Los Angeles Confidential - 2014 - Issue 5 - September

Fashion forward!

sexy

in the city Lizzy Caplan

RETOURS DE FORCE L.A. FASHION STARS, ACT II PLUS: Emmys at 65!

Giorgio Armani ABIGAIL SPENCER Viva Italia, LA style!

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Lights, Camera, emmy!

Sixty-five yearS ago, televiSion pioneer Syd CaSSyd launched a little award called the emmy. by kelsey marrujo

Well-coiffed actors modeling Marchesa—a snapshot from last year’s Primetime Emmys—is a spectacle from which Jersey boy Syd Cassyd, who laid the base of the Television Academy in 1946, would have shied.

Un-Hollywood to the core, the brainy visionary vetoed the idea of an annual awards show despite his young org’s need for publicity, citing an aversion to glitz as grounds. Luckily, his advisors sniffed out an immense PR opportunity, driving Cassyd into an about-face.

Academy members quarreled over what to call the fledgling award— “Ike,” a moniker for a television’s iconoscope tube, was the likely victor.

Ultimately, the name was judged too reminiscent of war hero General Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower, and the group opted for Henry Lubcke’s “Immy,” short for another TV apparatus, the image orthicon camera tube.

Later feminized to “Emmy,” the name better represented the show’s statuette design of a winged woman clutching an atom, courtesy of TV engineer Louis McManus.

The maiden Emmy award ceremony graced the Hollywood Athletic Club on January 25, 1949, doling out six trophies to strictly-LA

programming. Hosted by actor Walter O’Keefe—a last-minute substitute for pop star Rudy Vallee—the show’s inaugural award went to 20-year-old ventriloquist Shirley Dinsdale, star of the children’s program Judy Splinters, for Outstanding Personality. Other winners included game show Pantomime Quiz Time for Most Popular Program and McManus for designing the Emmy model. (Oddly, he received a plaque for his win, rather than the statuette for which he was being celebrated.)

Fast-forward to the 21st century and Cassyd’s once-modest awards show has swelled into a global parade of programs and personalities, captivating over 17 million viewers during last year’s three-hour broadcast. Sartorial hits and misses are caught via 360-degree glam cams, while the Twittersphere fires off spoilers on whose speech tanked and which contenders got snubbed.

In some ways, it’s a media-frenzy nightmare, but in others, a testament to television’s supremacy as the entertainment medium. Because let’s face it: Whether your escape lies in ’60s-era Madison Avenue or within Litchfield Correctional Facility, you’re engrossed in the small screen—and Emmy knows it. LAC

photography by tVa/picturegroup/inVision for the academy of teleVision arts & sciences/ap images

Big night for the small screen: Mayor Fletcher Bowron declares January 25, 1949, as “TV Day” at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ first annual Emmy Awards at the Hollywood Athletic Club.

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FRONT RUNNER Mali-bucolic: In 1929, a pre-superstar Joan Crawford posed for some surfside PR shots with hubby number one, Hollywood’s reigning prince, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Sun, Sand... and StarS

A summer place in Malibu may be de rigueur for LA’s industry-elite, but the beachfront burg hasn’t always been all ritz and glitz. In 1927, the 27-mile stretch of what is arguably the most famous piece of coastline in the world became a modest refuge from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood when land-rich but cash-poor real estate tycoon May Rindge started leasing plots of her 20,000-acre Malibu ranch (which was then the most valuable real estate in the US).

Cleverly naming the new enclave “Malibu Beach Motion Picture Colony,” Rindge attracted Tinseltown’s swell set from the beginning. Swedish screen goddess Anna Q. Nilsson was the first to sign on, followed by Gloria Swanson, Bing Crosby, Constance Bennett, and a slew of others. Rindge offered tenants 10-year leases on 30-foot lots for $30 per month, and stars hired carpenters from the nearby studios to build storybook bungalows. The quaint, shingled cottages—most of them painted white—were about as stable as something you’d see on a movie set.

When the decade-long leases expired, a cash-strapped Rindge began selling the land. Despite the economic downturn of the Depression, parcels were

snatched up immediately, and residents wasted no time building larger, more elaborate homes. Malibu Colony quickly became synonymous with the good life—all movie stars, millionaires, grand parties, and eccentric residents.

Studio boss Jack Warner, one of the first buyers, forked over $60,000— more than $1 million by today’s standards—to build his sand castle. Silent film actress Louise Fazenda (Mrs. Hal B. Wallis) could be seen cruising Malibu Lagoon in her aquaplane towed by a boat, and Paramount player/party gal extraordinaire Lilyan Tashman, who decorated her entire home in white and red (including the toilet paper), insisted her guests match the décor.

Today, the charming homes that once dotted the shoreline have all but been replaced (only a handful remain), and real estate sells at a super premium (producer Brian Grazer’s place recently sold for $17.375 million). Yet the scenery is still pristine. Colony resident Carol Moss, who bought the historic home of 1930s actor Tod Browning 50 years ago and still lives there today, says, “It’s always had a special communal feeling that’s unlike any other place—and the beach here is the most beautiful in the world.” And certainly, per square foot of sand and stars, the costliest. LAC

photography courtesy of bison archives

in 1927, rancho honcho May rindge decided to rent soMe of her land to Movie people… in a charMing backwater called Malibu. by Erika ThoMas

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clockwise from top left: Paulette Goddard and one of Musso & Frank’s early regulars, Charlie Chaplin, share a booth in 1933; the restaurant circa 1934; a young Dennis Hopper poses for a photo in 1955; the Hollywood Boulevard entrance circa 1930.

Musso Gusto!

What do Rudolph Valentino, F. Scott FitzgeRald, and the WoRld’S FiRSt ReStauRant pay phone rill, Which celebRateS 95 yeaRS thiS month. haVe in common? the legendaRy Musso & Fran

By Erika Thomas

Although countless food fads have come and gone since 1919, LA’s fabled Musso & Frank Grill has remained resolutely old-school. Refreshingly. “If we see someone on a cell phone, we respectfully ask them to put it away,” says fourth-generation Musso & Frank general manager Mark Echeverria. And despite the fact that notable writers still sit at the bar and absorb the creativity while they work, Echeverria says, “You won’t find an iPad or laptop. Pen and paper is what they use! It’s pretty incredible to see that legacy.”

The oldest restaurant in Hollywood, Musso & Frank is fêting its 95th anniversary this month. Opened by Joseph Musso and Frank Toulet in 1919, it was a magnet for Tinseltown’s swell set from the beginning. Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin were some of the restaurant’s early regulars— and they weren’t the only ones who came for the stiff drinks, cozy booths, and dimly lit chandeliers.

When studio heads began importing popular American novelists to

Hollywood during the 1930s, it became a second home to the literary set. The Screen Writers Guild was across the street, and Musso’s offered a respite from whip-cracking executives pushing writers to create their next great piece.

Dorothy Parker, Raymond Chandler, T.S. Eliot, and John Steinbeck considered the place a second home. F. Scott Fitzgerald proofread his novels from a particular booth, studio heads made deals on the pay telephone, and Greta Garbo and Gary Cooper dined together on flannel cakes and coffee (still on the menu).

Today, golden-era legends have left a legacy so palpable you can feel it the moment you walk in. Writers come to write, movie moguls to seal deals, and Chaplin’s booth remains the most requested. Although they’ve added new menu items, the originals are still served daily (grenadine of beef and chicken à la king). And whether you’re famous or not, Echeverria says, “We’ve never exploited our customers. We’ve always treated celebrities like regular people and regular people like celebrities. It’s why we’re still here.” LAC

photography courtesy Bison archives (chaplin, restaurant interior, exterior); photo By Frank Worth, courtesy oF emage international/getty images (hopper)

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contents

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84

This month, Londonerturned-LA woman Liberty Ross celebrates the launch of her collaboration with Genetic Denim.

42 // front runner 64 // from the editor-inchief 66 // from the publisher 68 // … Without Whom this issue Would not have been possible

70 // the list 121 // invited

style 75 // tote va bene!

Just months after his landmark 80th birthday, Giorgio Armani launches two made-for-LA accessories collections.

78 // accessories This fall, bold bags and shoes are an after-dark must.

82 // paradise neW/ found Richard Wainwright explains why LA’s tastemakers can’t get enough of his appointment-only vintage enclave, New/Found.

84 // liberty’s league Model-turned-Genetic Denim designer Liberty Ross shares the LA style destinations that she keeps coming back to.

86 // style spotlight Saint Laurent opens a pair of new Rodeo Drive shops; Max Mara tackles tailoring; and more fashion news from around town.

Accessorize for fall with watches that are low in cost, high in style.

90 // Wings of love Designer Deborah Sawaf of Thalé Blanc introduces the Flutter of Hope handbag collection to beneft the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

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photography by terry tsiolis

88 // stealing time

contents

september 2014

101

Ron Robinson presides over his growing empire of shops at Fred Segal.

108 // hang ZEn At Unplug, fashion expert Suze Yalof Schwartz is showing stressed-out Angelenos how to keep calm and meditate.

110 // abSolutEly Collab-ulouS

Star-making agent Raina Penchansky tells why she’s looking online for the next generation of talent.

114 // EaStSiDE Story Architect and designer Barbara Bestor maps out the Silver Lake gems that have inspired her sizeable portfolio.

116 // baCk to SChool

106

Abigail Spencer is gearing up for her next cinematic turn opposite Jason Bateman and Tina Fey.

culture

tASte

93 // Slam Jump!

129 // thE hit faCtory

Los Angeles leaps into the equestrian world, hosting the Masters Grand Slam Indoor horse-jumping competition for the frst time.

Chef Angelo Auriana and restaurateur Matteo Ferdinandi are winning raves for their new Arts District dining project, The Factory Kitchen.

96 // Exhibit D*!

132 // Chow, bElla!

Global street art phenomenon D*Face prepares to canvas the City of Angels in larger-than-life visuals with equally big messages.

Take a north-south tour of regional Italian cuisine… all without leaving LA.

98 // CulturE Spotlight David Kordansky Gallery gets new digs; The Los Angeles Philharmonic warms up for its Opening Night Gala and Concert; and other September cultural happenings.

people 101 // thE mErChant of la Ron Robinson looks back on nearly 40 years in the retail biz—and gives a preview of his future plans for expansion.

106// abigail forCE Surfer-turned-starlet Abigail Spencer prepares for her game-changing role in this month’s This Is Where I Leave You.

134// Cin Cin! Italian aperitifs are serving as an on-trend opening act to meals around town.

136// SliCES of hEavEn Step aside, New York and Chicago—Los Angeles pizzerias are making their mark with inventive, artisanal pies.

138 // taStE Spotlight A new Italian steakhouse opens on West Third; the surprising new alternative to breadbaskets; and more local dining news.

140 // CuCina ConfiDEntial Top chefs Nancy Silverton and Steve Samson swap travel stories while charting the transformation of LA’s Italian food landscape.

photography by elisabeth caren (robinson); Mathew scott at the Four seasons beverly hills (spencer)

Fashion publicist Elissa Kravetz is aiming to eradicate the culture of childhood bullying with her new nonproft, The Farley Project .

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contents

september 2014

144

Lizzy Caplan calls her role as legendary sex therapist Virginia Johnson “the job I’ve been waiting for.”

FEATURES 144 // Actress ProvocAteur

Masters of Sex Emmy nominee Lizzy Caplan talks candidly about relationships, feminism, and her transformation from comedic underdog to boundary-smashing TV star.

150// retours de Force Seven of Hollywood’s hottest fashion dynamos are reinventing themselves with new stores, new brands, and new perspectives on style.

160 // Belle de Noir Graphic patterns, rich embellishments, and jewel-box colors make a lush style statement this season.

170 // Bold stAr Fall fashion gets a dose of drama with bold, sculptural silhouettes.

180 // rocks oF Ages On the eve of Bulgari’s 130th anniversary, a look back at its triumphs in Hollywood and beyond.

184 // red, White, ANd... greeN!

188// the Price oF ivory Chelsea Clinton speaks candidly about the elephant-poaching crisis—and shares what you can do to help.

photography by tony duran

Celebrate harvest in Napa and Sonoma with the vineyards, restaurants, and resorts leading the charge for eco-luxury.

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contents

september 2014

HAUTE PROPERTY 195 // A lA Mod? Are ultramodern homes worthy investments? The city’s real estate pros weigh in.

198 // Top of The Town Many LA dwellers are seeking grandeur on high, thanks to a new crop of over-the-top penthouses.

ABODE & BEYOND 201 // Swede SucceSS Scandinavian style sweeps the interiors scene, thanks to offbeat new Downtown showroom Austere.

202 // ScAndi-luST Learn how to tell Arne Jacobsen from Hans Wegner at LA’s top Nordic design shops.

AND FINALLY… 208 // YeAr of The drAgonS

on The coVer:

195

John Lautner’s Foster Carling residence is a masterpiece of modern architecture—with interior details as impressive as its citywide views.

Lizzy Caplan Photography by Tony Duran Styling by Garth Condit at ABTP.com Hair by Alex Polillo at The Magnet Agency using Bumble & Bumble Makeup by Jenn Streicher at The Magnet Agency using Charlotte Tilbury Manicure by Michelle Saunders for Essie/ celestineagency.com Mink nero plisse polyester print dress, Bottega Veneta ($6,900). 8445 Melrose Pl., LA, 323-782-4970; bottegaveneta.com. Cone hand ring in rose gold, Eddie Borgo ($175). Intermix, 10 N. Robertson Blvd., LA, 310-860-0113; intermixonline.com

photography by Michael McNaMara froM ShootiNg la

To the very few who are still immune to Game of Thrones fever—you are not alone.

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We have the inside scoop on Los Angeles’ best parties, dining, entertainment news, and more. dine

Fall traditionally calls for more indulgent dishes. Enjoy all your favorites minus the guilt with these plates.

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SEE THE LATEST FROM LAST NIGHT’S EVENTS Couldn’t attend?

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EMMYS STYLE: RED CARPET VS. AFTERPARTY These days it’s not just looking good at the ceremony—but the afterparty, too. Plus, stay tuned on our site for more awards season coverage.

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SPENCER BECK Editor-in-Chief Deputy Editor ERIN MAGNER Executive Managing Editor DEBORAH L. MARTIN Senior Art Director FRYDA LIDOR Photo Editor REBECCA SAHN Entertainment and Bookings Editor JULIET IZON Senior Fashion Editor LAUREN FINNEY Copy Editor WENDIE PECHARSKY Research Editor LESLIE ALEXANDER

ALISON MILLER Group Publisher Associate Publisher VALERIE ROBLES Account Directors NORMA MONTALVO, ELIZABETH MOORE, MIA PIERRE-JACQUES Account Executives ALICIA DRY, JULIA MAZUR Director of Event Marketing MELINDA JAGGER Event Marketing Manager ANTHONY ANGELICO Assistant Distribution Relations Manager JENNIFER PALMER Office Manager CAROLYN SCARBROUGH Sales and Marketing Assistant KELSEY MARRUJO

NICHE MEDIA HOLDINGS, LLC Senior Vice President and Editorial Director MANDI NORWOOD Vice President of Creative and Fashion ANN SONG Creative Director NICOLE A. WOLFSON NADBOY Executive Fashion Director SAMANTHA YANKS

ART AND PHOTO

Associate Art Directors ANASTASIA TSIOUTAS CASALIGGI, ALLISON FLEMING, ADRIANA GARCIA, JUAN PARRA, JESSICA SARRO Senior Designer NATALI SUASNAVAS Designer SARAH LITZ Photo Director LISA ROSENTHAL BADER Photo Editors KATHERINE HAUSENBAUER-KOSTER, JODIE LOVE, SETH OLENICK, JENNIFER PAGAN Senior Staff Photographer JEFFREY CRAWFORD Senior Digital Imaging Specialist JEFFREY SPITERY Digital Imaging Specialist JEREMY DEVERATURDA Digital Imaging Assistant HTET SAN

FASHION

Fashion Editor FAYE POWER Fashion Assistants CONNOR CHILDERS, LISA FERRANDINO

COPY AND RESEARCH

Copy and Research Manager WENDIE PECHARSKY Copy Editors DAVID FAIRHURST, NICOLE LANCTOT, CAROL REED, JULIA STEINER Research Editors JUDY DEYOUNG, MURAT OZTASKIN, AVA WILLIAMS

EDITORIAL OPERATIONS

Director of Editorial Operations DEBORAH L. MARTIN Director of Editorial Relations MATTHEW STEWART Editorial Assistant CHRISTINA CLEMENTE Online Executive Editor CAITLIN ROHAN Online Editors ANNA BEN YEHUDA, TRICIA CARR Senior Managing Editors DANINE ALATI, KEN RIVADENEIRA, KAREN ROSE, JILL SIERACKI Managing Editors JENNIFER DEMERITT, JOHN VILANOVA Shelter and Design Editor SUE HOSTETLER Timepiece Editor ROBERTA NAAS

ADVERTISING SALES

Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing NORMAN M. MILLER Account Directors SUSAN ABRAMS, MICHELE ADDISON, CLAIRE CARLIN, KATHLEEN FLEMING, VICTORIA HENRY, KAREN LEVINE, MEREDITH MERRILL, GRACE NAPOLITANO, JEFFREY NICHOLSON, DEBORAH O’BRIEN, SHANNON PASTUSZAK, JIM SMITH Account Executives SUSANA ARAGON, JUDSON BARDWELL, MICHELLE CHALA, THOMAS CHILLEMI, MORGAN CLIFFORD, JANELLE DRISCOLL, VINCE DUROCHER, IRENA HALL, SARAH HECKLER, CATHERINE KUCHAR, FENDY MESY, MARISA RANDALL, MARY RUEGG, LAUREN SHAPIRO, CAROLINE SNECKENBERG, JACKIE VAN METER, JESSICA ZIVKOVITCH, GABRIELLA ZURROW Advertising Business Manager RICHARD YONG Sales Support and Development EMMA BEHRINGER, ANA BLAGOJEVIC, EMILY BURDETT, CRISTINA CABIELLES, BRITTANY CORBETT, JAMIE HILDEBRANDT, DARA HIRSH, KARA KEARNS, MICHELLE MASS, NICHOLE MAURER, RUE MCBRIDE, STEPHEN OSTROWSKI, ELENA SENDOLO, ALEXANDRA WINTER

MARKETING, PROMOTIONS, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations LANA BERNSTEIN Vice President of Integrated Marketing EMILY MCLINTOCK Director of Integrated Marketing ROBIN KEARSE Integrated Marketing Manager JIMMY KONTOMANOLIS Director of Creative Services SCOTT ROBSON Promotions Art Designers DANIELLE MORRIS, CARLY RUSSELL Event Marketing Directors AMY FISCHER, HALEE HARCZYNSKI, LAURA MULLEN, JOANNA TUCKER, KIMMY WILSON Event Marketing Managers CHRISTIAMILDA CORREA, MONIKA KOWALCZYK, CRISTINA PARRA Event Marketing Coordinator BROOKE BIDDLE Event Marketing Assistant SHANA KAUFMAN

ADVERTISING PRODUCTION

Vice President of Manufacturing MARIA BLONDEAUX Director of Positioning and Planning SALLY LYON Positioning and Planning Manager TARA MCCRILLIS Assistant Production Director PAUL HUNTSBERRY Production Manager BLUE UYEDA Production Artists ALISHA DAVIS, MARISSA MAHERAS, DARA RICCI Distribution Manager MATT HEMMERLING Fulfillment Manager DORIS HOLLIFIELD Traffic Supervisor ESTEE WRIGHT Traffic Coordinators JEANNE GLEESON, MALLORIE SOMMERS Circulation Research Specialist CHAD HARWOOD

FINANCE

Controller DANIELLE BIXLER Finance Directors AUDREY CADY, LISA VASSEUR-MODICA Director of Credit and Collections CHRISTOPHER BEST Senior Credit and Collections Analyst MYRNA ROSADO Senior Billing Coordinator CHARLES CAGLE Senior Accountant LILY WU Junior Accountants KATHY SABAROVA, NEIL SHAH, NATASHA WARREN

ADMINISTRATION, DIGITAL, AND OPERATIONS

Director of Operations MICHAEL CAPACE Director of Human Resources STEPHANIE MITCHELL Executive Assistant ARLENE GONZALEZ Digital Media Developer MICHAEL KWAN Digital Producer ANTHONY PEARSON Facilities Coordinator JOUBERT GUILLAUME Chief Technology Officer JESSE TAYLOR Desktop Administrators ZACHARY CUMMO, EDGAR ROCHE

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

J.P. ANDERSON (Michigan Avenue), ANDREA BENNETT (Vegas), KATHY BLACKWELL (Austin Way), KRISTIN DETTERLINE (Philadelphia Style), ERIN LENTZ (Aspen Peak), LISA PIERPONT (Boston Common), CATHERINE SABINO (Gotham), JARED SHAPIRO (Ocean Drive), ELIZABETH E. THORP (Capitol File), SAMANTHA YANKS (Hamptons)

PUBLISHERS

JOHN M. COLABELLI (Philadelphia Style), LOUIS F. DELONE (Austin Way), DAWN DUBOIS (Gotham), ALEXANDRA HALPERIN (Aspen Peak), DEBRA HALPERT (Hamptons), SUZY JACOBS (Capitol File), GLEN KELLEY (Boston Common), COURTLAND LANTAFF (Ocean Drive), DAN USLAN (Michigan Avenue), JOSEF VANN (Vegas)

Managing Partner JANE GALE Chairman and Director of Photography JEFF GALE Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer JOHN P. KUSHNIR Chief Executive Officer KATHERINE NICHOLLS Copyright 2014 by Niche Media Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved. Los Angeles Confidential magazine is published eight times per year. Reproduction without permission of the publisher is prohibited.

The publisher and editors are not responsible for unsolicited material, and it will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication subject to Los Angeles Confidential magazine’s right to edit.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, photographs, and drawings. To order a subscription, please call 866-891-3144. For customer service, please inquire at losangelesconfidential@pubservice.com.

To distribute Los Angeles Confidential at your business, please e-mail magazinerequest@nichemediallc.com.

Los Angeles Confidential magazine is published by Niche Media Holdings, LLC. T: 310-289-7300 F: 310-289-0444 niche media holdings: 100 Church Street, Seventh Floor, New York, NY 10007 T: 646-835-5200 F: 212-780-0003

los angeles confidential: 8530 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 500, Los Angeles, CA 90211

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357 NORT H RO D EO D RIV E

B EV ERLY C EN TER

WESTFIEL D TO PAN GA

SO U TH C O AST P L AZA

SH O P FERRAGAMO .C O M

Team LA+! Hosting our Women of Influence party with (from left), Group Publisher Alison Miller, Associate Publisher Valerie Robles, new Vice President of Creative and Fashion Ann Song, and Deputy Editor Erin Magner.

top: The perfect summer evening at the LA Philharmonic’s always

fabulous Hollywood Bowl kickoff with my box mate and Brit twin, Nigel Lythgoe. above: An aphrodisiacal evening of oyster tasting and Cloudy Bay wine sipping at Rare by Drai’s with Account Director Elizabeth Moore (left) and Tiffany Carey.

Fashion Forward! The peacock may strut its stuff in the wild, but here in Los Angeles it’s the peahen that makes its mark.

The city is filled with ergonomically splendid females—of the human variety.

Radiating from grass-fed diets (read: vegan), copious hydrations from state-ofthe-earth aquifers, and, okay, the occasional colonic/Restylane/mini-tuck to take off any hard edges, Angelenas look good in clothes— skinny jeans to Saint Laurent couture.

That’s fashion in our city, isn’t it? If the body rocks, the clothes can’t miss a beat.

If LA gals haven’t always monopolized the international best-dressed lists, they can certainly take satisfaction that they’d score very high marks on any best-undressed list.

Tattoos and all… sexy is always fashionable.

So is brainy. This month, Ann Song joins our team as vice president of creative and fashion. Ann is a fashion genius with a preternatural ability to discern a good photograph, a good layout, from a bad one.

She is uncompromising, laser-focused, and sometimes maddeningly single-minded in an old-school way. Forward-thinking, hyperconnected, a lover of emerging talent in a very new-fangled way. It’s a heady combo, a perfect formula as the company moves both

journalistically and now graphically to the next level.

It’s also personally gratifying to me to team up again with Ann, my “office wife” for seven jam-packed years at our previous posts at another luxury lifestyle magazine company, where we together dreamed, planned, fought, made up, and ultimately collaborated—both our visions intact yet enhanced in the end. It was a perfect work love affair.

Los Angeles loves second acts. Not entrenched in Paris/New York tradition, fashionistas in town are reinventing themselves, Hollywood-style, in a sudden burst of creativity that is putting LA squarely on the global fashion map. In “Retours de Force” (page 150), another old colleague and dear friend, journalist Alexandria Abramian, canvases seven of the city’s fashion darlings, from a stylist to the stars who is launching a womenswear line to LA’s T-shirt designer nonpareil who is poised to become the country’s queen of high-end jeans. A-list style addicts from East Coast to West are collectively perched on the edge of their front-row runway seats.

So as we welcome Ann Song here in LA and applaud her and her talented and hard-working team in New York for LA Confidential’s new look and new fashion attitude, remember to embrace “style” wherever you find it… And never be afraid to keep on reinventing.

spencer beck

Stay up to date with all that’s going on in LA at la-confidential-magazine.com.

photography by Loui SagaStume (Lythgoe); reza aLLah-bakhShi (moore); CheLSea Lauren (miLLer)

Letter from the editor-in-Chief

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letter

From the Publisher

LAC and DTLA welcome MOCA’s Philippe Vergne and Sylvia Chivaratanond to LA at WaterMarke Tower; celebrating Los Angeles Nomadic Division’s fifth year at a beach bash with Shamim Momin and Shay Watson.

Haute couture is Hot once more! As I write this note, the prelude

A beautiful evening at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home, cohosted by Westime Watches and benefiting After-School All-Stars (with Isaiah Mustafa and the former governor himself).

to our annual Fall Fashion issue, images from Paris Haute Couture Week are flooding my inbox. As expected, Dior, Chanel, and Schiaparelli astounded with their exotic materials, eccentric points of reference, and extravagantly produced runway shows, while Valentino took my breath away with this year’s timeless, yet contemporary pagan goddess-meetsmystical-Hellenic heroine garments. It occured to me that haute couture is suddenly so—dare I say it—wearable?

When did this happen? Flats with gowns?

Pre-8 pm daywear on a couture runway?

It seems haute couture is making a big comeback from near extinction just a few years back. Demand for made-to-measure is nearing an all-time high, due in large part to a younger Chinese, Russian, and Middle Eastern consumer.

Previously a landscape dominated by wedding and awards-season gowns, today’s couture offerings cater to entirely new jet-setting—and far more

casual—fashionistas. Locally we see the benefits of this visiting international traveler as well. Thanks to a favorable exchange rate, a destination-driven vacation shopping market now leads sales at our local luxury fashion retailers.

If prêt-à-porter is more your style, there are several great local options to capture the fall fashion spirit. Fashion Island and LAC have teamed up with our contributor Damsel in Dior blogger Jacey Duprie to help celebrate Style Week the second and third weeks of September. The schedule for special runway shows, designer personal appearances, and a fashion competition by FIDM students can be found at styleweekoc.com. In the LA area, Beverly Hills’s iconic luxury retailer Neiman Marcus welcomes shoppers to its refreshed and expanded space on Wilshire Boulevard. New York, Paris, Milan, LA— fashion inspiration and opportunity abound this season. I, for one, am falling for fall fashion!

alison miller Stay up to date with all that’s going on in LA at la-confidential-magazine.com.

photography by Stefanie Keenan (momin), peter grigSby (Schwarzenegger)

from left:

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elietahari.com

Tony Duran Tony Duran’s always-recognizable images radiate an iconic, sensual style. He shoots A-list celebrities like Beyoncé and J.Lo, as well as the freshest faces in the fashion industry. Duran’s work has appeared in magazines such as GQ, Elle, Interview, Treats, Flaunt, and Rolling Stone. This month he photographed LAC’s cover star, Lizzie Caplan.

What was your inspiration for this shoot? It was the frst time I met Lizzie so I didn’t have any specifc inspiration. You have to give it room to breathe. But I loved her in Mean Girls.

After the shoot, I watched an episode of Masters of Sex and I was hooked! I watched the whole season in one sitting.

How do you get your subjects to relax on set? I like to speak to them candidly before a shoot. They are often nervous and out of their element. It’s important for both of us to acknowledge that, fnd a common ground, and go into it with confdence and security.

What surprised you most about Lizzie? She inspired me with her love for fashion. She has a great eye for clothes and knows what she likes. She has attitude and confdence and she makes the clothes look cool.

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// september 2014

KaThryn Drury Wagner

Finn-olaF Jones

alexanDria abramian

Kathryn Drury Wagner is a writer and editor based in LA. She blogs on vintage style at The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything, and this month she profles the queen of digital branding, Raina Penchansky. (“Absolutely Collab-ulous,” page 110).

A former fnancial analyst, Finn-Olaf Jones’s journalism career began when Forbes picked up his musings about a climb up Aconcagua in the Andes. Today, Jones also contributes to Architectural Digest, The New York Times, and National Geographic Traveler. For LAC this month he visits the Masters… of horse jumping (“Slam Jump,” page 93).

Alexandria Abramian has written for the Los Angeles Times, Elle Décor online, Veranda, Sunset, The Financial Times, and was a columnist for House Beautiful. In 2012, Alexandria wrote Nathan Turner’s American Style: Classic Design and Effortless Entertaining for Abrams Books.

This month she profles six infuencers who are reinventing themselves and the fashion industry. (“Retours de Force,” page 150).

What was the most surprising thing you learned about digital branding?

How people can build a viable business by doing what they love and being who they are. It’s inspiring.

How would you describe your own digital brand?

Witty, useful, lambent, emerging.

Why has LA become the digital media epicenter?

Los Angeles abounds with creative, upbeat, ambitious people who appreciate style, design and self-expression.

The kind of content that comes from that mindset is very appealing.

So, why isn’t LA horsier?

After World War II, LA was transformed from a Western city into a world city and with that it sacrifced a tolerance for horses. When neighbors of Will Rogers Park complain about the horse smell from the stables, I wonder if they have any idea that those stables were there almost a century before their McMansions.

Do you ride? I’ve had the reverse riding career. My grandfather was on the Danish Olympic equestrian team and was always trying to get me up on a horse when I was a kid. I thought it was super dull then. Now I love it.

What is the “next big thing” in the LA Fashion scene? It’s all about zeroing in on that nexus of style and comfort -- the sexiness that comes from feeling good in your skin.

What is the most surprising thing you learned while doing this story? Every designer I interviewed was as passionate about creating a great work environment as they were about making beautiful clothes. There were dogs, babies, and lots of life in all of the studios.

What is your favorite “off the beaten path” shopping experience in LA? The Beehive in Manhattan Beach.

It’s the perfect place for laidback pieces that you don’t see everywhere in LA.

photography by tonyduran.net (duran); Michael healey (abraMian)

...WiThouT Whom this issue would not have been possible

est. 1818

ro d e o d r i ve

f i g u e roa st r e e t

we st f i e l d c e n t u ry c i ty

fas h i o n i s l a n d

ga r d e n s o n e l pas e o

la jolla

f o ru m s h o p s at ca e sa rs

b ro o k s b rot h e rs.c o m

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the list september 2014

Laverne Cox

Dimitri James

Libby Amelia

Dustin Lancaster

Philip Pretty

Joe Sgro

Alana Littler

Jamie Rosenthal

Lauren Gill

Ali Fatourechi

Ricardo Zarate

Leah Hundsness

Dr. Dre

Joseph Morelli

Anisa Noor

Jon Reyman

Avery Anderson

Jorge Llauro

Liz Edlich

Alan Newman

Heather Cereghino

Alexis Clarbour

Heather Mycoskie

Stacey Steinmetz

Rachel Edlich

Robert Bane

Mark Ruffalo

Tom Trellis

Ariel Veith

Janet Nolet

Dustin Trani

Barton G. Weiss

Marisa Ritts

Megan O’Neil

Jens Grede

Paul Ryan Elliott

Erik Torstensson

Omar Johnson

Alec Martinez

Savannah Stranger

Rebecca Jelfo

Jack Antonoff

Liv Ballard

Erik Schnakenberg

James K. Dreesen

Jimmy Iovine

Elisabeth Weinstock

Sasha Koehn

Jenny Hanna

Gregg Ruth

Elon Musk

Ayindé Howell

Maya Brenner

Roger Merians

Grace Veale

Zoë Eisenberg

Stephen McPherson

Corina Limon Madilian

Alex Guarachi

Julia Carmona

Mark Beringer

Sam Smith

Natasha Cornstein

Lauren Katzberg

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STYLE Tastemaker A cut above: Giorgio Armani painstakingly fits a model in one of his timeless designs.

ToTe Va Bene!

photography © roger hutchings / network photographers

H’wood fave GiorGio ArmAni celebrates His big 8-0 witH a classic new bag… and oH-socool kicks. by bryn kenny As Hollywood devotees Anne Hathaway, Julia Roberts, and Reese Witherspoon can attest, Giorgio Armani symbolizes the very essence of effortless chic. From the original deconstructed suiting of Armani’s first collection in 1975 to the minimalist mod designs of today, there is a timeless element to the Armani aesthetic. So it comes as no surprise that the brand’s new Borgonuovo bag, a versatile yet luxurious tote named for Giorgio Armani’s longtime address on Via Borgonuovo in Milan, seems destined to become a go-to for LA’s red-carpet set.

“I wanted to condense the sense of purity and surprise that I see in the arts district of Brera, specifically that of Via Borgonuovo, where I have lived since 1982, into continueD on PAGe 76

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STYLE Tastemaker

Armani greets the crowd at a showing of his Armani Privé collection, part of Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2014 in January of this year. below: Armani and Sophia Loren backstage at the Armani Privé Fall/Winter show in Paris in July 2014; the new Borgonuovo bag.

The Borgonuovo Bag, a luxurious ToTe named for armani’s longTime address in milan, seems desTined To Become a go-To for la’s red-carpeT seT. conTinued from page 75

the Borgonuovo bag,” says Armani, who turned 80 this summer, of his inspiration behind the structuredleather design. “The bag conceals contrasting interiors, just like the austere façades of the buildings on my street, which often conceal beautiful gardens.”

Armani likens the process of creating the Borgonuovo bag to that of creating a tailored blazer. “A classic bag and a tailored jacket are similar in terms of absolute practicality, clean lines,

sophisticated finishes, and the use of quality material,” says Armani.

The front quadrant of the bag is built on canvas, which lends structure to the leather, while a contrasting lining, complete with a sewn-on pocket and snap button, is akin to the lining of a suit. The entire production process is done in Italy by hand. Featuring adjustable handles with buckle accents as well as horizontal and perpendicular seams, the Borgonuovo is available in several colors and

materials, from printed calfskin to vintage crocodile and lizard. The collection, which first launched in Spring 2014 with satchel and handbag designs, will expand for the Autumn/ Winter 2014-15 season to feature several new sizes— small and large shoppers as well as a new bowler case—and a new dark green shade that serves as an unexpected alternative to classic black or gray.

For LA gals who prefer a Runyon Canyon hike rather than a lunch at Cecconi’s,

Armani will also introduce a new line of sneakers for fall called Run. Including styles for both men and women, the line marries Armani’s refined aesthetic with his passion for technology. The sneakers feature a streamlined profile and lightweight construction as well as a rubber midsole and heel stabilizers to absorb shock.

While the sneaker is designed for pounding the pavement, the outer design is pure Armani, all sleek lines and tactile materials such as pony hair, crocodile

skin, and suede.

“I wanted to create sneakers that performed as running shoes, but without taking anything away from aesthetics,” says Armani of the collection. “I applied cutting-edge technologies to the shoe and chose a refined upper with surprising juxtapositions of fine leathers—they are combinations that give the shoes a unique character and make them perfect for everyday life.” 436 n. rodeo dr., Beverly hills, 310-271-5555; armani.com LAC

photography by Michel Dufour/WireiMage (loren); pascal le segretain/getty iMages (runWay shoW)

Nothing is left to chance with Armani’s designs. The maestro continues to see to every detail himself.

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STYLE Accessories LASER CUT Sleek graphic patterns define modern fall style.

Dress, Valentino ($5,200).

360 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-247-0103; valentino.com. Minaudière, Reece Hudson ($1,295).

Barneys New York, 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-276-4400; barneys.com. Booties, Christian Louboutin ($1,595). 650 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, 310-247-9300; christianlouboutin.com

FADE TO BLACK As evening becomes electric this fAll, Accessorize, urbAnize...

FASHION EDITOR: FAYE POWER; MODElS: VAlERY lESSARD AND VERA CASAgRANDE FOR PARTS MODElS

photography by bILL DIoDato styLIng by kaDeem greaves

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STYLE Accessories FUTURISTIC

MENSWEAR

This season, silver adds cool shimmer.

Clean, masculine lines give a new edge to daywear.

BLACK & WHITE Contrasting tones make a bold statement.

Top, Rag & Bone ($295). 8533 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, 424-245-4816; rag-bone. com. Pant, Ralph Lauren Black Label ($665). 141-143 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, 310-2740171; ralphlauren.com.

Bag box, Chanel ($12,000). 400 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-278-5500; chanel. com. Pumps, Manolo Blahnik ($955). Neiman Marcus, 9700 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-550-5900; neimanmarcus.com

Dress, Reed Krakoff ($1,790). Saks Fifth Avenue, South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-540-3233; saks.com.

Rose-gold Arceau Le Temps Suspendu watch, Hermès ($35,100). 434 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-278-6440; hermes.com. Handbag, Giorgio Armani ($2,195).

436 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-271-5555; armani.com. Loafer pumps, Jason Wu ($1,140). Saks Fifth Avenue, see above

FLORALS Autumn flowers are in bloom.

Dress, Hermès ($5,500). 434 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-278-6440; hermes.com. Clutch, Dries Van Noten ($2,015). Mohawk General Store, 4011 Sunset Blvd., LA, 323-669-1601; mohawkgeneralstore. com. Pumps, Jimmy Choo ($625). 240 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-860-9045; jimmychoo.com

FASHION EDITOR: FAYE POWER; MODElS: VAlERY lESSARD AND VERA CASAgRANDE FOR PARTS MODElS

Dress, Stella McCartney ($1,995).

8823 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood, 310-273-7051; stellamccartney.com.

Bracelet, Lanvin ($2,290). 260 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-402-0580; lanvin.com. Handbag ($3,400) and wedges (price on request), Prada. 343 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-278-8661; prada.com

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STYLE Secret LA New Yorkers come here aNd theY’re rabid. You caN’t fiNd thiNgs iN maNhattaN the waY You caN here.

—richard wainwright

Paradise New/Found

Downtown’s over-the-top, unDer-the-raDar new/FounD is a vintage seeker’s shangri-la.

from above: Richard Wainwright; at

New/Found, vintage clothing from the likes of Chanel and Jil Sander shares space with one-of-a-kind jewelry and other unique accessories.

Sitting at an oversize marble desk in his appointment-only vintage fashion lair, New/Found, owner Richard Wainwright explains what all the cool LA girls crave: “They want to be on-trend, but they want something that’s unique. You can only have so many It bags, and then you want something cool that no one else has.”

And for that certain something, said cool girls—including LA style icons Kelly Wearstler and Sophia Amoruso—flock to New/Found, a glamorous, light-filled showroom in Downtown’s fashion district.

Wainwright fills the space with an eclectic mix of found vintage clothing, accessories, jewelry, and objects, along with some of his favorite new designers. “For me, it doesn’t matter if it’s from the ’20s or last week. If it’s cool, then I’ll have it.”

On this particular day, a Gianfranco Ferré sequin jacket sits on a rack with a tomato-hued shift from Parisian/American designer Pauline Trigère. A silk Chanel skirt set hangs beside a quintessential Jil Sander dress of draped jersey. “The Armani people just bought a similar version,” adds Wainwright. Indeed, scores of designers from both coasts come to Wainwright’s showroom to source one-of-a-kind pieces, which typically top out at $500.

“New Yorkers come here and they’re rabid,” says Wainwright. “They make piles of stuff. You can’t find things in Manhattan

the way you can here.”

Wainwright’s impressive collection of vintage jewelry and fashion has been decades in the making. As a teen working at Contempo Casuals, Wainwright started collecting and wearing vintage as a solution for cool, affordable clothes.

After getting a degree at FIT, he worked in both set and store design and eventually moved to LA, all the while shopping estate sales and thrift stores. He also began curating jewelry collections for various LA boutiques, including Scout, Library, and Manhattan Beach’s Ivy Blue. “When I saw who [was] buying, I realized there is a market for this,” he says.

In 2010 Wainwright cofounded A Current Affair (itsacurrentaffair.com), a semiannual marketplace in the penthouse of Downtown’s Cooper Design Space, featuring vintage retailers and private dealers. Its next show, taking place on September 27, will feature over 50 vendors.

Though Wainwright is hoping to expand A Current Affair to other cities, he believes that vintage is what makes LA a fashion destination, especially with the pop-cultural emphasis on developing personal style. “Part of the identity of the city is that it’s a vintage capital,” he says.

“I’ve been everywhere, and LA has the best vintage scene….” 860 S. Los Angeles St., Ste. 711, LA, 310-383-5939; newfoundla.com LAC

photoLACrAphy by EmiLy bErL

By Allyson Rees

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STYLE Social Network “I love to rummage through flea markets and fInd orIgInal pIeces for my home.”

—liberty ross

clockwise from left: Liberty Ross

in her collection for Genetic Denim; Frédéric Fekkai on Melrose Place; Opening Ceremony Los Angeles.

Liberty’s League Despite being born in London, model Liberty Ross (full name: Liberty Lettice Lark Ross) has transformed herself into a full-blown SoCal girl. Her collaboration this fall with LA’s Genetic Denim brings the diverse London influences of her youth together with the laid-back luxury of her adopted hometown. Says Ross: “I’m British, but spent the first eight years of my life in my dad’s roller boogie palace in LA.” (In addition to founding ’60s pirate radio station Radio Caroline, her dad, Ian Ross,

also opened the now-defunct Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace in Hollywood.) Her eclecticism is reflected in the capsule collection of denim pieces as well as her favorite LA haunts.

Ross lives in her Genetic jeans (Curve, 154 N. Robertson Blvd., LA, 310-360-8008; geneticdenim.com); she also shops at Reformation (8253 Melrose Ave., LA, 323-8520005; thereformation.com) for its “LA-based, eco-friendly designs” as well as Opening Ceremony (451 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood,

310-652-1120; opening ceremony.us), where friend and fellow Angeleno Jeremy Scott’s line is sold. “He’s been my rock in this town since I moved here 10 years ago,” says Ross.

For beauty treatments, Ross prefers to have parties at home with her girlfriends, but will take a trip to Frédéric Fekkai when needed (8457 Melrose Pl., LA, 323-655-7800; fekkai.com). “I also recently came across Milk by Reverie (23920 Summerhill Lane, Valencia, 661-297-2900; gmreverie.com), a cream

treatment for your hair, which was created by LA hairstylist Garrett Markenson,” she says.

A huge fan of baths, Ross loves to soak at home; otherwise, it’s off to the Montage Beverly Hills (225 N. Canon Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-860-7840; montagehotels.com), where “the salt pool is incredibly healing.”

Growing up on Portobello Road in London has afforded Ross an offbeat taste. “My parents still have a market stall there every Sunday,” she shares. “I love to rummage through flea markets and find

original pieces for my home.”

A new work was commissioned recently for Ross’s entryway from local artist Alex Israel (Gagosian Gallery, 456 N. Camden Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-271-9400; gagosian.com) and she looks forward to having her English vegetable garden put in by One Gun Ranch (22634 Mansie Lane, Malibu, 310-4563810; 1gunranch.com) this fall.

“My family and I will soon be harvesting our own veggies and fruits—farm to table!” LAC

photography by terry tsiolis (ross)

As she unveils An All-AmericAn denim collection, model Liberty ross flies the flAg for lA. by lauren finney

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Necklace $360 Bracelets from $125

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STYLE Spotlight! beauty

ACE OF FACE

// ABOUT TOWN // 1

BCBG’s Max and Lubov Azria.

In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Nars goes Hollywood with its 40-shade Audacious Lipstick Collection ($32 each). The pigment-rich shades, which range from nudes to siren-

BON CHIC, BON ANNIVERSAIRE

inspired reds, are named after famous

BCBG’s 25th birthday celebration is in full swing following a retrospective at the brand’s LA headquarters earlier this year. Archival pieces are available for sale on the website, while fans can still snap up an exclusive collection of biker jackets with proceeds benefiting after-school program LA’s Best. 8634 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 310-360-0946; bcbg.com

leading ladies such as Raquel, Rita, Audrey, and, of course, Grace.

8412 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, 310-623-1730; nars cosmetics.com

à la mode

MAX MARA GETS INTO THE CUSTOM SUITING GAME. By Lauren Finney

HEDI STUFF

Max Mara is once again taking 9-to-5 style to the next level with the new Tailored Suit Project, a capsule collection aimed at giving women a custom suiting experience. The collection revolves around the jacket, which comes in four functional, precisely fitted styles—including single- and double-breasted pieces and a tuxedo option—as well as various wool weights and colors. Each jacket is meticulously tailored and hand-threaded and takes more than 345 minutes to craft. 451 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-3859343; maxmara.com

// adornments//

FIVE SHADES OF GRAY

Dolce & Gabbana ($2,495). 312 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-888-8701; dolcegabbana.com

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Annabella ($32).

Mark Cross ($2,495). Barneys New York, 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-276-4400; barneys.com

After a year of construction, Hedi Slimane’s newest concept store for Saint Laurent opens this month, making it the house’s largest space for women. At nearly 10,000 square feet, it will reflect Slimane’s modern Art Deco approach to retail, harboring three floors of ready-to-wear, accessories, and a VIP salon. Saint Laurent-crazed guys will also have a dedicated space down the street; the temporary store was transformed into a flagship-size boutique.

326 N. Rodeo Dr. and 469 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, no phone at press time; ysl.com

ARM CANDY YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO RESIST.

Nina Ricci ($1,850). Barneys New York, 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-276-4400; barneys.com

Prada ($3,200). 343 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-278-8661; prada.com

Ralph Lauren ($2,500). 141 N. Robertson Blvd., LA, 310-274-0171; ralphlauren.com

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SETH OLENICK (BAGS)

To the Max

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STYLE Watches

Stealing time

In LA, AffordAbLe eLegAnce Is ALwAys chIc. By RoBeRta Naas

clockwise from top: This 1979

Style and restraint are not mutually exclusive.

A number of respected watch brands are catering to the demands of savvy LA women, who want both high quality and design at a sensible price. These exceptional timepieces satisfy both by being on trend and on budget.

For more watch features and expanded coverage, go to la-confidential-magazine.com/ watches. LAC

88

timepiece ($2,495) from Alor Swiss Watches is crafted in stainless steel with a mother -of-pearl dial and 184 diamonds on the double bezel.

The rigid but comfortable bracelet emulates a piece of jewelry. Feldmar Watch Company, 9000 W. Pico Blvd., LA, 310-274-8016; alor.com.

The TAG Heuer Carrera ($5,400) is a 36mm steel watch that houses the brand’s Caliber 5 automatic

movement. The watch is accented with diamonds and a mother-of-pearl dial. Westime, 254 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-270-0000; tagheuer.com.

The Tudor Glamour Date watch ($5,100) is designed in stainless steel and sprinkled with 60 diamonds. It houses a self-winding mechanical movement and is waterresistant to 100 meters.

Tourneau, South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-850-0222; tudorwatch.com. Hamilton’s

Jazzmaster Lady Quartz watch ($1,145) is a 34mm stainless steel timepiece with 60 small diamonds around the bezel.

Westime, 10800 West Pico Blvd., LA, 310-470-1388; hamiltonwatch.com Scarf, Brunello Cucinelli ($1,455). 9534 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills, 310-724-8118; brunellocucinelli.com. Bag ($3,400) and wallet ($580).

Prada. 343 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-278-8661; prada.com

Styling by ChriS Stone

PhotogRaPhy By Jeff CRawfoRd

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giuseppe zanotti design

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STYLE Giving Back

Wings of Love

Haute Handbag designer Deborah Sawaf of tHalÉ blanc gives a flutter of Hope to tHe cHildren’s Hospital of los angeles. by lauren finney altruism with a line of bags and jewelry called Flutter of Hope by Thalé Blanc.

Twenty percent of proceeds from the collection are donated to pediatric cancer research at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

Daughter Talia’s obsession with butterflies formed the basis for the current Flutter of Hope collection. “It wasn’t intentional [on Talia’s part], but butterflies are a sign of new beginnings and hope,” says Sawaf. “We hope every family that has been touched with pediatric cancer will

have a chance at a new beginning.”

Along with their designs for Flutter of Hope, Sawaf’s three children choose a project every year that’s 100 percent philanthropy-driven.

“I leave it to them to take it wherever they want it to go,” says Sawaf. “[Husband and business partner] Bashar and I support them, but the ideas are theirs and the work is theirs.” Her son, Nicholas, has raised almost $50,000 for pediatric cancer research himself, and her other two children are heavily involved

“Butterflies are a sign of new Beginnings and hope.”

—deborah sawaf

in volunteer work as well.

Says Sawaf, “It’s not just about writing a check. It’s really about being there physically, working to make a difference. As parents in an overcommitted society, we think we don’t have the time, but somehow we need

to make time. It’s about teaching kids to be generous.” Flutter of Hope by Thalé Blanc handbags ($1,100 each) are available at Church Boutique, 7277 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, 323-876-8887; thale blanc.com. LAC

photography by shawn blair (sawaf)

Deborah Sawaf believes in instilling the power of philanthropy in children from an early age. “Giving back is part of our family commitment,” says the designer behind Thalé Blanc, a line of luxury handbags sold at Harvey Nichols in the United Arab Emirates, Luisa via Roma in Italy, and Church Boutique in LA. Born in India, Sawaf worked abroad with the International Justice Mission, Unicef, and more before finally settling in Bel Air; she’s now continuing her clan’s commitment to

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Advertising copyright © 2014 ALOR International LTD. All designs copyright © ALOR International LTD.

alor.com

NORDSTROM o r F o r a r e ta i l e r n e a r yo u v i s i t a l o r . c o m o r c a l l 1 - 8 0 0 - u s a - a l o r

CULTURE Hottest Ticket

The Los Angeles Masters Grand Slam Indoor was announced at the 2013 Longines Hong Kong Masters. Here, Henrik Von Eckermann, winner of that event, during the competition.

SLAM JUMP!

THIS MONTH, GLOBAL EQUESTRIAN EXTRAVAGANZA THE MASTERS GRAND SLAM INDOOR IS RIDING INTO LA FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.

PHOTOGRAPHY © MGSI

BY FINN-OLAF JONES

Why isn’t LA horsier? Settled by ranchers, populated by movie cowboys, and blessed with arguably the best riding terrain of any major city, LA should be one of the planet’s equine hot spots. Yet strangely, not since the 1984 Olympics has the city held any world-class equestrian events. That’s about to change on September 25-28, when LA is set to follow Paris and Hong Kong in hosting the Masters Grand Slam Indoor horse-jumping competition. Twenty-five of the world’s top-ranked riders will face off atop CONTINUED ON PAGE 94

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CULTURE Hottest Ticket

a sawdust course in the Los Angeles Convention Center for a million-dollar purse.

“LA offers a unique combination of spectacular sporting action, lifestyle entertainment, and redcarpet attendance,” says Christophe Ameeuw, founder and CEO of EEM World, the organizers and creators of the Masters Grand Slam Indoor. It’s going to be a scenic affair, full of ancient ritual, as riders in the classic uniform—knee-high leather boots, white riding britches, and olive-colored jackets with white shirt and tie—climb atop their gleaming horses to perform elegant ballerina leaps across small pools (“liverpools” in horse parlance) and fences.

“I’ve been training for the past five years in Germany” says hometown hero Lucy Davis of Brentwood, one of the competition’s favorites.

Having come from three generations of Angelenos active in horsemanship (her grandfather, Robert Barron Frieze, was a prominent jockey agent), the blonde beauty gained overnight fame last September when she unexpectedly beat two Olympic medalists to win the Grand Prix of Lausanne, Switzerland. At 20, she was the youngest rider ever to win the Longines Global Champions Tour. She got a standing ovation from the usually subdued crowd.

But that subdued crowd is also unusually colorful.

As with Wimbledon, Ascot, and other blue-blooded sporting events, horse jumping attracts the well heeled and well bred, and much of the best action and people-watching will be happening outside the arena. “If horse racing is the sport of kings, horse jumping is the sport of emperors,” says another SoCal favorite, Richard Spooner, who currently lives in the horse-friendly prairie of Acton, just east of Los Angeles, and who will be riding his 16-year-old gelding, Cristallo. “You have to remember, although this hasn’t become as big a sport in LA as in the rest of the world, it attracts the crème de la crème, not just from Europe and South America, but also from the Middle East.”

If past Grand Prix are any indication, expect to

continued from page 93

clockwise from top left: Horses greet each other at the 2013 Gucci Paris Masters; Reed Kessler at the Gucci Paris Masters; well-heeled and -fed spectators watch the Grand Prix competition at the 2014 Longines Hong Kong Masters.

gelding, Barron, after recently finishing her senior year of architectural studies at Stanford.

Even for those not familiar with the nuances of horse jumping, the Grand Prix, on the third day of the competition, is an edge-of-the-seat spectacle; a speed race among finalists, where whoever goes the fastest around the course without knocking down an obstacle will walk away with the prize. “For that kind of payday, we’re going to be going a lot faster than we probably should,” laughs Spooner.

Will this competition mean LA might finally claim its heritage as a world-class city for horsemanship? “Our goal is to establish Los Angeles as home to the American leg of the Masters Grand Slam Indoor for the long term,” says Ameeuw. “Just like Paris and Hong Kong, we want to establish the Longines Los Angeles Masters as an iconic rendezvous on the social and sporting calendar.” LAC masters grand Slam indoor will take place September 25–28 at the Los angeles convention center, 1201 S. figueroa St., La, 213741-1151; mastersgrandslam.com.

photography © MgSI

see equestrian fans and luminaries such as French movie star Marion Cotillard, European and Arab royals, and even Bruce Springsteen and Michael Bloomberg (whose daughters are both professional jumpers)—not to mention Hollywood’s own royalty— wandering amid the pop-up stores for Gucci, Hermès and Longines (the competition’s title sponsor and official timekeeper). If you’re hankering to get royally fed for the weekend, plunk down $18,750 per six-seat table to nibble caviar-sprinkled scallops carpaccio and other delicacies prepared by chef Yves Mattagne, who has been awarded double Michelin stars—that’s two more than the Convention Center’s tried-and-true Levy Restaurants concession stand has.

Oh yeah, and there’s also going to be horse jumping. Once you tear yourself away from the red carpets and Rodeo Drive-like attractions, notice individual riders dismounting to pace out the distances between obstacles like a golfer measuring his next swing: They’re planning striding strategies— the crux to winning the competition.

“You want to know your horse’s exact pace for optimum striding,” says Davis, who now spends the bulk of her time training with her 10-year old Belgian

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culture Art Full D*sign of the times: Artist D*Face’s work—including Guilty Pleasures, 2013, shown here—slyly comments on celebrity and commerce.

Exhibit D*

Changing lanes and crossing lines—social, economic, cultural, not to mention the striped lines demarcating avenues, boulevards, and other thoroughfares? It’s all part of the urban oeuvre of British street artist D*Face, aka Dean Stockton, whose pop-up exhibition “Scars and Stripes” unfurls on September 26, takes place on Robertson Boulevard, and debuts 30 large-scale portraits, sculptures, and installations as well as two limitededition prints. He is also creating two public murals on major city boulevards this month—one of which will address the perils and privilege of “driving culture” (at 11535 W. Pico Boulevard). Talk about full throttle!

Stockton’s cheeky, ironic, sly, and amusingly subversive works have been drawing smirks, chuckles, and increasingly large price tags since the professional illustrator and graphic designer gave up his day job in the early aughts to focus full-time on his art. “First was square head, a dysfunctional character, kind of like me,” says Stockton, sitting in his Shoreditch, London, studio and describing a career that started with a “hand-done” sticker of a simple, minimally articulated square head that he pasted on neighborhood posts and public places before going farther afield. “It was naïve, nothing more to it, a selfish act, but as people started noticing the stickers and relating to them, I put them throughout London.”

More attention followed. First from small galleries in Barcelona, which Stockton explains was the epicenter of “urban art” as such monikers were just starting to be minted, followed by a collaboration with Mr. Street Art himself, Banksy. “I did a print of the Queen with wings at her temples and a protruding tongue,” says Stockton, a born-and-bred Londoner who gives his age at “between 35 and 45,” and describes his style as “aPOPcalyptic:” a ménage of Pop Art and the personal alongside an appraisal of the American dream, notions of “good” trumping “evil,” and the nexus between celebrity, fame, and consumerism.

Appropriate for an exhibition in the world’s dream factory, it’s this nexus that gets its close-up in “Scars and Stripes,” which includes Stockton’s portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Sid Vicious, and other marquee names who “burnt bright and died before the age of 30.” In terms of lasting legacies, the burn-bright-die-young-leave-a-beautiful-corpse Last Act has been a smart career move for a necropolis of actors, musicians, and other meteoric young ’uns with big ambitions. In terms of sales prices for Warhol’s Marilyns and James Deans, its evocation is a smart career move for artists as well. “Scars and Stripes” runs from September 26–October 14, 315 S. Robertson Blvd., LA; dface.co.uk. LAC

photography courtesy of fitz & co.

InternatIonal street art sensatIon D*Face returns to la wIth a bIg new show and a lIttle urbane renewal. By Michael herren

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Culture Spotlight!

A Perfect Duet

performance

Dance with the Diavolo

Location, Location, La Brea!

art

Gallery Goliath DaviD KorDansKy is turninG south la Brea into la’s newest art Destination. By Jamie Wilde The David Kordansky Gallery is getting a pretty impressive 10th-birthday present this month—new digs at the intersection of South La Brea and Edgewood Place (5130 W. Edgewood Pl., LA, 323-935-3030; davidkordanskygallery.com).

Designed by acclaimed architect Kulapat Yantrasast of wHY, the space will be triple the size of the former Culver City location with more than 20,000 square feet of offices, gardens, a library, and two spacious galleries—the better for showcasing Kordansky’s roster of top-tier talent, which includes LA names such as Kathryn Andrews, Aaron Curry, and Elad Lassry. First up: a solo exhibition by New York– based artist Rashid Johnson, (September 13-October 29).

The show, called Islands, will fill both galleries and is set to include an ambitious installation composed of a new series of photographs, items from Johnson’s studio, and found objects from around LA.

On September 12, the Diavolo Dance Company is bringing its energetic blend of dance and acrobatics to The Greek Theatre (greektheatrela.com).

Deemed a performance of “architecture in motion,” Diavolo’s dynamic shows are led by Artistic Director/CalArts grad Jacques Heim and involve a display of synergy between a dozen-plus performers and novel architectural set pieces.

—Avid Khorramian

music

The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s annual Opening Night concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall have brought together acclaimed musicians since 2003, and this year’s star-studded affair will be no exception. On September 30, a gala event will welcome esteemed violinist Itzhak Perlman who, alongside the LA Phil, will be performing a tribute to composing great John Williams (the Oscar- and Grammy-winning duo is known for collaborating on works such as Schindler’s List). “A program that showcases the brilliant work of genius composer John Williams, performed by the legendary Itzhak Perlman and led by Gustavo Dudamel will be a real delight for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and our audience,” says Los Angeles Philharmonic President and CEO Deborah Borda. “We have very long histories with both of these fine artists and look forward to a night that promises to be extraordinary in every way.” Proceeds from this evening will benefit the LA Philharmonic’s music education programs, helping provide unique opportunities to local students, families, and teachers. (laphil.com)—AK

The Los Angeles Philharmonic plays to a packed house at 2013’s opening night concert and gala.

above: Diavolo Dance Company

performs Transit Space with the help of two skateboard ramps.

bounty thriller Michael Wilson’s Tony-noMinaTed Broadway revival of The Trip to Bountiful is coming to the Ahmanson Theatre on September 17 for a seven-week engagement. Star Cicely Tyson won 2013’s Best Actress Tony for her role as Carrie Watts, a headstrong elderly woman who aims to visit to her quaint hometown of Bountiful, Texas, one last time—despite the protests of her son (Blair Underwood) and daughter-in-law (Vanessa Williams).—Amanda Bercovitch

PhotograPhy courtesy of DaviD KorDansKy gallery (Johnson); ranDall Bass anD ilona PiotrowsKi (Diavolo); Mathew iMaging (la Phil)

Ride On by Rashid Johnson, 2012.

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PEOPLE View From the Top A profile in style: Ron Robinson, LA’s grand homme of retail, is moving full-steam “fashion forward” as he approaches his fourth decade in the biz.

The MerchanT of La

For ALMoST 40 yeArS, Ron Robinson’S iconic bouTiqueS AT Fred SegAL hAve Lured ShopperS wiTh The inTAngibLe cALL oF cooL. now, wiTh A recenT expAnSion And AnoTher in The workS, LA’S LegendAry Shop STAr iS poiSed To rock ’n’ roLL ouT A new pLAn For The nexT 40.

photography by elisabeth caren

By Kathryn Drury Wagner

Driving by Fred Segal on Melrose, where the Ron Robinson boutiques are located, you have to lash yourself to the car’s steering wheel à la Odysseus. If not, you’ll be drawn inside the Robinson lair, where movie stars, Hollywood hipsters, and tourists-in-the-know rub elbows in a swank warren of shops that include the namesake men’s sportswear shop; designfocused StylObjects; Lifesize, a children’s boutique; and the hallowed epicenter of beauty stores, Apothia.

As if that weren’t enough, the business recently expanded, picking up continued on page 102

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PEOPLE View From the Top

from left: Robinson with

Rosita Missoni in 2012, and with former LA mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, at Fashion’s Night Out at Ron Robinson/Fred Segal in 2010.

2,000 more square feet continued from page 101 when another retailer retired. That allowed for the addition of womenswear, children’s shoes, and preteen clothing. If it’s stylish, you’ll find it here—and that might include Lady Gaga buying a gift for a baby shower.

“I totally depend on Ron and the store,” says David Geffen’s executive assistant, Priscila Giraldo.

Geffen’s office bestows about 400 gifts each year, so Giraldo starts shopping in September to find the

perfect holiday presents, be they silk pajamas, Beats

by Dre headphones, or Apothia candles.

This ship of chic is helmed by Ron Robinson, who began his retail career in the late 1960s with Fred Segal before opening his own eponymous store in 1978.

Back then, “I did everything. Unpacked the goods, did the displays, sold the goods, wrote the checks,” says Robinson, 60-something. (His use of the past tense notwithstanding, Robinson can still

Robinson’s grandfather, Sam Rosenberg, in his dry goods store in El Paso in the 1940s.

be found polishing the glass doors of his shop today.)

With the store’s reputation for high-quality mer chandise, impeccable taste, and outstanding service, it quickly became a must-stop for every rock god and movie star. Elton John shopped here, as did the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys.

“The shopping was terrific in that time period, the ’60s and ’70s, because the clothes were so expressive,” he says. He remembers seeing Janis Joplin drive up to Fred Segal in her psychedelic Porsche. In the unlikely event someone couldn’t find what they needed, they could head next door to Bob Steinberg’s Fabric Emporium for a custom outfit and a contact high. “That was the norm. It was a wonderful time, an exciting time,” he says.

Robinson grew up in El Paso, Texas, surrounded by retail—his grandfather had a dry goods store, his father worked for a men’s suit company, and his mother was employed in her family’s maternity fashion shop. He moved to LA in the 1960s. “I remember looking at a TV in El Paso and I saw the California beach boys and girls and the great music. I looked out my window and I saw rocks and heat.” LA won.

Over the decades, Robinson honed his team, which includes his wife, Stacy, and Karen Meena, vice president of buying and merchandising, as well as many longtime employees. Whenever new space became available at Fred Segal, Robinson would take the lease. He also became a heavy hitter in the fragrance world, creating 11 Apothia home fragrances that are now distributed worldwide, and, with the input from a panel of 100 customers, a cult perfume called If. continued. on page 104

photography courtesy of ron robinson (missoni, fashion’s night out, rosenberg)

“SometimeS i Say to Stacy, ‘Should we juSt put on Some ShortS and go to the beach and be done?’ and then the right thing comeS along, and you can’t Stop. it’S like a drug.”

—ron robinson

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PEOPLE View From the Top

from left: Art and travel

books share floorspace with fashion at Robinson’s StylObjects Melrose store.

“This is whaT he does, he incubaTes greaT brands. he can spoT a Trend 10 years ouT.” —jenefer palmer who came into the store wearing a pair of glasses of his own design. When Robinson saw them, he pronounced he wanted to sell them; Mothersbaugh’s line of stainless steel eyeglass designs will be available at Ron Robinson starting this month.

“Ron really gets behind a brand,” says Jami Morse Heidegger, who met Robinson around 1975, when her father was running Kiehl’s. When she became the third generation to lead the family business, she says Robinson “helped us develop Kiehl’s nationally.” She still shops there: “If you find a pen, it’s the perfect pen. It’s like a gift museum.”

It may be a museum in the sense that it houses treasures, but there’s no layer of dust gathering here. In May 2014, the Santa Monica location of Ron Robinson closed, when the building at 500 Broadway sold to another corporate entity. But the Melrose location grew, and a bigger leap seems imminent.

“We’re very close to an announcement on how we’re going to expand what we’ve been able to develop here, in another location,” says Robinson.

“Sometimes I say to Stacy, ‘Should we just put on some shorts and go to the beach and be done?’ And then the right thing comes along, and you can’t stop.

It’s like a drug.”

Or, perhaps, a siren call. LAC

An ivy-covered leAgue of his own: Retail’s in his blood:

“as far as you look down the family lineage, there are merchants. it wasn’t what i thought i would do, but i guess the chemistry overcame me. i wanted to be a veterinarian.” the woRld’s shoRtest commute:

robinson once lived in a duplex that was located where the Fred segal parking lot is now. he’s la’s tidiest shoppeR:

“if i’m shopping i put the stuff back on the rack. The salesperson is like, ‘you don’t have to do that,’ and i’m thinking, ‘you don’t get it, i have to do that.’ it’s part of my nature.” the RubbeR met the Road:

in honor of Max robinson’s 21st birthday, father and son went racecar driving in Las Vegas. “now i can’t stop thinking about it,” says robinson. “i want to do it more!”

GeneRation X-tRa!:

“whoopi goldberg has been a customer of ours since she was at The comedy store. she was last in to buy baby gifts for her great-grandchild. That’s the evolution we’ve gone through with just one customer!”

photography by elisabeth caren (books, interior)

conTinued FroM page 102 Creating fragrances, he says, “[is about] fulfilling a storyline. Who is this person in your mind and where do they go? It’s painting that picture and then filling in the dots three-dimensionally with the fragrance.”

Most of all, Robinson earned a reputation as a visionary when it comes to trends.

There’s a “qualification of coolness” that he uses when deciding whether to carry a brand. “Some [designers and entrepreneurs] bring us oddities, but maybe they are ahead of the game and we just haven’t seen it yet. Maybe they have a vision,” he says. Over the years, the process has become innate, happening “in the first millisecond.”

Jenefer Palmer remembers bringing Robinson her vision—a seaweed-based, natural skincare line called Osea—when she first launched. “I tripped over his foot, and I’m giving him my pitch, talking faster and faster, and he’s not saying anything. Finally, with a solemn voice, he goes ‘Okay, I’ll take it,’” she laughs.

“This is what he does, he incubates great brands. He can spot a trend 10 years out.” Osea is now an awardwinning line favored by the likes of Jessica Biel and Olivia Wilde.

Robinson recently spotted a future trend on a wellknown customer, Devo founder Mark Mothersbaugh,

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PEOPLE Talent Patrol INSIGHT: Castle on a Hill:

“I love in-town vacations at the Chateau Marmont.

I wrote two scripts there, and I’ve just had these magical, very personal moments there.” divine dining:

surf ‘n’ turf:

Spencer still makes an effort to surf whenever possible, and Malibu’s County Line Beach is a favorite spot. But you won’t find her driving.

“Anywhere is better when I get there via bike.”

“Two favorite spots of mine are Café Gratitude and Gracias Madre, which is the vegan Mexican restaurant. I’m not vegan, but I just love the food.”

Abigail Force

Surfer-turned-Screen Star AbigAil Spencer iS taking H’Wood

by Storm WitH an a-liSt role in tHiS montH’S celeb-Studded comedy, This is Where i Leave You. By Adrienne GAffney For actress Abigail Spencer, being cast in This Is Where I Leave You was an absolute inevitability. Falling in love with Jonathan Tropper’s 2009 book, she tracked the development of the script for a year and a half and through several incarnations. “I just knew I was going to be in this movie, so we just needed to work it out,” she says with a laugh.

The career-transforming role, which she plays alongside Jane Fonda, Tina Fey, Rose Byrne, and Jason Bateman, will place the actress on a whole other plane. The story centers around the return of Bateman’s character to his childhood home after the death of his father; Spencer plays Bateman’s wife, who has just learned he is having an affair. The part was not a simple one, acknowledges director Shawn Levy, who first noticed Spencer when she screen-tested for his 2006 film Night at the Museum. “It’s rare that I see a movie—much less make a movie—where a character is asked to be so complexly drawn,” he says. “Abigail read beautifully for the role and then, as I recall, sent me a note that showed such insight into the material. In

many ways, Abigail’s role is the most morally complicated, and she pulls it off magnificently.”

This is not the 33-year-old Florida native’s first introduction to the spotlight. The daughter of star surfer Yancy Spencer entered the Little Miss Gulf Breeze pageant at age 3 after her mother vetoed her father’s plans to turn her into the first female surfing champion. Bringing down the house had an intoxicating effect. “I remember that feeling, being 3 years old and having that [impact] on an audience—people just losing it—and that was it. I was like, ‘How do I do more of this?’”

The how was a twisty path. Acting in regional theater led to Spencer getting the opportunity to work with Broadway legend Ann Reinking in New York at age 15. “My dad found surfing at the age of 15, so it was really interesting to mirror finding that obsession, that passion, that addiction at the same age,” she says. Her work with Reinking inspired her to attend the world-famous musical theater program at Carnegie Mellon. But while in New York to audition for the program, a visit to the audience of Live with Regis and Kathie Lee [Gifford] presented an alternate option. A longtime friend of Spencer’s father, Gifford was so enthusiastic about her presence in the crowd that she singled her out on air.

Spencer recalls, “She said, ‘Tell everyone what you’re doing in New York, Abby.’ And I replied, ‘Well, I’m a singer, an actress, and a dancer, auditioning for Carnegie Mellon.’ [I was] 17, super green, just unabashed in my love for what I did, which probably served me well at the time.”

That performance caught the attention of an ABC casting agent, and within months Spencer was cast in All My Children.

After a year, she decamped for Los Angeles and roles in television (a crucial arc on Mad Men, guest-starring on Suits, and a current role on the series Rectify), comedy (with hilarious turns in two web series, Burning Love and Children’s Hospital) and film (Cowboys & Aliens, Oz the Great and Powerful).

It’s only up from here, but that doesn’t mean that Spencer has foresworn a backup plan. She confesses, “Carnegie Mellon said I could come back if it ever didn’t work out!” LAC

photography by Mathew Scott. hair by Laini reeveS with StarworkS artiStS, Manicure by tracey Sutter uSing Dior verniS/cLoutier reMix. Makeup by kayLeen McaDaMS with the waLL group, StyLing by angeL terrazaS. DreSS, rhea costa ($1,700); rheacosta.com; DreSS (worn aS coat), dolce & gabbana ($2,995) 312 N. rodeo dr., Beverly hills, 310-888-8701; dolcegaBBaNa.com; ShoeS, jimmy choo ($595). south coast Plaza, costa mesa, 714-327-0644; jimmychoo.com shot oN locatioN at the Four seasoNs los aNgeles at Beverly hills

Lightning, Camera, Action! Abigail Spencer is ready for her close-up playing a “morally complicated” role in This Is Where I Leave You, opposite Jane Fonda and Tina Fey.

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PEOPLE Talent Patrol Suze says relax! “I was looking for easy access into meditation,” says Suze Yalof Schwartz of the concept behind Unplug.

Hang Zen

$1,400 transcendental meditation courses, or eight-week programs at Olympic Boulevard, 5 pm. A Range Rover cuts you off, causing you to miss the UCLA,” she recalls. “I thought, Why can’t there be somewhere like Drybar, light. Your phone is pinging incessantly with lamentations from needy coworkwhere you can walk in, feel great, and be done? Isn’t meditation supposed to ers. Cranky kids in the backseat are fighting over an iPad. Your face burns, your be simple?” stomach twists, your fists tighten on the steering wheel.

She used her editor’s eye to create the kind of place Typical day in LA? It doesn’t have to be, says Suze Yalof INSIGHT: she wanted to visit—one that teaches accessible techSchwartz. All you have to do is breathe. She’s got proof: Post-meditation indulgences: “In niques in 45 minutes or less, costs just $20 per class, Since April, Schwartz’s team of meditation pros has been this neighborhood, I love going to Milo & Olive and looks as visually appealing as a spa, with a stark teaching stressed-out Angelenos—investment bankers, [café]; Bristol Farms has the best juice; white lobby, cozy seating, and a studio bathed in lawyers, actors, athletes—how to chill out at Unplug, her Sasabune has great sushi, and I meet friends at “purple haze.” (“I was inspired by the James Turrell chic drop-in studio. And according to her, the results have Literati Cafe after class.” exhibition [at LACMA],” she says.) been profound.

Zen 101: “One of my favorite meditation books Though Schwartz has already received an e-mail “There’s one guy who had anger management issues…. is Please Meditate by Olivia Rosewood. I bought from Gwyneth Paltrow and is fielding calls from he came 19 times in a month and a half, and his wife came it when I frst started and read it cover to cover.”

Europe with requests to open studios there, her focus, to thank me. There’s a girl who has Crohn’s disease who dress code: “It’s not about wearing workout for now, is on LA. This fall, she plans to introduce says this is helping her a lot because it’s relieving her stress,” clothes... just come in from work and take your meditation workshops for kids and anxious travelers says Schwartz, 47. She’s also seen some pretty significant jacket off. We get a lot of lawyers in suits.” and bring in guest instructors from around the world. changes herself since starting to meditate four years ago.

“My only intention right now is to get as many people “I’m a little kinder, I appreciate more, I want less.” meditating as possible, because there’s nothing better for you,” she says, citA former editor for Glamour, style correspondent for Good Morning America, ing studies that prove it reduces anxiety, insomnia, overeating, and more. “I and mother of three rambunctious boys, Schwartz is no stranger to stress. After really want people to make it a priority…. it does change your life.” 12401 moving to the Palisades from Manhattan in 2010 for her husband’s job, her Wilshire Blvd., LA, 310-826-8899; unplugmeditation.com LAC mother-in-law suggested Schwartz meditate to relax. “All I could find were

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photography by EMILy bErL

At her new westside meditAtion studio, unplug, former fAshion editor Suze Yalof Schwartz is giving lA A much-needed chill pill. by erin magner

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PEOPLE It Girl

Absolutely Collab-ulous

Forget matinee idols; digital Brand architects’ Raina Penchans y is a star-maker For a new kind oF talent. By Kathryn Drury Wagner “You ought to build your digital brand” doesn’t have the same ring as “You ought to be in pictures,” but these days, stars are born from social media.

Emerging bloggers, Instagram snappers, and YouTube stars have a powerful ally in Raina Penchansky, chief strategy officer of Digital Brand Architects. In many ways, DBA functions much like a traditional management team—negotiating TV and licensing deals, commercials, and brand ambassadorships—but the company also helps top online talent like fashion bloggers Jane Aldridge (Sea of Shoes) and Kelly Framel (The Glamourai) shape their public profiles and expand their influence beyond the blogosphere. In other words, says Penchansky, “We’re about taking people and turning them into brands.”

DBA began in 2010, when three powerful women brought their ideas to the table—literally. The kitchen

table in question belonged to Karen Robinovitz, a former journalist-turned-marketing expert.

Penchansky added her extensive brand development background, honed at Microsoft, Edelman PR, Coach, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Jimmy Choo.

Their third partner, Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, had launched the global social media department at Ralph Lauren. Inspired by the bloggers they’d come in contact with, “We decided to take our cumulative 30-plus years of brand development and apply it to a different kind of brand,” says Penchansky. “We loved and understood what the bloggers were doing, which is taking their point of view to an audience.”

In short order, Penchansky, 39, moved to Los Angeles to oversee the company’s West Coast office.

She explains that while New York remains the epicenter of traditional publishing, LA is the nation’s digital media hot spot; after all, SoCal’s emphasis on

the good life provides ample inspiration for wellness, food, and fashion content.

DBA also has offices in Milan, New York, and Hong Kong, working with a client list of 90 digital influencers. “People are under the illusion that what these bloggers do is easy,” Penchansky says, “but it takes a tremendous amount of energy and hard work.” Even so, it takes a lot more than hard work to make the leap from anonymity to superstardom. The secret sauce that sets digital celebrities apart from the thousands of wannabes, says Penchansky, is “their vibe and their energy.

You’re really attracted to their spirit, and that dictates what you love about them.”

Since debuting in LA, DBA has helped launch a T-shirt collection for Song of Style lifestyle blogger Aimee Song; secured partnerships with Anthropologie, Benjamin Moore, and Lowe’s for interior designer Amber Lewis, of the blog Amber Interiors; and sealed a deal for fashion blogger Shea Marie, of Peace Love Shea, to design a capsule shoe collection with Steve Madden. “If you have a vision, Raina has a vision,” says Lewis.

In the future, Penchansky predicts that we’ll see more “me commerce” from bloggers, wherein they will sell products directly to their own audience instead of through a retailer. Even the entertainment industry is likely to be touched by the blog bonanza in years to come. “Look at Jamie Beck at Ann Street Studio,” she says. “She created a cinemagraph, a photograph with a moving part to it.

She’s now done commercials and will probably direct a feature film.”

Despite her history as a die-hard New Yorker, Penchansky has slipped effortlessly into a West Coast life—she met her husband, producer Ben Duhl, at Eveleigh, moved into a home in the Hollywood Hills, and pals around with Mandy Moore and Minka Kelly. “I think LA is the greatest city in the world,” she says. “We’re in a town that has always been about the ‘talent’…it’s very much what LA was based on. New era, different talent.” LAC

INSIGHT: Social media addiction: “Instagram. The beauty of social media is discovering the unknown.”

Favorite ShopS: “All roads lead to Barneys New York. I love Satine, Melrose Place, and Isabel Marant.

My style is way more casual here.” eatS at: “I’m a die-hard Sushi Park person.”

Wedding dreSS: “I went to the Beverly Hills Courthouse in jeans, which I always wanted to do.”

advice For aSpiring blog StarS: “Focus, put your head down, and just create good content. Don’t worry about monetizing.”

photography by melissa valladares

A blog’s best friend: Raina Penchansky’s company, Digital Brand Architects, is all about “taking people and turning them into brands.”

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PEOPLE Native

Architect Barbara Bestor makes her living exploring— and exploiting (in a good way)—the eclectic nature of Silver Lake.

EastsidE story

Modishly Modern architect BarBara Bestor gleans her inspiration froM the kaleidoscopic, creative confines of silver lake. as told to jen jones donatelli (with recent projects such as the Beats by Dre headquarters in Culver City and the Nasty Gal offices Downtown). Silver Lake is no exception, with Bestor’s distinct stamp on many homes, renovations, and local businesses like Intelligentsia Coffee and Yolk. How does this eclectic area keep her creating?

“Silver Lake has always been a creative stomping ground for LA residents. A hundred years ago, Mack Sennett did all these films here, and Buster Keaton lived on Alvarado—it was where you lived if you were a cre­ ative in the movie business. Not coincidentally, Silver Lake is also the setting for all these amazing architectural master­ pieces from the 1920s onward. The area is filled with really great houses that are more eccentric than your average straight modernist Palm Springs house. On almost every block, there’s a Richard Neutra or Rudolph Schindler.

One of my personal favorites is Schindler’s How House. It’s like an exper­ i ment in geometry—crazy, precise, historical. The CoNTINuED oN PG 114

photography by Melissa Valladares

When the popular Sisters of Los Angeles souvenir line debuted in 2012, the first neighborhood it paid homage to was Silver Lake— and cocreator Barbara Bestor wouldn’t have had it any other way. “The first image we made was an abstract graphic of the sunset over the reservoir; we printed 20,000 copies and they sold out,” says Bestor of the colorful mugs, candles, and totes.

“We wanted to use simple graphics as a way of breaking new ground and creating an identity for the city.”

Exploring Silver Lake’s identity is nothing new for Bestor, a longtime resident, architect, and author of Bohemian Modern: Living in Silver Lake. “The book traces this alternative modernist track that’s not all about minimalism and aestheticism, but instead [about] embracing the quirky and using your house as a way to experiment,” explains Bestor. “By showing portraits of people and where they live, it uses Silver Lake as a microcosm of this alternative way of being urban people.”

Though Bestor’s deep, vibrant architectural portfolio spans projects all over California and beyond, her professional GPS often points her back to Los Angeles

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One of Bestor’s Silver Lake design projects is the Sunset outpost of Intelligentsia Coffee. below from left: Bestor is a longtime fan-turned-friend of Silver Lake handbag designer Clare Vivier; Rudolph Schindler’s How House.

“At tHiS point you cAn go AnyWHeRe in tHe WoRLd And SAy you’Re fRoM SiLveR LAke And peopLe ActuALLy knoW WHAt tHAt iS.” —barbara bestor house has been meticulously restored, and it exemplifies Schindler’s “space architecture” theory—focusing on the experience of the space on the inside rather than the exterior. For me, the house is a real touchstone; Schindler is my main inspiration in architecture.

I’m also inspired by John Lautner’s house on Micheltorena, just down the street from his most famous work (the “Silvertop” house). Lautner built it for himself when he was just starting out as a young architect—it’s a wooden, cabinlike home with a gorgeous view. Like so many houses in Silver Lake, it’s a tiny jewel box that fits in well with the topography and steep hillsides. Though not as well continued fRoM pg 112

known as “Silvertop,” it’s an important part of the Lautner legacy.

A somewhat surprising place to see classic architecture is the Meadow. It’s a recent LA Parks project, in which the city has taken back a big chunk of land around the Silver Lake reservoir that was formerly fenced off and populated by coyotes. Now there’s a running path and a very expansive landscape, packed with families and trees and impromptu yoga classes. I walk around the reservoir almost every day—it’s so beautiful. At the Meadow, there’s a walkway that goes to the Neutra VDL House, one of the few publicly accessible modern houses. The surrounding neighborhood is called

Neutraland; the city offers maps for exploring it.

The creativity extends well beyond architecture in Silver Lake. One of my favorite places is the Bootleg theater, a 1930s warehouse on Beverly near Alvarado. It acts as both a progressive, alternative music venue and an incubator for original theater, dance, and performance art. It’s got a very mom-and-pop feel—the owners are married, and they always tip me off on what to see.

Another haven for creatives is speranza on Hyperion. The co-owner, Jens Hommert, was an architect for Rem Koolhaas; he fell into having this restaurant, and it’s become a canteen for artists and architects. At Speranza, you feel like you could be anywhere in Europe; the furniture is all collectible and informal, sourced from Amsterdam Modern.

As for myself, I’ve been living within a five-mile radius of Silver Lake since I first moved to Los Angeles 25 years ago—from Los Feliz to Echo Park to Silver Lake adjacent. I think of the area as “the four boroughs.” My current house in Silver Lake was remodeled from a 1946 bungalow known as the Swan House; when I saw its heart-shaped swimming pool, it was like a Jayne Mansfield moment.

I also work in Silver Lake. My office is based there, and I’ve worked on many local design projects, including Clare Vivier. I bought one of Clare’s handbags early on when she started her line; she’d found a great location, but the building was somewhat generic. We designed it to look like a French storefront in Paris, with mullioned windows and the name in gold paint. (It turns out Paris-Silver Lake is somewhat of a “thing” in Fashionland.)

On that note, I feel like at this point you can go anywhere in the world and say you’re from Silver Lake and people actually know what that is. It’s almost become representative of Los Angeles as a whole to a certain demographic of creative workers. Silver Lake keeps attracting more and more people, and it’s easy to see why.” lac

Bestor’s Best Bootleg theater (2220 Beverly Blvd., 213-

389-3856; bootlegtheater.org) Clare ViVier (3339 W. Sunset Blvd., 323-665-

2476; clarevivier.com) how house (2422 Silver Ridge Ave.) intelligentsia Coffee (3922 W. Sunset Blvd., 323-663-6173; intelligentsiacoffee.com) John lautner house (2007 Micheltorena St.) neutra VDl house (2300 Silver Lake Blvd.;

neutra-vdl.org) silVer lake MeaDow (2270-2298 Silver Lake Blvd.; SilverLakeresevoirs.org) speranza (2547 Hyperion Ave., 323-644-1918)

photography by melissa valladares (coffeeshop, boutique); tim street-porter (how house)

PEOPLE Native

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PEOPLE Spirit of Generosity

Elissa Kravetz in the LA office of Kravetz PR; Kravetz and one of her staff members at a Farley Project event held at a local school; two students from Century Academy For Excellence middle school participating in a Farley Project anti-bullying workshop.

Back to School

LA fAshion fLAck ELissA krAvEtz is tAking thE fArLEy ProjEct’s “kindnEss curricuLum”—And A PErsonAL story—to A schooL nEAr you.

BuLLy for hEr! By Michael Ventre A middle-school bathroom is not a preferred location in which to eat lunch. But when you’re a seventh-grader, and all your friends have suddenly turned their backs on you for no apparent reason, and you’re getting gum put in your hair, eggs thrown at you, having the words “Die Bitch” spray-painted on your locker, having your shoes lit on fire, having to sleep with your parents each night because you feel sad and alone and afraid… you take sanctuary where you can get it.

“I realized when I got hit with an egg that it wasn’t safe for me [in the school cafeteria]

anymore,” Elissa Kravetz, now a successful public-relations executive based in Los Angeles, recalls of one horrific school year while growing up in Framingham, Massachusetts. “I would pretend to be sick. But when I couldn’t pretend to be sick anymore, I’d go eat in the bathroom.”

There is no consensus as to why bullies engage in bullying. But there does seem to be universal agreement that the effects of bullying remain with the victims for years. Recognition of that painful reality, and her own excruciating experiences as a

youngster, led Kravetz to create The Farley Project, an anti-bullying nonprofit dedicated to spreading the word in schools—to bullies and their victims alike, as well as all young people—that kindness is the way to go.

“It’s been amazing,” Kravetz says of her threeplus-year effort. “I feel this is why I was put on this planet.”

What caused her to act and embrace the anti-bullying effort came more from a lengthy personal exploration than one epiphany. Her journey took the scenic route.

She made many stops along the way—Kabbalah, yoga, a

trip to India, hypnotherapy, even boxing workouts to punch the lights out of haunting faces. She was searching for something, but she wasn’t sure what, or why.

While seeing a therapist, Kravetz came to mentor a young girl named Ariel, who was experiencing the same kind of senseless mean-spiritedness from classmates that she once endured.

Later, in June 2010, Kravetz was asked to speak before an anti-bullying school assembly at Elmhurst Elementary School in Ventura. “I said, ‘I’m not giving an assembly. I can’t

even talk about it without crying,’” she remembers. But she stepped up, and opened up, about that one incredibly upsetting school year—in front of 500 kids. Not long after, she was asked to speak at a summer camp in New Hampshire, and she received a check for $400—a fee that she didn’t want, didn’t ask for, and tried to refuse.

“I kept it in my wallet for a couple of months,” says Kravetz, who runs the firm Kravetz PR with her New York-based sister Jessica; they rep high-end fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands continued on pg 118

photography by Melissa Valladares (kraVetz); courtesy of Jordan kleinMan (t-shirt eVent); chad J. Wilson/#urfaMo.us co. llc (students hugging). kraVetz’s office Wall coVering by carl robinson Wallpaper

clockwise from left:

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PeOPLe spirit of generosity Charity register Opportunities to give Best Friends’ strut Your Mutt What: round up your four-legged friends for a day in the park to beneft homeless dogs and cats. there will be plenty for both participants and pups to take part in, including a fundraising dog walk and fun run, doggie yoga, pet portraits, refreshments, music, contests, and pet massages.

Kravetz visits a local school to discuss the negative effects of bullying and how to prevent it from happening.

When: saturday, september 6 Where: Will rogers state Historic Park, 1501 Will rogers state Park road, LA Website: strutyourmutt.org

and include Steve Madden among their clients. “Then I decided to open a bank account and start a nonprofit.” She recalls she had absolutely no idea what she was doing; she just started assigning tasks to friends and family members. With their help, The Farley Project—Farley was the name of the middle school (which no longer exists) where she was traumatized—became a reality.

The effort received a major boost after Kravetz detailed her story in a Huffington Post blog entitled, “Confessions of a Publicist Who Woke Up.” Says Kravetz: “It went viral. It was all over Facebook.

Right away I got a letter from someone putting me in touch with a law firm in New York that said it would do my 501(c)(3) paperwork pro bono. A graphic artist in New Jersey offered to do our logo for free. I got an e-mail from a guidance counselor in Inglewood, asking us to come to her school. I got an e-mail from my seventh-grade boyfriend who said, ‘I know I broke up with you during that time and I’m sorry.’”

The Farley Project has since presented assemblies in several schools in New York and Southern California, and its mission has attracted celebrity supporters including Hilary Duff, Louis van Amstel, and Catt Sadler. “I want to be in every school in the country,” Kravetz declares, admitting that donations are sorely needed. (Recently, The Farley Project received a grant from Sony WAVE, the studio’s women’s philanthropy division and FABB, the Fashion Accessories Benefit Ball). “I think we will be.”

Gerald Saluti, a former criminal defense attorney who now runs a nonprofit in New Jersey called the Newark Yoga Movement, is also a board member of The Farley Project and has seen firsthand the

continued from pg 116

lasting effects of Kravetz’s visits.

“It is truly amazing to walk into a school we’ve already been to,” he says, “to see kids on a playground run up to mob her and hug her. We were walking across the courtyard at one school in LA with 400 T-shirts (they say choose kindness), and we couldn’t get across the courtyard because they were mobbing her.”

The Farley Project uses a variety of tools to break down the bully barriers. They ask victims to speak.

They tell bullies how brave it would be for them to apologize to their victims—and many of them stand up and do so. They ask kids to place “compliment cards” in other students’ lockers. It’s all dedicated to letting young people know that, just as cruelty can become a habit, so can love.

Ariel, who is still in close contact with Kravetz and who preferred that her last name not be used, is nearing graduation from Indiana University. She emphasizes that The Farley Project isn’t a fleeting notion. It’s here to stay.

“The thing that is most impressive about Farley,” she says, “is that they go into schools and not only offer support and stories and empathize, but they don’t leave after one day. It’s a program that is implemented for a good amount of time. They teach kids the effects of bullying to prevent it.”

Nowadays Elissa Kravetz eats lunch just about anywhere she wants to. On one particular afternoon she chose Café Gratitude on Larchmont. Her shoes weren’t on fire, but there was a noticeable bounce in her step. Before settling in to peruse the menu, she hugged two waiters and a visitor.

“I’m 37 years old now,” she said, “and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.” thefarleyproject.org LAC

oPerAtion sMiLe GALA What: At operation smile’s annual gala, guests from across the globe will be supporting one goal: transforming the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and young adults born with a cleft. Cochaired by Jennifer and Henry salke, the event, which will honor Billy Bush, Ken Corday, and the sharon d. Lund Foundation, will feature cocktails, a silent auction, dinner, and entertainment.

When: Friday, september 19 Where: Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills Website: operationsmile.org

L.A. Loves ALex’s LeMonAde What: the legacy of 8-year-old cancer victim/ activist Alex scott shines bright at L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade, an afternoon of food and drinks to fght childhood cancer. Hosted by david Lentz (the Hungry Cat), suzanne Goin, and Caroline styne (Lucques, A.o.C, tavern), the event will also include a silent auction and stories from survivors.

When: saturday, september 20 Where: Wilson Plaza at uCLA, 405 Hilgard Ave., LA Website: alexslemonade.org

LA><Art GALA At GreYstone What: Local nonproft art space LA><Art is set to transform nearly every inch of the historic Greystone Mansion for its 2014 biennial gala, at which more than 20 newly commissioned artists will showcase their work.

When: saturday, september 27 Where: Greystone Mansion, 905 Loma vista dr., Beverly Hills Website: laxart.org

photography by Chad J. Wilson / #UrFaMo.Us Co. llC (sChool visit)

“I got an e-maIl from my seventhgrade boyfrIend who saId, ‘I know I broke up wIth you durIng that tIme and I’m sorry.’” —elissa kravetz

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invited

wonder women Showbiz’S female phenomS Step out in beverly hillS for women in film’S annual CryStal + luCy awardS.

by Kelsey Marrujo

photography by getty Images for Women In fIlm/max mara

Abuzz with chAtter over this year’s

Cate Blanchett

crop of dynamic honorees, the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza opened its doors to presenters, recipients, and guests of Women in Film’s 2014 Crystal + Lucy Awards on June 11. The annual ceremony—which has previously recognized Hollywood all-stars Meryl Streep, Bette Davis, and Penny Marshall—raised funds for WIF and its mission to promote equal opportunities for women through scholarships, grants, and film-finishing funds. This summer’s reception, supported by presenting sponsor MaxMara along with BMW, Perrier-Jouët, and South Coast Plaza, praised Scandal standout Kerry Washington with The Lucy Award for Excellence in Television—while calling attention to her status as the first African-American woman in four decades to star in a network drama. Additional prizewinners included Rose Byrne (2014 Women in Film Max Mara Face of the Future Award), Jennifer Lee (Dorothy Arzner Directors Award), Cate Blanchett (Crystal Award for Excellence in Film), and Eva Longoria (Norma Zarky Humanitarian Award). continued on page 122

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INVITED Laura Dern and Cate Blanchett

Eva Longoria and Lake Bell

Judith Parker Harris and Bonnie Spence

S.J. Main, Kiran Deol, Stephanie Hoston, and Emma Koh

Shonda Rhimes, Cathy Schulman, and Betsy Beers

Arielle Kebbel

Daniela Bobadilla

Kerry Washington

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Rose Byrne

Judith Parker Harris, founding chair of the WIF PSA Production Program, and Bonnie Spence, chair emeritus, received The Founderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Award for their notable service to the organization.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES FOR WOMEN IN FILM/MAX MARA

Tracee Ellis Ross

Kristen Bell and Jennifer Lee 122

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INVITED Kristin Chenoweth and Carol Burnett

Nigel Lythgoe

Charlotte Caffey, Gina Schock, Thomas Wilkins, Jane Wiedlin, and Belinda Carlisle Thomas Wilkins

Natasha Bedingfield

Helen Hunt

OPENING NIGHT AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL

China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale

STANDING PROUDLY as the largest outdoor amphitheater in the US, the

Hollywood Bowl kicked off its 93rd season with the 15th Annual Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and Opening Night Concert on June 21, honoring new Hall of Fame inductees Kristin Chenoweth, The Go-Go’s, and Pink Martini. The yearly event, which raised over $1 million for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s music education programs, featured sets by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra led by Principal Conductor Thomas Wilkins, Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, Glee star Lea Michele, guests of honor, and the USC drum line.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATHEW IMAGING (HOLLYWOOD BOWL), PETER GRISBY (AFTER SCHOOL ALL-STARS)

Dita Von Teese

WESTIME BENEFITS AFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARS ON JUNE 7, luxury timepiece retailer

Westime held its second annual event to benefit After-School All-Stars at the private residence of Arnold Schwarzenegger, founder of the national organization. Supporters of the cause— including Westime Founder and ASAS board member John Simonian—raised over $730,000 for the group, which provides after-school programs that give children the tools they need to build successful futures.

Sponsors of the evening included Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet, Hublot Genève, Breitling, Dior, Zenith Watches, Chopard, Girard-Perregaux, Glashütte Original, Frédérique Constant, JeanRichard and URWERK, among others.

The USC drum line took the stage to join The Go-Go’s, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and Thomas Wilkins for a rousing rendition of “We Got the Beat.”

Lea Michele

Guests witnessed LOVO cigar making as they mingled at the Schwarzenegger residence.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Emeril Lagasse

Nicole Creamer, Tom Arnold, and Greg Simonian

Greg Simonian, Gregg Miller, and John Pucci Vadim Lampert

John Simonian, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Barbara Simonian

Guests of the charity event were greeted by exotic creatures including an elephant, toucan, alligator, and baby kangaroo.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

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INVITED

Jess Weixler and Jennifer Prediger

Guests of the Frank Morgan tribute enjoyed a special live performance

by Mark Gross and Grace Kelly.

Damian John Harper

John Lithgow, Alfred Molina and Cheyenne Jackson

LA FILM FEST ON-SCREEN TALENT, filmmakers, and fans migrated Downtown for the 20th annual Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by Film Independent, from June 11 through June 19.

The greatly anticipated showcase, supported

by Los Angeles Confidential, boasted nearly 200 features, shorts, and music videos during its run, and also included signature programs such as the Filmmaker Retreat, Music in Film at The Grammy Museum, Celebrating Women Filmmakers, master classes, Spirit of Independence Award, and LA Muse.

Abigail Spencer

Angelique Cabral

Kaia Placa, Olivia Applegate, and Danielle Mitchell

Zoe Kravitz

Kat McNamara and Olivia Holt Keegan-Michael Key and Elvis Mitchell Music thumped at the LAFF’S Fiesta Latina nighttime soirée.

Haley Lu Richardson

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF WIREIMAGE

Teresa Palmer

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INVITED Patrick Droney

// TREND spotlight //

STUCK ON SNEAKERS SO LONG, STILETTO! STYLE MATCHED COMFORT AT THE LAUNCH OF DIOR’S WINTER 2014 DIOR FUSION SNEAKER COLLECTION, WHICH DREW Christopher Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver with Katherine and Christina Schwarzenegger

FASHION FORCES TO MAXFIELD ON JULY 15.

BEST BUDDIES’ TEAM MARIA BENEFIT

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNE CRONIN (MONTAGE BEVERLY HILLS), DONATO SARDELLA/WIREIMAGE (DIOR)

POWERED BY best-selling author and

journalist Maria Shriver, Team Maria hosted its annual benefit at the Montage Beverly Hills on July 13 to advance Best Buddies International, an organization committed to serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Sponsored by Los Angeles Confidential, the charity-minded afternoon brought forth friends, families, and the companies behind Team Maria for a silent auction, inspiring speeches by Best Buddies participants, and exclusive performances by Drake Bell and Patrick Droney.

Drennan Solari and Vinny Malfitano

Bianca Vierra and Cassandra Kunze

Katherine Ross and Yvonne Force Villareal

Ashlee Keating

Each model is a chic reinterpretation of a slip-on shoe.

Maria Shriver and Erik Valdez

The Fusion trainers go lace-less for ease of wear and a look of high-end sophistication.

Nikki Pennie

Tom Torlakson, Emma Pham, Digna Olmos, and Richard Riordan Jeannie Mai and Olivia Culpo

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INVITED

Josh Beech and Shenae Grimes Jennette McCurdy Megan Luke and Bryan Edwards

Natasha Bedingfield, Ryan Macaulay, and Jonas Myrin

Brandon Boyd and Luis Cortes

MARC BY MARC JACOBS COLLECTION PREVIEW

Hayley Hasselhoff

Tim Snyder, Susie Kimball, and Sebastian Vivar

Guests sipped the Avión Buck cocktail, Avión Anejo Rocks, and Avión Silver prior to dining.

LAC DINES WITH TEQUILA AVIÓN

Emily Armstrong’s Dead Sara captivated the fashionforward crowd with an energetic serenade.

Yiffat and Michael Rublevich

Keke Palmer

Justin Kleineider and Susie Kimball Dinner concluded with Mexican chocolate mousse with cinnamon and cookies.

Vicky CooperPerdomo and Martin Perdomo

LOS ANGELES CONFIDENTIAL AND TEQUILA AVIÓN

welcomed an exclusive group of LA tastemakers to experience a gourmet dinner and cocktail pairings at The Restaurant at Mr. C Beverly Hills by Ignacio and Maggio Cipriani on June 18. The exceptional supper, hosted by the president of Tequila Avión, Jenna Fagnan, offered courses like grilled wild shrimp with guacamole and pollo alla diavola with baked potatoes and salsa verde, complemented by world-renowned Avión creations like the Avión Silver Honey Fire cocktail and Avión Riserva.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY VANESSA BIELER AND STEVEN MEIERS (MARC JACOBS COLLECTION PREVIEW), JASON KING (TEQUILA AVION)

MARC BY MARC JACOBS clients and VIPs gathered at the brand’s West Hollywood boutique on June 20 for a preview of the Fall/Winter 2014 collection. The looks on display, conceptualized by freshly appointed creative director Katie Hillier and women’s design director Luella Bartley, included ready-to-wear garments, accessories, and shoes. Guests of the affair also enjoyed a live performance by Emily Armstrong’s Dead Sara and beats by DJ Michelle Pesce.

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taste Viva Italia!

The hiT FacTory

French is yesteryear’s news. at the Factory Kitchen, Angelo AuriAnA and MAtteo FerdinAndi are maKing all things italian the haute cuisine di giorno.

photography by jessica sample

by jen jones donatelli

On a roll! A chef at The Factory Kitchen’s pasta station preps jewel-like casonsei, a specialty from Italy’s Lombardy region, filled with veal and pork.

Chef Angelo Auriana and restaurateur Matteo Ferdinandi have been running in the same culinary circles for decades—and, like so many things in LA’s food sphere, all roads lead back to Wolfgang Puck. Ferdinandi spent years as general manager of Puck’s Spago Las Vegas and Cut, and Auriana counted Puck among the groomsmen at his wedding. So it was only a matter of time before the two would connect—first as friends, and eventually, as business partners.

“The first time I met Angelo, around 20 years ago, I already considered him the greatest Italian chef on the West Coast. Valentino was a temple, and Angelo was a god,” recalls Ferdinandi of Auriana’s 18-year stint at Piero Selvaggio’s vaunted fine-dining institution on Pico.

The pair quickly bonded over their shared Northern Italian heritage; Ferdinandi hails from Venice, while Auriana was born in Bergamo (which Ferdinandi fondly refers to as “the city of chefs”). And though Auriana later moved to San Francisco for almost nine years, the two always stayed in close contact.

So when Ferdinandi called Auriana in 2013 to join his new restaurant concept in DTLA’s Arts District, Auriana didn’t blink twice. “I said, ‘Matteo, for you, I would work in a garage,’” jokes Auriana. “And sure enough, that’s what we ended up doing.”

That “garage” is a former loading dock in a 90-year-old warehouse now known to Downtowners as the Factory Place Arts Complex. Along with continued on page 130

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taste Viva Italia!

What to order

Auriana; citrus-marinated California semiboneless quail; the industrial-chic interior at The Factory Kitchen features concrete walls and floors, reclaimed-wood tables, and giant windows that used to be garage doors.

ContInuED FRom PAgE 129

architectural lofts for living and working, it’s also home base for The Factory Kitchen—the straightforward, much-buzzed-about trattoria Auriana and Ferdinandi debuted in October. Concrete walls and floors, reclaimed wood tables, and giant windows that were once garage doors set the industrial tone for the space, which was originally slated for Walter Manzke’s Republique.

“I didn’t anticipate what’s going on today [in the Arts District]; right now, there is so much investment pouring in,” says Ferdinandi, who assembled the project quickly (in a little more than nine months) and likens the area to “the next Meatpacking District.” “I would have expected a young hipster clientele, but people are also coming from all over the LA Basin and even Orange County.”

Among the restaurant’s

regulars are stars such as Valerie Bertinelli, Michael Keaton, and Susan Sarandon, as well as many of the fans Ferdinandi cultivated at Beverly Hills’ Cut. A big part of the draw is the restaurant’s authenticity; Auriano’s menu is designed to showcase simple, seasonal cuisine honoring his and Ferdinandi’s shared Italian roots.

“The core base was Matteo and me going back to what we always talked about: serving food like we grew up with before we got exposed to American [cuisine],” says Auriana. “The menu takes a journey through Italy—we try to represent many regions and give a complete layout of what you’ll find north to south.”

Translation? Traditional Ligurian items like the mandilli di seta and focaccina calda di Recco al formaggio (see sidebar) alongside cannoli from Sicily, porcetta from Umbria, burrata from Puglia, prosciutto from

Parma, and casoncelli pasta from Bergamo. The Italian principle of quinto quarto (meaning “fourth-fifths of the animal”) is also in practice, with dishes like seared lamb tongue, sweetbreads, and sautéed calf’s liver. Says Auriano, “It’s fashionable to say nose-to-tail, but that’s what we grew up with in our culture.”

Though affordability and comfort are a focus (the average check is $50 per person for dinner), the duo’s roots in fine dining are highly apparent. Ferdinandi says he’s a big believer in Wolfgang Puck’s “three pillars” approach—design, culinary arts, and service—and that he’s “quick to eliminate underperformers” who don’t meet expectations in those three areas.

“Having come from Valentino, Cut, Spago, and Felidia [in New York], we have a fine- dining soul,” explains Ferdinandi. “We strive for

perfection every day.”

And The Factory Kitchen is just the beginning—the duo’s Factory Hospitality Group is hard at work prepping Officine Brera, a Northern Italian restaurant slated to open next spring in the Arts District. “It’s in a unique 1923 building facing the 6th Street Bridge and the new LA River State Park,” shares Ferdinandi.

“It’ll be very different from The Factory Kitchen; [the menu] will play with all types of animals: pig, lamb, game, wild birds, and whole fish from the Venetian lagoon.”

Whatever the future holds in store, Ferdinandi and Auriana plan on tackling it together. “We’ll be together until the end of our careers,” says Ferdinandi. “I learned from Wolfgang [Puck] to surround yourself with the best possible people—that’s the best thing you can do in life… and business.” 1300 Factory Pl., LA, 213-996-6000; thefactorykitchen.com LAC

Best taBle Wine director Francine Diamond-Ferdinandi says the prime perch is next to the open kitchen’s lively pasta-making station.

“Some people have never seen fresh pasta being made, so they’re fascinated,” explains DiamondFerdinandi. “Everyone gets up to watch and take pictures; sometimes they’ll even change their order based on what they see. I think that’s a lot of fun.”

photography by jessica sample

clockwise from left: Chef Angelo

A guaranteed conversation piece is the focaccina calda di Recco al formaggio (Italian for highly addictive appetizer). Baked in a high-temperature oven, this unique Ligurian fatbread dish utilizes milky crescenza cheese and can be stuffed with your choice of anchovies and tomatoes or imported ham and rosemary. “We’re one of the few restaurants in California to make this dish,” says chef Angelo Auriana.

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TASTE Guide clockwise from left: At

RivaBella, the porcini risotto is a rich dish emblematic of chef Luigi Fineo’s Southern Italian roots; the restaurant’s baby kale salad is made with guanciale (an Italian cured meat); RivaBella’s indooroutdoor space evokes a rustic Italian farmhouse.

Chow, Bella!

FOR LA’S ITALIAN-BORN CHEFS, CUISINE IS A DISTINCTLY LOCAL LOVE AFFAIR. by eric rosen You can find hundreds of Italian restaurants around LA, but in fact, there’s no such thing as “Italian” food. Rather, this boot-shaped Mediterranean country is made up of at least 20 major regions, each with its own epicurean flair.

To wit: In the north, Piedmont and Lombardy produce rich, creamy dishes and hearty stews. Italy’s breadbasket, Emilia-Romagna, is renowned for its meaty sauces, wholesome lasagna, and Modena’s syrupy-yet-savory balsamic vinegar. You can taste the ocean in the fragrant seafood risottos of Veneto, while farther south, you will find the delicate pastas and rustic vegetable dishes of Tuscany and the earthier fritti misti of Rome. And toward the bottom of the boot are Campania and its prized pizzas; the wheat pastas, olive oil-based dishes and nose-to-tail animal alchemy of Puglia; and the exotically rich fare of Sicily.

While a mishmash of regional influences is the norm in American Italian restaurants, LA’s Italian chefs are keeping their hometown heritages alive with deliciously distintivo dishes. Here, a guide to several standout cuisines and where to find them in LA—extreme north and deep south. Buon appetito!

Northern Delights Hailing from Veneto, chef Robert “Bobo” Ivan of Piccolo Ristorante (5 dudley ave., Venice, 310-3143222; piccolovenice.com) says he “plays with several influences of Veneto…. turbot and brill are my favorite dishes. In Venice, we used to do it quite simply— steamed or grilled. Though I serve it with a squid-ink guazzetto.”

Perhaps the most famous Venetian transplant is The Restaurant at Mr. C Beverly Hills (1224 Beverwil dr., La, 310-2772800; mrchotels.com), which is part of the vaunted Cipriani

family of restaurants and hotels. Chef Guiseppe Manco says, “All of the Cipriani classics have strong Venetian influences.” Case in point: the calves liver alla Veneziana. “The calves liver recipe is one of the oldest in Venice,” he says.

Another pillar of LA’s Italian dining scene, Gino Angelini, was born on the Adriatic coast of one of Italy’s most famous food regions, Emilia Romagna.

This particular province is known for perfecting many of the pasta dishes we all know and love, including lasagna, tortellini, and tagliatelle—not to mention sought-after foodstuffs like

prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano. So when you order at Angelini Osteria (7313 Beverly Blvd., La, 323-297-0070; angelini osteria.com) it’s a good bet to order something like the famous lasagna verde with hearty beef and veal ragu—an homage to Angelini’s grandmother, Elvira.

Southern Comforts Sicily native Piero Selvaggio first opened the doors of Valentino (3115 pico Blvd., Santa Monica, 310-829-4313; valentinosantamonica.com) in 1972, and this white-tablecloth continued on page 134

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taste Guide

dining room has since become one of the staples of LA fine dining. “The Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Moors, Spanish, and English all had an influence on [Sicily] and brought products there,” he says—think eggplant, capers, ricotta cheese, almonds, and pistachios. Selvaggio’s kitchen builds on that multicultural heritage, he says, by “updating the dishes using products like Japanese eggplant, which is less salty than Italian; Maui onions, which are sweeter; and a specially produced sheep’s-milk ricotta.”

Also hailing from Sicily, Celestino Drago has been a fixture on the LA dining scene since he came here by way of Pisa in 1979. At his flagship Drago Centro Downtown (525 S. flower St., La, 213-228-8998; dragocentro.com), he’s influenced by dozens of regions in Italy; however, he has a special place in his heart for rigatoni alla norma, “a timeless recipe,” he says, “that reminds me of the sauces Mama would make in the summertime, when tomatoes and eggplant were picked fresh from the vine.” He makes it his own by pureeing the flesh of an eggplant and making a crispy “nest” garnish

continued from page 132

from its skin. As for that stint in Pisa?

“I learned to grill meats with seasoned salt, which we use to create a variety of dishes both on the menu and as seasonal specials,” he says.

Perhaps not as well known outside Italy, the southern seaside region of Puglia is, nonetheless, hugely influential on Italian menus. To try some regional specialties, one of the most authentic menus in town is at Pizzeria Il Fico (310 S. robertson Blvd., La, 310-271-3426; pizzeria ilfico.com). Here, chefs Giuseppe Gentile and Nicola Mastronardi (both natives of Bari) whip up specialties like octopus roasted to a tender, sweet texture and served with smashed potatoes, olives, cherry tomatoes, and capers.

Luigi Fineo, the new chef at RivaBella (9201 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 310-278-2060; innovativedining.com), hails from the tiny town of Gioia del Colle in Puglia, where “the cuisine tends to be heavier and richer.” His little hamlet is renowned for its burrata cheesemakers; in fact, Fineo gets his from Gioia Cheese (1605 potrero ave., el monte, 626-444-6015), helmed by a man from his village. In a nod to his roots, Fineo includes on the menu several dishes influenced by his native cuisine, including a cavatelli pasta dish, which was invented hundreds of years ago in Gioia “and was my favorite dish growing up,” according to the chef.

The dish varies from season to season, says Fineo, and is “lighter in the summer… and heavier in winter, with braised meat.” LAC

One of the most popular Euro-inspired drinks at Bar Marmont is the oh-so-refreshing Aperol spritz.

Cin Cin!

The currenT craze for ITalIan aperITIfs Is allowIng angelenos To embrace The refInemenT of euro-sTyle drInkIng. by matthew stewart

No longer relegated to memories of a semester abroad, Italian aperitifs and aperitif-based cocktails are currently all the rage with stylish sippers all over town. Once little known in the US, brands like Campari and Aperol have seen their sales increasing steadily over the last few years.

William Perbellini is the living embodiment of this trend. Coming from the famed Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Perbellini began building a cocktail program that called on his expertise with aperitifs at Bar Toscana (11633 San Vicente Blvd., La, 310-826-0028; bartoscana.com) in Brentwood nearly four years ago. “Many more people have been enjoying cocktails made from aperitifs lately,” Perbellini shares. “The word aperitif comes from the Latin word ‘aperire’, which means ‘to open.’ This means that aperitifs open the appetite, so they are a perfect way to begin the evening.”

While Bar Toscana has many offerings that involve these great “opening acts,” Perbellini confides that a house favorite is the Negroni Sbagliato, which consists of Prosecco, vermouth, and Campari. “The word sbagliato means ‘mistake’,” says Perbellini. “The story goes that one night at Bar Basso in Milano the barista took the wrong bottle, grabbing Prosecco instead of gin, and created a classic. Some of the greatest things in life happen by mistake.”

There’s no mistaking that LA dwellers are learning to embrace this flavor renaissance due to old-world masters like Perbellini and Bar Marmont’s (8171 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, 323-650-0575; chateaumarmont.com) Alain Jeu, who has been its manager for eight years. Initially he was serving aperitifs almost exclusively to his European clientele, but lately he and his fellow mixologists have worked to introduce aperitifs like Aperol to Americans, who have embraced them heartily. “The most popular aperitif cocktail right now is the Aperol spritz,” Jeu says. “It’s three parts sparkling wine to two parts Aperol and one part soda. It is light, refreshing… and very sophisticated.” naturalmente!

photography by shutterstock.com (spritz); sabine orr (panna cotta)

Drago Centro in DTLA offers a contemporary design to match its innovative Southern Italian cuisine. below: Vanilla panna cotta with strawberry-cherryzucchini cake from Drago Centro.

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taste the Dish Best in dough: Star pastry chef Zoe Nathan of Milo & Olive puts the finishing touches on a burrata pizza with prosciutto di Parma, tomato sauce, and arugula.

SliceS of Heaven

What do Cleopatra and Mario Batali have in common? Perhaps it’s pizza—the Southern Italian classic that may seem like a modern invention, but is actually one of the oldest prepared foods around (ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Persians all noshed on basic flatbreads with a variety of toppings).

Though New York lays claim to America’s first pizzeria, and Chicago is home to the deep-dish style, pizza might just be the perfect LA dish, thanks to its laid-back refinement—a combination of fresh, gourmet ingredients with a casual sensibility. What’s more LA than that?

Zoe Nathan is one of the most respected pastry chefs in town, but her talents don’t start and end with the dessert menu. At Milo & Olive (2723 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, 310-453-6776; miloand olive.com), the selection of pizzas is wood-fired in a Mugnaini oven, including the superbly summery one with salty-sweet braised bacon, peach, fontina cheese, thyme, and a drizzle of ink-dark aged balsamic—all on Nathan’s medium-bodied, whole-wheat-flour crust, brushed with olive oil for a glossy finish. A little sweet, a little savory, but altogether satisfying.

In contrast to Nathan’s rustic pies, the pizza at the blue-tiled pool of the Avalon Hotel is like a taste of la

dolce vita—especially as you bite into one of chef Mirko Paderno’s signature creations at Oliverio (9400 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-277-5221; viceroyhotel group.com). His secret? A special potato-flour crust that treads the line between fluffy and flaky with perfectly proportioned aplomb. The burrata pizza comes with tangy tomato sauce and luscious dollops of creamy cheese garnished with eye-catching green basil, reminding us all that sometimes the simplest things in life are best.

At the original outpost of Stella Barra Pizzeria (2000 Main St., Santa Monica, 310-396-9250; stella barra.com), which quickly grew from a single pizzeria into an LA mini-chain almost overnight, it’s the signature sourdough crust that’s all the rage. Chef Jeff Mahin makes it fresh every day using locally milled flour, sea salt, filtered water, and the house blend of yeast, then leaves the dough to ferment for 18 hours so it’s delicately charred on the outside with a chewy middle when baked. Like the basic ingredients, toppings are mostly locally sourced, such as the ones that go on the Bloomsdale spinach pizza, with fresh, slightly bitter purple kale; roasted garlic; cracked black peppercorns; sharp young Pecorino; and a drizzle of organic extra-virgin olive oil.

Equally enticing is South End (2805 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, 424-228-4736; southendla.com), a tiny strip mall trattoria helmed by chef Frank Fermin (formerly of Pizzeria Mozza) and wine director Mario Vollera (from Piccolo). Fermin uses a natural starter to get the right golden finish on his crusts and makes his red sauce by slow-roasting tomatoes for more than four hours. That time-sensitive approach is evident in masterful creations like the Trolleyway, laden with fresh, house-made mozzarella, ricotta, soft white sottocenere, and tangy fiore sardo cheese, black truffle sea salt, and arugula for a hint of green earthiness.

Terroni might be a Toronto import, but Angelenos flock to its locations in WeHo (7605 Beverly Blvd., LA, 323-954-0300; terroni.com) and Downtown (802 S. Spring St., LA, 323-954-0300; terroni.com) for the high-design/low-key vibe and extensive menu of Southern Italian-style thin-crust pizzas. The pies are served unsliced to keep them hot and preserve the integrity of the crust, and no modifications are allowed. But when there are options like the Puzza—a pie with an intoxicating cheese trio of mozzarella, Italian mascarpone, and Gorgonzola, along with mushrooms and tender Italian ham—why would you want to change anything? LAC

photography by emily berl

The perfecT food for The ciTy of Angels? pizzA, divinely inspired. By Eric rosEn

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TASTE Spotlight! // ABOUT TOWN // 1

books

FRESH BAKED SAIL FOR YOUR SUPPER

Pastry pro Zoe Nathan is taking fans behind

Marina-front fave Café del Rey is ushering in a new wave of sea-to-spoon dining. On October 4, the restaurant will host a half-day sport-fishing outing along the Marina del Rey coast, during which guests will have a chance to put their own fresh catch (mackerel, rock fish, sand bass, and more) on their dinner plates. Be sure to stay for the postexcursion barbecue, where Executive Chef Chuck Abair will cook each fish to perfection. For tickets ($55-$120), call 310-823-6395. —EM

the scenes of her popular Santa Monica bakery in her debut cookbook, Huckleberry: Stories, Secrets, and

Bistecca With a Bang

Recipes from Our

profile

Kitchen. Beginning with “3:30 a.m. Muffins” and ending with “10 a.m.

Coffee,” readers are taken through the

WITH PISTOLA, CHEF VIC CASANOVA TAKES AIM AT THE ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE.

2

buzzing cafe day with more than 115 sweet and savory recipes and droolworthy images as

// trend //

well as inside tips on mastering baking basics. Anecdotes and insight into Nathan’s playful, creative world are also in ample supply. —Jamie Wilde

ABOVE: Huckleberry’s fresh

blueberry brioche.

INDULGE IN A BESPOKE MEAL

For a truly one-of-a-kind feast, head to Bev Hills Italian spot Doma for its new Insider’s Tasting Menu, whereby Executive Chef Dustin Trani will ad lib a series of four to nine original dishes tailored to each guest’s wishes. To request the Insider’s menu ($45-$95), call 310-277-7346. —EM

GREENS WITH ENVY!

It’s always summer in Los Angeles, so why not keep your beach bod intact by trading in the traditional predinner bread spread for a bowl of fresh, seasonal vegetables? Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air is

pioneering this idea, offering complimentary crudités for diners to nibble on before their meals.

(For September, expect to find wild amaranth leaves, broccolini, and red endive in the mix.) “The inspiration behind introducing

this specialty offering was to highlight the beauty of California’s premier produce,” Executive Chef Hugo Bolanos says. “It also has the added benefit of being as healthy as it is beautiful.”—JW

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATT ARMENDARIZ (HUCKLEBERRY); CHRISTINA PETERS (CAFE DEL REY)

Not content with one revered restaurant on West Third—jewelbox Italian spot Gusto—chef Vic Casanova is expanding his empire with Pistola (8022 W. Third St., 323-951-9800; pistola-la.com), a larger space focusing on steak, seafood, handmade pasta, and classic cocktails. “The menu was inspired by childhood nostalgia… [I] grew up in a family that ate steak and lobster as a treat,” says Casanova, a Four Seasons alum who partnered with hospitality exec Seth Glassman (BOA, RivaBella) on the venture. As for the name? “I somehow got to thinking of the movie The Godfather, and they reference the word ‘pistola’ [which means gun] a lot. It was the first name that Seth and I both felt a connection to. It just fits.”—Erin Magner

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Limit 1 pass per person. Each pass admits 2. Seating is not guaranteed. Arrive early. Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Screening will be monitored for unauthorized recording. Open only to legal residents of the following California, USA counties: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura, Riverside and Orange Counties, who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry. This flm has not yet been rated.

taste On the town clockwise from left: Chefs Steve

Cucina Confidential

Osteria MOzza’s NaNcy SilvertoN and sOttO’s Steve SamSoN dish abOut the art Of italian cOOking—and why la gets it right.

by Jen Jones Donatelli

Over a late-afternoon meal at The Restaurant at Mr. C Beverly Hills, chefs Nancy Silverton and Steve Samson are busy trading kitchen war stories (Samson once got a fish bone stuck in his finger) and reminiscing about their shared high school alma mater (the now-defunct Montclair College Prep in Van Nuys). But all conversation between these powerhouses of LA Italian food stops upon the tableside arrival of a sky-high prosciutto tower, presented in original Harry’s Bar style. “What is that? Is that a Cipriani signature? I’ve got to get a picture,” says Silverton, after which a full-on Instagram marathon ensues.

Silverton’s healthy appreciation for tradition is well documented—after all, the legendary cofounder of Osteria Mozza and the now-shuttered Campanile took home the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef in May (becoming the first Los Angeles chef to do so since Wolfgang Puck in 1998).

And she and Samson—half of the duo behind Sotto, one of the buzziest new Italian spots in the city—are more than ready to fête her accomplishment and talk all things Italian cuisine over raw scampi, grilled whole Dover sole, bucatini all’Amatriciana, and, naturally, copious amounts of prosciutto.

When did your love for Italian cooking develop?

Steve Samson: I grew up spending my summers with my grandparents in Italy, near Bologna in Pistoia. Every morning, my grandma would be rolling pasta with a rolling pin.

Nancy Silverton: Around the time I was making the transition to becoming a restaurant owner, I rented a house in Lucca in Tuscany for six weeks. It was the first time in many years that I was able to actually cook at home and cook what I’d bought locally. It was there that I confirmed the kind of food I wanted to do… when I came back and opened Campanile, they called it “CalItalian.” I’ve never considered myself an Italian cook since I’m not Italian, but I’m really committed to traditional Italian cooking.

SS: [When Silverton opened Campanile] 20 years ago, people in the US were doing all their shopping at supermarkets, whereas Italian food and culture has always been what we now know as farm-to-table cooking. Nancy definitely helped bring that culture to LA—no one was really doing it before.

What other changes have you observed in LA’s Italian dining scene?

NS: One of the trends back around the early ’90s

photography by jessica sample

Samson and Nancy Silverton toast to LA’s Italian renaissance; bucatini all’Amatriciana with sweet pecorino; the early dinner crowd in the dining room at The Restaurant at Mr. C Beverly Hills.

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photography by jessica sample

from left: Grilled whole Dover sole, served with roasted potatoes; Silverton and Samson indulge in Mr. C’s signature prosciutto tower while sharing tales from their Italian travels in the jet-set-sleek, yacht-themed restaurant.

was that there were so many little Italian places opening; everyone was inundated with restaurants with names like Café Primo.

SS: I don’t want this to sound bad, but not everyone was giving Italian food the respect it deserves.

NS: There were a handful of people who had the respect and the knowledge of how to make real pasta—Steve worked for Piero [Selvaggio], and I’ve learned from Mario [Batali]; now more people are cooking pasta like an Italian.

Which local chefs have been instrumental in driving quality Italian cuisine?

NS: Evan Kleiman’s Angeli Caffe was a great restaurant while it was open. She was definitely a leader in the Italian lovefest. At Bucato Restaurant, Evan Funke’s pastas are fantastic—he went to a school in Bologna and was taught by women who hand-rolled everything. And, certainly, Celestino Drago.

SS: I have to give some love to Piero Selvaggio [of Valentino]; he’s the consummate host. To go in and have Piero recommend a menu and some wines is a great experience. Also, Gino Angelini— when you go to Angelini Osteria, Gino is always in the kitchen, and you can tell an Italian made that pasta. It’s just the right al dente, not oversauced.

Nancy, your house in Umbria plays home base when you go on your annual inspiration trips to Italy. Any memorable jaunts of late?

NS: The best surprises always happen when you venture outside the region where you’re staying.

Last summer when I went, I had two surprises: one

was this pizzeria outside Naples called Pepe in Grani, which clearly makes the best pizza I’ve ever had. The other was Osteria Francescana in Modena. They use a lot of modern cooking techniques, but the soul is still there.

SS: We’re actually holding my parents’ 50th anniversary party in Italy at one of the restaurants Nancy discovered: Amerigo dal 1934. One thing I’ve learned about Italy is that, unlike a lot of other countries, you’re almost guaranteed to have great food when you get lost in the countryside.

Authenticity seems to be a big value for both of you.

NS: [Chef] Judy Rodgers once said to me, “I’ll never make food from a country I never visited.”

And I took that to heart—it made so much sense to me. I never would have been able to make a focaccia di Recco at Chi Spacca without having been to Recco.

What’s up next on both of your proverbial plates?

NS: We now have Pizzeria Mozza locations in Newport Beach, San Diego, and Singapore (inside the Marina Bay Sands hotel). I’d like to do more in Asia—it seems to be a great market.

SS: [Sotto co-owner] Zach [Pollack] just opened Alimento in Silver Lake, and I have a few things I’m working on. I’d like to get away from the Neapolitan thing and do a more chef-driven New York–style pizzeria. My dream restaurant would serve the food I grew up eating: simple food from Bologna, where the highest compliment someone can pay is, “Just like my grandma used to make.” LAC

WheN IN LA… …do as Silverton and Samson do.

ANgeliNi OSteriA (7313 Beverly Blvd., LA, 323297-0070; angeliniosteria.com): “I crave the spaghetti carbonara.”—Silverton BeStiA (2121 7th Pl., LA, 213-514-5724; bestiala.com): “Even though it’s not 100 percent Italian, Ori [Menashe] follows the mind-set of a great Italian cook and he learned from Gino [Angelini], so that makes sense.”

—Samson BucAtO reStAurANt (3280 Helms Ave., Culver City, 310-876-0286; bucato.la): “Really delicious handrolled pastas.” —Silverton the FActOry KitcheN (1300 Factory Pl., LA, 213-996-6000; thefactorykitchen.com): “Chef Angelo [Auriana] was at Valentino for 18 years, and he really gets it.” —Samson the reStAurANt At Mr. c Beverly hillS (1224 Beverwil Dr., LA, 310-277-2800; mrchotels.com): “Eye-catching, elaborate [food], but also delicious.”

—Silverton OSteriA MOzzA (6602 Melrose Ave., LA, 323297-0100; mozzarestaurantgroup.com): “I would never have the balls to put a cold pasta dish on the menu, but they have this squid ink chitarra with Dungeness crab that is so good.” —Samson SOttO (9575 W. Pico Blvd., LA, 310-277-0210; sottorestaurant.com): “Sotto absolutely embodies the simplicity of what great Italian food should be.” —Silverton

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ACTRESS PROVOCATEUR Masters of Sex star Lizzy CapLan bares... her soul... about the daring role that is redefining “adult” TV. by scott huver

photography by tony duran

styling by garth condit

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Sex and the single star: “This role changed me entirely—the way I talk about feminism... sexual politics. It’s really opened my eyes,” says Caplan, here rocking a black wool dress ($3,900), black velvet cape ($3,190), and black wool tights ($275) by Saint Laurent

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Black pump, Christian Louboutin ($625). 650 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, 310-247-9300; christianlouboutin.com

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“I

honestly cannot believe that I got the job I’ve been waiting for,” muses Lizzy Caplan. Once the frequent subject of various “actresses-on-the-verge”-style articles, she’s now firmly established as the leading lady of Showtime’s prestige series Masters of Sex, where her appropriately masterful, sexy performance as legendary sex therapist Virginia Johnson has positioned her as a frontrunner for various television acting trophies—including this month’s Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. “It just makes no sense to me that I get to go to work on that show every day and play that woman.”

Caplan’s response is perhaps natural, having spent the better part of a decade frequently pinging Hollywood’s radar, yet never flying directly within it. Since her breakout supporting stint in Mean Girls she’s been an intriguing presence in populist FX-heavy fare (Cloverfield), trophy-collecting indies (127 Hours), and raunchy comedies (Hot Tub Time Machine) while building TV cred with roles on series ranging from hits (Smallville, True Blood, New Girl) to ratings-challenged critical darlings (Freaks and Geeks, Tru Calling, The Class) to shows your hippest friends urged you to watch (Starz’s cult favorite Party Down, beloved by no one more than Caplan herself).

So how, exactly, did the 32-year-old actress—after years specializing in smart, snarky women with rough edges and sharp wisecracks, with every expectation of finding her career-defining role in a comedy—end up as an admittedly unlikely series regular in a predominately dramatic premium-cable period piece chronicling the messy, complicated rise of pioneering sex therapists/sex partners William Masters and Virginia Johnson… and make the short list of Emmy contenders?

“Doing a dramatic role was something that I could see myself doing on a very small scale—independent films—but on a large scale, on a show that people actually seem to watch? It’s completely shocking to me,” she admits from her perch at a table at an Abbot Kinney coffee shop, where, despite being on full display, she garners only fleeting glances (“I can walk down the street and live my life and nobody knows who I am,” she says of the perks of pay-cable notoriety. “Something about the network sitcom thing has always scared the shit out of me”).

Indeed, the oh-so-juicy role of Johnson—fiercely independent, bluntly outspoken, sexually liberated, glassceiling-shattering, proto-feminist, all in the buttoned-up ’50s—was one she decided not to covet. “As I got older and slightly more jaded, I knew better than to see myself fully in the role because it would hurt too much when I didn’t get it. And I truly believed that I would not get this part.”

Nobody, from the show’s creative team—who wondered if the actress’s very modern look and sensibility might be a hindrance—to Caplan’s own representatives, who knew it didn’t resemble projects that typically excited her, expected her to be drawn to the material either. But she took the meeting, telling the producers “all of my embarrassing dating stories and how it was always confusing to me that, even today, a guy never really believes that a girl doesn’t secretly want a relationship, and that would always incense me in real life! And I think they began to maybe see me as her from those conversations.”

Executive producer Sarah Timberman confirms Caplan’s suspicions. “After we saw her read some of the material in the pilot, we couldn’t imagine anybody else in this role,” says Timberman. “In Lizzy’s hands, you understand the dynamic between Masters and Johnson and how critical her rogue, pioneering spirit was. Lizzy has all those qualities: She’s courageous and incredibly intuitive and [somewhat] subversive. She’s a force of nature—and Virginia Johnson certainly was. They’re very well suited to each other. It just feels like this role was something of a calling for her.”

“Virginia and I share quite a few similarities,” agrees Caplan. “My approach to sex and relationships at certain times in my life fell completely in line with how she viewed those topics in certain points in her life. There were eerie things that we had in common that I don’t really tell anybody, very specific details. It started to feel like she and I shared this cosmic connection.” She could not, however, entice the real Johnson, who laid bare certain mysteries of her life to author Thomas Maier, whose 2009 biography on the couple forms the basis for the show’s narrative, to meet with her before Johnson’s death just prior to the series’ debut. “She was not interested in meeting me… I tried,” sighs Caplan.

“LIzzy’s a force of nature—and Virginia Johnson certainly was. This role was something of a calling for her.”

—Sar ah Timberman

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Gown ($4,250) and lace-up high sandals ($4,000), Emilio Pucci. emiliopucci.com. Brass cuff ($695) and gold-plated brass ring ($195), Robert Lee Morris.

Jenni Kayne, 614 N. Almont Dr., West Hollywood, 310-860-0123; robertleemorris.com Hair by Alex Polillo at The Magnet Agency using Bumble & Bumble Makeup by Jenn Streicher at The Magnet Agency using Charlotte Tilbury Manicure by Michelle Saunders for Essie/celestineagency.com

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Comedic instincts continued to serve her in the role, bringing a wry touch to risky, often intense material that endeared her to her colleagues. “Right from the beginning, we connected and felt very comfortable with each other,” says her costar Michael Sheen, who plays Bill Masters. “You have to build trust on any show, especially on a show like this with the sort of things that we have to do. Not just the sex or the nudity, but just the emotional stuff that we do, so there’s a lot of pressure in that way. And the fact that she always makes things very easy and light… it’s been a real pleasure.”

Those frequent, oft-asked-about sex scenes, she confesses, are “always funny. When it’s not funny, that’s the only time that it’s really scary.” Only recently she found herself daunted by a startlingly raw scene from the second season in which she and Sheen’s characters are as emotionally naked as Caplan is, literally, uncovered. “That was the first time in a while that I was in my trailer beforehand having the feeling of, Oh, I don’t want to do this. I would rather be doing just about anything else! But knowing it’s not exactly optional, it’s part of my job, I believed in it for the narrative of the story. I frequently forget that it’s going to be on television, and when I remember that, I get a wave of anxiety.”

Harder to navigate was wrapping her head around the fact she’d not only gotten the un-gettable role, she was thriving in it. “Such a huge part of my identity was wanting something, striving for the job that you loved more than any other job, or a certain position in the business,” she says reflectively. “When you get a job that seems to fit that bill, it’s a huge shift in how you see yourself. And by no means do I think I have no reason to be ambitious anymore. But it took me a while to acclimate to it.”

Caplan’s striving began during a very non-showbizzy childhood in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of LA. A natural tomboy, she remembers her mother posting a sticker on a bulletin board that read RAISE BOYS AND GIRLS THE SAME WAY, instilling early acceptance to defy traditional gender roles and challenge convention. “I knew to want to be different,” she says, and soon enough she found herself set apart. “My mother passed away when I was 13.

That really was a marker of ‘You are different than your friends now,’ and I leaned into it, even though it didn’t always make me feel good.”

Creativity was as encouraged as academics in her family (her father and brother are lawyers, her sister’s getting a PhD in psychology), which led her to attend a performing arts high school to study piano, though even then she knew she’d never play professionally. (“There was no way in hell—I did not have the discipline, nor the talent.”)

Dropping piano, a need for a replacement elective led her to drama class. “I thought I could fake my way through it,” she laughs, shocked at how quickly acting resonated with her. “I hadn’t felt that comfortable trying something new ever before.” With her family’s blessing, by 15 she was making the rounds of Hollywood auditions, fiercely competitive from the start and more than occasionally frustrated when better parts went to other actresses.

“I’ve always felt like the underdog—partly because I’ve been told that I’m the underdog, pretty explicitly, on many occasions,” she reveals, recalling the days when she and her friend Lindsay Sloane would audition for pilots on the now-defunct WB network. “We’d want to get T-shirts made that said, I AM WB PRETTY! because we’d just been told, ‘Oh, she’s great, but she doesn’t have that WB look.’” She laughs at the memory. “In retrospect, I’m so grateful it took as long as it did, because I’ve been able to slowly acclimate to these changes instead of an overnight success story.”

Following the second season of Masters of Sex, Caplan appears in fall’s big-screen comedy The Interview, in which she plays a CIA agent wrangling two celebrity journalists ( James Franco and Seth Rogen) as they plot to turn an interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un into an assassination. Adoring her LA hometown, she recently bought a house. “I’m never there, but it’s a really great place to sleep in so far! I was sick for a week and stuck in bed, and I’m weirdly grateful now because it forced me to get to know my house.”

She accepts the suggestion that she may be on a mission. “There’s quite honestly nothing else except this show,” she admits. “I mean, I’m going to dinner with friends tonight, and I could not be more excited. But I have absolutely no time. I live very isolated these days.” But Virginia Johnson walks with her, and that matters. “This role changed me entirely—the way I talk about feminism, the way I talk about sexual politics. It’s really opened my eyes in a lot of ways, and I can’t imagine caring about something more than I care about this.” LAC

“My approach to sex at certain tiMes in My life fell completely in line with how she viewed those topics. It started to feel like she and I shared this cosmic connection.”

—LIzzy CapLan

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Lucy Akin photographed in front of the Retna & Mac mural in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, a few blocks from Super Street's headquarters.

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RetouRs

de

FoRce In a whirlwind of H’wood-worthy second acts, LA’s crème de la fashion crème are suddenly debuting new lines, new shops, and new attitudes. Bravo! by alexandria abramian photography by elisabeth caren

THE COUTURE CURATOR

LUCY AKIN

Look out, Amazon. Lucy Akin, founder of fashion e-tail site Super Street (shopsuperstreet.com), has already nailed same-day delivery for LA customers who rely on her high/low fashion mash-up. A former buyer for power-boutique Satine, Akin was responsible for bringing Valentino, Stella McCartney, and Nina Ricci into the Third Street showroom, where she became its head buyer at just 21. But after three years, Akin discovered her own recipe for retail success—luxury lines mixed with street-chic skater wear—and voilà, her thriving e-shop quickly stood out from the saturated fashion pack. “My clients are girls who aren’t just looking inside the fashion show, but who are also looking outside, to the streets, to see how to dress,” says Akin. “Brands like Rochas are attracted to the concept of being mixed in with street pieces, because it’s a good way for them to attract a new customer.” Lines like Rodarte, Jenni Kayne, and Sonia Rykiel keep company with skate brands such as Huf and Happy Socks, whose marijuana-emblazoned crew socks sell for $12 a pair. Compare that with a $1,600 shoulder bag from Moschino, and you get the idea of Akin’s take on high/low alchemy.

The 25-year-old oversees it all from her 2,200-square-foot Culver City warehouse, where she admits to a somewhat obsessive focus on detail. Akin wraps each item in tissue paper that was designed by a Parisian artist she discovered on Instagram; an in-house photo studio lets her get OCD about how each item looks on her site; and as for that day-of delivery service? “We have an exclusive messenger guy who is a friend of mine. For everything beyond LA, we use FedEx,” says Akin, who will be opening a three-day pop-up shop on Melrose Place in October. “But my goal is to offer that same-day service in other cities as well, which means having inventory in not just LA, but other places, too.”

Next up on her hit list? New York and London.

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Katie Warner Johnson (left) and Caroline Gogolak at Carbon38’s headquarters in Burbank.

THE GYM DANDIES

CARBON38

Spandex as the new denim? Call it a mission statement for Katie Warner Johnson and Caroline Gogolak, ballet dancers-turned-founders of Carbon38, an e-commerce site that gives luxury workout wear the red-carpet treatment (carbon38.com). “We’re part of this next generation of women—execs and wives and moms—who see their gym wardrobe becoming their everyday wardrobe,” says Johnson, 29. “Spandex sucks everything in and gives your backside a life. So why not wear it everywhere?” While others may decry the ubiquitous yoga pants making their way out of the studio and into almost every area of modern-day life, Johnson and Gogolak see themselves as getting ahead of the movement. “This trend is still in its infancy, but the basic idea is you can still be sexy and fashionable while being incredibly comfortable. This is about highlighting pieces that go from yoga class to dinner to a date,” says Gogolak, 28, who met Johnson while the two attended Harvard. Launched in early 2013, the site carries up to 70 brands that ft the Carbon38 litmus test: Every piece is machine-washable, form ftting, multifunctional, and can transition out of the gym. And don’t think the line includes dozens of basic black yoga pants. Instead, the pair focuses on ftness clothing that follows fashion’s every twist and turn.

“Our customer isn’t looking for pair of black leggings to last her fve years,” says Gogolak. “She’s looking at the fashion runways and wants brands that will carry over to a variety of sports and activities.” To that end, Johnson, a former personal trainer, and Gogolak, a certifed yoga instructor who has worked at Yves Saint Laurent and Intermix, curated a selection of activewear that includes Michi (“It has sports bras that are supportive but are also the sexiest pieces you’ll ever see; you could pair them with high-waisted pants,” says Johnson) as well as Norma Kamali’s active line (“It’s simple but super sexy with kaleidoscopic patterns and prints,” says Gogolak). Two brands you won’t fnd on the site? Lululemon and Nike. “They’ve established a great baseline,” says Johnson. “Now it’s time to take that baseline and turn it on its ear.”

“The basic idea is you can sTill be sexy and fashionable while being incredibly comforTable.”

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Mary Alice Haney photographed near her home in Manhattan Beach.

THE RED CARPET RE-VISIONARY

MARY ALICE HANEY

Mary Alice Haney had already made it to the very top of the celebrity-stylist food chain when her second calling came. After decades dressing the likes of Blake Lively and Molly Sims, the mother of five decided to take every lesson of red-carpet dressing and apply them to—if not the masses—then the mass-ettes. Called Haney (shophaney.com), the line launched in December of 2013, and this month, the collection of glammed-out, figure-flaunting dresses and separates hits Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills.

“I want to make eveningwear more accessible,” says Haney, 42. “A lot of people take day into night; I want to take night and bring it into day.” Hence the flowing silk Coco gown (which retails for around $2,700) with its plunging neckline and timeless Pat Nixon-meets-J.Lo lines. Or take the Colleen (named after the designer’s friend and client, socialite Colleen Bell), a more modern, off-the-shoulder affair that hits the Haney sweet spot: “The goal here is comfortable, attainable eveningwear,” says Haney, who calls the clothes “prêt-a-couture” because they are semi-customizable in terms of how much that neckline plunges, color, length, and other details. “A lot of designers make works of art, but they’re not necessarily thinking about how it’s going to translate onto a body,” she says. “I don’t care if it’s a beautiful dress or a blouse if it doesn’t make a woman feel amazing.” Haney says almost all of her pieces translate easily from luncheon and flats to cocktails and heels, and have already been purchased by the likes of Carrie Underwood, Idina Menzel, and Reese Witherspoon. But the goal, says Haney, is less about high-profile clients and more about creating the ultimate in body-boosting clothes. “It all comes down to the cut and the fabrics,” she explains. “Many of my clothes literally suck you in and make you look incredible. I want every woman to have her own Hollywood moment.”

“A lot of people tAke dAy into night; i wAnt to tAke night And bring it into dAy.”

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Eli Azran (left), David Rimokh, and Evelyn Ungvari in RtA’s sample room in Downtown LA.

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THE ROCK TSARS

RtA For the trio behind RtA it’s all about thinking big—as in, really big. And so far, that thinking has turned into a reality for the overnight, rock ’n’ roll-inspired denim and leather sensation that has quickly attracted fans like Beyoncé, Olivia Wilde, and Kristen Stewart. Conceptualized by denim industry veteran Eli Azran, fashion manufacturing scion David Rimokh, and ex-retailer Evelyn Ungvari, RtA (rtadenim.com)—which stands for Road to Awe—was first picked up by Bergdorf Goodman and then exploded into a global business, now carried in more than 200 stores around the world, from Korea to Italy, and Selfridges to Maxfield. The secret to its success? Ungvari, 39, claims it was all of those years in the retail business that allowed her to see the hole in the market: “I was on the floor all the time,” says Ungvari, referring to her 13-year stint as owner of beloved, now-shuttered fashion boutique Diavolina. “I saw what women want and what was lacking in the market. What was needed was a line that would provide a sense of ‘wearable edgy.’

The way fashion is today, people want high/low price points as well as style. This is for the girl who is going to spend $5,000 on a leather piece and wear it with a pair of $200 jeans. That’s the way fashion is right now.”

To that end, the team has fused their fashion savvy into a single, evolving concept that elevates basics—the skinny jean, the just-so biker jacket—into more sophisticated turf without losing that sense of laid-back, Los Angeles effortlessness. “Our washes are very authentic and have a lot of depth,” says Rimokh, 27. “The thing we love most about LA is this sense of casual coolness.” But the true key to RtA’s success just might be in the alchemy of its ensemble. “The three of us spend so much time together,” says Azran, 28. “David and I can have a tougher style, then Evelyn polishes things, gives things a feminine edge. She is our muse. We try everything on her. That’s how we create.”

“The way fashion is Today, people wanT high/low price poinTs as well as sTyle.”

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Cheyann Benedict at her eponymous boutique on North La Brea in West Hollywood.

THE TEE IDOL

CHEYANN BENEDICT Creating the perfect T-shirt is something of a life’s mission for Cheyann Benedict. As the cofounder of cotton jersey juggernaut C&C California, along with Claire Stansfield, Benedict was one of the first to strike sartorial gold by upgrading the everyday tee into a major fashion statement. In 2005, C&C was purchased by Liz Claiborne for an eight-figure number, sealing Benedict’s reputation as a formidable force in fashion. After the record-breaking deal, however, the blonde-haired beauty took an almost decadelong hiatus from designing and dabbled in a variety of endeavors before she knew she was destined for a second act in fashion. “I tried a number of different things before I realized, ‘Oh, shoot, I’m supposed to do another line,’” says the 45-year-old San Diego native. “There was something deep in my heart that told me I was capable of creating another line on my own.” That result is an eponymous collection of T-shirts, denim, hand-painted caftans, and other pieces (sold at cheyann benedict.com and a namesake La Brea Avenue boutique) that capture what Benedict calls “the nexus of comfort and sophistication. The essence of my brand is making pieces that are completely chic and completely comfortable at the same time.” T-shirts come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but all are made out of rayon, as opposed to C&C’s cotton—“rayon drapes so well, in a more sophisticated way,” she says—while her denim is both baby soft and cut in a way that has already resulted in a cult following that includes Mila Kunis, Kate Hudson, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

“I’m obsessed with denim,” she says, referring to her collection of jeans and overalls that are ripped, bleached, and paint splattered. “Some vintage collectors can’t tell that my pieces are new. The main thing is the way they look and feel. People put these on and never want to take them off.”

“There was someThing deep in my hearT ThaT Told me i was capable of creaTing anoTher line on my own.”

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Carrie Forbes photographed at Élu on Cross Creek Road in Malibu.

The Journeywoman

CARRIE FORBES Carrie Forbes is no stranger to making the kind of must-have accessories that attract serious A-listers. In 1989 the Newport Beach native created a line of eponymous handbags that were snapped up by the likes of Annette Bening and Nicole Kidman. Forbes’s follow-up act included a decadelong stint in Florence, where she honed a new skill set, working as a supplier to companies such as Etro, Armani, and Ferragamo in their quest for one-of-a-kind handbag materials. “Italy is the best place in the world to really learn this business of luxury craftsmanship,” says the 53-year-old. And then a trip to Morocco proved to be a life-changing experience for Forbes, who discovered a little known, labor-intensive form of raffia weaving indigenous to the area. “At that point I was really ready to launch another business, one where I could come back to being really creative,” says Forbes, who has moved back to Southern California. Launched one year ago, her eponymous footwear line (carrieforbesinc.com), a collection of casual/chic flats, slip-ons, and sandals, is already carried at boutiques such as Calypso, Madison, and A’maree’s. Each pair can take up to an entire day to make in Morocco, and they’ve already attracted former Forbes fans such as Julia Roberts. “This is the perfect fit for where I am right now in my life. After so many years in Italy, I’m now equipped for working at this level,” says Forbes, who is already planning on expanding the collection. “I’m now working to develop more shoes in different materials, including leather,” she says. One of her favorite new finds? “I just discovered a great handbag factory… in Morocco!”

“This is The perfecT fiT for where i am righT now. afTer so many years in iTaly, i’m now equipped for working aT This level.” la-confidential-magazine.com 157

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Andrew Weitz chills on the basketball court at his brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home in Beverly Hills.

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The Change agenT

ANDREW WEITZ As Hollywood storylines go, Andrew Weitz’s is particularly atypical. The 40-year-old Philadelphia native worked as a high-flying talent agent at William Morris Endeavor, repping clients such as Rob Lowe, Ricky Gervais, and Stephen Merchant. Along the way, Weitz was noted as one of the most stylish men in the business and routinely helped both clients and friends refine their style with weekend shopping trips and lots of tailored advice. “At a certain point about four years ago, the question just popped into my head: What am I really meant to do? I started to realize that I really like style, and over the course of a few years, it slowly evolved into the idea of having a style consultation service.” Launched in March of this year, The Weitz Effect (theweitzeffect.com) is a full-service business geared toward helping guys to look their best. Services include “wardrobe consultations, shopping experiences, tailoring and grooming advice, and lifestyle recommendations,” says Weitz, whose roster of clients exploded eightfold in his first four months of business.

And who might these lucky men be? In true Hollywood fashion, Weitz is tight-lipped on naming names, saying only that they represent a mix of both West and East Coast CEOs, executives in Hollywood, the financial world, and real estate—and, of course, celebrities. “Giving personalized guidance is one of the key things I did as an agent,” says Weitz. “A lot of this work is about education and finding the right fit for each person. I had one recent client who was at first skeptical about the idea, and after working with him, he’s saying that this has enhanced his confidence level, increased his business contacts, and strengthened his personal relationships.” And as for the gals? “I’m geared toward men, but I know my business has to expand,” says Weitz. “I’ll be hiring someone who shares my values and vision so we can bring this same level of service to women. That’s the goal.” LAC

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Belle de Noir

As summer turns to fAll, lA becomes A shAdowlAnd of exquisite fAntAsy...

STYLED BY MarTina niLSSon PhoTograPhY BY TonY Duran

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opposite page: Cashmere turtleneck, Ralph

Lauren Collection ($1,055). 141-143 N. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-274-0171; ralphlauren.com. this page: Confetti petal print satin shell ($995) and skirt ($1,495). Monique Lhuillier, 8485 Melrose Pl., LA, 323-655-1088; moniquelhuillier.com. Gloves, Emporio Armani ($295). 9533 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills, 310-271-7790; armani.com. Handbag, Giorgio Armani ($2,095). 436 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-271-5555; armani.com. Burgundy leather loafers, Todâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ($795). 333 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills,310-285-0591; tods.com

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on ryan: Cashmere turtleneck, Etro ($1,050). 2 Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-248-2855; etro.com. Trousers, Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane ($890). 469 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-271-4110; ysl.com. Cambridge wing oxford, Cole Haan ($258). 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., LA, 310-553-4800; colehaan.com. on brittany: Rolanda wool herringbone jacket ($1,350), Scelta cashmere mohair knit sweater ($795), and wool jersey skirt ($525), Max Mara. 451 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-385-9343; maxmara.com. Viennana suede pumps, Christian Louboutin ($1,095). 650 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, 310-247-9300; christianlouboutin.com. on mckenna: Sleeping Beauty bra ($179) and knickers ($69), Damaris. damaris.co.uk. opposite page: Cardinal houndstooth plaid and guipure jacket ($3,890) and skirt ($2,390), Oscar de la Renta. 8446 Melrose Pl., LA, 323-653-0200; oscardelarenta.com

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Cashmere trench coat, Ralph Lauren Collection ($5,995). 141-143 N. Robertson Blvd., LA, 310-274-0171; ralphlauren.com. opposite page, on mckenna: Lace-trimmed bra ($535) and lace-trimmed silk shorts ($435), Dolce & Gabbana. 312 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-888-8701; dolceandgabbana.com. on brittany: Silk blend coat ($4,425) and blue leather D-Cube bag ($1,595), Tod’s. 333 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-285-0591; tods.com. Shirtfront, Barbara Bui ($390). 405 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-275-4452; barbarabui.com

Makeup by Steeve Daviault for linknyla.com Hair by Rob Talty at Magnet using Bumble & Bumble beauté: Giorgio Armani Fluid Master Primer ($57), Luminous Silk

Foundation in 6.5 ($62), Fluid Sheer in #2 ($62), Lip Maestro in Ecstasy ($33). Neiman Marcus, 9700 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-550-5900; giorgioarmanibeauty-usa.com.

Smashbox Halo Highlighting Wand in Pearl ($32), Limitless Liquid Liner Pen in Black ($22). Nordstrom, The Grove, 189 The Grove Dr., LA, 323-930-2230; smashbox.com. Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat in #3 ($41). Neiman Marcus, 9700 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-550-5900; yslbeautyus.com. Bumble & Bumble Thickening Hairspray ($28). bumbleandbumble.com.

Oribe Texturizing Spray ($42). Neiman Marcus, see above; oribe.com

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on ryan: Shirt ($550) and trousers ($890), Saint Laurent by Hedi

Slimane. 469 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-271-4110; ysl.com.

Eyeglasses, Sunday Somewhere ($225). Ron Herman, 8100 Melrose Ave., LA, 323-651-4129; sundaysomewhere.com. on brittany: Darika dress, Escada ($1,625). 9502 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-285-0330; escada.com. on mckenna: Front-strap bra, Fleur du Mal ($98). Barneys New York, 9570 Wishire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-276-4400; barneys.com. Lace and silk shorts, Dolce & Gabbana ($255). 312 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-888-8701; dolce andgabbana.com opposite page: Embellished top ($7,675) and feather skirt ($4,325),

Jenny Packham. Neiman Marcus, 9700 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-550-5900; neimanmarcus.com. Godiva flats, Sergio Rossi ($545). sergiorossi.com

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on brittany: Coat ($3,875) and bag ($3,795), Versace. South Coast

Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-380-3237; versace.com. Matt tights, Falke ($59). Creatures of Comfort, 7971 Melrose Ave., LA, 323-655-7855; falke.com. Burgundy leather loafers, Tod’s ($795). 333 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-285-0591; tods.com. on ryan: Shirt ($550) and trousers ($890), Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane. 469 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-271-4110; ysl.com. Cambridge wing oxford, Cole Haan ($258). 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., LA, 310-553-4800; colehaan.com opposite page: Windowpane plaid coat, Yigal Azrouël ($2,200). Mi

Place, 916 Avocado Ave., Newport Beach, 949-219-9919; yigal azrouel.com. Black wool turtleneck, Salvatore Ferragamo ($1,490).

357 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-273-9990; ferragamo.com Models: Brittany Burke/Factor Women McKenna at Ford Ryan Young/LA Models

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Duchess bustier gown, Cushnie et Ochs ($2,295). Neiman Marcus, 9700 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-550-5900; neimanmarcus.com. Tourmalated quartz necklace, Charles Albert ($3,000). charlesalbert.com

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Bold Star

This season, graphic artistry takes the spotlight.

Photography by Tony Duran Styling by Martina Nilsson

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Agaza gown, Escada ($4,995).

South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-957-6800; escada.com. Hat, Tsumori Chisato (price on request). Opening Ceremony, 451 N. La Cienega Blvd., LA, 310-652-1120; opening ceremony.us. 18k yellow-gold, vermeil, and silver-plated round earrings, Jack Vartanian ($1,400). Barneys New York, 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-276-4400; barneys.com

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Georgette gown, Yigal Azrouël ($1,490). Mi Place, 916 Avocado Ave., Newport Beach, 949-219-9919; yigal-azrouel.com

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Dress, Lanvin ($4,650). 260 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-402-0580; lanvin.com. Maxi Linear bangle ($220) and large Viti bangle ($175), Pluma. pluma-italia.com

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Silk coat, Dior ($4,200). South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-549-4700; dior.com. Mystic rainbow obsidian cuff, Charles Albert ($650). charlesalbert.com.

Skirt, Safiyaa ($1,000). Barneys New York, 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-276-4400; barneys.com

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Tuxedo vest, Brunello Cucinelli ($3,595). 9534 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills, 312-724-8118; brunellocucinelli.com. Black wool turtleneck, Salvatore Ferragamo ($1,490). 357 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-273-9990; ferragamo.com. Pochette “U” strass clutch, Roger Vivier ($1,875). South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-435-0015; rogervivier.com Makeup by Francesca Tolot at Cloutier Remix using Dior Beauty Hair by Rob Talty at Magnet using Frédéric Fekkai beauté: Dior Hydra Life Close-Up

($75), Diorskin Star Foundation in #010 ($50), Diorskin Star Concealer in #001 ($36), Dior Addict It-Lash Mascara in It-Black ($26), 5-Couleurs Eyeshadow in Bar ($60), Diorshow Brow Styler in Universal Brown ($29), and Rouge Dior Baume in Milly ($35). Neiman Marcus, 9700 Wilshire Blvd., 310-550-5900; dior.com. Fekkai PRX Reparatives Mending Elixir ($25), Brilliant Glossing Crème ($20), Sheer Hold Hairspray ($20). fekkai.com

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Halter dress with pleated skirt, Donna Karan ($2,595).

Nordstrom, The Grove, 189 The Grove Dr., LA, 323-930-2230; nordstrom.com. Viti small white bangles ($155 each), Viti large bangle ($175), and Maxi Linear bangle ($220), Pluma. pluma-italia.com. Isolde flats, Rupert Sanderson ($825).

Barneys New York, 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-2764400; barneys.com

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Top with jeweled stones ($2,860) and leggings ($485), Barbara Bui. South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-641-3770; barbara bui.com. Skirt, Safiyaa ($1,000).

Barneys New York, 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-2764400; barneys.com

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Cape, Salvatore Ferragamo ($2,850). 357 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-273-9990; ferragamo.com. Hat, Tsumori Chisato (price on request).

Opening Ceremony, 451 N. La Cienega Blvd., LA, 310-652-1120; openingceremony.us. Sterling silver, onyx, and quartz necklace, Charles Albert ($4,800). charlesalbert.com

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photography by rEportErS aSSoCIéS/gaMMa/gaMMa-rapho vIa gEtty IMagES

The queen of Hollywood, Elizabeth Taylor, is bedecked in Bulgari jewels at the film premiere of Lawrence of Arabia in 1963.

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rocks of

ages

Over its 130-year history, Bulgari has dazzled the haute monde and Hollywood glitterati with its oh-so-splendido creations. by roberta naas

photography courtesy of bulgari

S

ince 1884, the House of Bulgari has bewitched the international fashion set with its trademark over-the-top style. This year, as the Italian brand celebrates its 130th anniversary, it embarks on a series of projects that recount its rich past with a visionary eye to the future.

“Bulgari and Hollywood have always had a natural love affair,” says Adrienne Lee, store manager of Bulgari Beverly Hills. “From Elizabeth Taylor and Ingrid Bergman to Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts, the most magical women of cinema have adorned themselves with Bulgari jewels and will continue to do so for the next 130 years and beyond.”

Bulgari is one of the biggest purchasers of top-quality colored gemstones in the world; at any given time, the company’s legendary workshops in Rome have thousands of jewels on the premises. In a single well-lit room, with walls lined in sketches and colorful design ideas for necklaces, brooches, bracelets, earrings, and rings, is a

table positively groaning with rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts, citrines, and other gems.

“Bulgari is known for its use of big stones and for combining colors,” says Lucia Silvestri, Bulgari’s creative director. “When most houses were creating single-color gemstone necklaces and brooches, we were mixing gems and colors for artful presentations that left people breathless. It is very important for us to bring together rare stones with semiprecious stones of all colors for dramatic appeal. That is our signature.”

Artful Origins Almost since its inception, Bulgari’s aesthetic has been about color, texture, and romantic appeal. That may well be due to the brand’s Greek ancestral roots that date back to the early 1800s, when the Voulgaris family of silversmiths created Byzantine-style works of art. Residing in a small village in Central Greece’s Pindus Mountains, the family was adept at making unique silver belts,

from top left: The Parentesi cocktail ring ($9,450) is created in 18k white gold with amethyst and pavé diamonds; the 18k white-gold Ultimate Temptation Serpenti necklace (price on request) features more than 100 pear-shaped, step-cut, brilliant-cut, and pavé diamonds.

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“In addition to their schooling, it takes about eight years for our craftsmen to learn our style.”

–massimo di valentini

buckles, earrings, and sword sheaths. They passed the art form from generation to generation, eventually landing with the creative scion Sotirio Voulgaris, who was also an astute entrepreneur.

Sotirio relocated to Italy and established his first jewelry shop in Rome in 1884. As the business flourished, he Italianized his name and opened his second Bulgari store, and the first on Via Condotti, in 1894. (It would be another decade before a third boutique was established at the current landmark address Via Condotti, number 10—at the foot of the Spanish Steps.)

Throughout the ensuing century, the familyowned and -operated Bulgari thrived. Family members contributed different aspects to the business: talent for design, expertise in precious gemstone selection, and business acumen.

Together they built an empire based on vivid and evocative jewelry designs that were so intriguing that they quickly caught the eyes of socialites and celebrities, politicians and aristocrats. The everglamorous Clare Boothe Luce—who, as the first American woman to hold a major ambassadorship, was posted in Italy—was particularly fond of the brand, as were Sophia Loren, Jayne Mansfield, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor.

Bulgari creations have also captivated leading men. Celebrities such as Richard Burton, Eddie Fisher, and Kirk Douglas frequented the store in search of perfect gifts for their innamorate. American artist Andy Warhol, always obsessed with color

and design, never missed a chance to visit the store when in Rome, calling Bulgari the “best exhibition of contemporary art.” Today, Bulgari jewels can be seen on such boldfacers as Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, and Jessica Lange.

Evolution of StylE Pinpointing what draws attention to Bulgari is easy: The brand has established an inimitable style that is timeless. The original intricate Byzantine designs paved the way for the lavish and elegant Art Deco styles of the 1920s, when pendants, brooches, tiaras, and wristwatches came into popularity.

Bulgari’s prominent use of large diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires in its designs for these pieces became a signature of the brand.

Stunning floral motifs that brought together multiple colored gemstones in one piece stole the limelight in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s. It was a time of great innovation for Bulgari. In the decades to come, the brand developed new methods of gemstone carving and setting, metalworking, and gold engraving that brought Bulgari further renown for presenting jewelry as art.

The next step for the brand was to create jewelry not just for special occasions but also to wear all day—while maintaining Bulgari’s elevated style.

This evolution manifested in some of the house’s most iconic collections, developed in the latter half of the 20th century: Parentesi (using straight and curved interlocking elements); Bulgari Bulgari

top left: The platinum Elizabeth Taylor necklace from the Heritage Collection (price on request) features 16 step-cut octagonal Colombian emeralds surrounded by brilliant-cut and pear-shaped diamonds. above, from left: Jack Lemmon and his wife, actress Felicia Farr, window-shopping outside Bulgari in 1962; the entrance to the newly refurbished Taylor room, where Elizabeth Taylor spent time during the filming of Cleopatra; the exterior of the store circa 1920.

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(incorporating the brand name into the designs); Tubogas (malleable gold coil designs); and Serpenti (the beloved serpent collection).

“We always strive for dynamic designs that offer color and creativity and top-quality craftsmanship,” Silvestri says. Whether it is one of the brand’s million-dollar unique offerings or a $1,000 production, every piece is the result of expert handcraftsmanship. Bulgari has an elaborate team of designers and an equally complex manufacturing process, with every step being closely monitored by the company for quality control.

“We hire our craftsmen right out of school and then train them ourselves to learn the Bulgari style,” says Massimo Di Valentini, high jewelry internal workshop manager. “In addition to their schooling, it takes about seven to eight years to learn our style and implement our standards.”

opposite page: photography by reporters association (lemmon); courtesy of bulgari (doorway); courtesy of bulgari historical archive (store exterior). this page: photography courtesy of bulgari

EtErnal tEmptations

With its rich roots firmly in mind and in celebration of the 130th anniversary, Bulgari is releasing an anniversary collection inspired by Rome. The collection, now in Bulgari boutiques, includes a high-jewelry Serpenti necklace, extraordinary special editions, a reedition of the B.zero1 ring, precision timepieces, a new fragrance, and accessories embellished with gemstones.

The one-of-a-kind Ultimate Temptation necklace reinterprets the iconic snake motif. It is set with more than 60 carats of fancy-shaped diamonds in a mosaic pattern that is a deft blend of exacting design and craftsmanship. Seventy diamonds trace a path along the snake’s tail, leading to a spectacular 12.16-carat diamond drop.

Further highlighting this motif, Bulgari is releasing three elegant diamond Serpenti pendants on a necklace that resembles scales. Each Serpenti pendant is clad in diamond pavé and features a burst of color via a fancy-cut mandarin garnet, rubellite, or emerald center drop. The mandarin garnet is a 30.97-carat pear-cut rare stone; the 13.86-carat rubellite is cut in a geometric shape; the 23.75-carat emerald swings freely in a drop cut that respects the stone’s natural shape.

On a more approachable level, Bulgari has also created a pink-gold and bronzed ceramic B.zero1 Roma ring. The piece merges the Bulgari Roma logo with a Tubogas inspiration, symbolizing the brand’s respect for its Roman origins.

Another large endeavor to mark its anniversary was Bulgari’s renovation of its Via Condotti 10 boutique. For this project, the company hired acclaimed architect Peter Marino. The redesign—with rich woods, Italian marble, and a new watch room—will serve as the inspiration for all future Bulgari boutique openings and updates. Marino even paid

close attention to a small secret room with sliding doors that was the “salottino Taylor,” where Elizabeth Taylor often spent time during her work in Rome on the infamous film epic Cleopatra. The salon was reachable through a secret door from a private courtyard. While it has been closed for decades, Marino brought it back to service, ready for today’s VIPs. “The renovations in the boutique clearly make it a store for the future,” says Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari worldwide. “[Marino’s] creativity in combining the historic aspects of the building with timeless woods, paints, and other touches makes it something we can emulate in future boutiques.”

Additionally, in an effort to pay homage to the Eternal City, from which the house continually draws inspiration, Bulgari has become the sole financier of the restoration of the Spanish Steps— just minutes away from the shop and the focal point of this most celebrated street. LAC

“Bulgari and Hollywood have always had a natural love affair. The most magical women of cinema have adorned themselves with Bulgari jewels.”

—adrienne lee

The Serpenti watch (price on request) from Bulgari’s high-jewelry collection features an 18k pink-gold case, dial, and double-spiral bracelet set with brilliant-cut diamonds and turquoise.

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Red, White, and...

An eco -f r iendly Napa/Sonoma wine countr y vi sit in fall i s tr uly a tr ip to bountif ul .

By Abby Tegnelia

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... GReen!

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The Magnolia Courtyard at Yountville’s LEED-Platinum-certified Bardessono hotel. left: Jericho Canyon Vineyard in Calistoga.

ike an excruciating soccer match between two teams trying to ride out the clock, Napa and Sonoma were put through the ringer this year, muscling through the toughest drought in a century, summer wildfires, and even some early bud break. But now they’ve made it to the buzzer— it’s harvest time! After the bullying they’ve triumphed over, the release parties that are coming early this year should be extra celebratory.

Between all of the excitement and the crisp Indian summerlike weather, fall is a magical time to visit wine country and take part in the harvest traditions, paying homage to Mother Nature for another great year. In fact, she is reigning supreme in Napa and Sonoma, which are ushering in an era of ecoconscious winemaking.

“Linking what we’re doing for the environment to what’s in the bottle is very important to me,” says the pioneering Mike Benziger, general manager and winegrower for Sonoma’s Benziger Family Winery, whose harvest will be in “full swing” by September 1. “Our job is to reconnect people to the land, which is very powerful. We get the customer out in the vineyard, teach them some farming techniques, and then get them back to the tasting room to show the [resultant] high-quality wine. It makes an impact on people.”

In 2000, Benziger became the very first winery in Napa or Sonoma to be granted a Biodynamic Certification—which means it takes an organic, holistic approach to winemaking that encompasses everything from the animals on the property to the moon’s phases—but now the country’s most famous wine region has an impressive array of

LEED-certified wineries, Biodynamic vineyards, and “green” hotels. The ultimate eco-resort in the area is Yountville’s Bardessono, which confidently calls itself the “greenest luxury property in the world.” The 62-room LEED-Platinum-certified hotel (one of only three in the US) boasts 940 solar panels for electricity, auto blinds outside the rooms to efficiently lower the demand for heating and cooling, and “smart” thermostats that can tell when the room is vacant and power themselves down.

But the hotel, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, is so deft at incorporating its green practices into its five-star operation, that many people remain unaware that their favorite luxe hotel is doing so much for the environment.

“We’ve married green with luxury,” says Jim Treadway, Bardessono’s GM, who helped develop the hotel and relocated from Seattle to run it.

“Anyone with strong environmental awareness who’s done their research settles on us, but only about 20 percent of our guests stay here for that. All guests, once they’re here, are made subtly aware.”

In a town where farm-to-table means that the vegetables are grown, literally, across the street (The French Laundry and its famous gardens are also in Yountville), Bardessono grows its own produce. There is no middleman for any of the proteins—eggs, fish, and poultry are purchased directly from farms. And room service does not carry brands from companies whose practices aren’t deemed satisfactorily sustainable.

(Budweiser, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi didn’t make the cut, but the hotel proudly serves Peet’s Coffee, whose roasting facility is LEED Gold certified).

About half an hour north, Napa’s most rural town of Calistoga is host to the 157-acre Calistoga Ranch,

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The pool at Bardessono, which calls itself the greenest luxury property in the world.

“It’s not about the money; It’s about mInImIzIng our carbon footprInt. people come to lIve vIcarIously through the owners.”

—Suzanne Phifer Pavitt a 50-room luxury Auberge resort. The GM there, Coni Thornburg, is so passionate about being kind to the earth that her nickname has become “Mother Nature.”

At the hotel, farm-fresh eggs come right from an on-site chicken coop, and every single drop of water is recycled for irrigation. Hiking trails on the ranch were forged by hand so as not to disturb wildlife, and less than 20 trees were removed in order to build the resort, so there might be a tree growing right through the deck of your guest room. Spa products are made with honey from the property’s beehives, and rooms smell of fresh rosemary and lavender from the

garden. Calistoga Ranch also composts on-site, which most of the locals do in their homes, too. “This is how we live!” Thornburg says. “We’re in it for all the right reasons.”

For harvest, starting this month, Calistoga Ranch guests may get up at 5 am to join in the fun (there’s a vineyard on property). “Forty guests harvested with us last year,” Thornburg says. “They had beautiful Cabernet sticky fingers. Our guests are people wanting to reconnect with nature in a private setting.”

Also in Calistoga, vintner Suzanne Phifer Pavitt, with her husband, Shane, has built a barn using repurposed wood that looks like it came right out of

photography © Erhard pfEiffEr 2007 (calistoga raNch); courtEsy BardEsso (pool)

Fewer than 20 trees were removed from the 157-acre Calistoga Ranch property when it was built; guest rooms like this were constructed around the ones remaining.

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PremIer Cru Winemaker Ann Colgin gives the scoop on Napa’s very best food and drink offerings.

St. HeLenA’S CoLgin CeLLArS is one of Napa’s most beloved winemakers, with vintner/ owner Ann Colgin quickly rising to “cult” status for her Cabernet blends after opening in 1992.

There is currently a waiting list to buy her small-production vintages (the wines can top $500 retail), but she encourages signing up, as the list does move. She makes four wines now (three of which are Cab blends), all using grapes from very specifc vineyards, chosen with care for that particular varietal. “We make the best of the best,” she says. “We showcase varietals from that perfect spot of land for their personalities. This gives the wines a beautiful sense of place, for inviting, voluptuous vintages.”

photography © 2010 partners 2 Media (barn); Misty layne (colgin); Morgan bellinger (bok choy); ©2006 thoMas heinser (spottsWoode); courtesy of tkrg (ad hoc)

The barn at Phifer Pavitt, which serves as a tasting room and, sometimes, a meditation center, was built with 100-year-old redwood. It features a 1,000-pound tasting table made from a single fallen walnut tree.

from left:

Town & Country. They used 100-year-old redwood from a barn five miles down the road, recycled blue jeans as insulation, chandeliers made from used wire, copper sheets from a shipyard in Georgia, and a 1,000-pound tasting table made from a single fallen walnut tree that now hangs from the roof as if by magic.

The barn, which opened in 2011, serves as the tasting room for Phifer Pavitt’s wines—and will even be hosting a meditation workshop this fall. In many ways, the Pavitts represent the “new” eco-conscious stewards who move to wine country to live off the land and make wines that are stories unto themselves.

“It’s not about the money; it’s about minimizing our carbon footprint,” Phifer Pavitt says. “We have vegetable and fruit trees. We make our own olive oil and preserves. People come for the experience, to live vicariously through the owners. They want to know the story behind the wine.”

The scoop? A line of wine called Date Night that includes a yummy Cabernet Sauvignon, a brand-new sparkling white, and a narrative thread that connects the reds and the whites with being green. LAC

Bok choy from Press; Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery Barrel Room; alfresco dining at Ad Hoc.

to eAt Splurge: Like The French Laundry, Christopher Kostow’s the restaurant at meadowood has three Michelin stars. “Very creative and delicious,” Colgin says, “but different than The French Laundry.” (900 Meadowood lane, St. Helena, 707-9671205; therestaurantatmeadowood.com) laid-back: Colgin is a huge fan of chef Thomas Keller. She says of his Ad Hoc: “It’s fun! I love that kind of dining: casual and interactive.” Plus, there’s weekend brunch.

(6476 Washington St., Yountville, 707-9442487; adhocrestaurant.com) On-tHe-gO bite: gott’s roadside. “I make a luxurious wine, but one of the few things I like to have it with is a burger.” (933 Main St., St. Helena, 707-963-3486; gotts.com) beSt Steak: “Press is fantastic. I love the open barnlike look, and it has a great oldCalifornia wine list.” (587 St. Helena Hwy., St. Helena, 707-967-0550; pressnapa valley.com)

lOcalS’ favOrite: “Archetype is a fun new restaurant with an open, airy feel.” (1429 Main St., St. Helena, 707-968-9200; archetypenapa.com) to Drink WinerY WitH a Scene: “Darioush has a great sense of life and is so hospitable. Visiting is a real treat.” (4240 Silverado trail, napa, 707-257-2345; darioush.com) all-feMale caSt: “The women at Spottswoode are very gracious hostesses.”

(1902 Madrona ave., St. Helena, 707-963-0134; spottswoode.com) One tO WatcH: “vineyard 7 & 8 is developing beautifully and has a hot new winemaker.” (4028 Spring Mountain rd., St. Helena, 707-963-9425; vineyard7and8.com) tHe claSSic: “opus one has the most beautiful barrel room in Napa Valley.” (7900 St. Helena Hwy., Oakville, 707-944-9442; opusonewinery.com) beSt WHite: “Aubert makes a great Chardonnay.” (333 Silverado trail, calistoga, 707-9424333; aubertwines.com)

ON The VerVe Once Silicon Valley’s little secret, Livermore is emerging as the wine country’s chicest new hot spot.

Livermore vALLey, east of San Francisco, has long been lying low, enjoying all of the attention lavished on it by locals and Silicon Valley execs. Tech-money types have vineyard weddings here, buy second homes on acres of land, and in general keep their gem hidden from winos who hail from farther south. But that’s starting to change. Livermore is the only pocket of wine country accessible by train, making the trip easy for those fying into SFO. “Many visitors choose to take the BART train from San Francisco and have a limousine meet them at the rail station,” says Chris Chandler, executive director of Livermore Valley Winegrowers

Association. “It can take them around the valley for lunch and wine tasting and then back to the BART.” Staying overnight? There are also charming downtown streets, golf courses, restaurants, bike paths—and the famous Livermore Premium Outlets. (On September 27, the Outlets’ Sunset Sip & Shop will feature wine tastings and store discounts.) Wente Vineyards is leading the way in sustainable farming, and the Livermore Valley is so diverse that, says Chandler, “Many varietals thrive here, including lean, high-acid Sauvignon Blanc; rich, balanced Merlot; and deep, dark, dense Petite Sirah… to name a few!”

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The Price of ivory

With the ever-expanding worldwide market for illegal luxury goods, African elephants are being hunted to extinction for their valuable tusks. Here, Chelsea Clinton shares her passion for these exceptional animals, and the Clinton Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts to save them. by elizabeTh e. ThorP

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opposite page: Mark Deeble anD Victoria stone/MarkDeeble.worDpress.coM. this page: photography by Max orenstein/clinton founDation (clinton)

I

t’s an unimaginable horror. Satao, an iconic male African bush ele- trade. The Partnership to Save Africa’s Elephants initiative partners include the phant who was born in the late 1960s, should have lived a natural life Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund, African Wildlife of 70 years. But he was found dead in Kenya’s Tsavo East National Foundation, International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Nature Conservancy, Park in June. Poachers took down Satao, who weighed an estimated Conservation International, and 11 other nongovernmental organizations, workseven tons, with a single poisoned arrow to his flank. His signature ing together to halt the decline of African elephants.

Chelsea Clinton, due to have her first child in the fall, still keeps a packed schedivory tusks, which weighed more than 100 pounds each, had been hacked off. The Tsavo Trust, a conservation group that monitors the ule at the foundation, passionately promoting initiatives close to her heart: elephant populations of Tsavo in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife empowering women and girls, clean drinking water, combating childhood obeService, knew Satao well because of its focus on protecting large “tuskers” which sity, and the elephant poaching crisis. We sat down with Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, to talk about its efforts to save are lucrative targets for poachers. But Satao was so African elephants. horribly butchered that the conservation groups who tracked his every move for years could not Los Angeles Confidential: When was the first time immediately identify him. you learned about the horrors of elephant Why would anyone want to kill the world’s largpoaching? est land mammal—a highly intelligent species with Chelsea Clinton: I remember vividly: My mother’s a lifespan as long as a human’s? An animal with parents moved to Arkansas right before Christmas in powerful family bonds and a memory that far sur1987, and I remember my grandparents asking what I passes ours and spans a lifetime? Scientists have wanted for Christmas. My grandmother said, “We’ll found that elephants are capable of elaborate give you a membership and a subscription to anything thought and deep feeling; they mourn deeply for that you want,” so I picked National Geographic and poslost loved ones, even shedding tears and suffering sibly Greenpeace or Conservation International. I just depression. They have a sense of empathy that projwanted to know everything I could about what was ects beyond their species. happening with the environment and conservation. I So why are these gorgeous creatures being was so shocked that elephants were under such duress, slaughtered? It’s for that objet d’art on your manteland the only thing that I could do was to ask my grandpiece, the necklace in your jewelry box, the hair parents to continue to support organizations that were ornament on your dresser, and the ivory keys of trying to save the elephants as my Christmas present your custom piano. every year.

While elephant poaching has been a grave How does CGI coordinate this gigantic underchallenge at different times during the last century, taking with so many different partners? it has recently risen to alarming levels. In 2012, There are three parts of the CGI commitment: You some 35,000 African elephants were killed, about stop the killing, stop the trafficking, and stop the a 10th of the remaining population, representing demand. One of the first things we did was assess the worst mass slaughter of elephants since the what each organization was doing and where there international ivory trade was banned in 1990. were gaps—whether functionally or geographically— Roughly the same number were killed last year as so that the additional monies could be invested in well. African forest elephants in particular have helping to fill those voids. Or continue to double been devastated by poaching and have declined down on strategies that were working: The Howard by about 76 percent since 2002. At this rate, African G. Buffett Foundation made an investment in Gabon, forest elephants could effectively become extinct —Chelsea Clinton because Gabon had already started to increase its over the next decade. emphasis on conservation and increase its number of The wildlife trade is one of the world’s most profitrangers and ranger training to try and protect its eleable criminal activities, ranking fifth globally in terms of value—estimated at $7 billion to $10 billion a year, behind trafficking in drugs, phants. Now we have US Marines training Gabon rangers, because it’s not only people, and oil, and counterfeiting. Today’s ivory traffickers are well-organized about protecting the elephants, it’s about the security of the country. Gabon, like syndicates that function as transnational criminal networks and often participate so many countries where poaching is happening, is being preyed upon by armed groups that are destabilizing forces throughout West Africa and East Africa. in trafficking drugs and weapons. Some have links with terrorist networks.

According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Tell me more about security concerns and government cooperation.

Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as much as 70 percent of elephant ivory is trans- The FBI is working with Interpol, as are various national intelligence groups, ported to China, where it is sold for up to $1,500 per pound and carved into because, increasingly, poaching is part of the most nefarious activities throughout Africa—whether it’s running guns or people or drugs—so there’s a real jewelry, religious figurines, and trinkets.

In September 2013, at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting, security interest not only for the countries that are affected but for all of us to Hillary and Chelsea Clinton unveiled an $80 million endeavor to stop the ivory stop poaching.

“STo P Th e

k IllIn g , STo P

The Tra f f Ic k In g , a n d STo P

Th e d e m a n d .”

opposite page: Satao, a male bush elephant born in the late 1960s, was killed for his tusks in Kenya’s Tsavo East National Park earlier this year.

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Chelsea Clinton photographing wild elephants during her 2013 trip to Africa.

Elephants form deep emotional bonds with family members that may rival our own.

Government-issued weapons for fighting poachers and tusks seized in Chad’s Zakouma National Park. In the last decade, 90 percent of the park’s elephants have been poached.

photography by tk; illustration by tk

While working to protect elephants in Garamba National Park in the DRC, park rangers show a tusk they confiscated.

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opposite page: photography by barbara kinney/clinton foundation (clinton); mike hill/getty images (elephants); alvaro canovas/ getty images (garamba national park); jean liou/afp/getty images (weapons); illustration by shutterstock.com

Having lived through 9/11, I think people will be very interested to know that poaching has direct links to terrorism and Al Qaeda in North Africa.

There’s irrefutable evidence that Al Qaeda in North Africa, the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Janjaweed from Sudan who are coming into Uganda and the DRC are all engaged in poaching, because ivory is an easily accessible commodity to them. It’s become a lubricant that continually greases the wheels for the shipment of drugs, guns, and people.

I don’t think many people realize the brutality involved when elephants are killed for ivory. One misconception is that taking off the tusk is like extracting a tooth. Elephants cannot live without their tusks; they are absolutely crucial to their survival.

What happens with the ivory after the elephants are killed? Is there a black market?

The tusks are removed and then trekked out to a port. In East Africa, a lot of ivory flows out of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Mombasa, and Kenya, up and down the coast, and it largely goes to Asia. China, by far, is the biggest market; Vietnam and Thailand are also significant markets.

The vast majority [of ivory] is transported in tusk form.

When it gets to China, the tusks are then cut down and made into commodities and luxury goods—whether it be ivory Buddhas, chopsticks, hair clips, or the handles of a luxury handbag.

Why the high demand for ivory in Asia?

In China, historically, ivory has been synonymous with ascension into the middle class and prosperity. One of the challenges along the continuum with trying to stop the demand is to find replacement products—so that ivory is no longer synonymous with rising affluence, but that, say, a Louis Vuitton handbag could be.

When you went to Africa last summer, what did you learn from being on the ground?

We went where there are indigenous elephant populations— from Malawi up to Tanzania. In Tanzania we were in Tarangire National Park; it was amazing not only to see the elephants in all of their magnificence but to see the families, to understand on a deeper level why it’s so important that the matriarchs—which are increasingly the ones that are killed because they’re the oldest and have the biggest tusks—not be slaughtered. Without the guidance of those older figures, it’s hard for younger families to survive.

And the park rangers are in such peril protecting the older elephants.

Yes. More than a thousand rangers have been killed over the last decade protecting elephants and other wildlife. They feel called to this work for the elephants’ sake, but also recognize this is important to their country’s future.

Why do you think elephants mean so much to you and your mother?

The first elephants I saw were in the Little Rock Zoo when I was little. What I felt then was just magnified profoundly

when I went with my mom to Africa as a teenager. It is this sense of a family, ultimately—the family unit of elephants and the affection and the commitment to their families and to the other elephant families in the area. Also, elephants are so crucial to the ecosystem. They’re sort of the honeybees of the African savannah or their forest environment.

Can you share any progress reports?

Judith McHale—who worked for my mom in the State Department, liaising on conservation efforts there—is chairing the [President’s Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking]. We fully support everything the Obama administration has done and strongly support an ivory ban here at home. We think that’s a critical move for the United States to make—not only for our own moral standing, but also because there is no argument for ivory being indispensable. There are very good substitute materials—whether it’s for a piano or a musical pick, or any of the utilitarian uses of ivory—so we really have been deeply enthusiastic about the commission’s work.

I understand you’re planning on doing something during Fashion Week?

Most of the major luxury goods houses don’t use ivory. The challenge is: How do we help their products become substitutions for ivory, in East Asia in particular? Something like a Louis Vuitton bag or an Hermès scarf or Donna Karan dress? How can those become the same types of status symbols that ivory historically has been? Also, how can we work with the fashion industry here in the US to raise awareness about this issue so that American consumers become aware of why you should never buy ivory?

How can someone who is reading this help?

One, don’t buy ivory, which sounds self-evident but it isn’t.

You’ll see stores that still sell ivory, because there is no carbon-dating equivalent for ivory. It’s impossible to assess its age, so a lot of new ivory gets laundered through antiques stores.

The second thing is to support organizations that are really making a difference in this fight—whether that’s big organizations like the Wildlife Conservation Society, which has the most extensive efforts throughout Africa, or more localized organizations like the African Wildlife Foundation, which is helping to provide economic opportunities to many of the vulnerable communities around parks, often through eco-tourism programs. There’s such a range of organizations doing tremendous work that are part of our CGI commitment—yet even more work could be done if there were even more resources to do it.

And also use your voice to help educate others about why this issue is so important, particularly given the number of misconceptions around ivory. I think that’s really where young people can help play a big role, using their voices offline and online, because a lot of people just don’t know what a tragedy elephant poaching really is, not just for the elephants but for the most affected communities. Ultimately, we all bear responsibility. LAC

Save the elephantS Be active in the Battle to stop elephant poaching.

“Each day, it is estimated that 96 elephants are brutally killed in Africa for their ivory,” says Cristián Samper, president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “Only a global movement will end the slaughter and help to ensure the survival of these magnificent animals. The Clinton Foundation is an important part of this movement.

Secretary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton have used their leadership to bring attention to the threat facing Africa’s elephants and to help gather partners across the globe to join together in this fight. We are working on all fronts to stop the killing and to stop the trafficking and demand for ivory.” to learn more aBout this crisis and to make a donation, go to:

african Wildlife Foundation awf.org clinton Foundation’s partnership to save africa’s elephants clintonfoundation.org conservation international conservation.org international Fund for animal Welfare: ifaw.org nature conservancy nature.org Wildlife conservation society wcs.org World Wildlife Fund worldwildlife.org

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TODD REED Iconic jewelry designer Todd Reed is bringing his vision to Venice. The new Todd Reed showroom will open in September 2014 on Abbot Kinney Blvd, complete with design studio, bridal salon and private viewing space. Todd Reed designs one-of-akind jewelry using raw and natural diamonds with mixed metals including palladium, gold and sterling silver.

Visit the stunning new space at 1511 Abbot Kinney in Venice, call 800.376.3609, or visit toddreed.com

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STYLE WEEK OC® returns to Fashion Island in Newport Beach and Irvine Spectrum Center in Irvine Sept. 10 through Sept. 20 with fashion shows, in-store parties and fall trend presentations. Don’t miss the crowd-pleasing runway design competitions at 7 p.m. Saturday Sept. 13 at Fashion Island and at 7 p.m.

Saturday Sept. 20 at Irvine Spectrum Center. First-time sponsor Celebrity Cruises has challenged the students from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) to create resort-wear looks inspired by their cruise line and its exotic destinations.

Visit Miracle Mile Shops to discover a world of cutting edge trends and this season’s fashion must-haves. Within 170 stores fnd Sephora, bebe, H&M, True Religion Brand Jeans, Urban Outftters, GUESS, French Connection, a new Shoe Palace, and more. Hungry? Satisfy any craving at more than 15 restaurants and bars. Miracle Mile Shops is located at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas.

Shop a curated selection of Francophile favorites from contemporary cool brand Joie with the latest addition to their boutique experience: Meet Me in Paris. With the help of their go-to Parisian style expert, Joie has delivered a must-have assortment of paper goods, accessories and sweet treats from local spots in Te City of Light that will be hard to come by anywhere else Stateside.

For information, call 888.800.8284 or visit miraclemileshopslv.com.

Available both online at www.joie.com and in store: 8414 Melrose Avenue | Los Angeles, CA 90069 | 323-330-1255 To fnd a full list of Joie boutiques, visit www.joie.com/boutiques

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haute property thoroughly Modern La

A lA Mod?

photography by Melissa Di Meglio

For the Industry-InsIder home seeker, “modern” must also be classIc. By Kathy a. McDonalD

This custom-built Gary Johns–designed house, listed for $8.5 million, displays the architectural influences of both Neutra and Schindler and boasts peerless views of the city, the mountains, and the coastline.

LA loves all things of-the-moment; fashion, music, business, and entertainment trends launch here every day. However, when it comes to residential real estate, being super on-trend isn’t always ideal.

While überstylized fxtures and all-white, boxy spaces may look good in photos, savvy real estate agents and buyers ask, are these spaces livable?

And more importantly, can they be resold?

According to Rodeo Realty’s Peter Maurice (petermaurice.com), buyers respond to designs that are functional and simple with neutral fnishes.

“If the house has a unique point of view or if it’s radical, you’re sunk in terms of resale,” he contends. “A really good house is a timeless house, not an architect’s signature trophy piece.”

“Most people who want modern architecture want an element of continued on PAGe 196

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The $2.995 million Foster Carling residence, designed by John Lautner in the 1940s, has such futuristic touches as a mechanized living room wall that opens to the outside.

“A reAlly good house is A timeless house, not An Architect’s signAture trophy piece.”

—peter maurice warmth, one that’s not overly angled and can offer an indoor/outdoor lifestyle,” adds Mark Kitching, a real estate agent with Partners Trust (markkitching.com). Kitching’s recent listing in Venice, a $2.8 million, 2,800-squarefoot, recently completed spec house developed by Wylan/James Development (wylanjames.com) went

continued from pAge 195

This Venice house features 25-foot ceilings and a see-through fireplace between the living and dining rooms. right: A massive 10-foot center island anchors the sleek kitchen of this $9.45 million modern classic in Brentwood.

into escrow within 10 days. Its open foor plan and 25-foot-high dining room ceiling downstairs further the uncomplicated indoor/outdoor fow—classic LA. Telescoping glass doors eliminate the border between indoor living space and the adjacent patio and yard.

Though this mod manse may not sound so different from the midcentury sort, it’s equipped

with a thoroughly 21st-century Nest system, the latest in home automation. The Nest sensor is tied to a mobile and desktop app and regulates heating and cooling as needed. (Other must-haves for the automated home: a wireless indoor/outdoor sound system—Sonos is top of list—and remote control apps for pool, spa, lighting, and security).

To do “modern” well today, there must be a signifcant investment not only in technological infrastructure, but also in high-quality materials like Fleetwood doors, dual-pane windows, and sleek, custom kitchen cabinet fnishes. For a design to be labeled architectural—and not be one of LA’s “McModernist McMansions”—Mark Wollman of Hilton & Hyland (hiltonhyland.com) says: “There has to be something striking and unusual that makes it stand out—it has to be more than the typical box.”

Wollman is representing a $9.45 million, 8,970-square-foot Brentwood architectural built in 2010, which has grandly scaled rooms, a glass and stone staircase, custom millwork, gallerylike walls, and a glossy kitchen with a 10-foot center island. A prime location puts the elements in stunning relief.

At the top of Outpost Estates, a Gary Johns-designed house built in 1991 (and listed at $8.5 million) echoes many international-style architectural concepts, from its impeccable positioning on a vertical lot to its foor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire city to its stainless steel kitchen countertops and wall baseboards. (Architect John Lautner worked closely with the owner to develop pool and studio plans that come with the property.)

Diana Knox of Partners Trust (thepartners trust.com) explains that valuing such a property must take into account the craftsmanship involved in building the one-of-a-kind home. “It’s not a priceper-square-foot kind of house, it’s about the views; and it’s an architectural house, which commands a much higher dollar,” she says. Knox argues the house is more classic than “contemporary”—the many built-ins are maplewood and the blond-wood fooring softens the soaring spaces.

When pricing a classic architectural home, and particularly one by a well-known architect, “You have to look at it as a piece of art,” says Brian Courville, the John Aaroe Group’s Architectural Division director, who represents the Foster Carling residence (listed at $2.995 million).

Designed by John Lautner in the late 1940s, the modern classic sits on a compact knoll above the Cahuenga Pass. The 1,999-square-foot house has attributes that place it frmly in the future: a mechanized living room wall that opens to the outdoors, an open-plan living room with no loadbearing walls, and walls of angled glass. Lautner, Courville contends, was building ahead of his time.

“It’s really a home of the future,” he says. Modern and timeless at the same time; a neat double play to pull off. LAC

photography by Michael McNaMara froM ShootiNg la (foSter carliNg)

haute property thoroughly Modern La

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Top of the Town In famously horIzontal la, penthouse lIvIng Is reachIng a peak. By Kathy a. McDonalD in demand as LA buyers become more comfortable with vertical living.

In Santa Monica, the 10-years-inthe-making Waverly at Ocean Avenue South released four penthouses to market; three sold within months.

Although the building is not sky-high, it’s angled so that top-floor units have unimpeded ocean, Tongva Park, and Malibu views. It’s the first all-new, luxury residential construction in decades in the beachside city; Marmol Radziner designed the penthouse model residence (just sold), which was listed at $7.995 million for 3,235 square feet.

“We set a price point for Ocean Avenue,” says Mary Ann Osborn, senior vice president of sales at Related Companies (related.com), of the sale. “There was pent-up demand and people are looking for a lockand-leave premise.” The Seychelle next door (also by Related) listed one of its 3,000-square-foot penthouses for $10 million.

Teles Properties’ David Kean (telesproperties.com) finds that his clients who buy into a high-rise are not of one age or demographic, but all agree on one aspect. LA’s full-service condominiums “provide the amenities of an estate without the maintenance,” Kean says.

At Century City’s 42-story Century (and below Candy Spelling’s $35 million duplex penthouse), a 40thfloor, $25 million penthouse is available. Designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern, the oval-shaped building comes with perks like an on-site pet spa, 24/7 concierge, valet parking, and lushly landscaped grounds. On the ground floor, the buzzy Hinoki & the Bird restaurant is the building’s de facto commissary.

In Westwood, the 24-story Carlyle

from top: A $25 million

penthouse on the 40th floor of the Century in Century City; the fully furnished Minotti penthouse in Westwood’s The Carlyle is on the market for $9.916 million; the rooftop pool belonging to the $10 million, 3,000-square-foot penthouse at The Seychelle in Santa Monica.

Residences’ developer Elad Group recently unveiled its fully furnished Minotti penthouse, on the market for $9.916 million. The Carlyle Residences’ three penthouse floors are distinguished by their large floor plans and reduced density (only two residences per floor). “The competitive set is small and there are only a select handful, which makes these more exclusive,” says Hana Cha, managing director of Urban New Development for The Agency

(theagencyre.com), the Carlyle’s exclusive sales and marketing team.

In comparison to other global cities, LA’s inventory is a relative bargain.

For example, London’s priciest penthouse (a 16,000-square-foot duplex) at Candy & Candy’s ultraluxurious One Hyde Park, serviced by the staff from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel next door, sold earlier this year for approximately $237 million.

Advises Related’s Osborn, “Get them while they’re hot!” LAC

photography courtesy of related companies (century, seychelle)

Unlike most world-class cities, Los Angeles went wide rather than up when it came to expansion. And that’s unlikely to change in the near future.

Although there are numerous high-rise residential projects in LA’s planning and construction pipeline, they’re years away from completion. In turn, that makes the city’s few homes on high even more valuable.

In the past, the penthouse was an apartment on the top floor. Now, because of their stellar views, unrivaled privacy, and desirability (who doesn’t want to press PH in the elevator?), it’s not uncommon for projects to boast several floors of penthouses and multiple penthouse condominiums per floor. Economics dictate the trend, as top-of-building units can be sold at a premium—sometimes 60 percent more than other residences in the same structure.

Recently, one of two penthouses at the 31-story Sierra Towers (at the border of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills) sold for $6.4 million; a lofty $2,077 per square foot. Described as a celeb magnet, the 1960s-era skyscraper has in the past attracted such highprofile buyers as Cher, Elton John, and most recently, Courteney Cox. Downtown’s 13-story landmark Eastern Columbia building, restored elegantly by The Kor Group, has six penthouses, one owned by Johnny Depp. Earlier this year, the last of The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live’s penthouses above Downtown sold for a reported $4 million.

(Situated on the top three floors of the 52-story building, the expansive flats are defined by their soaring ceiling heights and stunning jetliner views).

The city’s multistory, luxury buildings are limited and increasingly

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Abode & beyond northern delights Stockholm, sweet home: DTLA design shop Austere combines classic Scandinavian objects with experimental pieces—like an LED light-embedded swing.

Swede SucceSS

photography by MoLLy CraNNa

Downtown’s newest Design emporium brings scanDinavian cool to socal. By AlexAndriA ABrAmiAn Austere, one of LA’s hottest new home stores, seems to create its own set of house rules when it comes to stocking the shelves—in other words, don’t go looking for your basic sofa and matching throw pillows here.

Instead, the 5,000-square-foot showroom, located in Downtown LA, with A-list neighbors such as the Ace Hotel and Acne Studios, takes the notion of home goods into high-concept Scandinavian territory.

Heavily curated pieces run the gamut from Fritz Hansen’s Swan chair

by Arne Jacobsen, which sells for $4,729, to $10 plastic dish brushes that were originally designed in Sweden in the 1960s (more than 60 million have been sold since). In fact, most of merchandise toggles between the iconic and the seemingly ironic. Louis Poulsen’s well-known Artichoke pendant light is mixed in with contemporary designer Alexander Lervik’s LED light-embedded acrylic indoor swing, while Alvar Aalto Tulip vases keep company with Fiskars hedge clippers. But the mixing

doesn’t stop there. Owner Fredrik Carlström has also added fashion, art, technology, and even transportation to the mix: A 2015 Volvo SUV is parked front and center between Austere’s in-house barbershop, Roy & Son (another Swedish import), and its fully functional Eletrolux kitchen.

“What I want is for this to feel like a magazine that has come to life, like beautifully designed ‘pages’ that people can walk into,” says Carlström, a Stockholm transplant who has also done time in advertising and brand consultancy. To that end, the showroom regularly holds special events in the two-story space, a former department store parking lot. And lots of personal touches make the retail environment feel more loft than shop. “Some of the things here are mine and are very personal,” says Carlström. “There’s a Lego set here that I played with as a child. I won’t sell you that… but you can buy it online.” 912 S. Hill St., LA, 323977-9280; austere.co LAC

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Scandi-lust

NortherN exposure redux! LA goes Nuts for Nordic-iNspired desigN fiNds. By AlexAndriA ABrAmiAn

Danish Modern L.A. At this beloved Silver Lake outpost, vintage Scandinavian designs mingle with a smattering of other styles, including Hollywood Regency.

Vibrant, off-beat pieces like a color-blocked dresser are mixed in with more traditional Danish Modern dining sets, sofas, and storage pieces, and price points are similarly eclectic: While an authentic midcentury piece like a coffee table can be had for under $1,000, there are also some bigger-ticket pieces included in the mix, such as a $14,000 Hans Wegner credenza.

3028 Sunset Blvd., LA, 323-893-5950, danishmodernla.com

Denmark 50 Paging Don Draper: Midcentury Dansk design is

alive and well at Denmark 50.

Specializing in Danish furniture, accessories, and art from the 1950s and 1960s, the Melrose Avenue showroom nevertheless goes beyond the expected Egg chair basics; owner Wayne Marmorstein has an eye for sourcing lesser-known, highly sculptural gems of the era, including Hans Wegner’s Ox and Papa Bear chairs and Bruno Mathsson’s swooping chaise longue.

7974 Melrose Ave., LA, 323-650-5222; denmark50.com

Huset This Scandinavian design shop, located smack in the middle of the Abbot Kinney action, packs lots of expertly curated options in one small space. Colorful tableware, throw pillows, and blankets

are all on offer, but Huset may be strongest when it comes to sourcing out-of-the box accessories for children; beautifully handcrafted miniature flatware, cheerful melamine dishes, and innovative toy storage solutions make this the ideal shop for anyone who has overdosed on Pottery Barn Kids.

1316 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, 424-268-4213; huset-shop.com

Lawson-Fenning Call it the ultimate experiment in fusion furniture.

When Glenn Lawson and Grant Fenning founded their showroom—now a staple for many of the city’s top interior designers—the concept was simple: to meld the best of Scandinavian design with the essence of midcentury

A-list designers flock to Lief, LA’s top source for Swedish antiques: Paintings, furniture, and accessories span the Baroque period to the 1960s, and offer the more neutral, less color-saturated side of high-end Scandinavian interiors.

Look for expertly restored pieces from the Gustavian, Rococo, and Baroque periods that not only include handcrafted items from Sweden, but also from France, Spain, and even as far away as China.

642 N. Almont Dr., West Hollywood, 310-4920033; liefalmont.com

Marimekko Vibrantly colored, feel-good prints are what it’s all about at Marimekko. And at the company’s Beverly Hills store, its first West Coast flagship, the rainbow is in full spectrum. With textiles, pillows, tabletop, customizable beanbags, and even a growing line of clothing, the Helsinkiborn company makes it possible to put its signature poppies, polka dots, and animal prints on almost every surface in the house. 370 N. Canon Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-299-2528; us.marimekko.com LAC

Skol! in SeSSion Designer Betsy Burnham gives a lesson in Swedishinspired design.

What are your all-time favorite Scandinavian pieces?

I’m crazy for Scandinavian rugs: the allover patterns, the subdued, off-beat colors—so chic!

Scandi design often incorporates lots of color. How do you use huge pops of it in the right doses?

Balance is crucial. For every two or three bright pieces, temper them with a neutral. Fuchsia plus red plus bright yellow doesn’t look nearly as sophisticated as any of those colors paired with olive green— so by this logic you can see how important the more quiet, earthy element is when you’re working with brights.

What’s the trick to using Ikea pieces without creating a room that looks like Ikea? Be selective! I’d say one large piece per room is your limit, unless it’s something like a bookcase, which can be used in multiples. It’s fun to mix an inexpensive Ikea piece into a room—we all love the effect—but there’s also much to be said for [investing in] better-quality pieces to really anchor your room and set a more upscale tone.

photography copyright D. Vorillon ( lawson-fenning); amanDa BeVington (Burnham)

Bull’s-eye for style: Lawson-Fenning serves up an on-target mix of Scandinavian and Californian design.

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INVITED // TREND spotlight //

CRAZY FOR CUT-OUTS ACTRESSES ASHLEY MADEKWE, CODY HORN, AND JAMIE

The online auction, held by Paddle8, helped raise over $100,000 for LAND’s future programming.

CHUNG, AMONG OTHERS, DARED TO BARE ON JUNE DRESSES WHILE TOASTING THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN FORWARD BY ELYSE WALKER AND CUSHNIE ET OCHS AT GJELINA IN VENICE.

THE LOS ANGELES NOMADIC DIVISION feted its fifth anniversary of

curating site-specific contemporary art projects with a blowout on July 19 at the historic Beach Club in Santa Monica. As part of the festivities, 20 contemporary artists—including Math Bass, Sarah Cain, Michael Genovese, Daniel Joseph Martinez, and Glenn Kaino—donated exemplary artworks to benefit future LAND programs via online auction. The celebration, supported by Champagne sponsor Veuve Clicquot, also featured an on-site giveaway to Art Basel Miami Beach, with accommodations courtesy of the Hotel Cadillac Miami Beach.

John Geresi and Hendrik Folkerts

Shana Lutker

Carly Cushnie, Jamie Chung, and Michelle Ochs Emily Schweickhardt, Charlotte King, Heather Gokhman, Tory Benoit, and Erin Thompson

Cody Horn

Claressinka Anderson and Joe Pugliese

Erin Wasson

Shamim Momin with Joseph and Esther Varet

Ashley Madekwe and Elyse Walker

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEFANIE KEENAN (LAND ANNIVERSARY), GETTY IMAGES (CUT-OUTS)

LAND’S FIFTH ANNIVERSARY BEACH PARTY

26, ROCKING PEEK-A-BOO

Debra Scacco, Alison O’Daniel, and Kelly Barrie

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INVITED Guests participated in a silent auction to support STEP’s programs.

Alfonso Alcarez and Marisol Gonzalez

Steven O’Dell, Rory Bruer, and Clint Culpepper

Jamie and Jay Rey-Hipolito

Megan Luna and John Maxim

STEP’S REACH FOR THE STARS EVENT The SucceSS Through educaTion Program

hosted its second annual Reach for the Stars event at the LA Mart on June 14, honoring the chairman of STEP and president of Sony Pictures Entertainment, theatrical worldwide distribution, Rory Bruer. The evening, sponsored in part by Los Angeles Confidential, featured wine and cupcake tastings and raised awareness of the organization’s continuous mission to provide quality education to underprivileged students in South Central and East Los Angeles through scholarships.

Rory Bruer and Maria Quiban

Michael Swanson

THE 24-HOuR PlAyS

Post-performance, the casts of The 24-Hour Plays celebrated the event’s success at The Shore Hotel poolside afterparty.

photography by jasong king (reach for the stars), getty images (24 hour plays)

a band of hollywood’S

finest writers, directors, and actors convened at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica on June 19 to launch the fourth annual installment of The 24-Hour Plays in Los Angeles. Splitting into six groups, each helmed by a writer, the actors performed freshly inked scripts before a live crowd the evening after they were conceived. The production, supported by Montblanc, the 24 Hour Company, and Freestyle Picture Company, benefited Urban Arts Partnership—an organization that brings arts education to underserved public school students.

Ashley Madekwe

Sasha Alexander and Michael Ealy

Alanis Morissette

Katie Stevens

Abbie Cornish

John Cho and Kelly Osbourne

Andy Davis

Danny Pudi

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INVITED

Melissa Stevens and Liselle Taylor Daniel Wisler

Randal Haworth and Jeffrey Soros

Ariel Kashanchi and Paul Zahn

Laura Hyatt, Michael Genovese, and Samantha Frank

Homeira and Arnold Goldstein with John Geresi

ARTESA WINE TASTING LOS ANGELES CONFIDENTIAL AND ARTESA VINEYARDS & WINERY, in conjunction

with Los Angeles Nomadic Division, hosted a private wine tasting for LA’s art community at Dominick’s Restaurant in West Hollywood on June 11.

Artesa’s winemaker and Napa Valley veteran Mark Beringer was on hand to introduce selections from Artesa’s premier Estate Reserve Tier, as Artesa representatives poured samples of reds and whites for the cultivated crowd.

VERA WANG RODEO DRIVE OPENING VANITY FAIR SALUTED the opening of designer Vera Wang’s Rodeo Drive boutique on June 18 with an intimate cocktail reception benefiting children’s charity Barnardo’s, whose goal is to better the lives of over 200,000 of the UK’s most vulnerable youth and their families.

Attendees, including Kaley Cuoco, Liberty Ross, and Victoria Justice, enjoyed mixes by DJ Michelle Pesce and a floor-to-ceiling art installation commissioned by artist Marco Brambilla, titled Replay.

Vera Wang, Eva Chow, and Rosamund Pike

Victoria Justice

Anjali Lewis

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Vanessa Marano

Lori Loughlin and Crystal Lourd

Kaley Cuoco, Vera Wang, and Ryan Sweeting

Sonequa Martin-Green

Hannah Simone

Keke Palmer, Laura Ramsey, and Jared Eng

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TNARETH CHUON )ARTESA WINE TASTING), CHARLEY GALLEY AND STEFANIE KEENAN (VERA WANG RODEO DRIVE OPENING)

Elissa Fisher Harris and Mark Beringer

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And FinAlly… September 2014

YEAR OF THE DRAGONS

Not a faN of Game of Thrones? Live by the sword… die by the sword. by sam wasson and catch up? Time is not an excuse. Neither is intelligibility. Remember Lost?

“But I don’t really understand what’s going on.”

“You haven’t seen enough,” they’d say. “You have to keep watching.”

“I don’t really like it, though….”

“You don’t know if you don’t like it yet.”

“But… I…” No, you can’t. They won’t let you. The more you struggle, the more your dissent is disqualified. “You just have to watch them all in one day,” they’ll say. Or: “You can’t watch them all in one day. You have to space them out.”

Or: “You can’t think about it so literally. It’s not actually about dragons.”

(Then why are there dragons in the show?) And it’s not just Game of Thrones or Lost. It’s Mad Men. It’s True Detective. It’s the one with Kevin Spacey in Washington. If you aren’t obsessed with Kevin Spacey in Washington, then something must be wrong with you. Emotionally. Psychologically.

They’ll say, “Don’t you think you’re being… stubborn?”

“Because I don’t love the show? No.” “You know, that sounds a little defensive.”

I am not a bad person. I answer all my e-mails, I take my own bag to Trader Joe’s, and I give money to homeless people who don’t yell at me.

But I don’t know how to dabble in long-form television and I’m on the fence about elfin coitus.

It hasn’t been easy. LAC

illustration by daniel o’leary

The world we live in is divided into two kinds of people: those who watch Game of Thrones… and me.

At first there was no reason to fear the truth.

“How about Game of Thrones last night?”

“I don’t watch it.”

But this sort of reply would get me blank stares and, sometimes, adversarial looks. So I reeled it in a bit. For the sake of my social life—which has some impact on my love life—I’ve had to.

“How about that scene when [x character] made a magic potion with [y character]?”

“Yes! Wow!” “Want to watch it next week? I’m having a GOT party!”

You see the problem. Either I admit, openly, that I’m interested exclusively in human characters and relationships (and then sit quietly as friends and attractive strangers tell me I’m judgmental and closed-minded), or, for the sake of a good evening and general pleasantness all around, pretend to care about dragons.

“Why don’t you just try it?” they ask.

Of course they don’t mean that. As veterans of long-form television, by now we know one cannot simply “try it” or “give it a chance”; if you want your point of view to be taken seriously at dinner parties—if you want to have stable relationships of any kind in today’s long-form world—one or two episodes will never suffice. Don’t have the time to watch the last two seasons

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