A Side of Wings
Carrie Imberman never set out to become an expert on wings, but now that Victoria’s Secret ads have deposited a winged supermodel on every bus stop and the city’s focused on Valentine’s Day (and lingerie), Imberman – the crafty genius behind the feathered creations sported by Gisele and Company – is becoming something of a cult hero. The 25-year-old fell into her métier by luck: She was hired in 1998 by set and costume designer Martin Izquierdo, who created the wings for Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. “I’m into slightly obsessive-compulsive things,” says Imberman. “I’d gaze at the wings and think, I could do that.” She starts each pair with a wire armature that’s actually pretty light – less than five pounds – which she then carefully covers with upwards of 3,000 turkey feathers. She’s also flooded with requests for personal wings – largely from guys who think that they might, in fact, morph their girlfriends into Tyra Banks, or people with a particularly fashionable costume party to attend. She even did a matching pair for a famous makeup artist and his dog. “Sometimes you have an instinct about a thing,” she explains. “I don’t have an instinct to pay my bills on time. I have an instinct about where feathers should go.”
Fashion Week Calms Down
The clothes that will be shown in next week’s fashion shows are still under wraps, but one trend is definitely anticipated in Bryant Park this season: brighter eyes and bushier tails. There’s a dearth of parties during what has traditionally been the city’s surest bet for nightcrawlers and gate-crashers. “One is still at a funeral,” sighed Serena Bass, the fashion world’s favorite caterer. “And of course, it’s a funeral of the bankroll, really.” P.R. firm Harrison & Shriftman, which typically organizes back-to-back parties during the shows, is only working on one: a sedate, Mike Bloomberg-hosted breakfast for Mercedes-Benz, the sponsor of Fashion Week. In the past, sponsors have hosted lavish fêtes at places like the Natural History museum. “I can’t tell you how many RSVPs we have already!” says Harrison & Shriftman’s Claire Curran. “And it’s early in the morning!” Plus, the tents will be smaller, the shows more exclusive (Michael Kors went down from 1,100 guests to 400), and the atmosphere less like a circus and more like the marketplace it really is. “Maybe it’s good,” sighs one fashion editor. “We’ll all get our work done.”