Richard Smothers, the chief financial officer for UK mother and baby products retailer Mothercare, has announced his intention to step down.
So, when “Snatched” screenwriter Katie Dippold and her mom were abducted in South America …
“Y’know, I sat on it for a while,” says a playing-along Dippold. “I thought, ‘I don’t know if this is cinematic.’ No, my mother and I did not get kidnapped in a jungle.”
That said, the Upright Citizens Brigade-trained writer of “The Heat” and last year’s “Ghostbusters” reboot, as well as “Parks and Recreation” and “Madtv” on the small screen, drew many of the underlying character issues in her raucous Amy Schumer/Goldie Hawn-starring action comedy from her own New Jersey past.In the film, which was directed in Hawaii by Jonathan Levine (“50/50,” “The Night Before”), Schumer’s Emily Middleton finds herself stuck with two non-refundable tickets to Ecuador when her musician boyfriend unceremoniously dumps her on the eve of their vacation. Retreating to the home of her rarely visited mother Linda (Hawn, in her first movie since 2002’s “The Banger Sisters”), Emily is saddened to find the once fun-loving woman leading a drab and somewhat fear-governed life.
In the film, which was directed in Hawaii by Jonathan Levine (“50/50,” “The Night Before”), Schumer’s Emily Middleton finds herself stuck with two non-refundable tickets to Ecuador when her musician boyfriend unceremoniously dumps her on the eve of their vacation. Retreating to the home of her rarely visited mother Linda (Hawn, in her first movie since 2002’s “The Banger Sisters”), Emily is saddened to find the once fun-loving woman leading a drab and somewhat fear-governed life.
Eager to bring Mom out of her shell, but mostly so her vacation investment won’t go to waste, Emily persuades the reluctant Linda to join her in paradise. Where the pair are promptly kidnapped for ransom, escape into the mountains and, amid much cussing and a few unintended killings, come to a new understanding of each other.
“The reason for the movie, for me, was more wish-fulfillment,” Dippold explains. “My parents got divorced when I was in college. It was a very friendly divorce, but I noticed that my mom, who was always really adventurous and fun and kind of fearless when I was a kid, something had shifted in her. She just became more cautious and cynical and a little bit more negative about things; it was like she was always expecting to be disappointed by someone or something.”
Maybe including her Rutgers graduate daughter, who was consumed with establishing her own life at the time.
“I was in my 20s, and I didn’t have the wisdom — I hadn’t been through therapy yet — to understand what was going on with her,” Dippold admits. “I was so focused on my temp job and my improv shows, I was like ‘Oh, Mom seems sad.’ That was all I could really offer.”
Dippold’s “Snatched” script might compensate a little. She reports her mother was pleased by a gag based on their own family cat, and, of course, was a bit more duly impressed that comedy legend and Oscar-winning actress Hawn was playing a character inspired by her.
“My whole family has loved Goldie Hawn since the beginning of time,” Dippold says of the “Private Benjamin,” “Shampoo,” “First Wives Club,” “Laugh-In” and so much more icon. “I think Mom’s mind is still kind of blown about the whole thing.”
While Dippold stops short of describing Emily as semi-autobiographically based, she was nonetheless super pleased when the red-hot Schumer came onto the project, not only as star, but also executive producer with her sister and writing partner, Kim Caramele. That team did a pass on the script during development, which Dippold describes as a collaborative process.
What certainly seems unmistakably Katie about “Snatched,” though, is how Emily can sometimes be as dangerous as she is uncensored.
“I think I’m naturally kind of a mild-mannered, gentle person,” says the creator of some of Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon’s most formidable roles. “I swear a lot, but my general way is pretty mild-mannered. It makes me sad that I grew up watching a lot of movies where the guys did these amazing, crazy things and I didn’t see a lot of that for women.
“I just wish I’d grown up seeing more of an aggressive type of woman, and I guess it’s a part of me that always wishes I was a little more confident and aggressive in real life,” she adds regarding her creative outlet. “So what I really wanted to try was something I hadn’t seen before, an R-rated mother-daughter movie. That was exciting, so I just pushed myself to go for things harder. I was sure there were going to be moments and scenes that an actress wouldn’t want to do, but Amy was the opposite. She just embraced it and then pushed it further.”
Like Schumer, Dippold is also no stranger to the comedy of painful embarrassment. Back when she was the hot new Hollywood commodity for her hit “Heat” spec script, there was little opportunity to bask in the buzz.
“In 2013, just so you know, I was so stressed out about ‘The Heat’ coming out that I ground my teeth so hard that a tooth died right before the premiere,” she reveals. “It was so painful, then it went away. But there was a little piece of my face, right below my nose, that I always noticed felt tender and weird if I pushed on it. Then just last year I went to a specialist who found that the tooth did die and had caused a massive infection, contained in that one spot of my face.
“So right before ‘Ghostbusters’ came out, I had to have surgery where they went in through the gums to clear it out. It was a whole ordeal, and it was disgusting and horrible. So I haven’t really spent too much time feeling so pleased with myself.”
Silver lining? At least Dippold had that distraction when the all-female “Ghostbusters” reboot came under attack by insecure male internet trolls and didn’t do the amount of business that had been hoped.
“Ironically, the way that I describe myself as a successful person is that I weirdly feel Zen about that experience,” she confesses, laughing. “The thing is, when you get that many comments, and you see that much of that kind of thing, for a neurotic person there’s a certain limit of hurt. And it’s freeing in a way. I’m working on a script right now, and for the first time I’m not thinking about what I should write and what people would want. I feel more focused on what I want to do and write, because it’s very hard to please everyone.”
Dippold wouldn’t say what her next project is about, though.
“I can’t, but honestly, mostly because if I heard disappointment in your voice, I would throw my computer out,” she cracks.
Anyway, she’s happy enough that her mom was moved by “Snatched.” Katie has more big plans for her, too.
“I’m gonna take her to Amsterdam in August,” Dippold says.
That ought to be an adventure. Just stay out of those … Oh, on second thought, hit some of those places. There may be another screenplay in it.
-
A flute player entertains at a food festival in New Delhi. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
A tiger walks in the late afternoon sun at Ranthambore National Park. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Women at the morning bathing ritual in Varanasi – Ganges River. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Sunrise along the Ganges. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Tomb of Humayan from the lawn – New Delhi. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Street scene in Old Delhi. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
A woman spools thread at the Carpet Factory in Jaipur. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Evening ceremony on the Ganges with the cremation of the dead. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Umbrella decorations line the entrance to the auto show at a hotel in Jaipur. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Shot of the Taj, late afternoon, from the gardens across the river. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
A bird cleans the ear of a deer at Ranthambore National Park. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Cycle taxi on a side street in Old Delhi. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
A woman sells fruit near Connaught Place, New Delhi. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Early morning prayer group at the Ganges river. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Two cows coming to blows at an intersection in Varanasi. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
A Black faced monkey with baby feeds with the group at Ranthambore National Park. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Morning prayer ceremony on the banks of the Ganges River. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Wiring on a side street in Old Delhi. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Shot of the the Taj from the reflecting pool. (Courtesy George Ray)
-
Symbols painted on the steps of a Ghat in Varanasi on the Ganges. (Courtesy George Ray)
Expand
Before traveling to India, I realized what I knew about the country pretty much boiled down to this: the Taj Mahal. Elephants. Garlic naan.
All the more reason to travel 13½ time zones, mingle amid one-sixth of the world’s population and learn about a belief system, art, religions, languages and traditions built on Eastern thought.
The payoffs in our travels to cities and rural areas were tremendous, though this is a journey perhaps not for everyone.
A lot of areas of India’s cities looked like this: dirt sidewalks; rambling shops in broken-down structures selling mysterious items; rickety buildings; families living in open-air dwellings (or just in the open air); bustling or dead-stop, lane-free roads; litter strewn in most gutters. Add women wearing the brightest palette of saris; men convening in front of storefronts, perhaps doing business, perhaps just chatting, occasionally
getting haircuts from a makeshift outdoor barber. Life courses on a human scale here, available to travelers to either see or experience. Interactions with people shift from “why?” to “wow!” Beyond friendliness and outright curiosity, Indians we met – even in the bleakest of conditions – were open to interaction.
India is a complex country full of contradictions and complications a western tourist can’t begin to understand in a trip. But after nearly three weeks in the north of India, and a few more weeks to think about it at home, here are some takeaways.
See the Taj Mahal but don’t miss its ancestor
If you are going to northern India, the fabled Taj Mahal in Agra is probably at the top of your bucket list. An average of 77,000 people daily visit the tomb, considered one of the world’s seven modern wonders.
And it is probably wise to come sooner rather than later: The buzz among tour guides onsite is that within a couple years, due to security concerns and wear and tear, visitors won’t be allowed up onto the broad marble platform that circles the outside perimeter of the Taj, nor to enter the tomb itself.
Millions of words praising the exquisite structure exist; here are just a few more about what surprised/delighted me:
The tomb and its manicured setting are, indeed, visually breathtaking, but what I hadn’t quite expected were the serenity and grace of a place that millions of photos don’t quite convey. There is not just shock and recognition of entering the gates and being walloped with an “aha” OMG moment, but a peaceful grandeur makes you want to linger a bit, at a distance, drinking it in.
Inside the circular, small internal tomb, the marble and the vaulted ceiling cause visitor voices to merge into not a roar but a steady, collective murmur. It’s a stirring, unique sound, almost like the chanted – and enchanting – echoes of millions over time who have come here.
Equally significant and satisfying as the Taj, I would suggest, is that any time spent in Delhi should include visiting Humayun’s Tomb.
This structure and immaculate grounds are no secret, but not as well known to westerners. A serene compound in crowded Delhi, it predates the Taj Mahal by 66 years and inspired the design of the latter.
Humayun’s Tomb was built by his widow in 1565 to celebrate the dead Mogul emperor (his fall from a height the result, according to many reports, of stumbling around in the dark in an opium fog). In this period, marble was not in use. Instead, red sandstone dominates, and the dome and exterior here are dominated by ochre, with cream-colored stones as framing devices. Also, in the interior, exquisite stone trellis works let light and air enter.
As with the Taj, Humayun’s Tomb sits in a wonderful park setting with a number of smaller, interesting tombs flanking it … if you have a free lunch hour, take a picnic.
You’ll never forget a rickshaw ride through Chandni Chowk. The old-fashioned and occasionally culturally questionable thought of a young man pedaling passengers on a rickshaw ride sounds more like the Far East of the past than South Asia of the present, but this slow-speed passage through the tight warrens of old Delhi, choked with small businesses, gives claustrophobia a good name.
Being maneuvered through the press of humanity going in and out of small businesses – close-up looks at the hundreds of book stalls and then the wedding-sari vendors quarters are astonishing – conveys an immediate sense of what living in close quarters with 1.25 billion people in a single country can feel like.
Take in the wildlife
Absolutely plan to go on a tiger hunt: While the animals usually associated with India are elephants and cows – more about them below – tigers in the wild were a big lure on our trip.
At the end of 2016, an ever-changing population estimate – poaching casts its dark shadow – found 3,890 tigers loose in the world. The Indian government is aggressively expanding protection efforts – the country spends an estimated $30 million a year on the effort – and 70 percent of the world’s tigers are found here, mostly in 49 reserves dotting the countryside.
About 110 miles southeast of Jaipur sits Ranthambore National Park, a 243-square mile savannah with several fresh water sources and many species of hoofed animals that are the tiger’s preferred meal. It’s an easily accessed destination.
Modern tiger hunts are about shooting photos, not animals. Early mornings and midafternoons at Ranthambore see a restricted number of open-air vehicles shuttling tourists into the park to jounce along five dusty trail routes, each stretching a few miles.
The three- to four-hour treks are mostly leisurely. Three separate trips included sightings of an elusive panther, dozing crocodiles and grub-eating sloth bears; water birds, wild boar, entertaining monkeys and various kinds of deer everywhere. But in an instant, and you never knew when, this could be punctuated by a spike of adrenalin with the hoarse shout from a guide: “Tiger!”
Our party hit the jackpot on one excursion: three adult tigers seen, including a female. They were captivating, powerfully built and colorfully designed, with the briefest glint of a yellow-eyed stare. Even seen from a distance through binoculars, they sent an instinctive shudder along my spine.
But the pursuit of our prey was also a thrill. Once a tiger was spotted, the vehicles would swarm like bees, jockeying for the best photo opportunities. Tigers here are accustomed to the cars and ignore them, padding purposefully along while we careened after.
Against the scenic backdrop of old Indian fortresses nearby and 19th century stone gates, the exhilarating experience was a real, amped and far less safe upgrade on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.
And good luck NOT seeing other animals in town: The most startling part of seeing animals in India is that you see them not just in the wild, but often as close as the nearest road median.
Driving from Delhi’s international airport to our hotel late on a Sunday night, I gleefully spotted a dressed-to-the-nines, complete with flowery plume, “wedding pony” that was being trotted on a leash behind two teens on a motorcycle, slowly weaving around and through 5 to 10 mph traffic.
A couple mornings later, the wildlife was a bit more exotic, with mangy monkeys, several wild pigs and a few deer milling around companionably near a random bus stop in central Delhi (population about 21.2 million).
On the outskirts of Jaipur’s Pink City, an elephant trudged along a paved highway into town, carrying its mahout – minder – and a huge stack of grain on its flanks. Later, at the Amber Fort in the hills above town, a parade of about 30 pachyderms, painted in a riotous palette of pastels, carried trusting tourists (perhaps too trusting … we saw a spill with the passengers knocked to the ground and no likely insurance agents nearby for filing a claim).
Camels drawing work carts were a surprise, spotted by the dozens in both towns and the arid countryside. In the country, wild peacocks – the national bird of India – provided wake-up calls outside your window, piercing shrieks at dawn.
And, yes, sacred to Hindus, there were the cows, seen almost everywhere in the major towns (except Delhi, where they are moved to the suburbs), lying placidly in front of busy shop fronts, wandering obliviously through the most crowded intersections, nosing through rubbish-filled gutters. After the initial interest in spotting our first in-town bovines, a member of our tour party joked about hoping for a street scene photo without a cow. Hindus of even modest economic success achieve status for being able to afford a “family” cow, and while many of these are tethered for milking, cows past their prime roam around at random.
Next to cows, stray dogs and pigs seem to prosper in India. Certainly, dogs flourish: estimates run to more than 30 million strays in India. Perhaps that’s why, in my 18 days on the ground, I saw only a single feral cat.
Be a wedding crasher
Spy on any wedding: Whenever, wherever you stumble across a wedding procession, or a wedding party, take a moment to gawk. Even by the riotous standards of hot colors on display in India, the excess on display – Indian weddings, most of which are arranged, rather than love matches, and often last six days and take the participants decades to pay off – is hugely rewarding.
Prepare for an unsettling image
The first swastika I saw was on an election poster in Delhi. It had a number of black crosses framing mug shots of a dozen or so jolly and jowly local alderman up for re-election.
Intellectually, I knew that this symbol of Nazi menace – adopted by a party member vote in Germany in the early 1920s – is predated by several thousand years of use in India. The image has long existed as a symbol of good fortune, the word “swastika” deriving from the ancient Sanskrit of “su,” meaning “well,” and “asti,” meaning “being.”
Still, the jarring sensation never quite went away as one encountered them everywhere: etched into bumpers of trucks lumbering along highways; a small one carved into a paving stone at an ancient structure flanking the Taj Mahal; a massive one painted onto the steps fronting a temple on the Ganges River.
During that first sighting in Delhi, the election poster invited, in English, everyone to “join the Swastikus party.”
Thanks, but seen through my western eyes, I’ll pass.
A 48-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of robbing two banks one after the other in Tustin on Tuesday, May 9, police said.
Tustin police said Robert Peter Thomas walked into a Citibank on Irvine Boulevard and Holt Avenue and handed the teller a note demanding money. The teller didn’t give him any money, and he left. Employees called police shortly after 3 p.m. to report the crime, and they found someone matching Thomas’ description near the bank, said Lt. Robert Wright.
Officers stopped the man to investigate if he was the suspect. While they were talking to the man, the department got a call from Bank of the West around the corner on First Street and Newport Avenue reporting it had been robbed earlier.
Witnesses from both banks identified Thomas. Though no money was taken from the Citibank robbery, an undisclosed amount of cash was taken from Bank of the West.
Thomas, whose last known city of residence is San Francisco, was arrested.
Rising Orange County Sheriff’s Department costs and the Five Lagunas redevelopment project were the main topics Tuesday, May 9, as the Laguna Hills City Council began discussing its biennial budget.
As costs for OCSD services rise countywide, affecting nearby cities such as Laguna Woods and Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills is factoring the effect it will have on its budget. The city spent $7.9 million in OCSD costs this year, with $7.6 million last year and $6.9 million in 2014-15. This year OCSD costs accounted for 40 percent of the city’s general fund.
“We need to continue to find a way to constrain the growing cost of Sheriff services,” City Manager Bruce Channing said.
As the anticipated Five Lagunas project – the redevelopment of the Laguna Hills Mall – comes closer to opening next year, the city expects to see more general fund revenue but also anticipates other costs to increase.
“Quite frankly when the Five Lagunas project is done, our public safety costs are going to increase,” Assistant City Manager Donald White said. “Our patrol deputies are really at their minimum.”
Factoring in the OCSD costs, the proposed estimated budget for 2017-18 projects $30 million in revenues and $24.3 million in expenditures; and 2018-19 is projected at $29.9 million in revenues and $24.7 in expenditures.
This year’s budget projected expenditures at $19.2 million, with revenues anticipated to come under budget by roughly $310,335 as a result of lower sales tax revenues, largely attributable to the Five Lagunas redevelopment project, according to a city budget report. The proposed budget also includes an 8-year plan that projects fund balance ratios for the general funds.
“In truth, if you factored inflationary growth we’re still behind the curve as where we were some 7 or 8 years ago,” Channing said.
Weed, rubbish and refuse abatement
A resolution was unanimously approved to enforce the weed, rubbish and refuse abatement – an authorization for public services to remove weed, rubbish, refuse and/or dirt – for nearly 500 properties in Laguna Hills.
After the resolution was initially approved to send legal notices to the property owners on April 12, which were identified on the 2017 weed abatement list, the owners had a deadline for May 31 to abate and remove the weeds, rubbish and refuse or dirt on their property at their sole cost and expense, Mayor Pro Tempore Melody Carruth said.
“The notice provided that if the public nuisance is not abated and removed by the owners of the parcels of land, such nuisances will be abated and removed by the city,” Carruth said. “In which case the cost would be assessed on the parcels of land for which those weeds for removed.”
Many property owners have already completed the removals, she said. There is $44,000 budgeted for properties to be assessed and for the public nuisances to be removed by the city.
Drowning prevention awareness
Mayor Don Sedgwick presented a proclamation to George Casario, Orange County Fire Authority battalion chief, for the OCFA’s Drowning Prevention Awareness campaign. The campaign runs from May through October.
“Drowning is a 100 percent preventable incident and we’ve had over 100 drowning incidents last year (countywide) which related in 40 deaths,” Casario said. “A majority of those are children under 5 or adults over 50.”
Casario, who works at OCFA Station 22 in Laguna Hills, said that on OCFA.org there is information and prevention tips on drowning.
“We have many different strategies that we communicate to the community on how to continue to fight this preventable scourge that’s really attacking our country each and every year and increasing in numbers,” he said.
Last year city council donated $5,000 to the Drowning Prevention Awareness campaign, Sedgwick said, and will contribute the same amount for this year.
A woman who died in 1990 in Huntington Beach after being hit by two cars has been identified, Orange County Sheriff’s officials said Thursday, May 11. Last week, Orange County coroner’s office confirmed that Andrea Kuiper of Fairfax, Va., was the woman who remained a mystery for 27 years. She was 26 at the time of her death.
On the evening of April 1, 1990, a car traveling on Pacific Coast Highway west of Newland Street struck a woman who was crossing the street. She was thrown from that vehicle and hit by a second before dying at the scene, according to Register news reports from 1990. Neither of the drivers was detained in the crash.
Huntington Beach police investigators and the coroner’s office at the time couldn’t identify her. When she died, she was wearing a black dress, pink sweater, pink heels and a ring made of human hair wrapped around her left ring finger, Sheriff’s officials said Thursday.
At the time, her information was submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Register news reports of the original crash show that investigators thought she could have been as young as 17. The center created images of what Kuiper might have looked like and circulated them in the media, including a feature on the television show “Unsolved Mysteries,” but she remained a Jane Doe.
Her identity remained a mystery that coroner’s officials never forgot. When the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System was created in 2010, coroner’s officials input the woman’s information hoping for a hit but to no avail.
Coroner investigators revisited the case eight months ago after learning Kuiper may have had connections in Newport News, Va., but again there were no more answers.
Early this year, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System paired with the FBI on a project that closely examines fingerprints against others in the system.
On May 4, the FBI notified the Orange County coroner’s office that officials found a match. Kuiper’s fingerprints were matched with others she’d given when she applied for a government job years before, Lt. Lane Lagaret said.
Her parents and brother were notified of the discovery with the help of Fairfax law enforcement. They requested privacy but said through the Sheriff’s Department that their daughter was clever and loved art. She made pictures for her parents, many of which they still have. But she also suffered from manic depression and started using drugs before moving to California shortly before she died.
About two months before her death, a friend of Kuiper’s called her family to say she was “OK.” That was the last they knew of her.
“We are thankful to know what happened to our daughter after all these years,” her father, Richard Kuiper, said. “Andrea was loved and respected. She was beautiful.”
Demi Lovato was the guest of honor as Kate Hudson and Fabletics hosted a lunch at The Beverly Hills Hotel on Wednesday for the brand’s first collaboration, dubbed Demi Lovato for Fabletics. The designing duo were joined by Amanda Peet, Molly Sims, Erin Foster, Erin Hudson, Ashley Hart, Jennifer Meyer, Fletcher, Bea Miller, Crystal Lourd, Kelly Sawyer, Jamie Tisch, Baron Davis, Monique Coleman, Eric Buterbaugh and several stylists.
The limited-edition capsule collection, on sale online and in-store May 17, is meant to represent Lovato’s shared commitment to inclusion, female empowerment and body positivity. The collection will support the brand’s ongoing partnership with the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up campaign, a “by girls, for girls” movement that empowers them to become a force for change.
Jennifer Meyer, Kate Hudson, Erin Foster and Kelly Sawyer.
Lauren/WWD/REX/Shutterstock
Guests enjoyed music by DJ Samantha Ronson and a special performance by MUSYCA Children’s Choir, who performed “Best Day of My Life,” and “Let It Be.” Models showed off the collection in the hotel’s garden, while people were invited to “free their inner fighter” in a boxing ring photo booth, as well as play games such as ping-pong, life-size Jenga and chess.
“It’s amazing to see the designs come to life and
Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
Read More…
It’s full circle for designer Mike Amiri on the eve of his Los Angeles atelier’s pop-up shop opening at Maxfield.
The West Hollywood concept boutique last fall began a temporary shop series that kicked off with Fear of God and more recently brought in Vetements in February. Now Maxfield, Amiri’s first retail partner, will help the brand launch its first pop-up shop in the 2,500-square-foot former gallery of founder Tommy Perse’s vintage furniture collection, located directly across the street from the main store.
“We are excited to see the global success that Amiri is reaching and that our strategy of launching young, talented designers is omnipresent,” said Maxfield chief branding officer Peter Utz. “Amiri has grown to be one of our strongest designers for men’s. Our main target these next few months will be to increase the awareness of Amiri’s women’s collection. The pop-up stores are an exciting moment for both Maxfield and Amiri.”
“For me, the brand is really personal. It has my name on it. It wasn’t meant to be a big business brand,” Amiri said. “It was meant to be something special in the market and, as a designer in Los Angeles, Maxfield represents the ultimate gallery to display your
Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
Read More…
Paco Rabanne creative director Julien Dossena is the latest designer to take inspiration from the California desert and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival scene. Dossena came to Los Angeles after his first appearance at the Met Ball (with date Michelle Monaghan) to celebrate a collaboration with Just One Eye on two exclusive styles of the Paco Element bag.
The small and medium bucket totes, which launched during Coachella, were fashioned in nude and camel vegetable-dyed leather and retail for $1150 and $1390, respectively.
“The leather tans with the sun, we thought it was kind of L.A.,” said Dossena, who used a silver material for the liner to represent the technology industry of the Golden State.
The Elements bag was introduced two years ago and fashioned after a leather dress Dossena created in one of his early collections since taking the design helm at Paco Rabanne four years ago.
Kacy Hill with the Paco Element bag at Just One Eye.
Owen Kolasinski/BFA.com
“The idea with the leather dress was a play on the Paco Rabanne Assemblage bag that was more minimal. Then we applied it to accessories, because the two were talking to each other,” he said, noting the Paco bags with shiny pastilles are
Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
Read More…
TINIE TIME: “We love you Tinie, and we love your house.” That was the consensus among guests at an intimate dinner hosted by musician and designer Tinie Tempah at his private residence in London, to mark the launch of Clos19.com, a new online retail platform for wines, spirits and Champagnes by Moët Hennessy.
“You should all just move in,” said the musician, who entertained guests with rap music by the DJ duo Audio Coming Soon and tapped his friend and Michelin star chef Tom Sellers to cook a meal that would accompany the vintage Dom Perignon served by Clos19.
“For me, this was just about being a good host. I love doing that within my own family, so I wanted to let you into my world to see how we do things,” he said. “It’s also about the idea of luxury. For a lot of my friends and I, luxury was something we aspired to, and it acted as a motivator, so sitting here after years of hard work, it sums up what life is about for me.”
Tempah also saw his work pay off earlier in the day, when his new label What We Wear sold out within 24 hours of its
Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
Read More…