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 吃喝玩乐系列：The Red-Carpet Runway （转贴） |
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安普若
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加入时间: 2004/02/21
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来自: 中国美国的飞机上
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作者：安普若 在 海归茶馆 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
The Red-Carpet Runway
How Designers Woo Stars To Wear Their Creations;
The Mascara Ms. Miller Wore
By CHRISTINA BINKLEY
February 22, 2007; Page D1
When all eyes are on best actor nominee Forest Whitaker at Sunday's Oscars, at least one pair of eyes will be staring not at his face, but at his 46-long torso.
Menswear designer Arnold Brant is hoping that Mr. Whitaker's bulky physique might be the charm that launches the Canadian Mr. Brant as the new Armani. In hopes that Mr. Whitaker might wear one of his suits under the klieg lights, Mr. Brant has sent a half-dozen to the actor's stylist.
But he's also hedging his bets, which is why Traci Young spent a recent weekend at a so-called luxury lounge at the Four Seasons here, manning a table laden with Arnold Brant jackets, scarves and ties. As Mr. Brant's vice president of marketing, Ms. Young has the job of fishing for more celebrities -- A-list, B or C. "We're making our investment in Hollywood," she said.
This weekend, we approach the finish line of the Hollywood awards season -- a months-long marathon of Critics Choice, People's Choice, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, Grammy, and so-on-and-so-forth awards. And of course, the Oscars, which have been distracting designers this week just as they're sending models down Milan runways to sell their fall collections. Planes from Milan's Malpensa to LAX are packed with fashion folk jetting from the runway to the red carpet.
Hollywood is an important element in the fashion food chain, feeding expensive clothing to the masses with the help of magazines and television shows whose coverage of red-carpet events amounts to free advertising. Bigger fashion designers have set up shop permanently in Los Angeles, employing "entertainment relations" people, some of whom specialize in red-carpet wear.
Designers start building relationships with Hollywood stylists months before the awards shows begin, then offer goodies to nominees and presenters in hopes that they'll not only wear them, but also mention the designer's name. This has its risks. One sympathizes with the jewelry designer whose bracelet on the arm of a giddy starlet was held to a Golden Globes TV camera. Interviewer Ryan Seacrest dutifully asked the name of the designer, to which the ingenue replied, "Sophia ... Sophia ... umm ... Sophia ... umm."
In the days prior to an awards show, splendid Los Angeles hotels take on the aspect of Moroccan souks. At luxury lounges all over town, invitees may pick up anything from jewels from the Platinum Guild to homeopathic drugs. No success is too trivial to trumpet. L'Oréal Paris announced that actress Sienna Miller attended the Golden Globes in L'Oréal Paris Voluminous mascara.
It seems no one has been left out of this freebie binge. At least, that's what I thought until I watched several men exit the Platinum Guild lounge. Loath to leave empty-handed, they took what was available: thong panties, silk scarves and zebra-striped handbags.
Poor guys. Many male actors attend award shows in their own tuxedos. And that, Arnold Brant's Ms. Young told me, is a big opportunity for menswear designers.
For award shows this season, Mr. Brant has been giving out soft dinner jackets of blended cashmere and mink, and even a supple velvet jacket made partly of bamboo fibers. These are no small gift, priced generally just under $1,000. His thing is "modern luxury" -- a phrase intended to suggest that his label is more Ashton Kutcher than Clint Eastwood.
Without Hollywood's help, the 39-year-old Mr. Brant has been selling $30 million a year of his Canadian-made clothes. But his label was purchased recently by apparel giant Oxford Industries Inc., with a new goal in mind: $100 million in annual sales. Runway shows, like those recently concluded in New York and now under way in Milan, are expensive and less effective at garnering buzz than red carpets, Ms. Young says.
So they started out late last summer, hiring Hollywood publicists who know a celebrity from a has-been. They flew out to Los Angeles every few weeks to court stylists to the stars. They met Brad Pitt's stylist -- and Mr. Whitaker's, Leisel "Q" Quamie.
Actor Forest Whitaker wore a jacket by designer Arnold Brant to the GQ Men of the Year awards (bottom) but opted for a Domenico Vacca for the Golden Globes (left), where L'Oréal mascara scored with actress Sienna Miller.
In December, Mr. Whitaker's stylist asked for five more Arnold Brant outfits. This led to high hopes among the designer's staff that the actor might wear one to a bigger award show, like the Golden Globes or the Oscars.
Ms. Young set up camp for the Golden Globes at the HBO Luxury Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel. She spent three days manning her folding table, while her publicist helped identify targets worthy of their largess. Ms. Young was loaded for bear. Among 25 suits and dozens of shirts, ties, and cashmere scarves, she included a size 42-long cashmere-mink jacket "because that's a man with a good body."
Her bet paid off when Terrence Howard, who was in the movies "Crash" and "Ray," walked out with the jacket for the Screen Actors Guild awards. Kevin Dillon, from HBO's "Entourage," left in a 40-regular, which he promised to wear to a party that weekend. "You just spread the name of Arnold Brant and I'll dress you," Ms. Young told a young actor from "Heroes." Her catch of the day was Adam Beach, a perfect 40-regular who recently joined "Law & Order SVU." "I presume he'll be the next thing to be talked about," Ms. Young said hopefully.
Mr. Whitaker dealt them a disappointment. He wore an Arnold Brant to a few lesser events, but for the Golden Globes, he settled on a Domenico Vacca Couture shawl-collar tuxedo in midnight blue. While actors are famous for changing their designer of choice at the last minute, as of yesterday, Mr. Whitaker's stylist said he'd be wearing Domenico Vacca again on Sunday.
Mr. Brant lamented a lack of resources in his assault on Tinsel Town. "If I could marry the overhead of Armani with my product," he said, "we'd be plastered all over Hollywood."
https://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117210526379315528-9bWInwHJVAdp80UCFxdfp9m79O8_20080221.html
作者：安普若 在 海归茶馆 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
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 吃喝玩乐系列：The Red-Carpet Runway （转贴） -- 安普若 - (6464 Byte) 2007-3-09 周五, 04:39 (2204 reads)
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