept. 15 to Feb. 11, 2024, sponsored by Alexander McQueen.
“Rebel: 30 Years of London Fashion” will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the British Fashion Council’s Newgen program, which has helped usher in London’s contemporary fashion talent including the likes of Christopher Kane, Christopher Raeburn, Erdem, Kim Jones, JW Anderson, Mary Katrantzou, Molly Goddard, Simone Rocha, Priya Ahluwalia, Saul Nash, Grace Wales Bonner, Bianca Saunders and many more.
The work of the designers will be showcased in the exhibition when it opens, featuring more than 100 objects, and it will be guest curated by BFC ambassador for emerging talent Sarah Mower along with the Design Museum’s senior curator Rebecca Lewin.
“We are delighted to be collaborating with the British Fashion Council to shine a light on the extraordinary creativity that has come out of their Newgen program over the past 30 years. To be able to do that in the heart of the very same city that has helped foster so much of this talent is very special. We can’t wait to celebrate the best of contemporary fashion in Britain at the Design Museum in 2023,” said Tim Marlow, chief executive officer and director of the Design Museum, in a statement.
In an interview with WWD in September 2022, Marlow said he wanted “design in this institution to break out into all sorts of spaces, but fashion in particular, it has all sorts of possibilities that are not often fully explored.”
Tickets for the exhibition will go on sale in June. — HIKMAT MOHAMMED
VIVIENNE DOUBLES UP: Vivienne Tam’s fascination with virtual fashion is alive and well, as the designer and CFDA member put forth dual shows in New York’s Spring Studios on Monday alongside a virtual show in the metaverse for her fall 2023 collection and NFTs.
“Weaving Into the Metaverse” arrives as a continuation of her spring 2022 theme to bridge the physical and digital realms. Notable guests in attendance or wardrobed by the fashion house included Christine Ko, Zoë Chao, Tati Gabrielle, Laufey, Ari Abdul, Vika Abbyaeva and Richard Chang.
The new line takes cues from the earlier collection, which heavily featured fashion’s new lexicon of NFT iconography expressed as Bored Apes and Cyberkongs embroidered into physical clothing.
According to the brand, Tam was “inspired by the futuristic utopian vision of a new Hong Kong, a place where Web 3.0, blockchain, gaming worlds and immersive experiences cohabitate and collaborate.” Here, she blended elements of the real world — its history and fashion — with the design language of digital collectibles, connecting ancient pictograms of China’s earliest language, Jiaguwen or Oracle Bone Script, of 12 zodiac symbols featured with various bluechip NFTs.
Those roots may go deep, but Tam’s vision is also very of-the-moment, as fashion explores the interplay of physical and digital art, business and technologies. In her mind’s eye, the realms of Web 3.0 and the natural world are interoperable, with the blockchain tokens allowing access to special events and other features.
The dual shows furthered the concept, with the virtual version mirroring the real-life event from the red carpet to backstage access to the after party. Live portals allowed guests to move between both worlds.
“From the beginning of civilization humanity has used pictures to communicate and document our history, now humanity uses pictures to create new currencies, communities, environment and even worlds,” the designer said in a statement.
Her affinity for NFTs should be no surprise, given her view of fashion and technology as a natural yin and yang. The virtual show, which was conceptualized and created by Swan Sit and Wond3r, was produced in collaboration with CyberPort, a Web3 technology incubator in Hong Kong that Tam is a member of, and an international team including Luby, Animoca Brands, Hepha, Propy and Vatom.
“As the metaverse evolves so too must the virtual worlds evolve by learning how to work, live and play together in the metaverse,” Tam added. — ADRIANA LEE
GOING COUNTRY: Tom Murry, the former chief executive officer of Calvin Klein who is now CEO at Venezuelan designer brand Raul Peñaranda, is pursuing his passion as a country blues singer.
The executive has been going to Nashville and has written and recorded 12 songs for an album.
“Literally, I started playing guitar when I was 12 years old,” said Murry, who grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. His grandmother bought him a radiant red Les Paul guitar and by age 15, he was already teaching guitar lessons at the local music store. Soon after, he formed the band The Aceman, playing the music of James Brown and similar artists channeling the spirit of his distant cousin, Jessie James.
“I’m having fun with it,” said Murry, who has a rich, baritone voice. Among the songs he’s recorded are the title track, “Lay Me Low,” and “Lynda,” which is devoted to his wife, whom will be married to for 49 years in April, as well as “If You Take a Man’s Life,” and “Amazing Grace.” They are available on all streaming platforms. His web site is tommurrymusic.com.
“There’s no limit to how big this can be. We’re putting out an album and all the songs have been recorded,” said the 71-year-old executive. “That’s just my chronological age. People slow down after retirement, I’m speeding up.”
If that’s not enough, Murry wrote a book several years ago called “A Great Fit,” and Steven Spielberg’s office recently reached out to him to do a mini-series or movie based on it. The book is about life, charisma, leadership, and pursuing the career that suits you.
During Murry’s 17-years at Calvin Klein, he oversaw tremendous growth for the brand, which expanded from $2.8 billion in global retail sales in 2003 to nearly $8 billion in 2013. He retired in the first quarter of 2015.
“I don’t need the money, if it wasn’t fun I wouldn’t do it,” said Murry. — LISA LOCKWOOD