Is Hudstrong Already Over?Have Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong split before even getting a nickname? Does Jeffrey Epstein really send valentines from prison? Did Janice Dickinson really flash a pilot? That’s what New York gossips are saying! Read all about it in our daily roundup.
‘Project Runway’ Returns: Our Early ThoughtsAfter all the drama leading up to this season’s premiere of ‘Project Runway,’ we had our worries — but the Fug Girls think it’s all gonna be okay.
Tim Gunn: Cindy McCain’s Updos Are Far Too TautTim Gunn tells ‘Time’ that Michelle Obama looks relaxed in her style, while Cindy McCain’s ponytail looks like a sorry attempt at a face-lift.
‘Project Runway’ Loses ProducersNBC struck a deal with the show’s executive producers to prevent them from following the series over to Lifetime. This show is really doomed.
Tim Gunn Wants Nina Garcia Back on ‘Project Runway’We caught up with Tim Gunn at last night’s Parsons Benefit and asked him what’s going on with Nina Garcia. He can’t imagine ‘Project Runway’ without her.
run through
Breaking: ‘Project Runway’ Moves From Bravo to LifetimeWe’ve just received word that come this November, Project Runway will move from Bravo to Lifetime, the “No. 1 network for women” and made-for-television movies starring Meredith Baxter Birney. Please note the adjustment on your DVRs!
party lines
Christian Siriano Dresses Heidi Klum, Dates a BrooklyniteChristian Siriano has been rubbing elbows with celebrities on the West Coast, but he’s finally back in New York. Last night, at the Mercedes-Benz BlueTec Auto Show kickoff party, we caught the Project Runway winner when he wasn’t chatting up fashion-world insiders like Fern Mallis and the Heatherette boys.
party lines
‘Project Runway’ Did Not Help Malan Breton’s GameChristian Siriano might be the next Marc Jacobs in Tim Gunn’s eyes, but that doesn’t mean it will help him get laid, at least according to ex–Project Runway contestant Malan Breton.
party lines
Tim Gunn: Christian Siriano Is the Next Marc JacobsTim Gunn offered lofty praise of Project Runway winner Christian Siriano at last night’s GLAAD Awards. “I really believe he is his generation’s Marc Jacobs. I really do,” Gunn said.
cult of personality
‘SNL’ Spoofs Christian Siriano With ‘Fierce Hot Mess’Last week we reported Christian Siriano and Jillian Lewis think Project Runway needs a new format. And like manna from heaven, the good folks over at Saturday Night Live came to the rescue.
new york fugging city
Fugs on the ‘Project Runway’ Finale: Talented, Qualified Contestants Are … BoringAfter Christian Siriano was crowned the fiercest designer in the land on Project Runway’s fourth-season finale, we felt happy but slightly empty. Not because we didn’t think he deserved the win, but because we hadn’t gotten our dramatic fill. There was no fighting. No abject horror. Not even a whiff of impropriety. What kind of self-respecting reality show fields a finale full of talented, qualified contestants who neither sabotage each other nor do anything to make Heidi Klum want to vomit on her shoes?
new york fugging city
Setting the Odds on the ‘Project Runway’ WinnerThank God the Project Runway finale is upon us once more! It’s been nearly a year and a half since neck-tattoo enthusiast Jeffrey Sebelia was crowned last season’s winner and, at the very least, we’re jonesing for a new victim to insert into those terrible Saturn ads.
Tim Gunn Doesn’t Make It Work in This WeatherListen, we think she seems great and all, but how on earth has Sophia Bush managed to get invited to shows all over town this season? Either she has frighteningly effective people working for her or she’s cashing in on one of the several hundred karmic IOUs she earned during those months she had to spend married to the king of the asshats, Chad Michael Murray.
company town
Adriana Lima Has Really Big … EyesFASHION
• Victoria’s Secret is featuring Adriana Lima in its Super Bowl ads because of her “spectacular eyes.” Right, her eyes. [WWD]
• Diane Von Furstenberg has launched her first line of shoes. [FWD]
• John Bartlett is joining Tim Gunn at Liz Claiborne. He’ll be designing a men’s sportswear line. [Investor’s Business Daily]
company town
Some Lawyers Are SadLAW
• Know a troubled lawyer? If you work in the law, you probably do — some estimates put the ratio of depressed attorneys at 20 percent — and a few new Websites are trying help them out. [Law Blog/WSJ, WSJ]
• How not to get out of your marijuana arrest: When the judge lets you off easy, pull out a driver’s license covered in pot. [New York Law Journal]
• So just how lame was Cadwalader’s Wild Wild West holiday party last night? Wildly. [Above the Law]
Janet Is a Part of the Fedora NationIt doesn’t make us proud, but we couldn’t help ourselves: So much has been made in the tabloids of Janet Jackson’s fluctuating weight that when we first saw her at
gossipmonger
Why Does Peter Kalikow Have a $1 Million Ferrari?Billionaire financiers Stephen Schwarzman and Henry Kravis don’t like each other, and refuse to socialize at billionaire financier-type events. Speaking of billionaire financiers, Jeffrey Epstein hired former Whitewater special prosecutor Ken Starr to help defend him against charges that he solicited prostitutes. Tim Gunn claims that he wasn’t allowed to reference Project Runway in his book for fear of being sued by publisher (and Runway co-producer) Weinstein & Co. MTA chairman Peter Kalikow’s $1 million Ferrari sustained $32,000 in damage in transit from Zurich to New York last may. James Gandolfini says we should “shit or get off the pot” regarding Iraq, and wants to reinstate the draft. Some designers are angry that Ralph Lauren is hoarding models for his Saturday show.
gossipmonger
Clinton-Gore ‘48The Gores and the Clintons ran into each other at kiddie restaurant Mars 2112. Warner Bros. execs told Tim Burton to tone down the gore in his upcoming Sweeney Todd. (Perhaps he’ll be an only mildy disturbed barber?) Oprah is trying to get a woman to relocate her wedding because it is being held at a ranch that Oprah wants to reserve for guests attending her Obama fund-raiser. For some reason, ex-CNN anchor Paula Zahn kept a detailed diary of her affair with ContiGroup CEO Paul Fribourg. New York Rangers Sean Avery and Brendan Shanahan may star in hockey nut Mike Meyers’s upcoming movie. Bono’s duplex in the San Remo on Central Park West, once owned by Steve Jobs, may soon be for sale. Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot is setting her upcoming murder mystery at an NYU-like school.
party lines
Busy Tim Gunn Moves, Guides, Films
After sixteen years in his West Village apartment, Project Runway host Tim Gunn finally found time to move this weekend to his new Chelsea digs. He’d rescheduled the move four times to make it “as stress-free as possible” between filming the first two episodes of his new show, Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style, based on his book of the same name. “I’d say I’m not a fashion Svengali,” Gunn told us at Project Ruffway the other night of his role on the show. “I’m not going to throw clothes at you and say, ‘If you wear these, all of your fashion woes will be fixed.’ I’m much more of a fashion therapist.” While Gunn films Project in June, producers will look at “tons and tons” of tape for the first two episodes and figure out how to structure the show. “When we go back and do it in July, it should be smoother and better worked out,” said Gunn, who’s taping episode two this week. It’s doubtful he’ll have time soon to install shelves for his 75 boxes of books he moved, but he plans to unpack everything himself, rejecting the idea of a personal assistant. “I couldn’t stand it,” he said. “I’ll wash my own underwear, thank you.” —Amy Odell
party lines
Tim Gunn Goes to the Dogs
The fourth season of Project Runway starts taping next month, and Tim Gunn warmed up last night with Project Ruffway, a dog fashion show he hosted in a Chelsea gallery space. A benefit for Stray From the Heart, which rescues stray dogs around the globe, the show featured designer fashions for dogs and their walkers. A dog fashion show, it turns out, is a lot like a people fashion show. Looks were shown in the categories of eveningwear, weekend, resort, and “ruff and tumble” (“whatever that means,” Gunn unhelpfully explained), and many models, all adoptable or recently adopted, came from South America. Clothes were by top designers like Nicole Miller and Juicy Couture; Champagne was the drink of choice, though many well-heeled attendees sipped “Hair of the Dog” cocktails made with blood-orange juice, Champagne, and vodka; and the theme was taken seriously: hors d’oeuvre included little bone-shaped sandwiches of roast beef and grilled cheese and French fries in tiny bone-patterned paper cones.
party town
G-Unit• Entertainment Weekly upfronts party. The Box, 189 Chrystie St., nr. Stanton St., 9 p.m. Expected guests include Balthazar Getty, Kelsey Grammer, Judy Greer, Tim Gunn, and others whose last names don’t start with a “G.”
show and talk
‘Runway’ Winner Dao to Design for Neiman’s?Project Runway’s second-season winner Chloe Dao is in talks with Neiman Marcus about designing a line for the high-end department store, Tim Gunn said earlier this week. “Chloe wants to contain kind of a bubble of a career, and she has it,” Gunn told us at the Parson benefit the other night. “I mean it’s not going to be overnight, immediate commercial success, only because of the daunting aspects of production and how you wind all that up and seize the market.” Gunn heard the news from Neiman’s execs; Dao’s rep at Lizzie Grubman PR declined comment on any deals in the works but could announce one to design iPod accessories for a different Texas-based company. “She likes her life,” Gunn said. “She likes living in Houston. She manages it well, and I’m really proud of her.” —Amy Odell
party lines
At Parsons Benefit, Tim Gunn Promises Best ‘Runway’ Contestants YetDespite reports of low turnout for Project Runway’s season-four auditions last month, Tim Gunn called them the best ever. “We could have cast three seasons of Project Runway based on the quality in the numbers that we saw,” he said last night at a Parsons benefit attended by Bill Clinton, Mayor Bloomberg, and Donna Karan. “And when the designers are better, frankly, they’re really more fun to work with because you can really have a design dialogue as opposed to that hem’s falling down, why is the sleeve doing what it’s doing?, look at all this bulk — that isn’t fun.” Though busy with a new book, a Project Runway spinoff, and new job as CCO of Liz Claiborne, Gunn won’t leave Runway any time soon. “If there’s a season five for Bravo and for the show, there’s a season five for me because I can’t get enough of it,” he said. —Amy Odell
gossipmonger
Sharpton Comes AliveAl Sharpton is planning on speaking out against rap music at this week’s National Action Network convention, but Russell Simmons and other hip-hop execs are skeptical. The wife of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun invited three of his alleged mistresses to today’s funeral. Beyoncé is slated to make a lot of money after her current deal with Sony is up. Britney Spears may have fired manager Larry Rudolph, whom she blames for her recent career woes. Madonna went back to Malawi but insists she’s not adopting another child. Bruce Willis is now seeing Courtney Love.
company town
Bravo Makes Tim Gunn WorkFASHION
• Tim Gunn will carry on for another season of Project Runway. Bravo executives can now breathe. [Downtown Darling]
• Vogue’s May issue spotlights the ten new top models, including Jessica Stam, Chanel Iman, Coco Rocha, and Agyness Deyn. [Fashionologie]
• Henry Holland knockoffs continue to flood the market. The culprit this time: Urban Outfitters. [Fashionista]
new york fugging city
Fashion Week Is All Fugged Up
We were such innocents a mere eight days ago. Times were much simpler then; we had hope in our hearts and an unfailing optimism that our job covering celebrities in Fashion Week’s front rows would be like shooting fish in a barrel, minus the ricochet.
Even though not as many famous faces showed up as we’d have liked, we managed to come out the other end a very happy, sated pair. After all, we love clothes, Champagne, and sandwiches, and we got a lot of all three this week. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of our second stint covering the celebrity turnout at Bryant Park and, yes, of the 37 shows we saw, we did like a lot of the clothes.
show & tell
Jeffrey Sebelia: Tim, Stop Wearing Banana Republic!
As the Fug Girls pointed out, Project Runway winner Jeffrey Sebelia was the first on his feet at the end of Vera Wang’s fashion show. Jada Yuan caught him as he headed out the door.
Are you in town seeing other shows?
This is it.
Why just Vera?
Because I love what she does. It was a beautiful show. It was just deliciously soft. It was so sort of edgy and dark. I like her direction.
What have you been up to since the end of Project Runway?
Selling my Cosa Nostra men’s and women’s lines and doing really well.
fashion album
In Which Tim Gunn Discovers Stockings
Everyone’s favorite fashion mentor, Tim Gunn, just added more of his favorite fall shows to his fashion album. He gave Tracy Reese and Diane von Furstenberg “two big wows!” He loved Reese’s design sensibility and her hosiery and shoes. “When have I ever waxed poetic about a stocking? Never, until now!” And DVF’s collection was “drop-dead elegance.” Gunn was floored by the metallics and prints and pondered the question: “Can any designer be more divine?”
Look at Tim’s album.
Create your own fashion album.
new york fugging city
Catherine Malandrino: Where Fashion Fears to TreadWe found it deliciously evil that Catherine Malandrino scheduled her fall-winter 2007 at the Chelsea Art Museum to coincide with “Dangerous Beauty,” an exhibit that forces visitors to walk across a floor of bathroom scales. The very idea that a bunch of fashionistas, bundled up in an extra ten pounds of outerwear no less, might be required to traipse across a gigantic Floor of Judgment in order to see Malandrino’s show thoroughly tantalized us. The prospect had absolutely nothing to do with our decision to wear fewer layers today. Nothing at all.
fashion album
Tim Gunn’s Fall 2007 Fashion Week Favorites
In between tying up loose ends at Parsons, prepping for his new job as CEO of Liz Claiborne, and checking out the shows, Tim Gunn took time to pick his favorite menswear looks. He found John Bartlett’s collection perfect for “the prepster hipster” and thought Perry Ellis paraded some of the best knitwear on the runway, along with “seductive and compelling” outwear. What else did Tim like? Check out his fashion album.
Look at Tim’s album.
Make your own fashion album
show & tell
Jay McCarroll and Tim Gunn Still Have Beef
Jay McCarroll is lying low this Fashion Week. His first collection, which debuted in the fall, will be released next month by Urban Outfitters. What’s next? Certainly not a reunion with Tim Gunn. We talked to McCarroll at the Gen Art fashion showcase, where he took the opportunity to get his feelings about the Project Runway host off his chest.
Your spring 2007 show was great.
Yeah. I thought it was good. No one fucking said anything.
show & tell
Tim Gunn Thinks Michael Knight Needs to Get Out of Atlanta
We’re glad Bravo resisted the urge to overexpose Project Runway, but it’s killing us not to have a Bryant Park show to make bets on. So we found the next best thing: Tim Gunn, in the front row of the Heart Truth show.