L'Amour Fou

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L'amour fou translated into English means crazy love or mad love.  It is also the title of a new documentary about the love of more than 50 years between fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner in business and life, Pierre Bergé.  Listening to Pierre Bergé speak at Yves funeral is enough to make even the most hardened heart cry with sadness.  Theirs was a love that endured even through Yves' issues with drugs and alcohol.  The filmmaker, Pierre Thoretton, met the legendary designer through his former wife, Chiara Mastroianni, whose mother is Catherine Deneuve.  He originally wanted to focus on the couple’s homes but quickly realized the story lay not in the interiors Saint Laurent and Bergé had created, but in their enduring relationship. “I have never met a couple that has stuck together for 50 years, through the ups and downs, and I thought it was simply extraordinary,” he says. “Their love was unconditional. I have never seen anything like it and it still blows me away.” Pierre Bergé also generously opened up to the director about his decision to sell their art collection at Christie's after Yves death. Their close friends Betty Catroux and Loulou de la Falaise are also included in the documentary that debuted at the Toronto Film Festival recently.  It will be released in Europe on September 22nd but I'm not sure when we'll be able to see L'Amour Fou in the States.  As Yves Saint Laurent famously once said, "fashions fade, style is eternal," and in this case, love is also eternal.

Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston

>I love myself a good fashion documentary and so of course I am dying to see Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston. It is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival Friday night and you know there will be just as many stars and fashionistas in the crowd as there will be in the film. As Halston once exclaimed, "you're only as good as the people you dress," and he dressed all the best in the 1970's including Bianca Jagger, Liza Minelli, Elizabeth Taylor, and even Jackie Kennedy Onassis! I don't know how he managed to design anything with all the time he spent at Studio 54 but as he also said, "party hard, live hard, and have the best life." Unfortunately, all that hard partying caught up to him and cut short his reign as the Emperor of Style. Luckily, it looks like his legacy will live on in Ultrasuede. Bon Weekend!

Smash His Camera

> Ron Galella was the original stalkerazzi and his most famous prey was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He tormented her and even followed her to Capri. She obtained a restraining order against him. The New York Post at the time called it "the most co-dependent celeb-pap(arazzi) relationship ever." Without Ron Galella, we wouldn't have any of these most iconic images of Jackie O. What I love most about them is how chic and stylish she looks in the late 1960's and early 1970's. She was definitely a fan of a fitted tee or sweater! One of my most prized possessions is Ron's book from 1974 Jacqueline by Ron Galella which you can still find online that is filled with even more candid shots.

What's even amazing is that Ron Galella is still making headlines. HBO will air a documentary about the photographer this Monday, June 7th at 9:00pm entitled Smash His Camera which will also have an accompanying exhibition at Clic Gallery on Broome Street. "Smash His Camera" is apparently what Jackie said to her secret service agent after Ron got a little too close for comfort after a bike ride to through the Park with John Junior. So glad they smashed it after he got some good photos!

Bill Cunningham New York

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The New York Times Style photographer Bill Cunningham is a living legend.  Seeing him on the street or at fashion shows will never cease to excite the fashion flock.  He once took my picture on Fifth Avenue and even though it never made it into the paper, it was still a thrilling moment.   He reminds me of Jeremiah Goodman in that he continues to pursue his lifelong passion at 80.  I'm sure it keeps him young.  It also seems fitting that the new documentary about him is entitled Bill Cunningham New York because he is New York.  The film is the first feature by director Richard Press and it has already won the audience award for best documentary award at the Melbourne International Film Festival. I'm not sure when Bill Cunningham New York will be in the theatres but I'll keep you posted.  Anna Wintour once said, "we all get dressed for Bill." I will definitely continue to dress for Bill in the hopes of catching his eye.  But if I don't, I will be just as excited to catch a glimpse of him.