D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A p u n c h h u t t o n h o s t e d a t r u n k s h o w at e d i t i n s o u t h a m p t o n
Laurie Hugill
in New York), greeted the guests and the guest of honor after everyone was seated. She introduced Joyce Brown, the president of FIT, who was followed by Simon Doonan, the creative director at Barney’s New York. Doonan always delivers an amusing word about an event’s honoree. At this luncheon, he spoke of Valentino’s “fabulosity,” pointing out that few designers in the world ever did it as thoroughly as did Valentino, creating beauty to provide beauty, presenting the ultimate image of luxury, and 32 QUEST
Valerie Feigen and Alissa Emerson
Punch Hutton
in turn living it upright down to his yachts, his private jets, his villas, and chateaux, and his pugs. Doonan’s description not only drew expected laughs and smiles he evokes, but underlined the seriousness of the business image that the designer and his partner Giancarlo built. Nowadays they call it “branding.” V & G call it “living.” When you see the man in a photo or even at table, when he is quiet and/or listening, you see the well-tanned Roman countenance that is not hard, but nevertheless
Genie Egerton-Warburton
Karen Eisenstadt
quietly stern—all of which conceals a charming and friendly personality who is often smiling in conversation. It is always intriguing to observe, and it is, to me, a key to the man’s great creative abilities. He looks as if, as an employer, he might be strict (to put it mildly), but away from his work, he looks like there would be many laughs in his company. In the brilliant documentary that Matt Tyrnauer made of the lives of the two men, called “The Last Emperor,” you see many sides of that personality,
Patricia Harteneck
including the neverdisappointing, temperamental artist who can send a sharp message with a mere shrug or a sharp toss of the head. Then you see the man’s whole entourage—which he never seems far away from—and it looks more like a family, along with the dogs, all of which is protected and projected by his creative and clever business partner Giancarlo. After Doonan, Anna Wintour spoke of the man’s work. She also read a letter that Karl Lagerfeld sent to be read before the honoree
pat r i c k m c m u ll a n
Yaz Hernandez