An afternoon in Chelsea

Last Saturday was cold and overcast, and I didn't have much on my agenda. While sipping coffee in bed with some months-old fashion books, I was thrilled to notice an ad for a Robert Rauschenberg show at the 21st Street Gagosian Gallery in Interview. I bundled up in Duckie Brown and Richard Chai and was on my way to Chelsea. I love seeing art at either NYC Gagosian Gallery - it always feels like a private museum showing, and I've never had a line or a crowd. I love Rauschenberg's work and had a great time making the rounds of all the work at least three times to see what thoughts it might give me.

After the show I decided to check out Jean Nouvel's new building on 19th Street, just a few blocks away. It is pretty cool! Frank Gehry's building for InteractiveCorp reflects it beautifully from across the street (below shot). And I'm sure it would all look far more fabulous on a beautiful day, but certainly not bad for a gloomy January Saturday!

Félicitations, Mlle. Alt!

Ladies and gentlemen, we're in good hands.

Looking back, 2010: Hello, Riccardo!

Givenchy fall 2010

Givenchy Haute Couture fall 2010

Givenchy spring/summer 2011

Givenchy Haute Couture spring 2011

A huge year for Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, a wildly creative and talented designer on top of his game. I especially enjoyed this W profile of him a few months back. Congratulations, Riccardo!

On the Bowery

I have long adored the New Museum's building on the Bowery - a stack of misaligned boxes in a row of old brick buildings. I think it's such a great institution for the Lower East Side and an enriching addition to the neighborhood's architecture. So it was with great pleasure that I came across the new Sperone Westwater gallery just a block up from the New Museum - quite a contender for the strip! The building is designed by Foster + Partners and exudes sleekness and light; check out more here. I love it.

photos yours truly, below via Foster + Partners

Looking back, 2010: The talented Mr. Ford

Cathy Horyn's candid smartphone snapshot of Beyoncé Knowles Carter wearing Tom Ford's first women's collection following the super VIP, "hush hush" showing at his men's store uptown. Be sure to check out the just-released video of the show - you can really see why everyone lucky enough to attend couldn't stop raving about how fun it was!

Unconventional chic

Lacoste's spring 2011 ads are pure fashion genius, the kind of thing that gets me excited about advertising. I'm a proud sucker for good marketing, and this is right up my alley. Featuring some of today's biggest models (Liya Kebede, Anja Rubik & Noah Mills, from above) wearing classic white polos over black tie evening wear, the campaign states "Unconventional Chic: Lacoste." Suddenly I cannot live without a simple white Lacoste polo: homerun!

Year in fashion

I'll be posting some of my own faves from the year gone by, but you must keep your eye on the incomparable Tommy Ton's picks for the year - exquisite!