Sunday, March 2, 2014

The 86th Annual Academy Awards

Enjoy this slide show of looks from the red carpet at the Academy Awards, and check back later for our full report.


Kendall Jenner Proves She's a Real-Deal Supermodel on Yet Another Runway—See Her in Today's Givenchy Show!

Good luck keeping up with this Kardashian. Casey Lewis

Print's Not Dead

Porter magazine's third—and biggest—launch party of the season, in Paris this time, took place at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, the neo-Louis XVI hôtel particulier that was once the home of Adèle de Rothschild. And to underscore its hominess, Natalie Massenet and the Porter team brought in an interior decor complete with two Irish wolfhounds lazing in the foyer and posh wheels parked in the courtyard. As anyone tracking Instagram feeds will have seen by now, several bold-faced personalities were having a blast splaying themselves across the hoods of those cars, even before they lifted their first glass of champagne.



And the bubbly flowed amply as Massenet and Porter editor-in-chief Lucy Yeomans welcomed a host of friends and family—a fashion elite composed of designers, photographers, models, artists, actresses, and "everyone who inspires us," as Massenet put it.



One talking point among those present, including Isabel Marant , Peter Dundas , Anthony Vaccarello, Edie Campbell , Izabel Goulart , Phillip Lim, Richard Chai, Olivier Theyskens, Charlotte Dellal , and Kristin Scott Thomas , was the new book, of course, but also how Massenet has already changed their lives with Net-a-Porter. "I have three kids. If I shop anywhere, it's online," said Dellal. Goulart concurred: "I just don't have time for anything else." Commented Yeomans: "Porter will always be two steps ahead, but it's like a best friend. You don't tell your best friend, 'You have to be a goth virgin.' You tell her what she needs to know." Added Massenet, "And the day she wants to download her shopping in a microwave oven, we'll be there. Thirty seconds—ding!"



"Lots of magazines out there talk to women who are using their husband's credit cards," observed Caroline de Maigret, who was featured in the first issue. "To me, Porter is talking to the ones who wield their own." Speaking of owning, Hurricane RiRi touched down sometime after 1 a.m.—and judging by early morning's un-Instagrammed faces, this party was one for the record books.




—Tina Isaac-Goizé

A Winning Combination

Despite a still-soggy forecast, it was a bright night at the annual Charles Finch and Chanel pre-Oscars dinner at Madeo. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley arrived early with stylist Cher Coulter, while Sienna Miller , Anne Hathaway , André Balazs, Crystal Renn , and Naomie Harris mixed with the crowd of starlets, socials, and dealmakers. Alice Eve joked on her way in that she was just there for the Italian dinner, while Caroline Sieber gave up Paris fashion week to attend the weekend's festivities. "It's an exciting change of pace," Sieber said of her last-minute trip to Tinseltown.



As Poppy Delevingne talked animatedly with Rachel Zoe at the bar, a crowd including Julie Delpy , Oliver Stone, and Helena Christensen packed into the space. Greta Gerwig , though lamenting the weekend's many costume changes, was excited to be wearing Chanel for the very first time. "Chanel always seems like the most iconic to me," she said, before showing pictures of her Narcisco Rodriguez Oscars dress to Emilia Clarke . Clarke had her own take on the awards show circuit. "I'm getting used to it," she said. "But I take that back. No, you're never going to get used to it."




—Alexis Brunswick

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Picture Perfect

Despite a heavy downpour, the stars aligned last night as Roberta Armani toasted Italy's cinematic achievements and the Academy Award nominations of two heavyweights. The cocktail party stood out on the weekend's social calendar, honoring Martin Scorsese 's best director nod for The Wolf of Wall Street and Italy's own Paolo Sorrentino , whose film The Great Beauty is up for best foreign language film on Sunday. Attention turned to Scorsese as he entered the Rodeo Drive flagship, greeting well-wishers including New York transplants Fran Lebowitz and Graydon Carter. Cate Blanchett elicited quite the stir as she made her way inside, radiant in an Armani Privé jumpsuit. "I've been doing primarily theater for the last six years, so I've had a hiatus from film," Blanchett, the face of Armani's Sì campaign, said. "So it's an extraordinary and once again unexpected way to come back into the arena—I'm shocked and surprised and delighted." She's up for best actress for her buzzed-about role in Blue Jasmine.



Among a crowd that included Robert De Niro, Patricia Clarkson, Emmy Rossum , and Mamie Gummer , Samuel L. Jackson discussed his imminent trip to London to begin filming Avengers: Age of Ultron. As Glenn Close made her way to greet Scorsese, Jamie Foxx had him doubled over in laughter before his daughter asked the director to pose for a selfie. But it being Oscars weekend, talk casually veered from film to fashion. Olivia Munn remained coy about her pick for the Vanity Fair party: "It's the first dress I tried on, and it's a special dress because of the history and the story that goes with it," she said of her decision. "If everyone around me that knows fashion is happy, then I'm happy."




—Alexis Brunswick

Matchmaker, Matchmaker…

Talk about meet cute. It just so happens that two icons—one by way of Tokyo, the other L.A.—are celebrating big birthdays this year: Hello Kitty is 40; Playboy is 60. An unconventional pairing, to be sure, but with a little of Colette's magic in the mix, the couple has become an instant hit. Last night, matchmaker Sarah Andelman welcomed Yuko Yamaguchi (one of the cartoon's original designers, accompanied by Miss Kitty in person), Playboy brass, and a host of fashion folks to the Crazy Horse to fete the new couple with a dual birthday bash, complete with PG-rated dance numbers. "People thought I was crazy," said Andelman, "but now everyone agrees they look amazing together." The fused logos—Hello Kitty with bunny ears, and the famous rabbit sporting Hello Kitty's hair ribbon—are now appearing on more than a dozen or so limited-edition products, available only at Colette. Among them are a Charvet bow tie, boxers, and a Leica camera, as well as a Caron powder puff and lollipops; there will even be a cameo in the pages of Hef's famed title.



Through her translator, Yamaguchi said she found the show and bash "exciting and lively" and dubbed Hello Kitty's new iteration "really sexy cool." Designer Julien David , who splits his time between Paris and Tokyo, said, "Hello Kitty is a mega-star in Tokyo; she's everywhere—I think they make a good match because they're ageless." Carven designer Guillaume Henry had a slightly different take: "I believe that opposites attract. They're both icons, but they have nothing in common. I'm always more intrigued by a couple's differences than similarities, so I love the whole idea of sexy kawaii."




—Tina Isaac-Goizé

Who Needs a TV? Watch the Oscar Red Carpet Right Here!

Jennifer Lawrence will be there, and she'll be as charming as usual. Casey Lewis