HELLO GORGEOUS: Mel Odom is having a New York moment, but it took 40 years of work to get there.
On Friday, his solo show “Gorgeous” will bow at the Daniel Cooney gallery. The artist will sit down with the novelist Edmund White on Saturday afternoon to discuss his career. Over the years Odom has done his share of covers, such as White’s “Forgetting Elena,” among others. Guests at this weekend’s talk will learn of his many pursuits — the most recent of which was a fashion collaboration with the London-based Qasimi men’s wear label.
The multidisciplnary talent Odom has three books to his own name. In 1991, he created his own doll “Gene Marshall,” based on a fictitious film actor from the Forties. More than one million dolls have been sold since it debuted at the 1995 Toy Fair, Odom said. Born in Richmond, and raised in the tiny tobacco town of Ahoskie, N.C., Odom earned his bachelor of fine arts degree in fashion illustration from Virginia Commonwealth University. After fine-tuning his artistry in London, he returned to his hometown before relocating to New York in 1975. Playboy, Time, The New York Times Magazine and Rolling Stone are among the magazines

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Nordhavn, the traditional U.S. builder of explorer yachts, has partnered with Vripack, the forward-looking Dutch designer, to create an exciting interior for the new Nordhavn 80.

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LONDON — Giuseppe Zanotti is at it again, with plans to release yet another celebrity collaboration, this time with Rita Ora.
The footwear designer, who has worked in the past with musicians including Jennifer Lopez and Zayn Malik, asked Ora for pictures of her favorite shoes and then let his imagination take flight.
“I love working with artists because they’re very efficient,” he said, adding that Ora loves fashion and he loves music. “In both our lines of profession we need to research everything, everywhere and every day. She’s very multitasking, and I admire that.”
As a result of their close collaboration, Zanotti said he was able to work in the ‘old school’ way,” meaning that he made the initial creations by hand.
“I used to buy shoes at vintage markets, cut them up and Scotch tape parts together. It’s nice after 20 years to go back to the past to work in a very artisanal way. I was painting the shoes and changing lines with scissors,” he added during an interview on the shoot with Ora.
The Giuseppe for Rita Ora collection includes slides, stiletto sandals, pointed-toe mules and knee-high, peep-toe boots with a chunky Cuban Link chain on the heel. The chain is the showpiece of the collection and was

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ITALIAN ACCENT: Tanja Ruhnke has joined Valentino as vice president of communications, North America. Responsible for public relations, events, advertising and VIP relations for the Roman fashion house, she reports to Sebastian Suhl, managing director of global markets and interim chief executive officer of Valentino USA.
Ruhnke is perhaps best known for her role as vice president of global branding and communications at Alexander Wang, and as a vice president of public relations at KCD in Paris. Most recently, she was vice president of communications at North6, a production agency.
She has also worked in-house at Rag & Bone and Helmut Lang in New York, and provided communication consulting services for the likes of Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Birkenstock. 

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