Celebrity Skin
Forget directing. What stars really want to do these days is conquer the booming beauty business. Iman got Missy Elliott to throw some shade this summer with her new peach “Misdemeanor” lipstick for the supermodel’s makeup collection. Onetime Lancôme muse Isabella Rossellini is sharing her natural beauty secrets with her own line, Manifesto, which features a selection of colored creams to be used on the eyes, lips, and cheeks. (Kevyn Aucoin is already a fan, though the line won’t hit Bloomingdale’s counters until October.) And Pamela Anderson is moving her makeover efforts above the neck with her collection of “Baby’s Breath” mauve blush and “Pamela Pink” nail polish to transform customers into war-painted VIP babes. The sample line (currently available at www.beautyexperience.com) comes packed in a plastic heart-shaped carrying case. You’ll have to find your own falsies, though.
SUZANNE D’AMATO
The Little Things That Count
The fashion flock’s tots can finger-paint and learn their ABCs in style this fall as more designers race to dress precocious pre-K’ers. After filling last spring’s order of women’s form-fitting tops, the design team at Chaiken and Capone pieced together their leftover Liberty of London material to make baby clothes as gifts for industry insiders. Now the company (whose leather motorcycle pants topped every fashion editor’s fall wish list) is offering a complete line of infant pinafores ($102-$118, available at Barneys). London’s too-hip brand Maharishi is sizing its popular nylon trousers ($178, available at Barneys) for style’s next generation, so toddlers can be decked out in club gear long before their first brush with a bouncer. And fashion-forward daughters can match Mommy’s new Michael Kors skirt with Gemma Khan’s mini version ($158 for jacket, $88 for skirt; available at Barneys) – though pint-size cow prints look less haute couture than midwestern baby pageant.
MAURA EGAN
Buy Lines
After a bank-breaking splurge at Kirna Zabête, downtown’s latest “it” boutique, it’s natural to want to trash the receipts in order to destroy any evidence of blowing that much cash on Sonia Rykiel stiletto boots. But owners Beth Shepherd and Sarah Hailes hope clients read the fine print before burning their yellow customers’ copies. Unlike, say, Daffy’s, where the receipts are stamped with reminders about its strict seven-day return policy, Kirna Zabête offers more encouraging words at the cash register. Just beneath the staggering subtotal, the owners print precious phrases like LEAVE LOOKING LOVELY or THE SHANGRI-LA OF SHOPPING. “We want our customers to have a little chuckle,” explains Hailes. Though statements like PLEASE COME BACK AND SPEND MORE MONEY and PLEASE TELL A (RICH) FRIEND somehow seem more amusing for the management.
KAREN ROBINOVITZ
Fifteen Minutes…
Every year, when the Sears-catalogue-size September fashion glossies hit the stands, there’s always one eye-catching outfit that every savvy editor has banked on as the look. Remember last season’s coveted Gucci feathered jeans? They appeared quite chic on magazine covers and in spreads, but by the time all those celebrities got their pairs off the wait list, they couldn’t wear them – the pants were over (not to mention knocked off by every discount store). This season, Vogue, W, InStyle, and the New York Times have all spotlighted Dolce & Gabbana’s beaded silk micromini ($7,260) and/or the matching belt as fall’s hot-ticket item. Vogue and the Times even dressed Gwyneth Paltrow and a paper-doll version of Cate Blanchett in the same glittery number. Coming soon to a Strawberry near you?
M.E.