COM
FEATURES
252 TAYLOR CALLS THE TUNE By JOSH DUBOFF
As Taylor Swift shot to superstardom, it was often a
lonely orbit. But since she found herself a high-powered
sorority of B.F.F.’s, Swift has had the courage to take
on (and win over) Apple—and even fall in love again.
Photographs by Mario Testino.
ON THE COVER
Taylor Swift wears clothing by
Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane; earrings by
Bulgari. Hair products by Oribe. Makeup
products by Nars. Nail enamel by Opi.
Hair by Sam McKnight. Makeup by
Val Garland. Manicure by Trish Lomax.
Taylor Swift, photographed at the Beaufort Bar, in Set design by David White. Produced on location by
10-4 Inc. Styled by Jessica Diehl. Photographed exclusively
London’s Savoy hotel (page 252).
for V.F. by Mario Testino at the Beaufort Bar, in the Savoy
hotel in London. For details, go to vf.com/credits.
07
090 VAN IT Y FA IR www.vanityfair.com CONTINUED ON PAGE 90 S EP T EMB ER 2 015
SEPTEMBER 2015 VANIT YFAIR.COM
VANITIES
164 QUALITY QUALLEY
Teddy Wayne reimagines the M.T.A.’s “Courtesy
A Psychogeography sculpture by Dustin Yellin (page 306); Hudson Kroenig (page 300);
Counts” posters; Scott Jacobson, Mike Sacks, and
Dr. Fredric Brandt (page 264); Mindy Kaling (page 320).
Ted Travelstead conjure pickup lines for Telluride.
Edwin John Coaster’s continued correspondence.
COLUMNS
172 THE INTERNATIONAL BEST-DRESSED LIST
As the roster marks its 75th anniversary, this year’s
lineup includes haute Hollywood, dapper princes, and
pop princesses, in 27 pages of fashion inspiration.
ET CETERA
122 BEHIND THE LIST THE SUBSTANCE OF STYLE
132 CONTRIBUTORS
142 EDITOR’S LETTER MEN, WOMEN, AND THE
GREAT IN-BETWEEN
148 LETTERS HOMECOMING SAGA
162 60 MINUTES POLL
Taylor Swift, photographed in London (page 252). 238 OUT TO LUNCH THOM BROWNE
320 PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE MINDY KALING
“Impressively
prescient. . . .
A book as a box
Out in
of chocolates.”
—ASSOCIATED PRESS PAPERBACK
this fall
“Fantastic.”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Delightful.”
—BOOKLIST
PENGUIN BOOKS W W W . P E N G U I N . CO M
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ONLINE FEATURES
THE YOUNG AND THE REPUBLICAN
By KIA MAKARECHI There’s a new breed of millennial
G.O.P.-er in our midst: economically conservative
but socially liberal. So what happens when they work
on a campaign with values they don’t support?
DOWNTON’S DRAWINGS
Indulge in additional portraits by David Downton
of Hollywood starlets, ravishing socialites, and elegant
grandes dames.
ARMANI AMBASSADORS
Relive the celebration of the storied fashion house’s 40th
anniversary, with photos of Cate Blanchett and
other glamorous guests. Photographs by Tom Munro.
VIDEO
SWIFT IT OFF By MARIO TESTINO + Go behind
the scenes of V.F.’s photo shoot with Taylor Swift,
PHOTOGR A PHS BY TOM M UNRO ; A LL C L OTH IN G BY GIO RGI O A R MA N I
SENIOR ORIENTATION
By SKIN DEEP A young-un teaches old-timers how
to swipe their way to love (or whatever) on Tinder.
FASHION FAVORITES
Giorgio Armani’s 40th-anniversary celebration,
Style experts Amy Fine Collins and Carlos Souza,
at his Milan headquarters.
among others, weigh in on the exclusive and elusive
International Best-Dressed List.
Eleanor Lambert
in her office on
57th Street, in New York
City, with a photo of
her late husband, Hearst
‘G
executive Seymour
Berkson, on her desk,
December 23, 1963.
ood clothes,” the 17th-century English clergyman Thomas Fuller wrote,
“open all doors.” And for Eleanor Lambert they also facilitated entrance to
the International Best-Dressed List, the authoritative institution she founded 75 years ago. Ever
since 1940, when The New York Times ran headlines naming the inaugural honorees, Lambert’s
annual Poll has served as a barometer of the Zeitgeist, viewed one year at a time through the lens of fashion.
When, for example, the commandingly el- List), in 1984 Lambert deemed her “the world’s a plan for succession, before her death at 100
egant Mme. Chiang Kai-shek debuted on the most influential woman of fashion today.” in 2003. In 2002 she officially handed off her
List, in 1943, she had just sailed from China Echoing the general economic climate, flexible instrument to four “friends at Vanity
to address Congress—only the second woman Lambert declared 1992 a year of “deep fashion Fair.” Building on Lambert’s legacy, the latest
ever to do so. In 1955 nubile screen sensation recession” while cautiously proposing the ec- List (on page 172) reflects the recent Supreme
Grace Kelly, barely 25, arrived on the List fresh centric Isabella Blow as a “fashion dissident.” Court marriage-equality ruling by citing its first
from her Oscar win for The Country Girl. Jac- And in 1997 Lambert foresaw that informal gay couples, and mirrors
queline Kennedy received her initial accolade in California styles would emanate eastward from American Ballet The- @vf.com
1961, soon after her husband’s presidential elec- Silicon Valley, due to the growing prestige of the atre’s unprecedented ele- For our style experts’
take on I . B . D. L .
tion; for Lambert, the new First Lady personi- “geek cult.” Now her prophecies are fulfilled by vation of an African- FA S H I O N, go to
fied “fashion leadership to the average woman Jonathan Ive’s appearance on the 2015 register. American female soloist VF.COM/SEPT2015.
everywhere.” The be-spangled, navel-baring to principal dancer by
T
Cher made a onetime showing, in 1971, at the hough Lambert—who at ninetysome- honoring the exquisite Misty Copeland. In its
FRO M A .P. IM AGE S
same moment The Sonny and Cher Comedy thing referred to herself as the “oldest current incarnation, Lambert’s 75-year-old de-
Hour was heating up the airwaves. And even living database”—insisted that the List vice remains, as she cannily noted back in
though the Princess of Wales was pregnant existed primarily as “a personal thing,” likely to 1986, “as relevant a historical record of how we
with Prince Harry (voted onto the current expire with her, she in fact carefully prepared lived as anything else.” —AMY FINE COLLINS
Editor-at-Large CULLEN MURPHY Special Correspondents BOB COLACELLO, MAUREEN ORTH, BRYAN BURROUGH, AMY FINE COLLINS
Writers-at-Large MARIE BRENNER, JAMES REGINATO Style Editor–at–Large MICHAEL ROBERTS International Correspondent WILLIAM LANGEWIESCHE
London Editor HENRY PORTER Paris Editor VÉRONIQUE PLAZOLLES European Editor–at–Large JEMIMA KHAN Editor (Los Angeles) WENDY STARK MORRISSEY
Our Man in Kabul TOM FRESTON Our Man in Saigon BRIAN MCNALLY Architecture Consultant BASIL WALTER
Editorial Consultant JIM KELLY Senior Editorial Adviser WAYNE LAWSON
Editor, Creative Development DAVID FRIEND
vanityfair.com
Director MICHAEL HOGAN Editor KATHERINE GOLDSTEIN Deputy Editor MATTHEW LYNCH Projects Editor KELLY BUTLER Photography Editor CHIARA MARINAI
Staff Photographer JUSTIN BISHOP Video Editor JEREMY ELKIN Social Media Editor JEFFREY TOUSEY Hollywood Editor KATEY RICH Hollywood Columnist RICHARD LAWSON
Senior Hollywood Writer JULIE MILLER Hollywood Writer JOANNA ROBINSON News Editor KIA MAKARECHI Staff Writer JOSH DUBOFF Associate Editor ALEXANDRA BEGGS
News Blogger TINA NGUYEN Line Editor STEPHANIE HORST Associate Line Editor AMIRAH MERCER Editorial Associate ELISE TAYLOR Photo Associate BENJAMIN PARK
Contributing Editors
HENRY ALFORD, KURT ANDERSEN, SUZANNA ANDREWS, LILI ANOLIK, ROBERT SAM ANSON, JUDY BACHRACH, DONALD L. BARLETT, CARL BERNSTEIN,
PETER BISKIND, BUZZ BISSINGER, HOWARD BLUM, PATRICIA BOSWORTH, MARK BOWDEN, DOUGLAS BRINKLEY,
ALICE BRUDENELL-BRUCE, MICHAEL CALLAHAN, MARINA CICOGNA, EDWIN JOHN COASTER, WILLIAM D. COHAN, RICH COHEN, JOHN CONNOLLY,
STEVEN DALY, BEATRICE MONTI DELLA CORTE, JANINE DI GIOVANNI, KURT EICHENWALD, LISA EISNER, SARAH ELLISON, BRUCE FEIRSTEIN,
STEVE GARBARINO, A. A. GILL, PAUL GOLDBERGER, VANESSA GRIGORIADIS, MICHAEL JOSEPH GROSS, LOUISE GRUNWALD, BRUCE HANDY, DAVID HARRIS,
JOHN HEILPERN, REINALDO HERRERA, CAROL BLUE HITCHENS, SARAJANE HOARE, A. M. HOMES, LAURA JACOBS, SEBASTIAN JUNGER,
DAVID KAMP, SAM KASHNER, JON KELLY, MICHAEL KINSLEY, EDWARD KLEIN, BETSY KENNY LACK, FRAN LEBOWITZ, ADAM LEFF, DANY LEVY,
MONICA LEWINSKY, MICHAEL LEWIS, GEORGE LOIS, DAVID MARGOLICK, VICTORIA MATHER (TRAVEL), BRUCE MCCALL, BETHANY MCLEAN,
PATRICK MCMULLAN, ANNE MCNALLY, PIPPA MIDDLETON, SETH MNOOKIN, NINA MUNK, ELISE O’SHAUGHNESSY, JAMIE PALLOT,
EVGENIA PERETZ, JEAN PIGOZZI, WILLIAM PROCHNAU, TODD S. PURDUM, JOHN RICHARDSON, LISA ROBINSON, DAVID ROSE,
RICHARD RUSHFIELD, NANCY JO SALES, ELISSA SCHAPPELL, MARK SEAL, GAIL SHEEHY, MICHAEL SHNAYERSON, SALLY BEDELL SMITH,
JAMES B. STEELE, CHRISTOPHER TENNANT, MATT TYRNAUER, CRAIG UNGER, DIANE VON FURSTENBERG,
ELIZABETH SALTZMAN WALKER, BENJAMIN WALLACE, HEATHER WATTS, JIM WINDOLF, JAMES WOLCOTT, EVAN WRIGHT, NED ZEMAN
In Memoriam INGRID SISCHY (1952–2015), FREDERIC MORTON (1924–2015), CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS (1949–2011), TIM HETHERINGTON (1970–2011),
DOMINICK DUNNE (1925–2009), DAVID HALBERSTAM (1934–2007), MARJORIE WILLIAMS (1958–2005), HELMUT NEWTON (1920–2004), HERB RITTS (1952–2002)
Contributing Photographers
ANNIE LEIBOVITZ
BRUCE WEBER, JONATHAN BECKER, MARK SELIGER, PATRICK DEMARCHELIER, HARRY BENSON, LARRY FINK, TIMOTHY GREENFIELD-SANDERS, SAM JONES,
JONAS FREDWALL KARLSSON, DAVID LACHAPELLE, MICHAEL O’NEILL, NORMAN JEAN ROY, SNOWDON, MARIO TESTINO, GASPER TRINGALE, FIROOZ ZAHEDI
Photographer-at-Large TODD EBERLE Contributing Artists HILARY KNIGHT, ROSS MACDONALD, ROBERT RISKO, TIM SHEAFFER, EDWARD SOREL, STEPHEN DOYLE
Contributors
Fashion Market Director (Menswear) HEATHER SHIMOKAWA Accessories Director DAISY SHAW
Senior Photography Producer RON BEINNER Accessories Editor JACLYN COBOURN Special Projects Art Director ANGELA PANICHI
Digital Production Manager H. SCOTT JOLLEY Associate Digital Production Manager SUSAN M. RASCO Production Manager BETH BARTHOLOMEW
I L L USTR ATI O NS BY MA R K M ATCH O
Associate Editor S. P. NIX Associate Art Director TONYA DOURAGHY Beauty Assistant AUDREY NOBLE Photo Associate JAMES EMMERMAN
Photography Production Assistant ELIZABETH ROBERTS Photo Assistant MARINA VERE NICOLL Stylist DEBORAH AFSHANI
Art Assistant LILY NELSON Video Associate EMMA GRADY Editorial Assistant EMILY TANNENBAUM Editorial Researcher ISABEL ASHTON
Public Relations
Executive Director of Public Relations BETH KSENIAK Deputy Director of Public Relations LIZZIE WOLFF
Associate Director of Public Relations/Contributing Style Editor, vf.com RACHEL TASHJIAN Public Relations Assistant ANDREA WHITTLE
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MARIO TESTINO
For this month’s cover and accompanying article,
“Taylor Calls the Tune” (page 252), Contributing
Photographer Mario Testino shot Taylor Swift (pictured).
The Grammy Award winner has become such
a symbol of contemporary feminism that her music
video for “Bad Blood” inspired vigorous online debate.
“As I see it, Taylor’s latest video was about women’s
power,” says Testino. “I wanted to portray another way
for a woman to be powerful—the power of seduction!”
STELLA MCCARTNEY
Designer Stella McCartney grew up on an organic
farm, and it was there that she developed her
commitment to sustainable manufacturing processes.
“We are the only luxury house doing this,” says
McCartney. “It’s what defines the modernity of my
brand.” In this month’s V.F. Portrait (page 262), she
honors the talents of her like-minded friend Linda
Greer, with whom she works on the Natural Resources
Defense Council’s Clean by Design program.
LILI ANOLIK
In “Darkness Invisible” (page 264), Contributing
Editor Lili Anolik reports on the death of her husband’s
colleague and mentor, Dr. Fredric Brandt, the
cosmetic dermatologist as famous for his striking
appearance as for his all-star client list. “Fred
was so much a part of our lives,” she says. “And yet,
writing this piece, I realized how little I knew him.”
Anolik’s first novel, Dark Rooms, was published in March.
KARL LAGERFELD
This year Karl Lagerfeld celebrates 50 years of
collaboration with Fendi, marking the longest relationship
ever between a designer and a fashion house. But Lagerfeld’s
sources of inspiration remain youthful. For “The Boy Who
Loved Chanel” (page 300), he photographed his seven-year-
old muse, Hudson Kroenig. “His incredibly professional
behavior makes him different from other children,” says
( L AGE RF E L D) , M A RY M C CA RT NE Y ( M C C A RTN E Y ), A I TO R SA N TOM É ( T E STI NO )
MARTIN SCORSESE
In “The 40-Year-Old Vision” (page 272), Academy
Award–winning director Martin Scorsese pays tribute
to his longtime friend and collaborator Giorgio
Armani. “When Giorgio and I met for the first time,
it was as if we’d known each other for years,”
says Scorsese. “I suppose that, in the end, we’re both
in pursuit of the same thing: line, flow, beauty.”
JESSICA DIEHL
Vanity Fair’s Fashion and Style
Director of five years, Jessica Diehl,
brings to her job a robust visual
vocabulary. “The minute you give
clothes a character, they make sense,”
says Diehl. “The vocabulary of fashion
is oftentimes more descriptive than
an image ever could be.” Diehl describes
her styling of Taylor Swift (“Taylor
Calls the Tune,” page 252) as
“a Michelle Pfeiffer Scarface–Helmut
Newton–Saint Laurent kind of
70s idea, with a little more of an edge.”
DEREK BLASBERG
Derek Blasberg is the author of Classy,
The New York Times’s best-selling
collection of essays on etiquette. This
month, he recognizes supermodel
and “It Girl” Gigi Hadid’s good
behavior (page 282). “She says ‘please’
and ‘thank you’ and calls you on
your birthday,” says Blasberg,
whose next book, Harper’s Bazaar:
Models, is due out in October.
“Good manners get you far in life.”
NANCY JO SALES
While modern dating is, to an extent,
a zero-sum game, nothing has
furthered that notion quite like Tinder.
“It’s like the Walmart of sex,” says
Contributing Editor Nancy Jo Sales,
who writes about the dating app
in “Tinder Is the Night” (page 244).
“Real connections between people
will always occur, but this innovation
might be giving romantic love a real run
for its money. When there’s such
an abundance of options, it’s harder
to think of someone as special.”
INGRID SISCHY
Contributing Editor Ingrid Sischy died
PHOTOGR A PHS : F RO M TO P, BY M IK A EL J A N S SO N/ TR UNK A RCHIV E ,
JOSH DUBOFF
Staff Writer Josh Duboff attended
three concerts and spent a weekend in
London with Taylor Swift (“Taylor
Calls the Tune,” page 252) trying to
grasp what her life is like beneath
the bright beam of frenzied fame. “At
the end of the photo shoot, as we
waited for an elevator, I turned to Taylor
and asked her how she was feeling
after the long day,” recalls Duboff.
“ ‘Same as you’ was all she said, which
I thought was a surprising and
strangely affecting answer.”
JONATHAN BECKER
Whit Stillman’s debut film,
Metropolitan, was filled with so many
DUB OF F PHOTO GR A PH ED BY J UST IN B I SH OP. P HOTO GR A PH
U
NI GEL PARRY
ntil quite wade through the thicket of dos
recently, relationships between and don’ts of this particular cul-
young people, intimate or oth- tural shift. She is to the American
erwise, were initiated by the ap- adolescent what Jane Goodall is to
plication of old-school concepts the Tanzanian chimpanzee. “Sex
of courtship. For men, tried- has become so easy,” a 26-year-
and- true techniques included old New York City man tells her.
holding the door open (but put- “I can go on my phone right now
ting the toilet seat back down), and no doubt I can find someone
telling your date how lovely she I can have sex with this evening,
looked no matter what she hap- probably before midnight.” As
pened to be wearing, and saying that you really prefer to curl Sales writes, “Dating apps are the free-market economy come to
up with a good book rather than watch sports on television. If sex… It’s telling that swiping has been jocularly incorporated
these venerated traditions failed to fully achieve their intended into advertisements for various products, a nod to the notion that,
results—and even if they did—a good deal of pleading never hurt. online, the act of choosing consumer brands and sex partners
In the Digital Age, these tribal rituals seem not only dated but has become interchangeable.” Not surprisingly, a number of the
quaint. The shift to something completely different began at the young women Sales spoke to say that these one-night stands left
tail end of the last century with the early proliferation of the smart- them feeling empty and unfulfilled—both emotionally and sexu-
phone. In short order, app designers channeled primal needs and ally. Which suggests that the dating-app moment will be either
made instant gratification possible in just about every area of life: short-lived or perceived as a phase in adolescence, much like
buying a book, arranging a ride home, watching a movie, or get- puberty or slamming your bedroom door to make a point.
ting a meal delivered. Once social media became the law of the
N
land, it was only a matter of time before the instant-gratification early a decade ago, Taylor Swift—then a curly-haired
culture came to include no-commitment, hurry-up sex. 16-year-old—released her first country-music album. It
Tinder, the fastest-growing mobile dating app—with an esti- was called simply Taylor Swift. The album was an im-
mated 50 million users and counting—instantly displays potential mediate critical and popular success. Lyrics such as “He’s got
(and willing) partners in a chosen radius, offering nothing more a one-hand feel on the steering wheel, the other on my heart”
than a few profile pictures. People looking for a hookup—a “date” offered a very non-Tinder-like experience that girls with more
is now just a fruit popular in the Middle East—whip through the traditional notions of young love gravitated to. Four albums,
gallery of available mates, swiping right if they like what they see, seven Grammy Awards, and four No. 1 singles later, Swift has
left if they don’t. If the person who has been swiped right likes become a pop-culture icon, and perhaps the most influen-
the looks of the swiper, then texting—often graphic in terms of tial 25-year-old in the world, with enough raw talent and po-
expectations—is initiated. This flick of the thumb has accelerated lite but indomitable confidence to put everyone from Silicon
the process that people, usually complete strangers, go through Valley titans to Kim Kardashian’s husband in their place.
to make “matches,” which increasingly means nothing more than As Josh Duboff reports in this month’s cover story, “Taylor
meeting for casual sex, sometimes within the half-hour. For “Tin- Calls the Tune,” on page 252, Swift has also created her own Rat
der Is the Night,” on page 244, V.F. contributing editor Nancy Jo Pack of high-profile friends and “It girl” confidantes, including
Sales plunges into the world of sex in the Digital Age, talking to the models of the moment Karlie Kloss, Cara Delevingne, Kendall
consumers of this new way to shop online for a one-night stand. Jenner, and Gigi Hadid; fellow musicians Selena Gomez and the
Sales has spent a good part of her career studying the noctur- Haim sisters; and actresses Lena Dunham and the Emmas (Stone
nal habits of teens and tweens, and is therefore an ideal guide to and Watson). They’re successful, supportive, and hardworking. I
142 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2 015
EDITOR’S LETTER
don’t know a young woman (or young man) who doesn’t want his boyfriend Scott Thorson. Jerry worked constantly and made
to be part of Swift’s circle. “These girls are not shuffling out of it look like fun. Even now he has a smart new comedy on HBO
clubs at three A.M. or finding themselves on TMZ for nefarious called The Brink and a big action remake of Tarzan coming out
reasons,” Duboff writes. Swift, he says, is “not exactly a Miley next summer, with Alexander Skarsgård.
Cyrus.” She is soft and introspective enough to bare intimate de- Jerry Weintraub has been part of my life for many years. Real-
tails of her love life in songs such as “Dear John” and “We Are izing that the best stories are sometimes right under your nose, I
Never Ever Getting Back Together.” She’s also self-assured enough assigned a big piece on him a while ago for one of our Hollywood
to make a stand by pulling all of her music from the streaming ser- Issues. I asked Rich Cohen to write it, because I thought he’d ap-
vice Spotify and to stage a successful campaign against Apple Mu- preciate Jerry’s singular Jerryness. Cohen not only wrote the ar-
sic, which had decided not to compensate artists during the initial ticle but then co-wrote Jerry’s subsequent memoir, called When I
three-month free-trial period it offered to new users of its stream- Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead. A year later, Doug McGrath
ing platform. In the music industry, fashion world, popular culture, made a documentary about Jerry for HBO that I helped pro-
and her personal life, Swift is a true force—or, as Delevingne puts it
in a slightly different way, “a boss bitch.”
F
or those who read obituaries—often the best-written sections
of major newspapers—each chronicle of a life well lived and GUYS SIMPLY
LOVED JERRY
now gone is a daily reminder that the obituary of our own
existence is being written as we live it. When Robert Benchley, an
editor at Vanity Fair in its early days, died, shortly after the end of
World War II, the brilliant New Yorker writer Wolcott Gibbs, his AND LOVED BEING AROUND
colleague and friend, said that he would be missed because “he
took up so much room in so many lives.” The same could be said HIM. I’VE NEVER MET
of Jerry Weintraub, a movie- and music-industry legend who died ANYONE WHOM MORE MEN
suddenly in California this summer at the age of 77. Jerry had
an enviable career that left an imprint on a half-dozen decades—
HAD MAN CRUSHES ON.
a rare feat these days. He worked with Elvis Presley and Frank
Sinatra at one end of his career and produced all three Ocean’s
movies near the other end. There was a lot in between. In recent duce. We called it His Way, because when you were around Jerry,
BRUC E WE BER
years, he and Steven Soderbergh, who directed the Ocean’s tril- his way was the way. And I mean that in the best possible sense.
ogy, won Emmys for making Behind the Candelabra for HBO, At Oscar time, a bunch of us would have a Jerry Weintraub
with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon playing Liberace and dinner at La Dolce Vita, a charmingly boozy, red-sauce Italian
restaurant in Beverly Hills. He’d tell many of the same
stories, and Susie Ekins, his devoted girlfriend of many
years, would listen as if she were hearing them for the
first time—a performance worthy of an Oscar. He was
attractive to women—hell, he lived off and on with his
wife, the singer Jane Morgan, and Susie right up to the
end. But he was a real magnet to men. Guys simply
loved him and loved being around him. I’ve never met
anyone whom more men had man crushes on.
He was almost comically self-involved. Years ago,
at a dinner in my honor, he stood up, rested his hand
on my shoulder, and said, “I’d like to say a few words
about my friend Graydon.” My innate anxiety about
becoming the sudden focus of attention wound
down quickly. Once he had said those
HIS WAY
words, Jerry spoke for more than half an
Jerry Weintraub
with his golden hour—about himself. He could get away
retriever in with it, though, because his friends knew
Los Angeles, he could drop his favorite topic in a
October 2012. heartbeat if he thought you needed some-
thing, anything, or just wanted to talk. We
had lunch a few months ago in New York,
and he said he was thinking about doing another
Ocean’s film—but not with George Clooney, Brad Pitt,
and the lot. He wanted to do it with an all-women
cast, an idea I thought was completely inspired. When
he died, his friends struggled to find words to express
what they were thinking. Leave it to George Clooney,
a man with a knack for always saying the right thing at
the right time, to sum up what all were thinking: “To
those who didn’t know him we send our deepest sym-
pathy. You would have loved him.” —GRAYDON CARTER
www.vanityfair.com VAN IT Y FAIR 147
LETTERS
‘ T
he Bonds of Battle” was excellent
and informative—especially the ar-
gument that the stress of combat
per se is not necessarily the only cause of
PTSD. Far more subtle sources are at work.
For many years, I have wondered about
the effects of stress on the millions of parents
and spouses whose loved ones are in harm’s
way. During W.W. II, my older brother and I
were in the service—he a quartermaster on a
carrier in the Seventh Fleet in the Pacific,
and I a troop-carrier pilot in the First Alli-
ance Army in Europe. Certainly we both had
moments of stress, but they were infrequent
and relatively brief.
But what of our parents and the millions
like them who were under unremitting daily
stress for years, dreading the arrival of
COMRADES- “the telegram” and relieved only by
IN-ARMS letters written days earlier. Now, that
U.S. Army soldiers is real stress! How did they bear up
assist an injured
peer following
so well? And if they came through
an I.E.D. explosion psychologically unimpaired, why
in Afghanistan, did they? I know of no writings
July 2010. that address this phenomenon.
The cause of PTSD is still not fully
understood, but writings such as Junger’s
are superb and do much to help us under-
stand a very complex problem.
RICHARD C. DINMORE
Castle Pines North, Colorado
I
deeply appreciate the eyes-open and
broad scope of Junger’s article, as it de-
compartmentalizes mental health, famil-
iar/tribal factors, and society’s role in war and
in homecoming. I am a three-time veteran of
combat deployments, one of which was rela-
tively dangerous. I went into the military with
psychological “stress fractures” that didn’t
keep me from living a normal life before de-
HOMECOMING SAGA
ploying but, as Mr. Junger smartly connects,
have left me less resilient in my re-integration.
THE INCLUSION OF THE SOLDIERS PICTURED HERE SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED TO INDICATE THAT ANY OF
I periodically join in talks and train-
A
and to share without feeling ashamed that I
was already partly broken. I hope this will
s the son of a W.W. II P.O.W. survivor, and some- help my audience to understand me, other
one with direct experience with the effects of PTSD, veterans, and themselves, and to forgive us
for being imperfect and having these “prob-
I was deeply impressed and moved by “The Bonds lems” with re-adjustment or just with exis-
of Battle” [by Sebastian Junger, June]. We will be tence in a society like ours.
PABLO RAVIZZOLI
dealing with the effects of these recent, ruinous wars for many North Granby, Connecticut
years to come, and at least we could make an effort to under-
stand what’s happening with these soldiers and their families.
S
ebastian Junger’s article about the in-
cidence of PTSD in American troops
I have suggested to my friends and family that they all read this seems to indicate that a lack of feel-
important article. I feel that it is a major paradigm shift. ing of connectedness and community in our
modern society factors large. I wonder if the
FRANK KILMER subconscious yearning for connection is partly
Santa Fe, New Mexico behind the increase in the fanaticism among
148 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2015
LETTERS
S
sports fans today. Where else can so many a gnawing hunger that no amount of con- ebastian Junger’s article should be
people all agree about the same thing, loudly sumption can satisfy. compulsory reading for all clinicians
and publicly? There are rituals, uniforms, rules LAWRENCE MESSERMAN treating vets with PTSD problems,
of engagement, and field generals (coaches). Bend, Oregon and for members of all branches of U.S.
In college football in particular, the sta- military professional education. His empa-
‘T
diums grow larger every year. The money he Bonds of Battle” was of special thetic and perceptive analysis of tribal cul-
for concessions, sponsorships, and naming interest to me. I am a long-term sur- ture, its positive effects on brain chemistry,
rights grows exponentially—just like defense vivor of AIDS (26th year, thank you). and the closer-than-blood ties formed by
budgets. And, as with the military, most of Junger’s observation about PTSD and AIDS those under fire did more to substantiate
the money goes to everyone but the people (“the war that is missed doesn’t even have my own experience with combat-zone pres-
doing the actual work. to be a shooting war”) led me to a deeper sure than any homecoming accolade or rec-
TERESA HORSTMAN understanding of self. ognition for my service—and explains why
Galloway, Ohio LARRY O. DOSS I’ll miss it for the rest of my life. Being de-
San Francisco, California ployed is hard. Coming home is even harder.
I
have subscribed to Vanity Fair for many DAWN A. M. LOISEL
I
years, but this is the first time I’ve writ- n “The Bonds of Battle,” Sebastian Jun- Aurora, Colorado
ten, to say how thought-provoking Sebas- ger writes, “Suicide by combat veterans
tian Junger’s article was. We as a society think is often seen as an extreme expression
we have done our bit when we say, “Thanks of PTSD, but currently there is no statistical WEAK MYTHOLOGY
for your service and sacrifice.” I have often relationship between suicide and combat, ac-
A
thought how different we would feel if we did cording to a study published in April in the nyone who would call Lake Charles
actually listen to the meaning of war. As a lit- Journal of the American Medical Association a “mean little oil city” [“Detective
tle girl in Scotland, I well remember listening Psychiatry. Combat veterans are no more Story,” by Rich Cohen, July] has
to my grandfather say that he was more afraid likely to kill themselves than veterans who never been there. And if True Detective’s
of the giant rats that feasted on dead-body were never under fire.” Nic Pizzolatto descends from a “tough lot,”
parts than he was of the Germans. However, this study’s authors clearly state what exactly was tough about his school-
Everyone should read this article and ask that they did not measure the effect of com- teacher and attorney parents?
himself: Is it really our returning warriors who bat on suicides but rather the effect of deploy- By insisting on hardship as the spark and
are sick, or is it the society they’re returning to? ment. As Junger himself notes, not every de- sustenance for Pizzolatto’s creative impulse,
ELAINE YOUNGMAN ployed service member sees combat; in fact, you minimize the considerable power and
Orlando, Florida very few in our modern military history do. scope of his imagination.
Junger’s assertion, with the certainty of CRAIG CASHIO
A
s an army wife and a navy mom, I a study attached to it, that there is no cor- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
have deep experience with the mili- relation between combat and suicide is both
G
tary, dealing with the separations wrong and dangerous. entlemen, I thought I would take a
and the homecomings. I was astounded at MATTHEW HOH moment to mention that Cary Fu-
the depth of Mr. Junger’s understanding of Senior fellow kunaga brilliantly directed all the
what our military men and women endure Center for International Policy episodes of the first season of True Detective.
in our name, and what they face when they Raleigh, North Carolina Had Nic Pizzolatto or Rich Cohen chosen
return home. to do so, I wouldn’t have gone to the trouble.
The last section of the article sums it up SEBASTIAN JUNGER REPLIES: In the MARTIN DAVIDSON
so well and should be required reading for Los Angeles Times on December 20, 2013, Los Angeles, California
every politician and citizen. Thank you, Se- Alan Zarembo cited a study by the federal De-
bastian Junger, for your insights and truth. partment of Veterans Affairs that found that al-
ELAINE MONTGOMERY most 69 percent of veteran suicides are people A STREAMLINED FORD
Reston, Virginia over 50. That means that at the very least, sui-
O
cide is not a near-term reaction to combat and n my first rush to look through the
J
unger’s discussion of the level of dis- very possibly not a reaction to combat at all. June issue, I stopped at the picture
connection in our modern culture is More generally, the demographically of Eileen Ford on the telephone,
something that has been widely ob- matched civilian suicide rate remained higher surrounded by family and clients [“The Call
served by many native elders, as well as than the veteran rate until 2008—another in- of Beauty,” by Robert Lacey], thinking this
other luminaries such as Mother Teresa. We dication that other life stresses figure heavily was a Norman Rockwell!
are gorging ourselves on material goods (or into a person’s decision to take his or her own Loved the photo and the article!
at least a lucky few of us are; much of the life, regardless of whether that individual had KATHERINE SMITH
world is still mired in terrible poverty) at a military or combat experience. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
rate that is bringing us to the brink of envi- And in 2013, The American Journal of
A
ronmental catastrophe. At the same time, Medicine published a research paper that s a former Ford top model, I really
our spirits are severely malnourished. concluded: “The findings from this study are enjoyed “The Call of Beauty.” I en-
Veterans, like anyone on the fringe of our not consistent with the assumption that specif- tered 949 Second Avenue in June
existence, are the canaries in the coal mine. ic deployment-related characteristics, such as 1952, after having worked the summer before
Their suffering demonstrates the imbalance length of deployment, number of deployments, with the John Robert Powers Agency and
and destructiveness of the prevailing culture. or combat experiences, are directly associated having lost 5 to 10 pounds. Eileen greeted
A life that is truly sustainable will mean with suicide risk.” (Emphasis added.) me by saying that she was happy to see me.
more than just efficient use of resources— If Mr. Hoh has doubts about the accuracy I said I wanted high fashion. She measured
we need more connection and heart. Oth- of these studies, I suggest he take that up with me. Five feet six inches (she said she would
erwise, we will continue to be haunted by the researchers themselves. call it five feet seven inches) in stocking
154 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2015
LETTERS
feet, five feet nine inches in heels. Oops. ALL WELLES THAT ENDS WELL staged action, a camera representing the
I adored Eileen. She had it all: family director’s eye (a director not yet cast!), and
I
and career. worked one day in Orson Welles’s The a documentary camera following the miss-
GLORIA BARNES HARPER Other Side of the Wind [“Orson’s Last ing director around. One didn’t know
New York, New York Stand,” by Josh Karp, May]. I played where to look, but Welles had it all in his
a studio soundman, a glorified-extra role. talented head.
O
ne summer day in the late 60s, I was Welles had sneaked into Hollywood to He grabbed a white wood parking sign
standing in the cashier’s line at the shoot for a weekend at Producers Studio. If that resembled a cross and stuck it in the
A&P in Westhampton, New York. he stayed longer he would have been liable scene. “Let Pauline Kael figure out the mean-
The woman ahead of me started unload- for additional U.S. taxes. ing of this!” he said, laughing.
ing her groceries, and I couldn’t help but Performers included Edmond O’Brien, Oh, he was having a grand old time.
notice a very disciplined array of fresh fish Mercedes McCambridge, and Peter Bog- TERRY KINGSLEY-SMITH
and chicken, fruits and vegetables, nuts and danovich. The pivotal role of the director Carmel, California
grains—and, oddly, tons of lemons. “My, you had not yet been cast. Welles said it would
certainly have a healthy basket,” I said. Then, be either Peter O’Toole or John Huston. (It Letters to the editor should be sent electronically with
as she turned to face me, I blurted out, “But became the latter.) the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone
of course—you’re Eileen Ford!” I’d remem- I have never seen anybody have more fun number to letters@vf.com. All requests for back issues
bered reading that her beautiful, impossibly than Welles did that day—a kid in a playpen should be sent to subscriptions@vf.com. All other
queries should be sent to vfmail@vf.com. The magazine
thin models were encouraged to stay at the with his favorite toys. The shooting was reserves the right to edit submissions, which may
Ford house in the Hamptons, where Eileen complicated. Three different cameras were be published or otherwise used in any medium.
would cluck over them like a mother hen. running simultaneously: one shooting the All submissions become the property of Vanity Fair.
ANN MCKEE
Monmouth Beach, New Jersey
L
looking than I am. That is not, repeat not, fair!” “I’m just a guy in a skirt in L.A. trying
iving, as we do, so close to Chez
to make it through the daily grind like everyone else, but the outrageous antics of Jen-
Panisse and Berkeley’s Gourmet
ner and RuPaul have cast VERY NEGATIVE feelings toward me, and made it impossible
Ghetto, we are always delighted to
for ME to live peacefully and calmly in MY OWN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS!”
IL L USTR AT IO N BY T I M L A HA N
W
hat do we think about inequality? Well—all 1-percenters. Are they chauffeurs? Caterers? Prep-school teachers?
things being unequal—it kind of depends on And even if there is a slight inequality problem here in the United
who we are. States, in Saudi Arabia it’s far worse, right? Most people think so, but
That line from the Declaration of Indepen- America is a not-too-distant second.
dence about how “all men are created equal”? And what is the great equalizer? If we’re religious, we’ll probably
It rings true for most Americans but for a higher percentage of whites say a place of worship. If we’re not religious, we’ll say a cemetery. Be-
(78) than blacks (66). Know any 1-percenters? Well, nearly a third fore we get carried away equalizing things, though, note that some
of us aren’t even sure what a “1-percenter” is. But who are 1 Americans don’t actually think inequality is so bad—because it
the seven percent who claim that most of the people they creates ambition. By the way, when we say “some,” we mean
know are 1-percenters? By definition they can’t all be Do you believe 50 percent of Republicans and 38 percent of Democrats.
the statement
“All men are created
@vf.com
10 equal” is
2
true or false? See the complete
How much Is inequality P O L L R E S U LT S.
Go to VF.COM/
should the helpful because it
4%
SEPT2015.
highest-paid employee gives people ambition,
receive compared TRUE / 76% or is inequality harmful
with the lowest-paid because it deprives
employee? 350 TIMES MORE* people of hope?
10 TIMES MORE
9% HARMFUL
HELPFUL
49% 40%
DEMOCRATS / 38%
35%
FALSE / 22%
100 TIMES MORE
9
50 TIMES MORE17% REPUBLICANS / 50%
31% 3
SAUDI
the greatest?
NONE OF THEM / 26%
A FEW OF THEM / 16% 7%
ARABIA
JAPAN 3%
JUST ONE OR TWO / 11%
MOST OF THEM / 7% Most Americans 44% GERMANY
think not even
LACK OF EDUCATION / 32% a cemetery offers A HOUSE OF WORSHIP / 33%
CORPORATE GREED / 24% a level playing field. THE CEMETERY / 25%
THE GOVERNMENT / 17% A SPORTING EVENT / 11%
8 COLLEGE / 10%
4
RACISM / 10%
1920
If you had to
pick, which one of
SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES / 7% 4% THE EMERGENCY ROOM / 9%
Which place
the following is the ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION / 7% THE NEIGHBORHOOD BAR / 7%
1972
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD / 24% makes people feel
1923
THE WORK
single-biggest cause of
8% most equal?
THE EDUCA TION SYSTE M / 38%
TH E JU ST IC E
DON’T KNOW
THE GRAPES OF WRATH / 6%
%
27%
SY ST EM / 42
THE OUTSIDERS / 6%
7 5
1979
%
{ }‹ ‹
WARM the BENCH KISS and TELL THIS The COASTER CORRESPONDENCE
The M.T.A. ’s new Your go-to Vanity Fair’s industrious contributing editor
“Courtesy Counts” poster TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL MONTH lobbies for help getting his GRAMMATICALLY CHALLENGED
campaign. p.165 pickup lines. p.165 GRANDDAUGHTER a job. p.166
QUALLEY WEARS
A DRESS BY
OSCAR DE LA RENTA;
RING BY CHANEL
FINE JEWELRY.
MARGARET QUALLEY
AGE : 20. PROVE NANC E : Asheville, North Carolina. ALL - A ME RIC AN : Qualley, the daughter of actress
Andie MacDowell and former model Paul Qualley, moved four years ago to New York, where she
trained with American Ballet Theatre. “When you’re really serious about ballet, it’s a job—even if
you’re 15 years old. You’re doing it six to eight hours a day.” POINTE BREAK: “I was offered a position in the company, and then I realized I didn’t really
want it. That was a weird moment in my life. I had, like, an early-onset midlife crisis.” JETÉ OF FAITH: After leaving the ballet world, Qualley switched gears.
“I went to the Professional Children’s School, in New York, and I started modeling because I could do that until I actually figured out what I wanted to do,
and it gave me the opportunity to travel.” FIRST- R ATE TALE NT: Her first acting job was playing Jill Garvey on HBO’s The Leftovers, a role she’ll reprise in
the show’s second season, which airs this fall. “With The Leftovers, I was actually super, super lucky. It was my first audition. When I came out, the casting
director was kissing me on the face and I was like, Oh that’s probably a good sign.” NICE GUYS: The up-and-comer just wrapped next year’s thriller The Nice
Guys, starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, whose characters work together to find a missing girl, played by Qualley. “It’s an exciting change for me.”
NEXT UP: “I’ve been really lucky, so I guess I’m just waiting for the next ‘I have to do this’ project.” — KRISTA SMITH
You’re a Different Person Now Craving Chocolate with Almonds Rent or Buy? The idea of buying real
Remember that time in eighth grade when and Sea Salt? The subway is for estate freaks you out. Clearly, you’re afraid
you tripped in front of the whole school transportation, not hungering for sugary-salty of embracing adulthood.
at an assembly? You’re the only one who snacks. Fantasize about a healthy piece
does—let it go. of fruit instead.
That Online-University Ad We don’t Professional Jealousy? We’ve all Your Grudge Against Julie
want to judge, but this thing to our been there, stewing over the rewards we feel Yes, she said some things she shouldn’t
immediate right is a total rip-off. Just don’t should have come our way. But Jake works have Saturday night, but she was
do it—please. harder than you. He’s more talented, too. super-drunk. Forgiveness is a choice.
Stop stewing—some people just have it (Jake)
and some don’t (you).
“Not to overshare,
“You ever but my favorite role-
want to go playing scenario
hiking? Or “Hi! I was the “Rumor has is ‘the Weinstein
“I’m doing an intimate parasailing? inspiration it that Danny brothers making an
screening of my sea-turtle Great. I’ll for Harvey Keitel’s McBride is over intern cry.’”
documentary in my Jetta have my intern character in there wrestling
SportWagen tonight, join you.” Bad Lieutenant.” an elk.” “Maybe I’m just
if you want on the list.” light-headed
“Did you know
the unsalted butter from the mountain
you’re spreading air, but you’re
“They’re is the same lookin’ pretty
Teva pumps. “Did anyone damn good to me
ever tell you that kind Brando used
Aren’t they in Last Tango right now, Jackie
fabulous?” you look like Earle Haley.”
Hilary Swank? “I can thread a in Paris? Pass the
No? How about vintage 35-mm. sourdough?”
Mickey Rooney?” projector
with my tongue.
What’s your
secret talent?”
I am a recent graduate
of the Un iversity of Del
in the position of N.F.L. awa re who is interested
sideline reporter at CB
attached, but here are som S Sports. My résumé is
e reasons I think I am uni
quely qualified.
* I am thin, you ng, and
hot , hav ing been for fou
of the Fightin’ Blue Hen r yea rs a member
s cheer squad. I saw on
lead sideline reporter, Tra Wik ipedia that you r
cy Wolfson, is 40. I worry
getting tired at her age and that she might be
could use someone to spe
ll her.
* I’ve gotten some feelers
at ESPN up in Bristol, Con
is my first choice. Par tly necticut, but CBS
this is because I am a Sou
Bristol has no SoulCycles lCycle fiend and
. Plus, I am devoted to my
who is moving from SC’ instructor, Tomas,
s FiDi studio to the one
Side, pretty close to your on the Upper West
offices at Black Rock. Als
o, Bristol: bleah!
* I have already had a vira
l moment that I was pub
EDWIN COASTER when some fat, trashy cow
wit h a Nokia Lum ia (lik
licly sha med for,
afford an iPhone) filmed e she cou ld ever
July 22, 2015 me telling the slow-ass cou
who was making my Veg nter girl at Subway
gie Delite sandwich to hur
Dear Graydon: some English because she ry the f up and learn
wasn’t in Mumbai any mo
Since you shut down my scheme to get was Lebanese, LOL, my re. (Turns out she
bad.) You can look it up,
my granddaughter, Keegan-Meghan, hired at YouTube—for key words, 550,000 views on
use my name and “Slumd
Fox News, I feel you kind of owe me in It was a lear ning experie og Millionaire bitch.”
helping her fulfill her real dream: to be a nce from which I have lear
diversityness. Most importa ned humility and
sideline reporter during sports broadcasts. ntly, this means that from
I have nothing but upside a P.R . standpoint
Keegan-Meghan just graduated from U. Del !
and is living with some gal friends in Please let me know when
Battery Park City. You know Les Moonves we can set up a meetin
to join me in Tomas’s clas g . . . or you’re welcome
at CBS, right? Could you pass on Keegan- s at six A.M. ;-)
Meghan’s cover letter to him, which I’ve
taken the liberty of attaching? Nothing but drive,
Remember, you owe me.
Best,
DA N G IL M O RE
R
THE EDITO
TO
A S S I S TA N T
Keegan-Meghan Vinson L E S MO ON V E S
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
STYLE
15
FRANCESCA AMFITHEATROF ROBERT COUTURIER FAN BINGBING MATT BOMER AND AZZEDINE ALAÏA GIOVANNA BATTAGLIA
SAMANTHA CAMERON PRINCE HARRY MICHAEL FASSBENDER SIMON HALLS JENNA LYONS VICTORIA BECKHAM
CHARLOTTE CASIRAGHI JONATHAN IVE DIANE KRUGER BEATRICE BORROMEO AND FKA TWIGS DAO-YI CHOW AND MAXWELL OSBORNE
AMAL CLOONEY WILLIAM IVEY LONG GUGU MBATHA-RAW PIERRE CASIRAGHI PAMELA GOLBIN
MISTY COPELAND STAVROS NIARCHOS III SIENNA MILLER THOM BROWNE CAROLINE ISSA
AND ANDREW BOLTON
MELLODY HOBSON BILL NIGHY EDDIE REDMAYNE
SOPHIE HUNTER AND
HALL OF HAROLD KODA
RIHANNA H.R.H. PRINCE CARL PHILIP OF SWEDEN EMMA STONE BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH FAME PETER MANNING
H.M. QUEEN LETIZIA OF SPAIN JONATHAN TISCH CHARLIZE THERON H.H. SHEIKHA MOZAH ZAC POSEN
JEMMA KIDD
TAYLOR SWIFT IKÉ UDÉ ALICIA VIKANDER AND ARTHUR WELLESLEY, BINT NASSER LAUREN SANTO DOMINGO
H.R.H. THE COUNTESS OF WESSEX RUSSELL WILSON EMMA WATSON MARQUESS OF DOURO AL-MISSNED OF QATAR NICK WOOSTER
RIGHT, AT LONDON
FASHION WEEK IN A
MICHAEL VAN DER
HAM DRESS; ABOVE,
IN A GINA FOSTER
HAT AND GRAY SUIT FROM TOP: IN OSCAR DE LA
FOR A SERVICE OF RENTA AT THE METROPOLITAN
REMEMBRANCE IN MUSEUM OF ART COSTUME
NORMANDY ON THE INSTITUTE GALA; IN ELIZABETH
70TH ANNIVERSARY AND JAMES SHORTS AND
OF D-DAY. TOP AND RALPH LAUREN
SUNGLASSES ON THE TOWN IN
NEW YORK CITY; WEARING
MONIQUE LHUILLIER TO THE
PREMIERE OF THE GIVER.
20
T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
H.R.H. the
15 IN HERVÉ LÉGER AT THE TONY
AWARDS; BOTTOM, WEARING
AN ALEXANDER WANG TOP
Countess of
WITH A MICHAEL COSTELLO
SKIRT FOR THE TIME 100 GALA
AT JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER. WESSEX
RESIDENCE: Bagshot Park, in Surrey. HUSBAND:
H.R.H. Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex.
MOST NOTABLE ENSEMBLE OF 2015: A striped
silk-satin Emilia Wickstead dress and a
custom Jane Taylor hat, worn at Royal Ascot.
WOMEN
PHOTOGR A PHS : F RO M L EF T, BY A NT HO NY BE HA R/ S IPA US A , BE N NE T T R AGL I N /GE TT Y I M AGE S,
Misty
TI M RO O KE /R E X USA , E DDI E MUL HO L L A N D/G E TT Y I MAG E S, M A RK CUT HB ERT/ GE TT Y I M AGE S
COPELAND
OCCUPATION: Principal dancer,
American Ballet Theatre. RESIDENCE:
New York City. FAVORITE DESIGNERS:
“Givenchy, Balmain, Helmut Lang,
Cushnie et Ochs, Hervé Léger.”
FAVORITE PLACES TO SHOP:
“Intermix, Net-a-Porter.” FAVORITE
SHOES: “Tom Ford black
padlock ankle-strap pumps.”
FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY:
“Tiffany rose-gold Love
necklace.” FAVORITE SCENT:
“Bleu de Chanel.” STYLE
ICONS: “Sarah Jessica
Parker and Nicole Richie.”
WOMEN
20
T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
Charlotte
15 CASIRAGHI
OCCUPATION: The face of Gucci Cosmetics,
Montblanc’s global brand ambassador, eighth in
line to the throne of Monaco. RESIDENCES: Paris
and Monaco. THE LOOK: Athletic grace.
CLOCKWISE FROM
NEAR RIGHT: IN
STELLA M C CARTNEY AT
THE DESIGNER’S SHOW
IN PARIS; WEARING
AZZEDINE ALAÏA TO
THE 2013 GRAMMYS; IN
AN ENSEMBLE BY ADAM
SELMAN.
WOMEN
PHOTOGRAPHS: CLOCKWI SE F RO M TO P L EF T, F RO M P LV /R E X U SA , BY J I M SM EA L /
BE I MAGES , PI E RRE SUU /GE TT Y IM AGE S, F RO M SI PA US A , © S O NI A MO SKOW I TZ
LEFT, IN A GUCCI
GOWN AT THE CANNES
FILM FESTIVAL; ABOVE,
IN EXCLUSIVE GUCCI
RIDING COLLECTION AT
Rihanna
THE LONGINES ATHINA
ONASSIS HORSE SHOW,
IN ST. TROPEZ.
OCCUPATION: Singer.
RESIDENCES: Los Angeles and
New York City. DESIGNERS:
Giorgio Armani, Tom Ford,
Marchesa, Calvin Klein,
Stella McCartney. S C E N T :
Reb’l Fleur, by Rihanna.
THE LOOK: Sultry swagger.
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
H.M.
15
RIGHT, WEARING A
Queen
NAEEM KHAN GOWN AND
TOM BINNS NECKLACE
TO THE CANNES FILM
FESTIVAL.
Letizia
of SPAIN
RESIDENCE: Zarzuela Palace, Madrid.
HUSBAND: H.M. King Felipe VI of
Spain. DESIGNERS: Felipe Varela,
Carolina Herrera, Hugo Boss. NOTABLE
ENSEMBLE OF 2015: A scarlet Felipe
Varela suit, worn to the Investigation
National Awards at the Royal
Palace, in Madrid.
Mellody
HOBSON
OCCUPATION: Investment manager.
RESIDENCE: Chicago. FAVORITE
FROM FAR LEFT: IN A
FELIPE VARELA DRESS FASHION PURCHASE OF 2015:
FOR THE CERVANTES “Valentino butterfly jacket
PRIZE CEREMONY, IN
MADRID; IN CAROLINA ‘redefined’ by Rogue Bespoke.”
HERRERA AT THE GRAND FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING:
PALAIS, IN PARIS; IN AN
UTERQÜE SKIRT AT EL “Alaïa classic white shirt.”
PARDO PALACE. FAVORITE DESIGNERS: “Alaïa,
Dior, Sacai, Valentino.” FAVORITE
PL ACE TO SHOP: “Ikram.”
FAVORITE SHOES: “Asics running
shoes.” FAVORITE PIECE OF
JEWELRY: “Wedding band.”
FAVORITE SCENT: “Hermès Hiris.”
ST YLE ICON: “Josephine Baker.”
15 B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
Stavros
NIARCHOS III
OCCUPATION: Financier. RESIDENCE: New York City.
FAVORITE FASHION PURCHASE OF 2015: “My new
Blueseventy triathlon wetsuit.” FAVORITE PL ACE TO
SHOP: “Just One Eye, in Los Angeles.” FAVORITE
TAILOR: “Caraceni.” FAVORITE ACCESSORY: “Vintage
Cartier cuff links.” FAVORITE SCENT: “Tabac Blond,
by Caron.” ST YLE ICON: “My dad.”
Bill
NIGHY
OCCUPATION: Actor. RESIDENCE: “London
Town.” FAVORITE FASHION PURCHASE OF
2015: “Midnight-blue John Smedley ‘Dorset’
wool polo.” FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING:
“Margaret Howell classic pale-blue shirt.”
FAVORITE ACCESSORY: “Margaret Howell
LEFT, IN AN HERMÈS
dark-blue-and-cream polka-dot silk scarf. COAT, LEVI’S JEANS,
And dark-blue Pantherella socks.” FAVORITE AND LORO PIANA
BOOTS IN GSTAAD;
SCENT: “I’ve never got round to that.” ABOVE, IN TOM FORD
STYLE ICONS: “Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, FOR THE FASHION
MEDIA AWARDS IN
Bryan Ferry, and Pharrell Williams.” NEW YORK CITY.
15 B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
Iké UDÉ
PHOTOGR A PHS : F RO M L EF T, BY PAT RI CK M C M UL L A N, CL I NT S PAU L DIN G/
PATR I CKM CMU LL A N .CO M , OW E N HO F F MA N/ PATR ICKM CMU L L A N .COM
15 B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
William
IVEY
LONG
OCCUPATION: Costume
designer. RESIDENCE: New York
City. FAVORITE FASHION
PURCHASE OF 2015: “Medium-
gray Canali suit.” FAVORITE
DESIGNERS: “Canali,
Ermenegildo Zegna, Phineas
Cole.” FAVORITE PLACES
TO SHOP: “Brooks Brothers
and Paul Stuart.” FAVORITE
TAILOR: “Vincent Zullo.”
FAVORITE ACCESSORY: “A navy-
and-white ‘Jazz’ pocket-
square.” STYLE ICON: “Gary
Cooper—believe it or not!”
WEARING A
MORNING SUIT BY
THOMAS MAHON
OF ENGLISH CUT
TO RECEIVE HIS
KNIGHTHOOD AT
WESTMINSTER,
IN LONDON.
Jonathan
PHOTOGR A PHS : F RO M L EF T, BY SA R A H EDWA R DS/ © WE NN LT D./ A L A MY,
J EN NY A NDE R SO N/ WI R EI M AGE , © N ATI O NA L N E WS /Z UM A PR ES S.CO M
IVE
OCCUPATION: Designer.
RESIDENCE: San Francisco.
FAVORITE TAILOR: Thomas
Mahon of English Cut.
ABOVE, IN BROOKS
BROTHERS AT HIS
STUDIO IN NEW YORK
CITY; TOP, IN A BROOKS
BROTHERS SUIT AND
SHOES FOR THE 60TH
ANNUAL OBIE AWARDS,
AT WEBSTER HALL.
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
IN UNIFORM ON HIS WEDDING
15
DAY, AT THE ROYAL PALACE
IN STOCKHOLM; BOTTOM, IN
A SUIT AND TIE IN LONDON.
H.R.H.
Prince Carl
Philip of
SWEDEN
OCCUPATION: Major in the Swedish
Amphibious Corps, licensed
racecar driver, third in line to the
Swedish throne. RESIDENCE: Villa
Solbacken, Stockholm. NOTABLE
ENSEMBLE OF 2015: His Swedish
Amphibious Corps model 1878
mess-dress uniform, worn to his
wedding to Sofia Hellqvist.
ABOVE, IN HERMÈS AT
THE LOEWS REGENCY
HOTEL, IN NEW YORK
CITY; LEFT, IN A TOM
FORD DINNER JACKET
AT THE 2014 MET GALA.
Jonathan
TISCH
OCCUPATION: Chairman,
Loews Hotels &
Resorts; co-chairman
of the board, Loews
Corporation. ER I N BA I A N O/ T H E NE W YOR K T IM E S/ RE DU X, VI CTO R J . B LUE / B LO O MB E RG/GE T T Y I MAGE S
PHOTOGR A PHS : F RO M L EF T, BY BE N P RU CHN IE / WI R EI MAGE , I A N G AVA N /G ET T Y IM AG ES ,
RESIDENCE: New
York City. FAVORITE
FASHION PURCHASE
OF 2015: “Tom Ford
dinner jacket and
slippers for this year’s
Met Gala.” FAVORITE
DESIGNERS: “Hermès,
Tom Ford, Charvet
shirts, J.M. Weston
shoes, Acne jeans,
Hogan sneakers.”
FAVORITE ACCESSORY:
“MAD matte gray
Rolex Daytona watch.”
ST YLE ICON: “My
incredible wife, Lizzie
Tisch, I.B.D.L. Hall
of Fame.”
T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
15
H.R.H.
Prince
HARRY
OCCUPATION: Patron of multiple
charities, including WellChild,
Sentebale, and Walking with
the Wounded; fifth in line to the
British throne. RESIDENCE:
Kensington Palace, in London.
MOST NOTABLE ENSEMBLE OF 2015:
A black morning coat, blue
waistcoat, and blue patterned tie
with a top hat, worn at Royal
Ascot. THE LOOK: Heir with flair.
MEN
www.vanityfair.com VAN IT Y FAIR 195
20
T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
Robert
15 COUTURIER
OCCUPATION: Architect, decorator. RESIDENCES: New
York City, and South Kent, Connecticut. FAVORITE
ITEM OF CLOTHING: “A perfect three-buttoned blue suit
made by Kilgour—for some reason it always fits!”
FAVORITE TAILORS: “Kilgour, Huntsman,
and Anderson & Sheppard.”
FAVORITE ACCESSORY: “My scarves
by Dianora Salviati!” STYLE ICON:
“Sir James Goldsmith, because
he didn’t give a damn and
always looked incredible!”
WEARING A KILGOUR
SUIT WITH AN
HERMÈS SCARF AND
JOHN LOBB SHOES
IN NEW YORK CITY.
MEN
PHOTOGR A PHS : F RO M L EF T, © C LI N T BR E WE R/ SP L A SH NE W S/ CO RB I S, BY J E N NY
A NDE R SO N/ WI R EI MAGE , E TH A N MI L LE R/ GE T T Y IM AGE S , K EL LY TAUB / BFA .COM
Russell
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS IN LOS
ANGELES; WEARING A BLACK
TRENCH COAT AND BOOTS
WILSON
TO AOL STUDIOS IN NEW YORK
CITY; IN AN EVENING LOOK AT
MUHAMMAD ALI’S CELEBRITY
FIGHT NIGHT XXI, IN PHOENIX.
OCCUPATION: Quarterback
for the N.F.L.’s Seattle
Seahawks. RESIDENCE:
Seattle. NOTABLE ENSEMBLE
OF 2015: Black suit jacket
with an embellished collar
and ripped black jeans,
worn to the BET Awards.
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
Eddie
15 REDMAYNE
OCCUPATION: Actor. RESIDENCE:
VIKANDER
by Saint Laurent.” FAVORITE
ITEM OF CLOTHING: “Gucci plaid suit.”
FAVORITE DESIGNERS: “McQueen,
OCCUPATION: Actor. RESIDENCE: Valentino, Hardy Amies, Private
Sweden. FAVORITE DESIGNER: White V.C.” FAVORITE PL ACE TO SHOP:
Louis Vuitton. NOTABLE LOOK OF “Mr Porter.” FAVORITE ACCESSORY:
2015: A green Louis Vuitton “Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra.”
ensemble worn to the Cannes FAVORITE SCENT: “Tom Ford Black
Film Festival. Orchid.” ST YLE ICON: “My dad.”
IN AN ERDEM GOWN
AT THE 2013 TORONTO
INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL; TOP,
WEARING A 2014
CHANEL ENSEMBLE
HOLLY N I L S J O RG E N S E N / R E X U S A , F RO M J A B P RO M OT I O N S / R E X U S A , BY N I CH O L A S H U N T / PAT R I CK M C M U L L A N
PHOTOGR A PHS : FROM LEFT, © FRED THORNHILL/REUTERS/CORBIS, BY ZACHARIE SCHEURER/A.P. IMAGES,
WOOD
Emma
STONE
LEFT, IN PRADA FOR
THE BAFTA AWARDS,
IN LONDON; ABOVE,
WEARING A LOUIS
VUITTON DRESS AND
SHOES TO THE LOUIS
VUITTON SERIES 2
EXHIBITION IN
OCCUPATION: Actor. LOS ANGELES.
RESIDENCES: New York City
and Los Angeles. FAVORITE
DESIGNERS: Rag & Bone,
Lanvin, Chanel. FAVORITE
PLACES TO SHOP: Rag &
Bone and the Elder
Statesman. MOST NOTABLE
ENSEMBLE OF 2015: A Lanvin
crystal-embroidered
strapless jumpsuit worn to
the Golden Globes.
LEFT, IN THAKOON
FOR THE MET GALA;
ABOVE, WEARING
VERSACE TO THE
WORLD PREMIERE
OF THE AMAZING
SPIDER-MAN 2.
15 B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
Sienna
MILLER
OCCUPATION: Actor. RESIDENCE:
London. DESIGNERS: Céline,
Miu Miu, Balenciaga. NOTABLE
ENSEMBLE OF 2015: A silk
Valentino kite-motif dress, worn
at the Cannes Film Festival.
HOL
LEFT, IN GUCCI AT THE
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL;
RIGHT, WEARING A THAKOON
ENSEMBLE TO THE MET GALA.
FASSBENDER
IN F PHOTO. COM/ COR BIS , BY CHRI S JO SE P H/ I -IMAG E S /P OL A RI S, NI COL A S BR IQ U E T/
IN A THOM SWEENEY
SUIT AT THE LONDON
PREMIERE OF X-MEN:
DAYS OF FUTURE PAST.
S EP T EMB ER 2015
Charlize
THERON
OCCUPATION: Actor, producer. RESIDENCE: Los
Angeles. DESIGNERS: Alexander McQueen,
Dior, Antonio Berardi, Azzedine Alaïa. SCENT:
J’adore, by Christian Dior. MOST NOTABLE
ENSEMBLE OF 2015: A sunshine-yellow Christian
Dior gown, worn at the Cannes Film Festival
premiere of Mad Max: Fury Road.
AT THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND
PRIX IN A BARBARA BUI SUIT
AND JIMMY CHOO SHOES.
LYWOOD
15 B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
Emma WATSON
OCCUPATION: Actor, U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador.
R ES I D E N C ES : London and New York. FAVO R I T E FAS H I O N
PURCHASE OF 2015: “My Ellery Humilis wide-sleeve top in cream.”
FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING: “My John Patrick Organic
sweatshirt.” FAVORITE DESIGNERS: “Maiyet. Impossibly chic.
Paul Andrew designed my graduation shoes. (They were actually
comfortable.)” FAVORITE PL ACE TO SHOP: “matchesfashion.com
and modaoperandi.com.” FAVORITE SHOES: “My Tabitha Simmons
espadrilles and my Phillip Lim Chelsea boots.” ST YLE ICONS:
“Frida Kahlo, Joan Didion, Georgia O’Keeffe, Phoebe Philo,
Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Sofia Coppola.”
HOLLYWOOD Diane
KRUGER
PHOTOGR A PHS : F RO M L EF T, BY DAVE J . HO GA N /GE T T Y I MAGE S , J I M
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
BOTH IN THOM
Beatrice
15
BROWNE WHITE-TIE
AT THE MET GALA.
BORROMEO
& Pierre
CASIRAGHI
RES I D E N C E : Milan. H E R O C C U PAT I O N :
Reporter. HIS OCCUPATION: C.E.O.
of Engeco and Monacair. HER
FAVORITE FASHION PURCHASE OF 2015:
“A headpiece from Giusy Bresciani.”
HER FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING:
“Summer dresses.” HER FAVORITE
DESIGNERS: “Marta Ferri, Valentino,
Armani, Azzedine Alaïa.” HER
FAVORITE PL ACE TO SHOP: “Grazia
Bagnaresi, in Milan.” HER FAVORITE
SHOES: “Charlotte Olympia.” HER
FAVORITE SCENT: “Carnal Flower, by
& Andrew
BOLTON
RESIDENCE: New York City.
ANDREW’S OCCUPATION: Curator,
the Costume Institute at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
THOM’S OCCUPATION: Designer.
ANDREW’S FAVORITE ITEM OF
CLOTHING: “Thom Browne
gray-and-white seersucker suit.”
ANDREW’S FAVORITE PL ACE TO
SHOP: “Mr Porter.” THOM’S
FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING:
“My gray suit.” THOM’S FAVORITE
PL ACE TO SHOP: “Sherry-
Lehmann.” THOM’S ST YLE ICON:
CO
“Andrew Bolton.” ANDREW’S
ST YLE ICON: “Thom Browne.”
Sophie
HUNTER &
Benedict
GETT Y IMAGES, PASCAL LE SEGRETAIN/GETT Y
PRUTTING/BFA.COM, PASCAL LE SEGRETAIN/
PHOTOGRAPHS: FROM LEFT, BY NOEL WEST/
CUMBERBATCH
DAVID M. BENETT/GETT Y IMAGES
IN A CUSTOM LANVIN GOWN HER OCCUPATION: Theater director, actor. HIS OCCUPATION: Actor, producer.
AND SCABAL BLACK-TIE RESIDENCE: London. DESIGNERS: Erdem, Valentino, Emilia Wickstead.
WITH WHITE DINNER
JACKET AT THE OSCARS. HER NOTABLE ENSEMBLE OF 2015: A custom Lanvin asymmetrical red dress,
worn to the Oscars. HIS NOTABLE ENSEMBLE OF 2015: Bespoke Alexander
McQueen black-tie, worn to the BAFTAs.
UPLES
RESIDENCE: Los Angeles. MATT’S
OCCUPATION: Actor, writer, producer.
SIMON’S OCCUPATION: Partner, Slate
PR. THEIR FAVORITE TAILOR: “Mario
Gonzales at Mario’s Alterations.”
MATT’S FAVORITE PLACES TO SHOP:
“Mr Porter, Barneys New York.”
MATT’S FAVORITE ACCESSORIES:
“Wedding ring, Sol Moscot frames.”
MATT’S FAVORITE SCENT: “Vetiver (on
other people), the smell of our kids
(after bath time).” SIMON’S FAVORITE
ACCESSORY: “My wedding ring.”
SIMON’S FAVORITE SCENT: “Kiehl’s
Coriander body wash.” MATT’S STYLE
ICONS: “Cary Grant, Alain Delon,
MATT IN ARMANI
AND SIMON IN Robert Redford, Warren Beatty,
RALPH LAUREN AT Montgomery Clift, Tom Ford, Bryan
THE HOLLYWOOD
PREMIERE OF Lourd.” SIMON’S STYLE ICONS: “Tom
MAGIC MIKE XXL. Ford and Bryan Lourd.”
20
T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
RIGHT, WEARING
15
CHRISTOPHER KANE
TO THE MET GALA;
BOTTOM, PERFORMING IN
FKA
A SWAROVSKI-CRYSTAL-
EMBELLISHED DRESS BY
RODARTE IN AUSTRIA.
TWIGS
OCCUPATION: Singer-
ALAÏA
Found and Vision, in
Notting Hill. DESIGNERS:
Cottweiler, Alexander
OCCUPATION: Couturier. McQueen, Christopher
RESIDENCE: Paris. SIGNATURE Kane. NOTABLE ENSEMBLE
LOOK: Black cotton Chinese OF 2015: Alexander
suit and slippers. McQueen’s Birds of
Paradise gown at the launch
of the “Alexander McQueen:
Savage Beauty” exhibition
at the V.&A. in London.
IN HIS SIGNATURE
CHINESE COTTON SUIT
AT A SCHIAPARELLI
SHOW IN PARIS.
LYONS BELL-BOTTOMS AT A
FASHION WEEK EVENT
AT LINCOLN CENTER. PHOTOG RA PH S: F ROM LE F T, © STE P HA NE C AR D I NA LE / P E OPL E AV E N UE / COR BI S , BY J . G RA S SI /
PATR I CK MC MU LL AN . COM, J UL IA N MACKL E R /BFA. COM, MAT TE O P RA N D ON I/ BFA. CO M
OCCUPATION: Creative
director, J. Crew. RESIDENCE:
SoHo, New York City.
FAVORITE FASHION PURCHASE
OF 2015: “From Tome’s spring
’15 collection—white lace top
and skirt with black cotton
overlay.” FAVORITE DESIGNERS:
“Dries Van Noten, Céline,
45rpm, A Détacher, Apiece
Apart, Tome, Marni,
Valentino, RTH, Comme
des Garçons.” FAVORITE
PL ACE TO SHOP: “1stdibs
.com.” FAVORITE SHOES:
“Gold gladiators.” FAVORITE
PIECE OF JEWELRY:
“Custom signet ring with
my family crest.”
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
WEARING THEIR
15
OWN DESIGNS IN
MIDTOWN
MANHATTAN.
BELOW, IN PRABAL
GURUNG AT THE NEW
YORK CITY BALLET
SPRING GALA; RIGHT,
WEARING TEMPERLEY
LONDON TO THE
LONDON COLLECTIONS.
Caroline
A BACAUS A /P OL A R I S, A LO CE B A LL O S/ GC I MAGE S , A L E SS I O B OT TI CE L LI /G C IM AGE S
ISSA
OCCUPATION: Fashion director,
Tank magazine. RESIDENCE:
London. FAVORITE FASHION
PURCHASE OF 2015: “My Shinola
Zac POSEN
Birdy leather double-wrap watch.” OCCUPATION: Fashion designer. RESIDENCE: New York
FAVORITE DESIGNERS: Alessandra WEARING A CUSTOM City. FAVORITE FASHION PURCHASE OF 2015: “A
SUIT AND OVERCOAT OF
Facchinetti, Raf Simons, Miuccia HIS OWN DESIGN WITH multicolored D. Porthault robe.” FAVORITE ITEM OF
Prada. FAVORITE PL ACE TO SHOP: A BROOKS BROTHERS CLOTHING: “Hysteric Glamour double-breasted black
TIE AND A BORSALINO
“nordstrom.com.” FAVORITE HAT IN NEW YORK CITY. jacket.” FAVORITE DESIGNERS: “Yohji Yamamoto,
SHOES: “Paul Andrew is my new Vivienne Westwood.” FAVORITE PL ACE TO SHOP:
obsession.” FAVORITE PIECE OF “Brooks Brothers.” FAVORITE TAILOR: “Mr. Ned.”
JEWELRY: “My grandmother’s jade FAVORITE ACCESSORY: “My gray Louis Vuitton
acorn necklace.” FAVORITE SCENT: traveling set.” FAVORITE SCENT: “Nitesurf, by Régime
“D.S. & Durga Silent Grove.” des Fleurs.” ST YLE ICON: “Rene Ricard.”
Victoria
BECKHAM
OCCUPATION: Designer.
RESIDENCE: London.
FAVORITE SHOES: Francesco
Russo. FAVORITE PIECE OF
JEWELRY: “My wedding
ring, which is Chopard and
canary yellow.” FAVORITE
SCENT: “Anything from
Byredo!”
IN A PINK FLORAL
DRESS AT BERGDORF
GOODMAN; WEARING
HER OWN DESIGNS IN
SOHO, NEW YORK CITY,
AND AT J.F.K.
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
Nick
15 WOOSTER
OCCUPATION: “Free agent”;
fashion consultant. RESIDENCE:
West Village, New York City.
FAVORITE FASHION PURCHASE OF
2015: “A Rare Weaves patchwork
oxford-cloth shirt.” FAVORITE ITEM
OF CLOTHING: “Isn’t that like asking
a parent who their favorite child
is?” FAVORITE DESIGNERS: “All
things Comme des Garçons, Thom
Browne, Rick Owens, Visvim,
Kolor, Sacai, the Soloist, Paul
Harnden, Craig Green.” FAVORITE
TAILOR: “Lardini.” FAVORITE
ACCESSORY: “Supreme Zippo.”
STYLE ICONS: “Peaky Blinders and
Tilda Swinton.”
PROFESSIO Giovanna IMAG E S , DVORA / R E X US A , R W/ ME D IA PU NCH ( TOP) , OWE N HOF FMA N / PATR I CKMC MUL L A N
BATTAGLIA
PHOTOG RA PH S: F ROM LE F T, BY J ACOP O R AU LE / GE T T Y IMAG E S , ME L ODI E JE N G /G E TT Y
NALS
WEARING MAX MARA
TO A DINNER IN
CELEBRATION OF THE
WHITNEY MUSEUM IN
NEW YORK CITY.
Pamela
WEARING HIS OWN
DESIGNS IN HIS
GOLBIN
STUDIO, IN NEW OCCUPATION: Chief curator, Musée des Arts
YORK CITY.
Décoratifs, Paris. RESIDENCE: Paris. FAVORITE
FASHION PURCHASE OF 2015: “A 1950 Balenciaga
suit shot by Irving Penn for Vogue.” FAVORITE
PL ACE TO SHOP: “Internet.” FAVORITE PIECE OF
JEWELRY: “My late grandfather’s Patek Philippe
pocket watch.” FAVORITE SCENT: “Lavender fields
in Provence.” ST YLE ICON: “Diana Vreeland.”
B EST- D R ES S E D P O L L
Harold KODA
15 OCCUPATION: Curator in charge of the Costume
Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
RESIDENCE: New York City. FAVORITE FASHION
PURCHASE OF 2015: “Two identical gray worsted
Thom Browne suits.” FAVORITE ITEM OF
CLOTHING: “Comme des Garçons denim shirt
from 1985.” FAVORITE DESIGNERS: “Thom
Browne, Prada, Lobb.” FAVORITE PL ACE TO
SHOP: “Longmire.” FAVORITE TAILOR: “Davide at
Gieves & Hawkes.” FAVORITE ACCESSORIES:
“White linen pocket-square, Jaeger-LeCoultre
Reverso watch.” FAVORITE SCENT: “No. 02 L’Eau
Sento, by IUNX.” ST YLE ICONS: “Tsuguharu
Foujita, Georgia O’Keeffe.”
IN A THOM BROWNE
SUIT AT THE
METROPOLITAN
MUSEUM OF ART.
Lauren
THE ELLE STYLE AWARDS
PARTY IN MADRID; IN
PROENZA SCHOULER AT
A CHANEL SHOW; IN A
SANTO
GIAMBATTISTA VALLI
GOWN AT THE AMERICAN
BALLET THEATRE GALA.
DOMINGO
OCCUPATION: Contributing editor,
Vogue; founder, Moda Operandi. RESIDENCE:
New York City. FAVORITE DESIGNERS:
“Giambattista Valli, Vika Gazinskaya.”
FAVORITE PL ACES TO SHOP: “Moda Operandi,
1stdibs.” ST YLE ICON: “Jacqueline de Ribes.”
212 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com
FROM LEFT: IN JEAN PAUL
GAULTIER ON THE CHAMPS-
ÉLYSÉES; WEARING STÉPHANE
ROLLAND AT MATIGNON, IN
PARIS; IN VALENTINO HAUTE
COUTURE AT THE NIEUWE
KERK, IN AMSTERDAM.
H.H. Sheikha
MOZAH BINT
NASSER
AL-MISSNED
of QATAR
A MMA R- M OUS S E/ A BACA /N E WS CO M, PATR I CK VA N KAT W IJ K/ © DPA P IC TU RE A L L IA N CE /A L A MY
OCCUPATION: Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation
PHOTOGR A PHS : F RO M L EF T, BY GUI B BAU D CHR I STOP HE /A B ACA P RE S S. CO M, A B D RA B BO
HALL
for Education, Science and Community
Development; UNESCO special envoy for basic and
higher education. HUSBAND: H.H. Sheikh Hamad
bin Khalifa Al-Thani, former Emir of Qatar.
RESIDENCE: Doha, Qatar. DESIGNERS: Giorgio
Armani, Jean Paul Gaultier, Stéphane Rolland,
Dior. NOTABLE ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR: An
insect-embroidered coat, lace trousers, and leather
pumps, all Valentino Couture, worn to the Qatar
OF FAME
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, in Paris.
Æ TREND WATCH pp. 217, 218 & 223 FASHION’S BELOVED ILLUSTRATOR p. 226 MY STUFF: EDIE PARKER’S BRETT HEYMAN p. 228 AND MORE ...
SEX Y SOLE
Alexandre Birman
GROOV Y GAZE eel-and-suede
Paul Smith sandal, $595.
Danbury (saksfifthavenue.com)
sunglasses,
FRISK Y FUN Ralph
$340.
Paul Andrew Taos
(paulsmith Lauren
fringed bootie in taupe
.co.uk)
suede, $1,195.
(bergdorfgoodman
.com)
Chloé
Burberry
Prorsum
HIGH KICKS
Brian Atwood Renee suede
SKIN IS IN knee-high boot, $1,675.
Tod’s brown patchwork (brianatwood.com)
python Wave bag,
$4,575.
(tods.com)
TICK TOCK
Cartier Clé de
Cartier watch in
18-karat rose
gold, $18,800.
Michael (cartier.us)
Kors
ROLL OVER
J. Crew textured
Neutral Territory
turtleneck, $148.
(jcrew.com)
Camel’s classic elegance
defines the fall fashion mood
EYE SPY OXFORD ST YLE
Warby Parker Topper BY PUNCH HUTTON Grenson Stanley
frames in Striped Beach, $95. in brown leather, $460.
(warbyparker.com) (grenson.co.uk)
FALL FUN
Brunello Cucinelli
cashmere and suede
vest, $2,245.
(brunellocucinelli.com)
Tom
Ford CLASSIC LOOK
A.P.C. Montagne
Boglioli sweater, $385. WRAP UP
(usonline.apc.fr) Rag & Bone
Marin scarf, $150.
TIME FLIES (rag-bone.com)
Hermès Slim
d’Hermès rose-gold Brioni
watch, $18,500. SLIP ON
(hermes.com) Berluti Andy Genova
leather loafer, $2,130.
(berluti.com)
IV Y LEAGUE
TOUCH OF ST YLE
Cartier Pyramid Motif
BROWN DERBY cuff links in 18-karat rose gold,
Ermenegildo $4,300. (cartier.us)
Zegna deerskin
Derby shoes,
$695. SURE FOOTING
(zegna.com) Cole Haan & Todd Snyder
Bryling Lace Boot in Chestnut Suede, TIE ONE ON
$378. (colehaan.com) Alexander Olch wool-
tweed necktie in brown,
$150. (olch.com)
SPORT Y COOL
Coach York Lace Sneaker,
$195. (coach.com)
TOTE AROUND
Dunhill Duke tote,
$4,250.
(dunhill.com)
EYE CANDY
Smoke X Mirrors
Atomic frames, $295.
(smokexmirrors.com) GLAM GAL
ALWAYS CHIC Giuseppe Zanotti
Chanel Boy bag in calfskin and Design jeweled-gold-
aged ruthenium metal, $3,600. mirror clutch, $1,995.
(chanel.com) (giuseppezanotti
design.com)
Graphic Images
Stars, stripes, circles, STEPPING OUT
Salvatore Ferragamo
and myriad other shapes with ostrich-and-calfskin
contrasting colors make heel, $2,100.
(ferragamo.com)
their mark on this season’s
coveted accessories
BY PUNCH HUTTON
FLAT-OUT FAB
Charlotte Olympia
Dawn flats, $765.
(charlotteolympia.com)
SEEING STARS
Roger Vivier Miss
Viv’ Star bag, $2,650.
(rogervivier.com)
WORK OF ART
Sergio Rossi Tuxedo sandal
with ornaments, $1,295. RETRO COOL FURRY FRIEND
(sergiorossi.com) Oliver Goldsmith Fuz Bulgari Serpenti Forever
in Whiteout frames, $440. Mink bag, $6,300.
(jamesleonard.com) (bulgari.com)
SCHOOL DAZE
Ralph Lauren small
leather Ricky
SAUCY STEP Drawstring bag, $1,750.
Charlotte Olympia Etta (ralphlauren.com)
FO R DE TA I LS , GO TO VF.CO M
heel, $1,065.
(charlotteolympia.com)
efore becoming the fashion world’s favorite artist, Donald child. To have these big-kid ideas and not think too much—that’s the best.”
Robertson was a middle-aged suburban dad with a nine-to-five job, a daily Robertson, who recently moved his family to Los Angeles, was raised in
commute from Westchester to N.Y.C., and little interest in social media. But Toronto, Canada, where he was asked to leave art school—in part because he
he also had a compulsive drawing habit and an assistant who, in 2012, set shunned realism. “I failed Life Drawing for making all the people longer and
him up with an Instagram account—and skinnier than they were,” he says. “Now it’s
suddenly a new art star had arrived. Online, the secret to my success.” In the 80s, Rob-
he is @drawbertson, and his witty, almost ertson helped launch MAC cosmetics, and he
cartoonlike depictions of everyone from worked at several magazines in New York
Anna Wintour to Kanye West to Karl Lager- before landing his current job as roving cre-
feld have won him more than 140,000 fol- ative director at Estée Lauder. But he never
lowers, collaborations with J. Crew, Smash- D O N A L D R O B E R T S ON stopped drawing. Robertson’s aesthetic is
box, and Bergdorf Goodman (to name a homemade, a little messy, and collage-like,
few), and the kind of multi-platform career and that approach extends to his commerce:
usually mastered by the likes of Beyoncé—who’s a fan, by the way. In May, anyone can buy his work—which starts at $375 for a print and can go to more
when she uploaded a photo of herself holding a custom-made Drawbertson than $12,500 for a painting—online. “I’m trying to do stuff that’s less expen-
handbag, “I nearly fell over,” he says. “Beyoncé holding that up—it’s like a sive,” he says. He believes that art shouldn’t be so rarefied, nor should fash-
halo over everything else.” Robertson, now 53, is most often compared to ion. How else to interpret a toilet-paper roller tricked out with the Louis Vuit-
Andy Warhol, though he’d prefer Pharrell Williams—everything infused with ton logo? “Fashion people are essentially children,” he says, laughing. “And
warmth and joy. He never takes a day off, never runs out of ideas, and never the ones who are good are the ones who remain child-like the longest.”
feels exhausted—this from a father of five. (His toddler twin boys, Henry and Perhaps in tribute, Robertson published his first children’s book, Mitford at
Charlie, are popular subjects on his Instagram feed.) “The whole sleep- the Fashion Zoo (Penguin Random House), in August. The moral of the
ing thing—I’ve decided to write it off,” he says. “There are so many things story: “Keep your childish instincts,” he says. “Be pure. Don’t try to please
I want to do. Picasso said he spent his whole life trying to paint like a people. And don’t bury the crazy.” — M AU R E E N CA L L A H A N
PH OTOG RA P HS BY B EA L L & TH OM A S P HOTO GRA P HY (B L ACK BERRY FARM); FRO M THE C ARLYLE, A RO SEWO O D HOTEL (BEMELMANS BAR); BY DOVE/EXPRESS/GETT Y I MAGE S (PAL L E N B E RG); © GE N E R AL
HEYMAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE SCHMELZER; HAIR PRODUCTS BY ORIBE; MAKEUP PRODUCTS BY CHANEL; HAIR BY JOSHUA RISTAINO; MAKEUP BY SUZY GERSTEIN; PROPS ST YLED BY ANDRÉA HUELSE.
Car Chevrolet. Wristwatch
place in the world Between my children. Sneakers Nike.
M OTO R S ( CH E V RO L E T ) ; BY H E I D I G U T M A N / A B C / G E T T Y I M AG E S ( B O U R DA I N ) ; L A Z I Z H A M A N I ( CO CK TA I L ) ; V I TA L I N A RY B A KOVA / G E T T Y I M AG E S ( J A S M I N E ) . F O R D E TA I L S , G O TO V F. CO M / C R E D I TS
Vintage Bulgari
Favorite charity The Parenting
Serpenti.
Center at Mount Sinai Hospital. Favorite
movie Drop Dead Gorgeous.
Favorite hotel Blackberry Farm, in
Tennessee. Favorite colors Navy and
gold metallic. Fashion idol
Anita Pallenberg.
BR E T T HE Y M A N
Brett Heyman,
photographed
in the Edie
Parker showroom,
in N.Y.C.
HOME BE AU T Y PRODUC T S
Where do you live N.Y.C. Lips Baume de Rose from By Terry.
Favorite art in-house Andy Warhol Mascara Dior Diorshow. Concealer
Polaroid of Dolly Parton. Sheets Aerin Eyelight. Foundation Perricone MD
D. Porthault Peacock. Luggage Tumi. China No Foundation Foundation. Shampoo
Meissen Pink Dragon. Stationery Cartier. Kiehl’s Olive Fruit Oil Nourishing Shampoo.
Pet Field-spaniel puppy. Favorite flowers Moisturizer Biologique Recherche.
Tree peonies. Favorite neighborhood Hair product Dream Big by Serge Normant.
restaurant Casa Lever. Favorite cocktail Soap Dr. Bronner’s. Perfume Lipstick Rose
Passion Royale at Bemelmans Bar. Favorite by Frédéric Malle. Toothpaste Crest.
dessert Affogato at Amaranth. Snack Nail-polish color Mademoiselle by Essie.
Yu Bakery’s YuPuffs—the Who cuts your hair D.J. at Serge
coconut-oil-and-flaxseed flavor. Normant, downtown; Chris
Coffee-table book 1000° C at Sally Hershberger, uptown.
Deyrolle, by Skin-care specialist
Laurent Bochet. Georgia Louise.
228 VA NI T Y FA I R S EP T EMB ER 2015
JOY RIDE
o read Joy Williams is
An illustration from to be arrested in a
the 1941 book The Crab state of relentless awe
with the Golden Claws,
from Tintin: Hergé’s and wonderment. The stories
Masterpiece (Rizzoli), by collected in The Visiting
Pierre Sterckx.
Privilege (Knopf)—each a
divining rod attuned to the currents
of the great unseen—reveal Williams’s
humming affinity for the eccentrics,
outcasts, and obsessives who haunt the
periphery of society, and the landscapes
they inhabit, from the Arizona desert to
the Florida Keys, border on the
mystical if not subversive. The
author’s preternatural
intelligence, coupled with a
scorching wit and an inability to
bore or commit an unoriginal
thought to the page, has made
I LL U STR ATI O N © HERGÉ /MO ULI NSART 2015. PHOTO GRAPHS BY TI M HO UT (BO O KS). FO R DE TAI LS, GO TO VF.CO M/C RE DI TS
her a cult hero to writers including Don
DeLillo, Raymond Carver, and William
Gass. Why we aren’t worshipping Joy
Williams in public squares is beyond me.
With this collection we should be. –E.S.
IN SHORT
Casey Schwartz dives headfirst In the Mind Fields (Pantheon). Leslie Zemeckis bows before the Goddess of Love Incarnate (Counterpoint).
Kermit Roosevelt pledges Allegiance (Regan Arts). Deyan Sudjic sees Ettore Sottsass and the Poetry of Things (Phaidon). George MacDonald Fraser leaves
behind Captain in Calico (Mysterious). Susanna Moore visits the Paradise of the Pacific (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Ted Rall leaks Snowden
(Seven Stories). Pretender Chrissie Hynde gets Reckless (Doubleday). Tony Collins tackles The Oval World (Bloomsbury). Wendell Pierce and Rod Dreher hurtle
through The Wind in the Reeds (Riverhead). Anne C. Heller illuminates Hannah Arendt (New Harvest). G. Bruce Boyer tailors True Style (Basic Books).
James Hamilton invests in A Strange Business (Pegasus). Erica Jong flies with Fear of Dying (St. Martin’s). Robert Goolrick nails misbehaving Wall Streeters
in The Fall of Princes (Algonquin). Cecil-philes Mike Holborn and Annie Leibovitz adore Beaton Photographs (Abrams). – E . S .
Christian
Louboutin, in
INSPIRED NOTES Marrakech.
PRETTY POUT
‘
side from the eyes, lips are the most expressive feature on a
woman’s face,” says Christian Louboutin, the man responsible for
our obsession with red-soled shoes. Inspired by Nefertiti, a symbol of
beauty and power, Louboutin created the Lip Colour Collection, 38 shades of pigment
available in three different textures—Silky Satin, Velvet Matte, and Sheer Voile—
all encased in Babylonian-influenced jewel-like vessels with a turret crown of Middle
Above, Narciso Eau Eastern antiquity. Louboutin pays homage to women who painted their lips and adorned
de Toilette; right, a look from their necklines with covetable objets d’art. ($90 each; christianlouboutin.com) — S . H . G .
his spring 2015 RTW.
Miuccia
François Prada
Pinault and
Stella
McCartney
PHOTO GRAPHS BY DAVI D X. PR UTTI N G/ B FA.CO M;
FO R DETAI LS, GO TO VF.CO M/ CR E DI TS
David Adjaye
and Thomas Roman
Heatherwick Abramovich
Dinner tables inside and Dasha
the exhibition space. Zhukova
SOVIET STYLE
Coco
Brandolini Artists, billionaires, gallery
owners, collectors, titans of industry, and
a super-fashionable flock celebrated
Jeff Dasha Zhukova’s newly opened,
Koons Jean Pigozzi Rem Koolhaas–designed Garage Museum
and and Woody
Taryn Allen of Contemporary Art, in Moscow’s
Simon Gorky Park.
Nate
Lowman
and
Ludovica
Barbieri
Xi Lin and
Michael
Govan
Bianca
Brandolini
Shane Smith
and Roman
Abramovich Almine Rech
Lauren
Santo
Domingo
Larry Dasha’s
Gagosian dinner table. Koyo Kouoh
and David and Urs Fischer
Newson
THOM BROWNE
T H E I N N OVAT I V E D E S I G N E R E X PLA I N S W H Y H E F I N D S A V I RT U E I N I M PE R F E CT I O N
T
hom Browne, the celebrated What did he think of the traditional
fashion designer, entered the light-gray suit I was wearing? (It was my
Grill Room of the landmark optimistic tribute to Cary Grant’s fabled
Four Seasons restaurant in suit in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest.)
mid-Manhattan wearing his own inven- “It looks great!” he said generously. “It’s
tion—the little gray suit with matching well made, you look comfortable in it,
shorts and black brogans that has the and it’s interesting that you have a lot
look of a boy’s prep-school uniform. more important things you care about.”
He was confidently at ease in it, and al- It was not quite the backhanded com-
though one gent quickly averted his eyes, pliment it might seem. “Simple and clas-
nobody else among the traditionally sic is the way I think most people should
stuffy, dark-suited power elite seated in look, especially guys,” he added. “But I
the Grill seemed troubled by the glimpse never liked things to be too perfect. I like
of something shocking in the shape and them to be perfectly made.” It’s the rea-
form of his well-toned, hairy legs. son why the fastidious Mr. Browne’s ha-
“I love this room,” he said, joining me bitual white shirt is always a bit rumpled,
at his usual spot—Table One—in the res- hinting at the throwaway. Cary Grant’s
taurant that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis outfit in North by Northwest, he agreed, is
called “the cathedral.” Unknown to us, without question perfection personified.
however, Julian Niccolini, the restaurant’s But one of his ideal models has always
popular co-owner, who’s been there for been the suits that John F. Kennedy wore
40 years, had been arrested that day on (although they bear no resemblance to
a charge of sexual abuse (which he vigorously Browne’s re-invention of them). “It was his sen-
denies). It’s a further blow to the Seagram Build- By JOHN HEILPERN sibility of being so effortless,” he explained. “He
ing’s hallowed restaurant, a modernist master- didn’t look as though he thought about it.”
piece designed by Philip Johnson that opened in Thom Browne was born in 1965 in Allentown,
1959 and was already under siege. Amid controversy, Aby J. Rosen, Pennsylvania, the son of two attorneys and one of seven siblings, four
the real-estate mogul who owns the building, is not renewing the of whom are also attorneys. He was the handsome nonconformist of
restaurant’s lease next year and will open a new establishment in its his Catholic family. His father bought his suits mostly at the vener-
place. Thom Browne, no elitist, is appalled. “It’s the type of think- able Brooks Brothers (now revitalized by Browne’s Black Fleece la-
ing that caused Penn Station to be torn down,” he said. “I think it bel). “The last thing my father ever thought about was clothing,” he
should stay exactly the way it has always been. There’s nothing you recalled. “He just always had a suit on. That was his uniform. And,
could do to improve this room.” thinking back, it’s very similar to how I think. And I think about
Classic modernist restaurant; cool modernist fashion designer. my father a lot lately and never thought I would in regard to work.”
They are one and the same in their essentially formal, spare aes- Perhaps for all of us it goes back to our nostalgic memories of
DR. HAUSCHKA; GROOMING BY MEGAN L ANOUX; FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS
thetic. Mr. Browne has never designed jeans. “Levi’s did it really childhood. But in Browne’s innovative example, from little school-
well,” he said. But then, he doesn’t own a pair of jeans. boy uniforms mighty empires grow.
C L OT H I N G BY T H O M B ROW N E ; H A I R P RO D U C TS A N D G RO O M I N G P RO D U C TS BY
A creature of habit, he orders the same simple lunch every time: Some 15 years ago, when he was an unknown designer with Ralph
poached salmon, water, and, later, an espresso. He’s an intriguing Lauren’s creative team at Club Monaco, nobody was interested in his
paradox: both cutting-edge and traditionalist, a revolutionary de- now signature suit. He began wearing it in downtown cafés, looking
signer who’s also conservative. Seated at his lunch table, he looked like his own sandwich board, in the hope that someone would buy
pretty conventional from the waist up. one. Today, his influence can be seen everywhere, playing its part in the
His re-invention of the staple men’s suit began in earnest more new normal. In 2011 he launched a women’s ready-to-wear collection.
than a decade ago in radical rebuke to what Guy Trebay of The In 2013—the year he won the prestigious C.F.D.A. Menswear Design-
New York Times calls “the late 20th century slob-fest” of casual er of the Year Award for the second time—Michelle Obama wore the
Fridays. “I thought the worst thing you could ever boldly checked silk dress and coat he had designed
do to a guy was to tell him he could go to work for her at her husband’s second inauguration. “She
casually,” he explained. “I like the idea of some- just looked so strong and confident and intelligent,”
thing that’s classic and a uniform—but it’s really
important not to make it boring.”
“LEVI’S he said. “That’s what was so special to me about it.”
Thom Browne’s sense of style—for men and wom-
“Even so,” I said, “I’m not sure your suit DID IT REALLY en, or interchangeably both—is thus almost beside
would suit me.”
“It isn’t for everyone,” he replied in his gentleman-
WELL.” the point. “I don’t really equate style with clothes,”
he concluded in his best Zen-like manner. “I equate
ly way. “I recognize that. I mean, each to his own.” it with the person who’s wearing the clothes.”
238 VA NI T Y FA I R P H OTO G R A P H BY GASPER TRINGALE S EP T EMB ER 2015
MICHAEL KINSLEY
I n a Charles Saxon
cartoon in The New Yorker from 1969, an
older man in a dark suit sits in his clubby-
looking study, addressing a younger man,
apparently his son. The son is dressed, from
the perspective of 2015, quite conservatively,
in a sweater and khakis, with medium-length
hair. Back then, near the height of the student
rebellion over Vietnam and everything else,
this mildly casual look connoted “hippie” or
“rebel.” The father is saying, “You know how
it is, Ted. Since I went to Princeton, I was sort
of hoping you’d want to go somewhere else.”
Well, we all know what happened next,
don’t we? Ted did go to Princeton University
and eventually abandoned the revolution.
By the time he made managing director at
FEELING LUCKY? a midsize investment bank, all that was left
If a particular was a vague, well-meaning liberalism. He
college takes more
of some, it
took in stride—even approved of—various
necessarily takes changes, such as the rise of women and mi-
fewer of others. norities. Until it was time for Ted’s son to go
to Princeton, and he didn’t get in.
What is most antiquated about this cartoon
ADMISSION:
may be the assumption that the only ques-
tion is whether Ted’s son wants to go to Col-
lege X (we’ll leave Princeton out of it). Today,
IMPOSSIBLE?
no matter what he or others like him want, he
is more likely to be unpacking his boxes this
month at College Y.
T
As millions of Americans begin their first year of he plight of bright young men who
don’t get into their college of choice is
college this fall, the Supreme Court will one of the lesser tragedies around. In
consider a major affirmative-action admissions fact, very few colleges are prohibitively selec-
tive. Most take a huge percentage of those who
case. That won’t help the bright preppy apply. And you can get an excellent education
at almost any of these places. This is an area
who didn’t get into his dad’s alma mater, but where America is still No. 1 in the world. But
all he needs is a reality check that’s no comfort to the kids who don’t get into
the school they dreamed of, and it’s definitely
no comfort to their super-competitive parents.
So, if Ted takes his son to lunch at the
240 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com I L L U STR ATI O NS BY BARRY BLITT S EP T EMB ER 2015
KINSLEY
club, what should he say to out your pencil, scrounge the
console him? Ted can say back of an envelope, and
that if he himself applied assume that College X has
to College X and Col- 1,000 students per class.
lege Y today, he proba- It seems ludicrous to-
bly wouldn’t get into ei- day, but until around
ther one. This is of limited 1970 the percentage of
comfort though profound- undergraduate women
ly true. It’s probably also at places such as Yale
true that college Y today and Princeton was
offers a better education precisely zero. These
than College X did back colleges did not admit
when Ted was a student. Not women. Now they do. So
much comfort there either. right off, instead of compet-
Ted is right to suspect that ing for one of 1,000 places,
the next four years are probably EENIE, MEENIE ... Ted’s son is effectively com-
going to be among the most important four for my college newspaper, I set The crapshoot of peting for one of 500.
of his son’s life. But, in hindsight, the spe- out to prove that my college admissions Then there’s affirmative ac-
cial attributes of which particular school he was admitting fewer Jewish stu- doesn’t mean that tion. You may like it or you may
“traditional”
goes to are likely to rank low on the list of dents in an attempt to reduce the students “lose.”
not, but everyone knows that top
possible life changers, and in any case the number of radicals and trouble- colleges today hunger for good
consequences aren’t predictable. At Col- makers. Through the highly dubi- minority students. I have no prob-
lege Y he might meet the girl (or boy) of ous technique of counting Jews in the lem with this myself. But then that’s
his dreams in freshman English. Maybe freshman yearbooks—going by names and easy for me to say, since I was already safely
they’ll live happily for many decades, but he resorting to fractions when I wasn’t sure—I in college when affirmative action started to
never would have met her (or him) if he’d determined that, whereas Jews in recent years bite. Anyway, let’s say minority enrollment
gone to College X. At College Y, he might had made up about 25 percent of the enter- used to be 2 percent and is now, through
be lured by some charismatic professor into ing class, it was by then down to 20 percent. heroic efforts of recruiting, 15 percent or
a lifetime of scholarship, which will leave Of course, even if the number was correct, more, and the college intends to keep it that
him bitter and twisted—or not. Something it proved nothing about my thesis. Unde- way. That’s a net of at least 75 places (just for
big like these examples is likely to happen terred, I took my findings to the dean of ad- men) no longer available to the sons of Ted.
to Ted’s son in the next four (or five or six) missions and asked him how admissions pol- We’re down to 425. The surge of applicants
years. But the major fortuitous events and icy had changed in (what were then) recent of Asian and South Asian backgrounds, with
purposeful decisions that will shape his life years. He said, “We’re aggressively looking for their breathtaking test scores, has claimed an-
may have little or nothing to do with the ob- more qualified blacks and other minorities.” other chunk of places, taking us down some-
jective merits of College X versus College Y. Me: But the class size hasn’t increased, where into the 300s.
or at least not dramatically. So who are you Finally, consider that the population of the
P
eople, notably parents, obsess about taking less of? United States was 209 million in 1972. Today
college admissions because it’s a lever The dean: We’re taking more people from it’s more like 320 million. That’s more than a
in the mechanics of success that they the western part of the country and fewer 50 percent increase. Meanwhile, the number
feel they can control. But they can’t. College from metropolitan Boston and New England. of slots at College X has stayed the same or
admission is one of the few explicit decision Me: Great. But who are you taking less of? increased only slightly. When you put it all
points in the murky workings of fate. But We went back and forth for a while, but together, it’s amazing that anyone bothers to
even so, as any college admissions officer the most I could get him to concede was apply to College X at all.
will tell you, the decision to admit one per- that, “if we are admitting fewer of any identi- This may be of doubtful consolation to
son and reject another is highly arbitrary. fiable group, it might be the bright kids in Ted and his son, but it all really boils down
It is arbitrary at every level. For centuries, the suburbs that form a doughnut around the to luck. Nobody “deserves” a place at College
Ted’s ancestors got favorable treatment in ap- big cities.” Bingo! That was all I needed. X. The luck may be in your genes, in your
plying to college—especially College X. Nowa- The subsequent headline was: THE DEAN parents’ checkbooks, in their parenting skills,
days, to be honest, they are at a disadvantage SAYS THEY’RE DONUTS, BUT ARE THEY REALLY or in the dubious meatloaf the dean of admis-
as colleges try to make up for past sins and to BAGELS? The question mark is a standard sions had for dinner the night before your ap-
reflect the growing diversity of America itself. journalists’ technique I had recently learned plication was considered. Some factors, such
This is easy for Ted to accept, as he got in for turning a clearly opinionated article into as grades and recommendations, are regard-
under the old rules. More diversity is a good one that meets the standards of objectivity. ed as part of our machinery of meritocracy.
thing for College X and a good thing for the (“Bagels! Donuts!,” says Arianna. “What Other factors, such as affirmative action, are
country, but it’s little balm to Ted’s son or to difference does it make? Give me a sweet regarded by some as a departure from it. Still
Ted. As it happens, the Supreme Court has piece of baklava anytime. Speaking of pieces, other factors—the college orchestra needing
been looking hard at affirmative action in col- that Greek prime minister is quite a plate of an oboe player—are complete wild cards.
lege admissions and has a big case before it moussaka, no?”) But it’s all luck. You deserve no credit
now. But whatever the court decides, College and you deserve no blame. Besides, the prob-
T
X and College Y and other top schools will oday, 500 years later, things are clearly lem of “odds” applies only to an individual
find ways to keep doing what they’re doing. even worse for bright white males from school, not the whole universe of higher edu-
It’s a mathematical certainty that if you the suburbs, whatever their ethnicity. cation. Looked at another way, your odds of
accept more students in one category without Consider how the odds against the son of our attending some good school are about 100
increasing the total number, you must accept friend Ted have changed in recent decades percent. So stop bellyaching over College X.
fewer in another category. Long ago, writing as new groups have made their way in. Take Enjoy College Y. Have a great four years.
242 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2015
TECHNOLOGY
SWIPE OUT
Phones have
become an all-day,
TINDER IS
every-day,
handheld singles
club.
THE NIGHT
Now that hookup culture has collided with dating apps—Tinder, Hinge,
Happn, etc.—a guy with “text game” can score several “Tinderellas”
a week. As romance gets swiped from the screen, some twentysomethings
I
aren’t liking what they see
By NANCY JO SALES
t’s a balmy night in Manhattan’s financial “Tinder sucks,” they say. But they don’t
YOR K CI T Y; F OR DETA I LS , GO TO VF.CO M /CR ED I TS
everyone is Tindering. The tables are filled At a booth in the back, three handsome
with young women and men who’ve been twentysomething guys in button-downs are
chasing money and deals on Wall Street all having beers. They are Dan, Alex, and Mar-
day, and now they’re out looking for hook- ty,* budding investment bankers at the same
ups. Everyone is drinking, peering into their financial firm, which recruited Alex and Mar-
screens and swiping on the faces of strangers ty straight from an Ivy League campus. When
they may have sex with later that evening. Or asked if they’ve been arranging dates on the
not. “Ew, this guy has Dad bod,” a young
woman says of a potential match, swiping *Names and some identifying details have been
left. Her friends smirk, not looking up. changed.
HARD TO CONTAIN
Mobile dating went mainstream about
five years ago; by 2012 it was overtaking on-
line dating. In February, one study reported
‘ I
readily than he can. “Sex Has Become So Easy” through Facebook, and Happn, which en-
“Taylor, Adrienne, Heather,” Marty says, call it the Dating Apocalypse,” says a ables G.P.S. tracking to show whether match-
counting on his fingers. “Oh, and the Rus- woman in New York, aged 29. es have recently “crossed paths,” use it too.
sian—Ukrainian?” As the polar ice caps melt and the It’s telling that swiping has been jocularly
“Ukrainian,” Alex confirms. “She works earth churns through the Sixth Extinction, incorporated into advertisements for various
at—” He says the name of a high-end art another unprecedented phenomenon is tak- products, a nod to the notion that, online,
auction house. Asked what these women ing place, in the realm of sex. Hookup cul- the act of choosing consumer brands and sex
are like, he shrugs. “I could offer a résumé, ture, which has been percolating for about partners has become interchangeable.
but that’s about it … Works at J. Crew; a hundred years, has collided with dating “It’s instant gratification,” says Jason,
senior at Parsons; junior at Pace; works in apps, which have acted like a wayward mete- 26, a Brooklyn photographer, “and a vali-
finance … ” or on the now dinosaur-like rituals of court- dation of your own attractiveness by just,
“We don’t know what the girls are like,” ship. “We are in uncharted territory” when like, swiping your thumb on an app. You
Marty says. it comes to Tinder et al., says Justin Garcia, see some pretty girl and you swipe and it’s,
“And they don’t know us,” says Alex. a research scientist at Indiana University’s like, oh, she thinks you’re attractive too, so
And yet a lack of an intimate knowledge of Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gen- it’s really addicting, and you just find your-
his potential sex partners never presents him der, and Reproduction. “There have been self mindlessly doing it.” “Sex has become
with an obstacle to physical intimacy, Alex two major transitions” in heterosexual mat- so easy,” says John, 26, a marketing execu-
says. Alex, his friends agree, is a Tinder King, ing “in the last four million years,” he says. tive in New York. “I can go on my phone
a young man of such deft “text game”— “The first was around 10,000 to 15,000 years right now and no doubt I can find some-
“That’s the ability to actually convince ago, in the agricultural revolution, when we one I can have sex with this evening, prob-
someone to do something over text,” Marty became less migratory and more settled,” ably before midnight.”
explains—that he is able to entice young wom- leading to the establishment of marriage as And is this “good for women”? Since the
en into his bed on the basis of a few text ex- a cultural contract. “And the second major emergence of flappers and “moderns” in
changes, while letting them know up front he transition is with the rise of the Internet.” the 1920s, the debate about what is lost and
is not interested in having a relationship. People used to meet their partners gained for women in casual sex has been rag-
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TECHNOLOGY
ing, and is raging still—particularly among they can go, ‘She’s girlfriend material, she’s are in relationships, they say. I ask them
women. Some, like Atlantic writer Hanna Ro- hookup material.’ … There is still a pervasive how they’re finding New York dating.
sin, see hookup culture as a boon: “The hook- double standard. We need to puzzle out why “New York guys, from our experience,
up culture is … bound up with everything women have made more strides in the public they’re not really looking for girlfriends,”
that’s fabulous about being a young woman in arena than in the private arena.” says the blonde named Reese. “They’re just
2012—the freedom, the confidence.” But oth- looking for hit-it-and-quit-it on Tinder.”
‘ T
ers lament the way the extreme casualness of “Hit It and Quit It” “People send really creepy shit on it,”
sex in the age of Tinder leaves many women he men in this town have a serious says Jane, the serious one.
feeling de-valued. “It’s rare for a woman of our case of pussy affluenza,” says Amy “They start out with ‘Send me nudes,’ ”
generation to meet a man who treats her like a Watanabe, 28, the fetching, tattooed says Reese. “Or they say something like
priority instead of an option,” wrote Erica Gor- owner of Sake Bar Satsko, a lively izakaya in ‘I’m looking for something quick within the
don on the Gen Y Web site Elite Daily, in 2014. New York’s East Village. “We’ve seen them next 10 or 20 minutes—are you available?’
It is the very abundance of options pro- come in with more than one Tinder date in ‘O.K., you’re a mile away, tell me your loca-
vided by online dating which may be making one night.” tion.’ It’s straight efficiency.”
men less inclined to treat any particular wom- (The data underpinning a widely cited “I think that iPhones and dating apps
an as a “priority,” according to David Buss, study claiming millennials have fewer sex have really changed the way that dating
a professor of psychology at the University partners than previous generations proves to happens for our generation,” says Stepha-
of Texas at Austin who specializes in the evo- be open to interpretation, incidentally. The nie, the one with an arm full of bracelets.
lution of human sexuality. “Apps like Tinder study, published in May in the Archives of “There is no dating. There’s no relation-
and OkCupid give people the impression that Sexual Behavior, became a talking point for ships,” says Amanda, the tall elegant one.
there are thousands or millions of potential its surprising conclusion that millennials are “They’re rare. You can have a fling that could
mates out there,” Buss says. “One dimension having sex with fewer people than Gen X-ers last like seven, eight months and you
of this is the impact it has on men’s psychol- and baby-boomers at the same age. When I could never actually call someone your
ogy. When there is a surplus of women, or a asked Jean Twenge and Ryne Sherman, two ‘boyfriend.’ [Hooking up] is a lot easier.
perceived surplus of women, the whole mat- of the study’s authors, about their methodol- No one gets hurt—well, not on the surface.”
ing system tends to shift towards short-term ogy, they said their analysis was based partly They give a wary laugh.
dating. Marriages become unstable. Divorces on projections derived from a statistical They tell me how, at their school, an ad-
increase. Men don’t have to commit, so they model, not entirely from direct side-by-side junct instructor in philosophy, Kerry Cronin,
pursue a short-term mating strategy. Men are comparisons of numbers of sex partners teaches a freshman class in which an option-
making that shift, and women are forced to go reported by respondents. “All data and all al assignment is going out on an actual date.
along with it in order to mate at all.” studies are open to interpretation—that’s just “And meet them sober and not when you’re
Now hold on there a minute. “Short-term the nature of research,” Twenge said.) both, like, blackout drunk,” says Jane. “Like,
mating strategies” seem to work for plenty On a steamy night at Satsko, everyone is get to know someone before you start some-
of women too; some don’t want to be in Tindering. Or OkCupiding, or Happning, thing with them. And I know that’s scary.”
committed relationships, either, particularly or Hinging. The tables are filled with young They say they think their own anxiety
those in their 20s who are focusing on their women and men drinking sake and beer about intimacy comes from having “grown
education and launching careers. Alex the and intermittently checking their phones and up on social media,” so “we don’t know
Wall Streeter is overly optimistic when he as- swiping. “Agh, look at this,” says Kelly, 26, how to talk to each other face-to-face.”
sumes that every woman he sleeps with would who’s sitting at a table with friends, holding “You form your first impression based off
Facebook rather than forming a connection
with someone, so you’re, like, forming your
connection with their profile,” says Stepha-
ORDERING SEAMLESS,”
it’s not as simple as just having sex. “It’s
such a game, and you have to always be
doing everything right, and if not, you risk
SAYS A TWENTYSOMETHING losing whoever you’re hooking up with,” says
MANHATTAN INVESTMENT BANKER. Fallon, the soft-spoken one. By “doing ev-
erything right” she means “not texting back
“BUT YOU’RE ORDERING A PERSON.” too soon; never double texting; liking the
right amount of his stuff,” on social media.
“And it reaches a point,” says Jane,
“where, if you receive a text message” from a
“turn the tables” and date him seriously if she up a message she received from a guy on guy, “you forward the message to, like, seven
could. And yet, his assumption may be a sign OkCupid. “I want to have you on all fours,” different people: ‘What do I say back? Oh
of the more “sinister” thing he references, the it says, going on to propose a graphic sexual my God, he just texted me!’ It becomes a
big fish swimming underneath the ice: “For scene. “I’ve never met this person,” says Kelly. surprise. ‘He texted me!’ Which is really sad.”
young women the problem in navigating sexu- At a table in the front, six young wom- “It is sad,” Amanda says. “That one A.M.
ality and relationships is still gender inequal- en have met up for an after-work drink. text becomes ‘Oh my God, he texted me!’ No,
ity,” says Elizabeth Armstrong, a professor of They’re seniors from Boston College, all in he texted you at one A.M.—it’s meaningless.”
sociology at the University of Michigan who New York for summer internships, ranging They laugh ruefully.
specializes in sexuality and gender. “Young from work in a medical-research lab to a “If he texts you before midnight he actu-
women complain that young men still have luxury department store. They’re attractive ally likes you as a person. If it’s after mid-
the power to decide when something is going and fashionable, with bright eyes highlight- night, it’s just for your body,” says Amanda.
to be serious and when something is not— ed with dark eyeliner wings. None of them It’s not, she says, that women don’t want to
246 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2015
Spotlight TECHNOLOGY
“Boom-Boom-Boom Swipe”
“ ‘ H
i,’ ” says Amy, the Satsko owner,
reading a message she received on
OkCupid from a random man.
“ ‘I’m looking for a cute girl like you that has
a bit of a kinky side, so I’m curious if you
fantasize about rough sex. Do you think
you would like to get choke-fucked, tied up,
slapped, throat-fucked and cummed on? I
think we could have a wild afternoon togeth-
er but I am happy just to share brunch with
you.’ ” She drops her iPhone on the bar in
mock horror.
On another busy night at the same bar,
at the same table in the front, three good-
looking guys are having beers. They are
John, Nick, and Brian, 26, 25, and 25; John
is the marketing executive mentioned above,
Nick works in the fitness industry, and Bri-
an is an educator. When asked about their
experience with dating apps, their assess-
ment is quite different from the interns from
Boston College. “Works for me,” Nick says.
“I hooked up with three girls, thanks to
abriel-Kane Day-Lewis had hardly set foot in the black-tie casino
the Internet, off of Tinder, in the course of
fashioned by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel’s fall couture show this four nights, and I spent a total of $80 on all
summer when the Internet exploded with articles fawning over the three girls,” Nick relays proudly. He goes
20-year-old’s prominent eyebrows. It was something of a twist, as
ST Y L E D BY SO RAYA DAYA NI ; HA I R PRO DUCTS BY B UM B LE A N D B UMB L E ; G RO O MI NG
Day-Lewis explains: “In middle school, I was always teased for my says began with the young woman asking
disproportional eyebrows. And now they’re actually getting me work.”
PRO DUCTS BY CHA N EL ; GROO MI N G BY A N ET TA KL E ME N S; P RO DUC E D O N
A
multiple sex partners from each other, will “fuckboy” is a young man who sleeps may be further along than men in terms of
assign them fake names in their phones, with women without any intention of evolving away from sexist attitudes about sex.
such as “Crazy Mike.” having a relationship with them or “Young women’s expectations of safety and
“When it’s so easy, when it’s so available perhaps even walking them to the door post- entitlement to respect have perhaps risen
to you,” Brian says intensely, “and you can sex. He’s a womanizer, an especially callous faster than some young men’s willingness to
meet somebody and fuck them in 20 min- one, as well as kind of a loser. The word has respect them,” says Stephanie Coontz, who
utes, it’s very hard to contain yourself.” been around for at least a decade with dif- teaches history and family studies at the Ev-
“I’ve gotten numbers on Tinder just by ferent meanings; it’s only in about the last ergreen State College and has written about
sending emojis,” says John. “Without actu- year that it has become so frequently used the history of dating. “Exploitative and disre-
ally having a conversation—having a conver- by women and girls to refer to their hookups. spectful men have always existed. There are
sation via emojis.” “What percentage of boys now do you many evolved men, but there may be some-
He holds up his phone, with its cracked think are fuckboys?,” I asked some young thing going on in hookup culture now that is
screen, to show a Tinder conversation be- women from New Albany, Indiana. making some more resistant to evolving.”
tween him and a young woman who pro- “One hundred percent,” said Meredith, Such a problem has the disrespectful
vided her number after he offered a series of 20, a sophomore at Bellarmine University behavior of men online become that there
emojis, including the ones for pizza and beer. in Louisville. has been a wave of dating apps launched by
“Now is that the kind of woman I po- “No, like 90 percent,” said Ashley (the women in response to it. There is Bumble,
tentially want to marry?” he asks, smiling. same as mentioned earlier). “I’m hoping to created by Tinder co-founder Whitney
“Probably not.” find the 10 percent somewhere. But every Wolfe, who sued the company after she
I ask if they’re aware of the double stan- boy I’ve ever met is a fuckboy.” was allegedly sexually harassed by C.M.O.
dard that’s often applied to women when Men in the age of dating apps can Justin Mateen. (She reportedly settled for
it comes to sex. “The double standard is be very cavalier, women say. One would just over $1 million, with neither party ad-
real,” Nick says. “If I’m a guy and I’m think that having access to these nifty ma- mitting to wrongdoing.) One of the main
going out and fucking a different girl every chines (their phones) that can summon changes in female-centric dating apps gives
night, my friends are gonna give me high- up an abundance of no-strings-attached women the power to message first; but as
fives and we’re gonna crack a beer and sex would make them feel happy, even some have pointed out, while this might
talk about it. Girls do the same, but they grateful, and so inspired to be polite. But, weed out egregious harassers, it doesn’t fix
get judged. I don’t want it to be like that, based on interviews with more than 50 young a cultural milieu. Such apps “cannot prom-
but sometimes the world is the way it is women in New York, Indiana, and Delaware, ise you a world in which dudes who suck
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TECHNOLOGY
will definitely not bother you,” wrote Kate “Tit pics and booty pics,” said Austin, 22, the one who looks like a Swedish tennis player.
Dries on Jezebel. a college student in Indiana. “My phone is I tell them how I heard from guys that
Bring all of this up to young men, how- full of ’em.” they swipe right on every picture in order to
ever, and they scoff. Women are just as re- And what about unsolicited dick pics? increase their chances of matching.
sponsible for “the shit show that dating has “They want to see your dick,” insists “Nooooo … ” They explode with laughter.
become,” according to one. “Romance is Adam, 23, a male model in New York. “Boys will do anything, do anything, to
completely dead, and it’s the girls’ fault,” “They get excited from it. They’re like, ‘Oh get it in,” says Rebecca, frowning.
says Alex, 25, a New Yorker who works in my God, you’re huge.’ ” The rain comes down harder, and they
the film industry. “They act like all they want No woman I talked to said she had ever move inside to the living room, which has a
is to have sex with you and then they yell at asked for one. And yet, “If you’re a girl who’s couch, a coffee table, and tie-dyed tapestries
you for not wanting to have a relationship. trying to date, it’s normal to get dick pics all everywhere. The talk turns to sex again:
How are you gonna feel romantic about a the time,” said Olivia, 24, a Brandeis gradu- “A lot of guys are lacking in that depart-
girl like that? Oh, and by the way? I met you ate. “It’s like we have dicks flying at us.” ment,” says Courtney with a sigh. “What’s
on Tinder.” a real orgasm like? I wouldn’t know.”
“Women do exactly the same things The Morning After They all laugh knowingly.
O
guys do,” said Matt, 26, who works in a n a rainy morning at the Univer- “I know how to give one to myself,” says
New York art gallery. “I’ve had girls sleep sity of Delaware, the young women Courtney.
with me off OkCupid and then just ghost who live in an off-campus house “Yeah, but men don’t know what to do,”
me”—that is, disappear, in a digital sense, are gathering on their front porch for cof- says Jessica, texting.
not returning texts. “They play the game fee. They’ve been joined by their sister “Without [a vibrator] I can’t have one,”
the exact same way. They have a bunch “squad,” so the porch table is crammed Courtney says. “It’s never happened” with
of people going at the same time—they’re with sorority girls in shorts and sundress- a guy. “It’s a huge problem.”
fielding their options. They’re always look- es, all ponytails and smooth bare legs, all “It is a problem,” Jessica concurs.
ing for somebody better, who has a better meeting up to discuss their Saturday night, They talk about how it’s not uncommon
job or more money.” A few young women which included some hookups. for their hookups to lose their erections.
admitted to me that they use dating apps “This kid went to sleep and woke up It’s a curious medical phenomenon, the in-
as a way to get free meals. “I call it Tinder with the same hairstyle—how the shit did creased erectile dysfunction in young males,
food stamps,” one said. that happen?” says Danielle, 21, the one which has been attributed to everything from
Even the emphasis on looks inherent in with the Betty Boop voice. chemicals in processed foods to the lack of
a dating game based on swiping on photos Rebecca, the blonde with the canny eyes, intimacy in hookup sex.
is something men complain women are just also mentioned above, hooked up with “If a guy can’t get hard,” Rebecca says,
as guilty of buying into. “They say in their someone, too. “It was O.K.” She shrugs. “and I have to say, that happens a lot, they
profiles, ‘No shirtless pictures,’ but that’s “Right after it was done, it was kind of like, just act like it’s the end of the world.”
bullshit,” says Nick, the personal trainer. mmmp … mmmp.” She gives a little grunt “At four in the morning this guy was so
“The day I switched to a shirtless picture of disappointment. upset, and I was like, Dude, I’ll just go to
with my tattoos, immediately, within a few As they talk, most are on their phones. fucking sleep—it’s O.K.,” says Sarah, 21,
minutes, I had, like, 15 matches.” Some are checking Tinder. I ask them why the one with the long curly dark hair. “I get
And if women aren’t interested in being they use Tinder on a college campus where really tired of faking.”
treated as sexual objects, why do they self- presumably there’s an abundance of avail- According to multiple studies, women are
more likely to have orgasms in the context of
relationships than in uncommitted encoun-
ters. More than twice as likely, according to
“THEY START OUT WITH ‘SEND ME a study done by researchers at the Kinsey
Institute and Binghamton University.
NUDES,’ OR THEY SAY SOMETHING LIKE “When I see limp dicks coming at me
SOMETHING QUICK
ward off a vampire.
They laugh.
“It would be great if they could just have
WITHIN THE NEXT 10 OR 20 MINUTES.’ ” the ability to perform and not come in two
seconds,” says Rebecca.
“I think men have a skewed view of the re-
ality of sex through porn,” Jessica says, look-
objectify in their profile pictures? some men able guys. They say, “It’s easier.” “And a ing up from her phone. “Because sometimes
ask. “There’s a lot of girls who are just like, lot of guys won’t talk to you if you’re not I think porn sex is not always great—like
Check me out, I’m hot, I’m wearing a biki- invited to their fraternity parties.” “A lot of pounding someone.” She makes a pounding
ni,” says Jason, the Brooklyn photographer, guys won’t talk to you, period.” “They don’t motion with her hand, looking indignant.
who on his OkCupid profile calls himself a have to.” “Tinder has destroyed their game.” “Yeah, it looks like it hurts,” Danielle says.
“feminist.” “I don’t know if it’s my place to “I’m on it nonstop, like nonstop, like 20 “Like porn sex,” says Jessica, “those
tell a girl she shouldn’t be flaunting her sex- hours a day,” says Courtney, the one who women—that’s not, like, enjoyable, like hav-
uality if that’s what she wants to do. But,” looks like a 70s movie star. ing their hair pulled or being choked or
he adds, “some guys might take the wrong “It’s, like, fun to get the messages,” slammed. I mean, whatever you’re into, but
idea from it.” Danielle says. “If someone ‘likes’ you, they men just think”—bro voice—“ ‘I’m gonna
Men talk about the nudes they receive think you’re attractive.” fuck her,’ and sometimes that’s not great.”
from women. They show off the nudes. “It’s a confidence booster,” says Jessica, 21, “Yeah,” Danielle agrees. “Like last night
250 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2015
Promotion
I was having sex with this guy, and I’m a relationships, is troubled by the trends devel-
very submissive person—like, not aggres- oping around dating apps. “It’s the same pat-
LET’S
sive at all—and this boy that came over last tern manifested in porn use,” he says. “The
night, he was hurting me.” appetite has always been there, but it had re-
They were quiet a moment. stricted availability; with new technologies the
restrictions are being stripped away and we
GO!
“People Are Gorging” see people sort of going crazy with it. I think
S
o where is this all going to go? What the same thing is happening with this unlimit-
happens after you’ve come of age in ed access to sex partners. People are gorging.
the age of Tinder? Will people ever That’s why it’s not intimate. You could call it
be satisfied with a sexual or even emotional a kind of psychosexual obesity.”
commitment to one person? And does that
matter? Can men and women ever find true Catching Feelings
M
intimacy in a world where communication ichael Falotico, 29, is the bassist for
is mediated by screens; or trust, when they Monogold, an indie band that has
know their partner has an array of other, played in all the top Brooklyn ven-
easily accessible options? ues and at festivals from Austin to Cannes.
According to Christopher Ryan, one of He’s tall and slim and looks like a Renais-
the co-authors of Sex at Dawn (2010), hu- sance painting of Jesus, plus a nose ring.
man beings are not sexually monogamous by All of which means that, in a certain corner
nature. The book contends that, for much of of the world, Michael is a rock star. So he
human history, men and women have taken should have no trouble meeting women. Introducing the new, improved
multiple sex partners as a commonly accept- Which he doesn’t. But he still uses dat-
ed (and evolutionarily beneficial) practice. ing apps. “I would consider myself an Goings ON
The thesis, controversial and widely criticized
by anthropologists and evolutionary biolo-
old-school online dater,” Michael says on
a summer day in New York. “I’ve been do- about town app
gists, didn’t keep the book from being an in- ing it since I was 21. First it was Craigslist: The best cultural happenings in
New York City, chosen by New Yorker
ternational best-seller; it seemed to be some- ‘Casual Encounters.’ Back then it wasn’t
editors—plus easier browsing and
thing people were ready to hear. as easy; there were no pictures; you had improved functionality.
“I think the spectrum of human sexual- to impress somebody with just what you
ity appears to be getting more colorful and wrote. So I met this
broader, and very rapidly,” Ryan says. “You girl on there who ac- @vf.com
To see what
have an acceptance of gay relationships, tually lived around happens when
of transgender people; young kids are re- the corner from me, G R A N D PA R E N T S
try Tinder, go to
defining themselves as queer and other and that led to eight VF.COM/SEPT2015.
gender identities. months of the best sex
“I think a lot of people are still inter- I ever had. We’d text each other if we were
ested in having long-term, stable, deep available, hook up, sometimes sleep over,
connections to one or a few other people,” go our separate ways.” Then she found a
he says. “We as a species value intimacy boyfriend. “I was like, Respect, I’m out. We
and authenticity very highly. On the other still see each other in the street sometimes,
hand, we are very attracted to novelty… give each other the wink.
So people are going to go ahead and have “Now it’s completely different,” he says,
sex with the people they’re attracted to, as “because everyone is doing it and it’s not
they’ve always done, and it’s a good thing like this hot little secret anymore. It’s profiles
for everyone if that becomes accepted and that are, like, airbrushed with lighting and
not censured by church or state.” angles and girls who will send you pictures
Listening to him talk, I could only think, of their pussies without even knowing your
If only it were that easy. In a perfect world, last name. I’m not saying I’m any better—
we’d all have sex with whomever we want, I’m doing it. It’s texting someone, or mul-
and nobody would mind, or be judged, or tiple girls, maybe getting very sexual with
get dumped; but what about jealousy, and them, 99 percent of the time before you’ve
sexism, not to mention the still-flickering even met them, which, more and more I re- ALL NEW. STILL FREE.
chance that somebody might fall in love? alize, is fucking weird.” He grimaces. Search cultural events by location,
“Some people still catch feelings in hook- “And it’s just like, waking up in beds, share them with friends, save them to your
up culture,” said Meredith, the Bellarmine I don’t even remember getting there, and calendar, and buy tickets. Critics reveal
sophomore. “It’s not like just blind fucking having to get drunk to have a conversation the best in theatre, art, night life, classical
music, movies, restaurants, and bars.
for pleasure and it’s done; some people ac- with this person because we both know why In EXCURSIoNS, Sarah Larson hosts a new
tually like the other person. Sometimes you we’re there but we have to go through these audio tour on East Village bars, and
actually catch feelings and that’s what sucks, motions to get out of it. That’s a personal Ariel Levy and Rebecca Mead share secrets
because it’s one person thinking one thing and struggle, I guess, but online dating makes it of their favorite neighborhoods.
the other person thinking something com- happen that much more. Whereas I would
pletely different and someone gets their feel- just be sitting at home and playing guitar, Supported by
ings hurt. It could be the boy or the girl.” now it’s ba-ding”—he makes the chirpy alert
And even Ryan, who believes that human sound of a Tinder match—“and … ” He
beings naturally gravitate toward polyamorous pauses, as if disgusted. “ … I’m fucking.”
newyorker.com/go/goingsonapp
SEP T E M B E R 2 015
F OR D ETAI LS , G O TO VF.COM/ CR ED ITS
Taylor Call
At a stratospheric, often isolating level of fame,
Emma Stone, Lena Dunham, and
Taylor
Selena
the strength they’ve given her, the terrifying four A.M. decision to
s the Tune
Swift has drawn together a high-style sorority—the likes of Karlie Kloss,
Gomez. With Swift in London, JOSH DUBOFF hears about
send her now famous letter to Apple, and her new attitude toward men
S
tion between any members of NET WORTH
Taylor Swift with model
wift drops names with regularity, and almost all of them her diverse clique, Swift shakes her Aurélien Muller, outside
belong to members of her supergroup of B.F.F.’s, many head vigorously. “That doesn’t the Beaufort Bar. “They
of whom are extremely famous themselves. “My friends happen. We even have girls in our usually dress me up
and I text every day,” she tells me, looking almost regal in group who have dated the same like a 12-year-old French
boy,” she says. “It’s nice to
a Saint Laurent smoking suit, sitting at a medieval table people. It’s almost like the sister- be glamorous.”
in a stately room at the hotel. “That’s 20 to 25 girls … hood has such a higher place on the
Some of them are group texts, most of them are single texts. We know list of priorities for us. It’s so much SWIFT WEARS A DRESS BY
CÉLINE; EARRINGS BY HARRY
when everybody’s in New York, who’s in town, who’s in L.A. Being more important than some guy WINSTON; RING BY DE BEERS.
MULLER’S SHIRT BY
a huge group of girls who love each other, we know where everyone that it didn’t work out with. When TOM FORD; CUFF LINKS
is,” she says, before reflecting, giddily, “I’ve never had this before.” you’ve got this group of girls who FROM BELADORA.
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FOR D E TA IL S, G O TO VF. COM/ C R E DI TS
I
STOCKINGS BY AGENT
after our conversation, she posts a picture on her Instagram showcas- Apple Watch PROVOCATEUR, NECKLACE
ing a riverboat double date on the Thames, chaperoned by Kloss. In f Swift wasn’t already the BY HARRY WINSTON;
CLUTCH BY LEE SAVAGE.
the shot: Swift; Swift’s boyfriend, Scottish D.J. Calvin Harris; Hadid; closest thing we have to a
and Joe Jonas, Hadid’s current boyfriend, who dated Swift in 2008 pop-cultural empress, the
(and famously dumped her during a 27-second phone call). fallout from the open letter she posted on her blog this
June, addressed to Apple, made the great power she wields
S
Hit Parade unquestionably clear. The company had announced that
wift has had the kind of 12 months that other pop stars it was going to be launching a new juggernaut streaming service,
would poison people for. In August of 2014, she released Apple Music, which would allow users to enjoy a three-month free
the single “Shake It Off,” which debuted at No. 1 on the trial before they would be asked to sign up for a $9.99 monthly sub-
Billboard Hot 100 and earned three Grammy nomina- scription. Artists, however, would not be compensated for those three
tions. Her fifth album, 1989, arrived two months later, in free months, which did not sit right with Swift. She wrote, “I say to
October, and sold 1.287 million copies in its first week. It Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and
went on to become the top-selling album in the U.S. in 2014 and is change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply
now the most successful of her career. Swift says this album, her first and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please
to feature exclusively pop songs (as opposed to the full-on country don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”
and country-tinged pop that made up her first few albums), is the one She posted the letter in the early morning. By the end of the day, Ap-
she “likes the most.” It “feels the most sonically cohesive [of all my ple had decided to reverse its policy, and Swift was widely heralded as
albums],” she says. “I couldn’t be more proud of it.” a savior of the music industry. Swift—who had previously withheld
At the age of 25, Swift is as wildly popular among tweens as she is 1989 from streaming services such as Spotify (which she does not feel
among millennials (and baby-boomers, though they may be more fairly compensates artists for their work)—announced a few days
reluctant to admit it). She has seven Grammys and 16 American Mu- later that she would be letting 1989 stream on Apple Music. Swift told
sic Awards; she has been named Billboard’s Woman of the Year me that, even after Apple’s policy reversal, she was waiting for the in-
twice, in 2011 and 2014; she is a six-time recipient of the Nashville die labels Merlin and Beggers Group to commit to Apple Music be-
Songwriters Association’s prize for songwriter/artist of the year; and fore following suit. (As an independent artist herself—Swift owns her
according to Forbes she made $80 million over the past year, with an own masters and has control of her distribution—she said she wanted
estimated net worth of $200 million. She also finds time to connect to show solidarity with the greater indie community.)
with her fans individually, selecting and wrapping holiday presents “I wrote the letter at around four A.M.,” she tells me. “The contracts
for several of them (documented in a six-minute video that has been had just gone out to my friends, and one of them sent me a screenshot
watched by more than 17 million people), and responding on her of one of them. I read the term ‘zero percent compensation to rights
blog to the likes of a teenage boy looking for advice on what to wear holders.’ Sometimes I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and I’ll
to prom and a girl who said Swift’s music helped her make it write a song and I can’t sleep until I finish it, and it was like that with
through two heart surgeries. the letter.” I ask if she showed it to anyone before posting it. “I read it
“I think that her importance is sort of endless,” says Jack Antonoff, to my mom,” she says. “She’s always going to be the one. I just said,
who co-wrote three songs on 1989 with Swift and dates Swift Squad ‘I’m really scared of this letter, but I had to write it. I might not post it,
member Dunham. “She’s the biggest star, but she’s also making in- but I had to say it.’ ”
credible art. It’s a perfect storm.” Gomez notes that Swift is continu- Swift says she did not expect Apple to change its thinking; in fact, she
ally ascending to greater heights: “She’s always outdoing herself, [but was terrified “people would say, ‘Why won’t she shut up about this?,’”
she remains] who she is at the heart of everything.” after the Wall Street Journal op-ed she wrote in July of last year about her
Swift—who appears on the International Best-Dressed List (see concerns regarding free streaming services, such as Spotify. “My fears
page 172) this year for the first time—is now also seen as something were that I would be looked at as someone who just whines and rants
of a fashion plate, in part due to her association with this coterie of about this thing that no one else is really ranting about,” she tells me.
supermodels. (Swift has performed at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion After Swift pulled all of her music from Spotify in November of 2014,
Show the past two years.) Her everyday uniform, give or take a beret the platform published a blog post about her decision, which read in
or kitten heel, typically comprises a crop top, a red lip, and a purse part: “We hope [Swift] will change her mind and join us in building
F OR DE TA I LS , GO TO V F.CO M/C RE DI TS
carried out in front of her, hanging from a forearm. Swift herself a new music economy that works for everyone.” The entry ended with a
demurs at the label, though. “I think I know how to put together a postscript referencing her songs (“Taylor, we were both young when we
good outfit,” she says. “But any day you’re going to admit to being first saw you … ”). Swift says she was elated to find Apple receptive to
a style icon is a day you need to look in the mirror and really check her plea, in contrast to how Spotify had responded to her. “Apple treat-
yourself.” She says she doesn’t talk about fashion with her friends: ed me like I was a voice of a creative community that they actually
“We never talk about stuff like that. We’ll be like, ‘Those shoes are cared about,” she says. “And I found it really ironic that the multi-
cute.’ That’s the full conversation. We all dress very differently.” billion-dollar company reacted to criticism with humility, and the start-
2
GIRLS JUST
WANNA HAVE FUN
(1) Taylor Swift and Selena
Gomez onstage at Madison
Square Garden, 2011.
(2) Karlie Kloss and Swift
at the 2014 Victoria’s
Secret Fashion Show, in
London. (3) Ellie Goulding,
Kloss, Swift, and Cara
Delevingne at a Naked
Heart Foundation benefit
in London, February 2015.
(4) Swift (second from left)
flanked by the Haim
sisters, Este, Danielle,
1 and Alana, on a boat off
Maui, January 2015.
SWIFT BEAU
(5) Swift and Calvin Harris arrive at
the Spotted Pig, in Greenwich
Village, New York City, May 2015.
CORBIS (7), BY MICHAEL STEWART/FILMMAGIC (2), CHARLES SYKES/A.P. IMAGES (1), JASON WEBBER/SPL ASH NEWS (9)
( 3) , F ROM HE A DL I NE PH OTO /S PL A S H N E WS ( 10 ), BY N IG NY /S P L A S H NE W S (6 ) , © E LD ER O R DO NE Z/I NFPHOTO .CO M/
with her cat, Olivia Benson, September 2014.
(8) Swift and Gigi Hadid on a hike in Los Angeles,
May 2015. (9) Swift and Delevingne shopping
PHOTOGRAPHS BY FERN/SPL ASH NEWS (8, 11), RAYMOND HALL/GC IMAGES (5), NICK HARVEY/REX USA
in New York City’s Meatpacking District,
April 2014. (10) Swift and Kloss exit Sarabeth’s
after lunch in New York City, July 2014.
(11) Swift and Lorde shop at Free People, in
Brentwood, Los Angeles, February 2014.
5
7 10
8 9 11
T
Friend in Deed ing the fact that you’re a people pleaser; it’s about finding someone
oday, Swift says, she feels “very understood” by the [to date] who is not critical. That can be the most painful thing, trying
public, but she was not always so pleased with to love someone who is critical in their nature.”
the way she was perceived. Around 2013, after pub- Has that happened to her?, I ask, even though the answer is al-
lic breakups with Harry Styles, Conor Kennedy (the ready obvious.
son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), and Jake Gyllenhaal, “Uh, yes,” she says. “But usually I don’t make the same mistake
the narrative surrounding Swift was that she was an twice. I make new ones, but I don’t usually repeat my old ones.”
overly obsessive serial dater, that she only dated guys so she could
T
later write songs about them. Swift decided, eventually, to just stop Family Gal
paying attention to the media. “For the better part of 2012 and 2013, oward the end of lunch, Swift’s parents, Andrea and
I did not go online, because I didn’t like what they were saying about Scott, arrive. Swift seemed to relax completely in
me,” she says. “And it was so overwhelmingly inaccurate that I knew their presence, in the way a college student immedi-
there was nothing I could do to fight. When the media decides that ately collapses on her childhood bed full of stuffed
they don’t like you, there’s nothing you can do that doesn’t seem des- animals when returning home for Christmas.
perate and irritating to everyone when you try to defend yourself. So I Swift was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1989,
just had to go into my little emotional bunker and pretend there and she grew up nearby, on a Christmas-tree farm, which seems too
weren’t bombs going off outside.” impossibly on-brand to be true, but it is. At age 11, Swift—after watch-
So, how did she crawl out of the bomb shelter? “I think that I just ing a Behind the Music special about Faith Hill—decided she needed to
decided if [the media] was going to say that about me, that I was be in Nashville if she wanted to give a career in music a real shot, and
boy-crazy and so dependent on men and all that, I wasn’t going to she asked her mother to take her there so she could submit demos.
give them a reason to say that anymore, and I wasn’t going to be seen Eventually, when Taylor was 14, the entire family—including Taylor’s
around any men for years—so that’s what I did,” she says. “And what younger brother, Austin—relocated to the Nashville area. (Austin,
ended up happening was I became happier than I had ever been be- 23, graduated from the University of Notre Dame this past spring.)
fore. I swore I would never ever get in another relationship if it meant “Mama Swift”—as Swift’s friends refer C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 3 1 7
SEP T E M B E R 2 015 www.vanityfair.com VAN IT Y FAIR 261
V. F. P O RT RA I T
Linda Greer
As a senior scientist with the
Natural Resources Defense Council, Linda Greer
launched its revolutionary Clean by Design program,
in 2009. A longtime advocate for ecologically
responsible fashion, STELLA MCCARTNEY, who eagerly
applied the program’s 10-step best-practice initiative
at her own company, explains how Greer’s work
provides designers and consumers with a simple, effective
way to protect the planet—and increase profits.
Photograph by ANNIE LEIBOVITZ
I
to be part of it. In 2012 my company began
working to get our fabric mills to adhere to its
guidelines, and we have since been able to
influence 10 of our mills to do so.
What makes Linda’s work for Clean by
Design so revolutionary is that it is simple
and yet highly effective. The program works
with retailers and brands such as ours to
encourage suppliers to improve efficiency,
GR E ER ’S S HI RT BY M A X MA RA ; PA NTS BY ST E LL A M C C A RTN EY; MA KE U P PRO DUCTS BY CHA N EL; M AK E UP
BY E L A I NE M A DE LO N; S ET D ES IG N BY MA RY HOWA R D ST UDI O ; F OR DE TA I L S, GO TO VF. CO M/ C RE DI TS
DARKNESS
264 VAN IT Y FAIR www.vanityfair.com S E PT EMBER 2 015
When Dr. Fredric Brandt—the dermatologist who pioneered
Botox use and treated everyone from Madonna to
Calvin Klein to Gwyneth Paltrow—committed suicide in April, many
of his friends blamed the caricature of him that appeared
on the sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The truth was
more complicated. LILI ANOLIK peels back Brandt’s extreme
façade and finds what lies beneath: the fragility,
the loneliness, the yen for the spotlight, and the gifts that
made his life so valuable
INVISIBLE
SEPT EM BE R 2 015 www.vanityfair.com VA NIT Y FAI R 265
S
‘
ted suicide, hanged himself in the garage of his the walls of his various places of labor and
Miami home during the early morning hours leisure. Engaging in acrobatics, possibly sexu-
of Sunday, April 5, Easter Sunday, as it so hap- al, though equally possibly not, at the bottom
pened. He was 65 years old, though it feels of the staircase in his Coconut Grove estate
strange to assign him an age, since not look- were two figures by Keith Haring. Glittering
ing his was so much what he was about. In above the bed in his West Chelsea condo like
any case, now that he’s dead little niceties like a punctured disco ball was a 24-karat-gold
conflict of interest no longer apply or matter. circular plate by Anish Kapoor. And loiter-
ing in the waiting area of his East 34th Street
Celebrity Skin office was an Ed Ruscha, surveying the scene
Rob started working with Fred five years and observing with perfect deadpan Ameri-
ago. He’d finished his residency in dermatol- can cool, Hydraulic Muscles, Pneumatic
ogy at N.Y.U., then did a fellowship in laser Smiles. He wore art, too. (I don’t think you
and skin surgery with Dr. Roy Geronemus. could properly call an Alexander McQueen
Roy is the director of the Laser & Skin Sur- black vinyl vest or Givenchy culottes, cream-
gery Center of New York, which Fred was colored with a plaid waistband and covered
part of but separate from, his own thing—like in barking dogs, and paired with leggings,
Monaco is to France or Angelina Jolie is to also cream-colored, clothing.) He kept a pub-
the Voight clan. Fred’s practice was crazily, licist on retainer.
F
freakily, out-of-this-worldily fancy. Glitz ga-
lore. Stars—movie, rock, and pop—television or years, Fred split his time be-
personalities and fashion models and profes- tween his Miami offices, which
o, when are you sional athletes, round-the-clock talk-show he opened in 1982, and his
going to write about me?” This is what Fred hosts—morning, afternoon, and late-night— Manhattan offices, which he
Brandt would say to me instead of hello for princesses from small, oil-rich countries, ty- opened in 1998. But by 2010,
the last year and a half, a year and a half ago coons who jetted around in, well, jets, whis- his Manhattan offices were
being the precise moment Vanity Fair began pered in presidents’ ears, owned vineyards busy to the point of insanity. If he wanted
to take an interest, give me the time of day, in Napa Valley, castles painted by Monet, to keep up with the demand, he’d have to
flirt back, i.e., publish my pieces. Since Fred Monets. Tycoons’ dependents too, naturally. get cloned. Either make a genetically iden-
and I saw each other semi-regularly, you’d It seemed like you were only eligible to fill tical copy of himself, or train somebody in
think the question would’ve stopped throw- out a patient form if Jacqueline Susann, his methods and techniques. He went with
ing me for a loop, only it never did. It was a God rest her soul, could’ve swapped out a bachelor number two, which ended up being
teasing one, obviously, and the thing to do few vowels in your name, stuck you in one Rob, though Rob no longer was one. (We’d
was respond in kind, get off a snappy line, of her written-in-lipstick-and-eyebrow-pencil gotten married the month before.)
then move on. Just as I was about to, though, roman à clef lives-of-the-rich-and-fucked Obviously I can’t even feign objectivity
I’d notice how steady his gaze was, how seri- jobs. And speaking of names, I could drop here. I think Rob’s great—the best. He’s
ous and watchful, and confusion would make dozens on you here, but I’m just going to smart and thoughtful, and understands ev-
me quiet. Should I believe his tone or his drop one, since it’s big enough to knock you erything and fast, and is an easy laugher and
look? I always—always—picked look. He was, out, and since it’s so famous it’s become vir- good company. And in addition to these gen-
after all, Dr. Fredric Brandt, the King of Col- tually synonymous with the word: Madonna. erally stellar qualities, he’s in possession of
lagen, the Baron of Botox, the Svengali of What’s more, Fred didn’t just tend to a highly specific one: he’s a natural-born
Skin Care, and other alliterative epithets signi- stars, help them maintain their twinkle and straight man. In fact, he’s a straight man twice
fying style and flash and glamour and hulla- glow. He was one. He hosted his own radio over. Is a foil to a wilder and more outlandish
baloo and general hot-stuffness, and not at all show, the Who’s Who likes of Linda Wells, partner in a comedy act, and is a heterosexual
un-up this magazine’s alley. And I became editor in chief of Allure (patient), and Sally male (in case you didn’t want to make any as-
convinced that this time he meant it, was real- Hershberger and Sharon Dorram, celebrity sumptions about Fred’s orientation based on
ly asking. I’d open my mouth, start to offer an hairstylist and celebrity colorist, respectively the barking-dog culottes, I’m telling you now:
explanation, stumbling and sincere, and, as (both patients), and Gwyneth Paltrow, ac- make those assumptions). The latter contrib-
soon as I did, he’d burst into laughter. Fred’s tress and sex symbol (patient), swinging by uted to the former as Rob’s doop-dee-doop-
laugh was unlike anyone else’s. It was heaving the SiriusXM studios in Midtown to slip on a dee-do regular-guyness was a source of endless
and at top volume and had an actual ha-ha in set of oversize headphones, talk turkey, or at amusement to Fred, who would pretend—or
it and a lot of neck and shoulder and was least turkey neck; guested on Live with Regis maybe not pretend, maybe actually experi-
completely spastic and maniacal. Completely and Kelly (Kelly Ripa, patient) and The View ence—horror at Rob’s clothes (not that bad,
irresistible too. (Joy Behar, too); was the subject of features in just unimaginative) and Rob’s haircut, which
He’d gotten me again. New York and The New York Times, spreads Fred would refer to alternately as “accountant
Fred and I were close, but in a funny way in L’Uomo Vogue and Elle (Robbie Myers, hair” and “middle-management hair” (that
because we barely knew each other. The rela- editor in chief, patient); attended high-profile bad). This isn’t to say Fred couldn’t be his
tionship was almost entirely by proxy. I’m mar- events with Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, own straight man. He had a passion for real
ried to a doctor, Robert Anolik—Rob—and Marc Jacobs, and Naomi Campbell (patient, estate, and one Saturday, he and Rob, after
Fred was Rob’s boss. The official term, I be- patient, patient, and patient); and supplied doing the radio show—that week’s topic, sun
lieve, was “associate,” but really, boss. Which A’s to the Q’s of Stephanie Seymour (patient) exposure and overuse of Botox, the title
was why my writing about Fred was so totally and Jane Holzer (patient) in Interview. He “Global Warming, Frozen Faces”; Fred
out of the question. That it isn’t anymore is the also collected art—works by Damien Hirst, couldn’t resist a pun—and then stopping by
saddest thing in the world. See, Fred commit- Marilyn Minter, and Richard Prince adorned Barneys to check out what was outré and à
266 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2 015
la mode and ooh-la-la and in his size, went to
see a penthouse that had recently become
available on Central Park South. As they
stepped into the elevator to return to the lob-
by, Fred tapped the one-sheet musingly
against his front tooth and said, “I like it, but
can a bottom ever really be on top?”
Chemistry between two people is a myste-
rious thing. Who knows why Fred and Rob
had it? All I know is that they did, and that
Rob loved working for Fred. Fred was only
superficially superficial. Beneath the couture,
haute, and the monde, hauter, he was a seri-
ous guy. Formidable. The Real Deal. A revo-
lutionary in the field of cosmetic
dermatology, he was among the
first to see how rich the potential SKIN-DEEP
of botulinum toxins (Botox) truly Above, Brandt at
was. He understood that a cho- SiriusXM’s
New York studio
rus girl should be the headliner, in 2011; below,
that a side effect of Botox, the Martin Short as
smoothing away of wrinkles, was Dr. Grant.
more dynamic, more charismat-
ic, more vital, than the benefit
receiving star billing, the calming of spasming
muscles. And I mean really among the first.
(He was experimenting with it back in the
early 90s.) He also understood that blowing
out the odd laugh line was small potatoes as
far as Botox’s capabilities were concerned;
that it, along with fillers, could, in fact, prop
up a collapsing facial structure, if applied with
a skilled enough hand, an artistic enough eye.
Thanks largely to him, Botox, which he used
more than any other doctor on the planet, ac-
cording to its maker, Allergan, in 2002—a little
factoid that’s either true true or apocryphal
true, i.e., spiritually true, i.e., should be true if
it’s not true—and fillers (Restylane, Juvéderm,
etc.) became alternatives to invasive surgery.
A face-lift without a single slice or dice, which
sounds like a no-brainer except it wasn’t, not
initially. As Fred’s publicist, Jacquie Tracten-
berg, said, “Telling a patient she should let
you shoot her face full of poison is not exactly
an easy sell.” But Fred sold it. Faces done by tweed jackets with elbow patches, clodhop- of millions, not to mention of millionaires,
Fred, dubbed the “New New Face” by New per shoes, which he emphatically was not. even of billionaires. Seeing him wasn’t about
York, looked fleshed out rather than pulled You’d also expect him to be a little detached eliminating crow’s-feet and marionette lines.
tight. He was, too, a dedicated researcher, (eggheads, in my experience, tend to be cold Or, rather, it was only about those things on
conducting dozens of F.D.A.-approved clini- fish), but that wasn’t at all the case with Fred. top. Underneath, it was about staving off the
cal trials a year at his institute in Miami. And He was warm and generous and affectionate. corruption of the body, the rot and decay
he developed a skin-care line, an attempt to His practice was almost exclusively cosmetic. that inevitably set in. And, going one step
bring his ingenious innovations, only to be Rarely was something ever actually wrong further, it was about staving off death, time,
PHOTOGR A PHS : TOP, BY J A S ON F R A NK ROTH EN B E RG /
A RT & COM ME RCE ; B OT TOM , © N E TF L IX /P HOTO F E ST
had by impossible-to-secure appointment with one of his patients. In fact, your life had the human condition itself.
F
(he was booked months in advance) and for to be going pretty A-O.K. swell if you were
beaucoup bucks (a routine visit could cost able to score an appointment with him in red instinctively understood
you around $7,000), to the masses. He told the first place. Yet these appointments were how potentially fraught the ex-
Allure, just weeks before his death, that his often intensely emotional affairs. Beauty perience of seeing him was,
Lines No More serum was the best-selling fades. That’s just the way it is. Still, it’s a truth and did all he could to make
dermatological beauty product in the world. that’s tough enough for people with nothing- it less so. He gave the tools of
You’d expect a guy that cerebral to be special looks to accept. Imagine how tough his trade, which sounded
wearing glasses with lenses as thick as those it is for people with faces that are featured in weird and sinister and science-fictiony, these
on the telescopes on the observation deck fragrance and soft-drink campaigns, block- cute-as-a-bug nicknames. It wasn’t botu-
of the Empire State Building and fraying buster motion pictures, the sexual fantasies linum toxin and injectable facial filler, com-
SEP T E M B E R 2 015 www.vanityfair.com VAN IT Y FAIR 267
posed of hyaluronic acids and biosynthetic you so firm”). He’d do everything he could, his patients look natural. I mean, right? As
polymers and collagens harvested from pigs basically, to relax his patients. Remind them hairstylist Garren Defazio, a close friend of
and cows and—eek—cadavers. No, it was that this wasn’t brain surgery, that this wasn’t Fred’s, said, “Fred always wanted you to look
Bo and Phil, or, I guess, Fill, a couple of even cosmetic surgery. It was a little numbing like you—just fresher. Some people expected
brothers who ran a discount furniture store cream and a couple skin pops. He thus re- more from Fred, more of a change. If you
in Queens—“Every day is a sale at Bo and stored not just facial harmony but emotional saw a patient of his and she looked overdone,
Fill’s!”—or a vaudeville act that used to play harmony as well. Put it all in perspective. it was because she’d insisted. Fred would
Kutsher’s in the 50s—Bo juggled, Fill told So how come he lost his, killed himself? fight her. ‘Your face isn’t structured for that,’
jokes. Nothing scary about Bo and Fill. Or he’d say. His work was subtle. So the person
Fill’s buds, Restie (Restylane) and Juvie Platinum Desire looked better but like you couldn’t quite put
(Juvéderm), equally good-natured and goof- Before we get to that, though, this: Fred was your finger on what was done.” The clothes
ball. Nor was your encounter with Bo and famous for interrupting patients in the mid- I’ve already told you about—straight off the
Fill going to be furtive and awash in feelings dle of a consult and saying, “But enough runway, the kind you thought that no one ever
of shame, a sleazy quickie at some no-tell about how you look. How do I look?,” fol- actually wore except he did. (Jacquie Tracten-
motel with stained mattresses and a guest- lowed by a wild shriek of laughter. So let’s berg remembered Fred showing up at Central
book full of Smiths and Joneses. With Bo respect the wishes of the dead, talk about Synagogue for Yom Kippur services with her
and Fill everything was friendly and casual, how Fred looked. He may have believed that family in a designer kilt and studded sneak-
out in the open and aboveboard. he looked natural, or at least that he was try- ers.) He got costumed rather than dressed.
What’s more, for Fred, it was never “a ing to look natural. (“I think I look natural, Basically, it was as if he were both a person
unit of Botox” or “a syringe of filler.” It was don’t you?” was a constant refrain of his, ac- and an object, his own creation—a cross be-
“a bissel of Bo” or “a bissel of Fill,” bissel cording to friends and co-workers.) I don’t tween a science experiment and a work of
being Yiddish for “small amount.” That believe he was trying, though. We’ll start with art, just as he himself was a cross between a
Fred knew Yiddish is no surprise, since he his hair, which was blond, or, rather, plati- mad-genius scientist and a mad-genius artist.
was Jewish. He was born on June 26, 1949, num blond, which isn’t blond at all. It’s hyper- Sui generis autogenesis.
I
and grew up above his parents’ candy shop blond, ultra-blond, blonder than blond. Plati-
in Philip Roth Land, the Weequahic section num occurs in nature, has its own seat at the ’m going on at such length about
of Newark. It was a background you could periodic table, but platinum blond is almost Fred’s appearance because it was
hear in his voice, and I always liked that he always manufactured. That it’s artificial, man- both extreme and singular, and there-
retained the accent, none of that Jay Gatsby made, not divinely inspired, and less inhu- fore very easy to parody. Which is
“old sport” business. So many people aspir- man than anti-human, machine-like, is both what Martin Short did on the Net-
ing to the status of cosmopolitan sophisticate the source of its appeal and its entire point. flix sitcom co-created by Tina Fey,
talk like they’re from a European country Fake yet openly fake. (None of those pull-a- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. That the doc-
that doesn’t exist but is class all the way, lots fast-one highlights that are intended to re- tor with the peroxided bob and face of a dis-
of rope pearls and extended pinkies and tin- semble sun streaks.) Fake yet reveling in its sipated cherub, the skin as slick and shiny as a
kly piano music, no chin stubble or action fakeness. Honestly fake. It’s sex—blondes glazed doughnut, whom Jacqueline Voorhees
movies or toilets, etc. have more fun, right?—only it’s about alien- (Jane Krakowski) visits for a foot face-lift, is
And there was more than a little Jewish ation rather than connection, and is thus por- intended to be Fred is beyond question. He’s
mother in Fred. He had that genuine and nographic. It’s the shade of choice of Andy even called Dr. Brandt. Oh no, excuse me,
unaffected warmth to him, that nurturing Warhol, the prophet and visionary of the 20th he’s called Dr. Grant, though he pronounces
quality. He really did care. He was a loyal century who is turning out to be the prophet it Franff, the idea being that he’s so hooked
and true friend. In the course of researching and visionary of the 21st century as well, and on his own product that he’s paralyzed his
this piece, I was given countless examples of of Marilyn Monroe, the movie star who is THE facial muscles, lost the ability to enunciate cer-
his un-showy kindness. (One example: Joan movie star, more of a movie star than any tain words, including his name, ha ha. Fred
Kron, contributing editor–at–large of Allure, other movie star before or since, the ne plus had heard rumors that there was a show with
told me about the time she called Fred to ultra of movie stars. You could even argue a character who resembled him, but didn’t
ask what she should do when her mother, that platinum is the shade of modernity it- realize how unflattering the likeness was un-
then 103, came down with shingles. Fred self. Or of the apocalypse—the flash of white til “Page Six” ran a story on March 23, two
ended his day early and hightailed it over heat at the heart of an atomic blast. weeks before he killed himself. That night
bearing advice and a prescription.) And he That was the story at the top of Fred’s Fred sent Rob a text: “Did u see page 6 I’m
was known for taking on other doctors’ bon- head, and it remained the story down to the so upset I’m a freak.”
ers and problem cases, people who’d suf- tips of Fred’s toes. He constructed his physi- It probably seems like I’m Mount Rush-
fered complications from fillers, seeing them cal self, deliberately and with care, as much as more when it comes to Fred, incapable of
once or twice a week, for a period of up to he was able. A perfect diet and an hour and cracking a smile. Not true. I laughed when
several months, and without charge. And a half a day of yoga with a private instructor Michael K from Dlisted.com anointed him
my earlier crack about his patients fitting the gave him a body that was as lean and supple Hot Slut of the Day a couple years ago, de-
profile of characters in a Jackie Susann novel as a teenager’s. And he shunned the sun more scribing him as a mélange of “the charisma
was just that, a crack, not an accurate state- vigilantly than any bloodsucker, his skin al- of Lucius Malfoy, the grace of Glenn Close
ment. Stars got the star treatment from Fred, most phosphorescent in its paleness. Plus, he as Albert Nobbs, a drop of blood from a
sure. So did non-stars, though, of which he practiced what he preached, and on himself, vampire swan and the judgmental gaze of a
saw plenty. He’d quote lines from Bette Davis over-practiced some might say, injecting Bo- snobby ostrich.” Plus which, I love Martin
movies, impersonate Joan Crawford, break tox and filler into his face until it was unnatu- Short. I think that Ed Grimley and Jiminy
into “Younger than Springtime”—Rodgers rally smooth, without line or crease or pucker Glick are lunatic, near sublime comic cre-
and Hammerstein—or raps—his own compo- or pore. But the unnatural must have been ations, and that he was the wildest and most
sition (to Kelly Ripa: “Oh, Juvéderm / Girl, on purpose, since he was so good at making low-down character in Inherent Vice. I’ll add,
268 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2 015
“DID U SEE PAGE 6 I’M
SO UPSET I’M A FREAK,”
HE TEXTED ABOUT
SHORT’S PORTRAYAL.
too, that humor is notoriously subjective, in being secular ones, religiously unreligious. product of it did. That he persisted in seeking
very much a tomato/to-mah-to thing. So it Yet, much of the instinctive wariness and dis- it proves there was a self-destructive streak in
doesn’t matter that I didn’t find Dr. Grant approval of cosmetic enhancement comes, I his nature. And, besides, even if he had been
funny. You might have. My point, though, is suspect, from the belief, Puritan in origin, that a completely private person, he would still be
this: if you did, you would have found him it’s wrong to interfere with God’s design. fair game because we all are. You can’t pos-
T
just as funny had he been given a less Brandt- sibly try to impose restrictions on comedy. It
like name or a less Brandt-like hairdo. Fred hese feelings, in addition to won’t work. Comedy defies rules and regula-
was famous for a dermatologist, i.e., not actu- being complicated and dark, tion, is anarchic. Nobody and nothing is out
ally famous. He wasn’t Dr. Oz, never mind are also unconscious—half of bounds. The only thing you can hope for—
Dr. Phil, meaning most viewers wouldn’t conscious at best—yet de- and notice I didn’t say ask for—is decency.
have had clue one that it was he who Short mand a release. And a tar- Fred, unfortunately, didn’t get it.
and Fey were caricaturing. In fact, pretty get. Quelle surprise then that
much only an industry insider, a percent- Fred, the doctor known for keeping Madonna Under His Skin
age of the population so minute it’s, for all looking forever not-old, and who himself After Fred’s suicide, there was much specu-
intents and purposes, nonexistent, would appeared curiously ageless, should be it. It lation in the media that Kimmy Schmidt
have caught the reference. Basically then, it’s wasn’t, by the way, only the Kimmy Schmidt was the cause. For what it’s worth, I think the
a joke without a punch line. people who gave him a tough time. In 2014, idea is loony. If the show did, in fact, push
So what was it about gentle, unoffending Fred was profiled in The New York Times. him over the edge, that could only be be-
Fred that invited this type of cruelty? Here’s The comment section was just brutal. Fred, cause he had one foot and four toes curled
my best guess: people’s feelings about cos- according to the posts, looked “horrifying,” over it already.
metic enhancement are more complicated “disgusting,” “grotesque,” “like an 80 year Those close to Fred are going to be disap-
than they realize. Darker too. They want it be- old trying to look 64,” “like a character from pointed with this piece, I just know it. When I
cause it can make them look better: younger, a Wes Craven film,” “like an alien.” Kristi was making the rounds, conducting my inter-
prettier, slimmer, perkier-nosed-and-breasted, Rook, director at Alphaeon, a lifestyle health- views, the hope was expressed, again and
ears de-Dumboed and eyes de-bagged— care company, and a friend of Fred’s, recom- again, both explicitly and implicitly, that I’d
whatever their idea of better happens to be. mended he steer clear. “I said, ‘Fred, don’t go put on my Brenda Starr eye shadow, do a little
So it’s a wish for self-improvement, which online.’ ” But Fred wouldn’t—or couldn’t— intrepid-girl-reporter digging, figure out who
sounds upbeat enough except the wish for take the advice. Rob would catch him scrolling was to blame, smear the guilty party’s name
self-improvement is rooted in self-dislike—or at through the comments on his phone as they across the pages of this magazine. It was that
least self-dissatisfaction—since if you really like walked home at night: a scab picked off before bitch Tina Fey’s fault. Or Martin Short’s, and I
something you don’t seek to improve it. Then it even had a chance to form. thought he was one of the nice ones. And had
there’s the feelings of class rage. Cosmetic To be clear, I’m not saying Times readers I heard that Fred had been down in the
work gets ever cheaper and easier to obtain. didn’t have the right to make those com- dumps—way, way down in the dumps—before
Botox, for example, is being dispensed in nail ments. They absolutely did. Just as Tina Fey that garbage show even aired, was seeing a
salons these days. For a serious practitioner, & Co. had the right to make Fred into a figure shrink? And how come the will was so hush-
though, one who went to medical school rath- of fun. A number of Fred’s friends felt that hush? What was in it? My advice to you, Lili,
er than cosmetology, you’ve still got to drop Kimmy Schmidt had crossed the line because follow the money. I’m not going to say any-
heavy cash. In the old days, youth and beauty Fred wasn’t a public person, which is not en- more than that. Oh, except for this—wasn’t
were on the short list of things money couldn’t tirely true. There was his radio show, and he somebody supposed to be watching Fred that
buy. Only now youth and beauty are in on the had appeared, quite voluntarily, on television. night? Did he/she leave his/her post? On pur-
hustle, too, can be had for the right price. And Wanted to appear on television more, in fact. pose? Fishy, fishy, fishy.
finally there’s the issue of morality, or rather Had pitched Randy Barbato and Fenton Bai- A lot of that kind of talk, which, of course,
immorality, because immoral is what cosmet- ley, producers of RuPaul’s Drag Race, a real- is just that—talk. Popular theories as to why
ic enhancement is considered, even if those ity program in which he would be the main Fred was depressed in the first place: getting
doing the considering would never, not in a man/event/attraction/course. Yet the attention older (“At his 60th-birthday party, he was basi-
million years, use that word, the times we live he sought caused him pain, or at least the by- cally catatonic … ”), professional turmoil (a
SEP T E M B E R 2 015 www.vanityfair.com VAN IT Y FAIR 269
Spotlight
certain drug company had put out a certain
new product that was causing certain ad-
verse reactions, and Fred felt that the com-
pany had been less-than-forthcoming about IN MANOLO’S
these potential side effects; plus, Sirius had
canceled his radio show; plus plus, there’d FOOTSTEPS
been a betrayal in the past by a former em-
ployee), unrequited affection (“He was in
love with bleep, who’s supposedly straight
but … ”). Yet as wild as the conjectures got,
not a single person went so far as to suggest
I
that actual foul play was involved, or even
actual criminal behavior. And, anyway, deep
down, Fred’s friends understand that the
blame game is a fool’s game because to play
is to lose. Sooner or later the finger’s going
to swing around, point right back at them.
Why weren’t they there for Fred in his mo-
ment of need? Why hadn’t they heeded the
warning signs? The self-recrimination will be
painful enough. Only it’ll get worse. See, it’s
not on themselves that the finger will finally
settle. It’s on Fred. He isn’t, after all, just the
victim of this crime; he’s the perpetrator as
well. It was he who made the decision to
sneak off to the garage—people were in the
house watching him, no posts were aban-
doned—not to reach out to any of his friends.
Fred murdered Fred. And who wants to
be angry at Fred? How unbearably sad to be
angry at Fred.
I
t’s not possible for me—or anyone,
probably—to say definitively why n his five-decade
he did it. Who can understand the career, Manolo Blahnik has designed more than 30,000
precise motives of another human individual shoe styles (current starting price: $700). “I’m
being? We’re all, at heart, mysteri- 72 years old,” the Bath, England–based Canary Islands
ous, never to be fully fathomed or native points out. “Not a baby anymore!” Even so, he has
grasped. That said, there was a general held fast to the passions of his childhood: Greco-Roman
sense among those close to Fred that the history, museums, movies, and books.
household he grew up in was not a very In September, Rizzoli publishes Fleeting Gestures and
nurturing one. His parents died early— Obsessions, a compendium of esoteric, exhilarating conver-
his father when Fred was in high school, his sations between Blahnik and everyone from a Cambridge
mother when he was in medical school— classicist and a Prado curator to Pedro Almodóvar and
and he and his brother were, according to Sofia Coppola. In the course of these meandering dialogues,
friends, estranged as adults, speaking only Blahnik marvels at the fragility of Caligula’s pearl-studded san-
on rare occasions. Kyle White, a colorist dals, fixates on such art-historical minutiae as the toenails in
and longtime friend, tried again and again Velázquez’s Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan, judges the naked
to get Fred to talk about his family, but feet of Alain Delon in Purple Noon to be “divine,” and grows
he’d always shut the discussion down. delirious gazing at the original manuscript of Giuseppe
“You ask a lot of questions about my fam- Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, his favorite novel. “My
ily,” he’d say, his way of saying, Don’t.
creativity gets going on this madness,” Blahnik explains.
Moreover, Fred did not manage to create a
Nowadays, Blahnik’s niece, Kristina, a former architect,
family of his own beyond a friend family
brings a strategist’s method to the magician’s flights of fan-
and a dog family—three adopted strays,
PRO DUCE D O N L O CAT I ON BY SA SH A R ICKE R D
Benji, Surya, and Tyler. At the end of his cy. Recently anointed C.E.O. of the family-owned firm, Kris-
life, he was without a partner, and I’m sure tina—who says she more or less “grew up in a shoebox”—
loneliness played a huge role in his suicide. reflects, “I don’t feel like I’m running a business. It’s more
Though even that’s a meaningless observa- like running a fairy tale. Every shoe Uncle Lolo makes—he’s
tion, since loneliness likely plays a huge still the company’s only designer—is a character in a nar-
role in any suicide. rative, to whom he’s given the breath of life. His shoes are
Fred himself may have offered the best the outward expressions of all the layers and layers of in-
insight into his state of mind. During a timidating, inspiring, spirited, encyclopedic information
2014 interview, he C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 3 1 6 packed inside his head.” — A MY FINE COLLINS
The 40-YEAR-OLD
VISION
BY MA RY G R E E N WE LL ; PROD UC E D O N LO C ATI ON BY MA R IE
HA IR P ROD UC TS BY MORO CC A NO IL ; MA K E UP PROD U C TS
BY G IORG I O A R MA N I; HAI R BY O DI LE GI LB E RT; MAK E U P
T
imeless elegance—two words that come to mind when I
think of Giorgio Armani, my old friend, whom I love and
admire. I look at Giorgio’s clothes, at his sense of balance
and proportion, line and shape, color and texture, and I’m
always astonished all over again. It doesn’t matter who’s wearing
them—he makes us all look good. Part of it is because we feel good
wearing his clothes. Like all great designers, Giorgio isn’t thinking of
just outward appearance on a red carpet but also comfort in every-
day life. His designs are all of a piece, and they are quietly detached
from the fads and trivia of the moment. As I said, timeless elegance.
272 VAN IT Y FA IR www.vanityfair.com P H OTOG R APH BY TOM MUNRO · ST Y LED BY JESSICA DIEHL
Giorgio Armani, at right,
surrounded by his devotees. Seated:
Lauren Hutton, Glenn Close, Sophia Loren,
Isabelle Huppert, and Hilary Swank.
Standing: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Tina
Turner, and Zhang Ziyi. Photographed at the
celebration of the designer’s 40th anniversary
at his Milan headquarters.
ALL CLOTHING
BY GIORGIO ARMANI.
I’ve learned so much from him over the years. Decades of work-
ing together, first on some commercials and a 1990 film portrait of
Giorgio called Made in Milan; then on my 2001 documentary on
Italian cinema, on which he served as executive producer (it’s obvi-
ous from his designs that Giorgio loves the cinema); and most recent-
ly on The Wolf of Wall Street (he designed some of the suits worn by
the film’s title character, played by Leo DiCaprio). And, over those
years, we were lucky enough to get to know each other.
Forty years? It seems like yesterday, my friend. Here’s to you,
Giorgio. — M ARTIN SCORSESE
A Clinton
After growing up in a scandal-rocked White House, angry at her father
shunned the spotlight for close to a decade. But, at 35, she is back at the epicenter
controversy swirls around its funding and her mother’s second
including her disastrous stint at NBC, EVGENIA PERETZ reports on
274 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2 015
to the Core
and fleeing the psychodrama of her parents’ lives, Chelsea Clinton
of Clintonworld, helping to run the family’s $2 billion foundation while
presidential campaign. Charting Chelsea’s metamorphosis,
the path to power of a former—and perhaps future—First Daughter
SEP T E M B E R 2 015 P H OTOG RA P H BY JASON BELL www.vanityfair.com VAN IT Y FAIR 275
S
the late fashion great Oscar de la Renta, re- legations, she did so apologetically (“I would
ferring to him “as my friend and as the man be remiss if I didn’t ask … ”) and allowed
I would have chosen for my grandfather had Chelsea to sidestep the question.
E
God granted me such a gift.” In 2014 she re-
ceived Glamour’s Woman of the Year award. xcept among members of right-
During an interview with her following the wing media, the idea of mak-
ceremony, a beaming Katie Couric conclud- ing Chelsea Clinton uncom-
ed that Chelsea was also, “I think it’s safe to fortable feels wrong. Our
say, probably a Mom of the Year.” national instinct is to protect
Gone is the Chelsea who tried to blend and revere her—to treat her
in as just another Stanford-educated grind. more like royal progeny than an adult who
She has fully embraced being a Clinton and has taken on a position of global conse-
is now deliberately, willfully, on the road quence. The coddling is not simply because
to greatness. She recently admitted that she’s the daughter of two political superstars
running for office one day is “absolutely” who are loved and feared and protected by
a possibility. Like every aspiring political- their own omertà—although that’s certainly
office holder, she found time in the busiest part of it. It’s also because we witnessed the
possible moment in life (in her case the first public humiliation she went through as a
year of motherhood) to write a book: It’s teenager by virtue of being President Clin-
Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & ton’s daughter, and because, in spite of all
Get Going! And, most important, two and a that, she appears to have emerged as a de-
he didn’t exactly set half years ago she put her name alongside cent, serious young woman. The resilience
the stage on fire, but she was still, it seemed, the those of her parents at their foundation, was moving. As Anne Hubert, a friend from
highlight of everyone’s day. In June, in Man- which has raised some $2 billion since its Stanford and now a Viacom executive, puts
hattan, 35-year-old Chelsea Clinton, vice- inception and is now called the Bill, Hillary it, “People are rooting for Chelsea. They
chair of the Clinton Foundation, looking & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. want her to be doing well.”
understated-chic in a silk blouse, held court This was no vanity move. Those who Our national sympathy for Chelsea is
at the United Nations about the global prob- work with her at the foundation attest to her rooted in our image of her as a kid who ex-
lem of fathers’ being disengaged from their almost daunting intelligence, her diligence, uded natural decency and earnestness. She
children. She used no notes and moved her and her genuine dedication to the job. But was inculcated at an early age with the im-
gaze back and forth across a room full of rapt the question of whether Chelsea can lead re- portance of world engagement. Before she
nonprofit leaders and policymakers as she mains to be seen, and if ever there were a could read, her parents read to her from
shared her passion for numbers and data. “We moment to show some creative vision, it the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. At the age
often say at the foundation that data helps would be now. Never before has the Clinton of five, she wrote a letter to Ronald Reagan
measure progress, but it also helps drive prog- Foundation come under such scrutiny—for questioning his planned, much-disputed vis-
ress. And that’s why I think this report [State the donations from foreign governments it it to a German military cemetery that con-
of the World’s Fathers] is so tremendously im- received while Hillary was secretary of state; tained some Nazi graves. Todd S. Purdum,
portant.” She rattled off facts about the bene- for those it continues to receive as she runs for who then covered President Clinton for The
fits of engaged fathers and introduced the au- president; and for the extremely large speak- New York Times (and is now a Vanity Fair
dience to “Abenomics,” a recent Japanese ing fees that both Bill (up to $1 million) and contributing editor), recalls Bill’s mother,
theory for stimulating economic growth. In Hillary (up to $500,000) have been collect- Virginia Kelley, showing Chelsea’s letter to
what has become customary in her public ad- ing from foreign governments, corporations, him. “Dear President Reagan, I have seen
dresses, she brought the issue around to the colleges, and even small charities. Whether The Sound of Music. The Nazis don’t look
personal, mentioning her then eight-month- or not our global policies have been shaped very nice to me. Please don’t go to their
old daughter, Charlotte, and her husband, by who gave what to the Clinton Foundation cemetary [sic].”
37-year-old hedge-fund manager Marc Mez- is nearly impossible to prove, but neverthe- Despite the Clintons’ wish for their daugh-
vinsky: “I’m so grateful for his dedication, his less there’s a perception problem, and scru- ter to have a normal childhood, their will to
support, his love, and the investments that he tiny of the foundation’s fund-raising practices change the world superseded everything.
makes in our daughter every single day.” will grow only more intense should Hillary They sought to prepare her for the ugly reali-
The U.N. speech was no big deal for become president. ties that would come with that. As Hillary
Chelsea, mind you. In the past few months The problem is now Chelsea’s too. And revealed in her 1996 book, It Takes a Village,
she has accompanied her father and 20 yet, despite her vaunted position, she has been when Bill was running for his second term as
wealthy foundation donors to Africa, shielded from having to answer. Her spokes- governor of Arkansas, the family did role-
capped off by a Clinton Global Initiative man, Kamyl Bazbaz, guided Vanity Fair to playing exercises at dinner. Six-year-old Chel-
conference in Marrakech; visited Haiti; and sources for this article, but Chelsea declined sea played Bill, and he hurled insults in her
hit the TV talk shows to tout the founda- to be interviewed. Questions put to the foun- face about what a terrible person he was.
tion’s “No Ceilings” project, an online dation about her position on the fund-raising She ended up in tears the first night, but “she
report that gathered more than “a million issue were redirected. Her television appear- gradually gained mastery over her emotions,”
data points” about the state of girls and ances have been strictly in friendly venues. In- recalled Hillary. She would need that skill.
women in the world. With Jimmy Kimmel terviews with print media have been limited to When Bill Clinton won the White House in
she demonstrated not only her impressive discreet, non-controversial topics, such as her 1992, he requested that Chelsea remain off
grasp of the issue but also her new breezy initiative to stop elephant poaching. Recently, limits to the media. Most respected his wish,
rapport with friendly interviewers. when ABC News anchor Juju Chang found a but she endured cruel barbs from Rush Lim-
In addition, she spoke at a June tribute to moment to ask her about the fund-raising al- baugh, Saturday Night Live, and John Mc-
276 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2 015
Cain that targeted her awkward teenage
looks. Throughout, she remained a model of
perfect manners. Purdum recalls a dinner in
1995 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to celebrate
the birthday of one of Hillary’s aides. “Some-
one from the Park Service gave Chelsea a
commemorative Smokey Bear doll, and she
was not going to leave that restaurant until
she got the name and address of the person
to whom she should send a thank-you note,”
he recalls. “She also asked me what she owed
for the pizza.”
B
ut who could ever have imag-
ined a more daunting chal-
lenge to filial steadfastness
than her father’s relationship
with Monica Lewinsky? Ru-
mors about the president’s
affair were brewing at the tail end of 1997,
during Chelsea’s freshman year at Stanford.
An observer recalls that Chelsea’s demeanor
drastically changed—“from that friendly girl
to being shut down and frozen.” After learn-
ing the truth, Chelsea
was “confused and
hurt,” wrote Hillary LITTLE ROCK
in Living History, and THE VOTE
froze her father out Arkansas
governor Bill
for a time. Bill was tor-
Clinton votes,
tured by the effect it with Chelsea,
had on her, and cried then six, in 1986.
when he learned that
she had read the Starr
Report, which included sexual details of his
dalliance. She relied on family friends and
those at Stanford for support. Among them
was her future husband, Marc Mezvinsky,
a popular self-described “nerdy Jewish boy
from Philly.” He, too, understood some-
thing about personal sacrifice for the Clin-
tons’ greater good: His mother, Marjorie
Margolies, had been a congresswoman when
President Clinton’s controversial 1993 tax bill
came up for a vote. The president made a was erect and expressionless; Chelsea was in act of “rebellion,” she chose the least do-
personal plea to her, and she voted yes—go- the middle holding their hands. She was the gooder job possible: management consultant
ing against promises made to her constitu- glue holding the family together and keeping at McKinsey & Company, infamous for ad-
ents and knowing it would likely cause her the higher purpose alive. Her father’s grati- vising corporations to fire large numbers of
to lose her seat. Marc “was always someone tude was boundless. As a longtime Clinton people. When that didn’t satisfy her, she tried
Chelsea really turned to and leaned on,” re- associate puts it, “When you have an affair out Wall Street, getting a job as an analyst at
calls Hubert. with the intern, you end up paying for it for Avenue Capital Group, a hedge fund owned
In the wake of the scandal, Chelsea did the rest of your life.” by Marc Lasry, who is worth $1.9 billion and
exactly what her parents had conditioned The first thing Chelsea wanted to do, un- has been a major financial backer of both
her to do: swallow the pain and soldier on. derstandably, was to get as far away from her President Clinton’s and Hillary’s. Ultimately,
PHOTOGR A PH BY DA NN Y J O HNSTO N /A . P. I M AGE S
“She’s one of the strongest people I know,” parents’ psychodrama as possible. She “delib- she left that too, explaining later that “[money]
says Elsa Collins, another Stanford friend, erately tried to lead a private life,” she recalled wasn’t the metric I wanted to judge my life by
who is married to former N.B.A. player in a 2012 interview with Vogue. She headed to in a professional sense.” She went back to
Jarron Collins. In the summer of that year, Oxford, where she earned a master’s degree school—this time to get a master’s degree in
when the world wondered whether Bill and in philosophy. When her father first tried to public health from Columbia. Unlike most
Hillary were headed for divorce, Chelsea get her involved in his fledgling foundation, twentysomethings, she seemed not to be ham-
played a key role in showing they would pull even in small ways—to put her name on in- strung by indecisiveness or self-doubt. “She
through. As they crossed the lawn to Marine vitations or show up at events—she rebuffed never had any real angst about it,” says Elsa
One for the cameras, Bill walked with his him, according to foundation sources. After Collins. “I think she wanted to make sure
head bowed; Hillary, wearing sunglasses, graduating, in what she has described as an that she explored all the avenues that were
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FAMILY FIRST
Hillary Clinton,
Chelsea, Bill,
and Buddy the day of interest to her.” respected her desire not to talk. But what’s Clinton stories. It was a warning to journal-
after he gave a At Columbia, she wrong with you guys, feeling like you need ists: Chelsea needed to be handled with kid
televised address impressed Michael to protect her or beat me up for asking ques- gloves.
about his
relationship with
Sparer, the head tions?” The campaign responded that she More special privileges were in store—cour-
Monica Lewinsky. of the department, was still the daughter of the president, and tesy of a father who, some say, was still trying
who made her an that was that. to make up for his sins. Her 2010 wedding to
adjunct professor. But soon Shuster would find his job in Mezvinsky (since graduation he had worked at
“She was extremely available to the students,” peril. A few nights later he engaged in a typi- Goldman Sachs and then at 3G Capital hedge
he says, “very unpretentious, very low-key.” cal breezy on-air exchange about Chelsea’s fund) took place in upstate New York, in front
I
role in the campaign, and remarked that it of some 400 guests in a ceremony that report-
n late 2007, when Hillary was prepar- seemed she’d been “pimped out” by the edly cost $3 million. The next year Mezvinsky,
ing for the primaries, 27-year-old campaign. It was a terrible choice of words, along with two of his former Goldman Sachs
Chelsea stepped into the national spot- to be sure. The campaign called for his head, colleagues, raised $400 million for their own
light, speaking at campuses and town making calls to Steve Capus, the head of hedge fund, Eaglevale, with significant invest-
halls as a surrogate for her mother. NBC News, and to executives at General ments coming from several longtime Clinton
Though she could hold her own on- Electric (then NBC’s parent company), ac- friends and supporters, including Lasry, British
stage, those inside Clintonworld were insistent cusing Shuster of having called Chelsea a investment banker Jacob Rothschild, and Gold-
on protecting her, as if she were still a teenager prostitute. Hillary issued a statement essen- man Sachs C.E.O. Lloyd Blankfein. According
in the White House: her mother’s campaign tially demanding that Shuster be fired, and to a longtime Clinton associate, Mezvinsky
sent out the message to the press that they the campaign threatened to boycott an up- has made the most of the events sponsored
PHOTOGR A PH BY L UKE F RA ZZ A /A F P/ GE T T Y IM AGE S
were not to talk to her. Those who defied it coming debate that was to air live on NBC. by the family’s foundation, such as “celeb-
learned there were consequences. Under pressure from his bosses, Shuster rity poker nights,” which are prime hunting
In early 2008, David Shuster, then an wrote an e-mail apology and sent it to How- ground for potential clients. In 2013, Bill and
MSNBC reporter, found himself near her at ard Wolfson, Hillary’s communications di- Hillary helped the couple buy a 5,000-square-
an event and tried to ask a few questions. He rector, to pass on to Chelsea. Shuster says he foot apartment for $9.25 million in Manhat-
wasn’t surprised that she declined to speak followed up with a call, in which Wolfson in- tan’s Flatiron District, says a Clinton associ-
with him—that was her prerogative. What formed him that he had received the apology, ate. (Chelsea Clinton’s publicist denies this.)
did surprise him was getting warning calls but wouldn’t be forwarding it to Chelsea—no Under the circumstances it must have been
24 hours later from the campaign telling him reason given. (Wolfson says he has no recol- easy not to care about money, as Chelsea
Chelsea was off limits. Shuster recalls say- lection of the call.) NBC suspended Shuster claims not to. According to Anne Hubert,
ing, “Look, she handled herself just fine. I for two weeks and denied him any future Chelsea and Marc’s social circle is “as broad
278 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2 015
and diverse as New York is a place” in that it cause it ran so contrary to her instincts. “Most at the end of his presidency as a modest
includes people in finance, tech, media, law, of us were baffled [by the hire], because she nonprofit founded in Little Rock, Arkansas,
the arts, and global health. Among the bold- never even spoke to the press,” says an NBC was now a fund-raising juggernaut, thanks
faced names are Burberry designer Christo- veteran. “She’d walk by with the imperial to the Clintons’ star power and ability to get
pher Bailey, chef David Chang, and Ivanka stare, looking forward, and interacted not at heads of state, C.E.O.’s, leaders in philan-
Trump and her husband, New York Observer all.” The feeling inside NBC was that she had thropy, and rock and movie stars to donate
owner Jared Kushner. When Hubert is asked if been hired to maintain access to and curry fa- large sums to his foundation. Today there are
the couple is friends with anyone poor or un- vor with the Clintons. When news broke that nine initiatives (plus two associated projects)
employed, she laughs as if the question must she had been getting paid $600,000—for a that target some of the most difficult prob-
be a joke. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.” part-time job—NBC staffers were appalled. lems around the globe. Among its most im-
I
Most full-time correspondents were being portant has been providing affordable H.I.V.
n the view of the family matriarch— paid far less. The big salary was predicated drugs to 9.9 million people in Africa.
Chelsea’s late grandmother Doro- on the idea that she was already a star, and But its very success created problems. The
thy Rodham, a spitfire from hard- according to an insider, she started acting like foundation grew so quickly it could hardly
scrabble beginnings, whom Chelsea one. Colleagues felt they couldn’t communi- contain itself. By the time Chelsea arrived,
adored—having the last name and cate with her directly. Instead, they had to go there were more than 2,000 employees. There
the perks weren’t enough, however. through her people. And she was hardly pres- was no working infrastructure, no endowment
The family had a “responsibility gene” and ent in the office. “There was a joke inside the or investment plan. Despite the large sums
it was time for Chelsea to take a seat at the building that she was the ‘highest-paid ghost’ coming in, the foundation had reported an
table. Chelsea got to work, methodically try- at NBC,” says a network source. It all might on-paper deficit of $40 million for 2007 and
ing to figure out how to become a public have been excused had she been any good. 2008, which Clinton later explained was a
person with a purpose. She consulted with In the span of nearly three years, however, misleading accounting illusion. It was still be-
Hubert, whose Viacom division is aimed she filed only a handful of segments—all pain- ing run by Clinton’s chief advisers from the
at millennials, about potential “platforms.” fully stiff reports on global do-gooders, plus White House days: Bruce Lindsey (the
Chelsea set her sights on two jobs that an attempted comic interview with the Geico C.E.O.) and Ira Magaziner (vice-chair), and
seemed totally at odds with what she’d want- Gecko. As the insider puts it, “NBC has made to some it still felt like the White House, with
ed fresh out of college: board member of one a lot of bad decisions in the last few years, but egos running amok and, according to a for-
of the Clinton Foundation’s initiatives, and hiring Chelsea has to be very near the top.” mer colleague of Chelsea’s, “regular staffers
G
network news correspondent. For the latter who were not in the habit of challenging
she landed, of all places, at NBC, where she etting the big title at the them.” There was intense concern about
was hired to do segments for NBC News and Clinton Foundation was Doug Band, Clinton’s longtime “body man”
Brian Williams’s new television newsmagazine viewed by many, naturally, and surrogate son, who’d come up with the
show, Rock Center. She would enter this pub- as yet another unearned op- idea for the Clinton Global Initiative (C.G.I.),
lic arena armed with personnel: a chief of portunity handed to Chelsea the glamorous conference that became the
staff, an assistant, and an outside P.R. team to by virtue of her last name. centerpiece of the foundation. While still run-
craft her image and manage her social media. But it was also a place where she could ning C.G.I., Band co-founded Teneo, a
“She’s the most deliberate human being I prove her grit. When she arrived, in 2011, corporate-consulting business, which came to
know,” says a former colleague at the founda- her father’s prayers were answered. It was be seen as too intertwined with and reliant on
tion. “Nothing is by accident”—not surpris- a sign, perhaps, that all was forgiven and the president and his connections. The foun-
ing, perhaps, when one recalls her family did that his legacy would be secured through dation was tarnished by some of the less attrac-
polling about the name of their new dog. his daughter. Says a former foundation em- tive characters Band was bringing into its orbit,
Those tasked with managing her public per- ployee, “People were very excited to see a such as Raffaello Follieri—the Italian con man
sona would face an uphill battle in making her succession plan take hold.” Like all things who was then dating Anne Hathaway.
sound less programmed and more authentic. involving Bill Clinton, the foundation was Some control was clearly needed. And
Her stint at NBC was a disaster, perhaps be- both awe-inspiring and messy. What began Chelsea started off with a McKinsey-esque
“BILL HAS NO
ABILITY TO SAY NO
TO CHELSEA,”
SEP T E M B E R 2 015
SAYS AN INSIDER. www.vanityfair.com VAN IT Y FAIR 279
Spotlight
bang—by helping to initiate an outside audit.
“It was a very authoritarian action for some-
one who came in at day one,” says the former
foundation employee. “The feeling was: we’re MANHATTAN
being audited—never a good word—because
we’re doing something wrong. We wondered, GOTHIC
Are our jobs at risk? That’s not a comfortable
feeling for many people who’ve been dedicat-
ing their lives to the foundation.” The audit
called for better management and budgeting
P
policies. Lindsey was replaced as C.E.O. by
Chelsea’s pick—Eric Braverman, with whom
she had worked at McKinsey, and Maga-
ziner’s job was greatly reduced. (Braverman
left the foundation in January of this year over
reported power struggles within the organiza-
tion; Donna Shalala, Clinton’s secretary of
health and human services, is now C.E.O.)
Of the 13 financial-advisory firms that applied,
the job of investing the foundation’s money
went to Summit Rock, where Chelsea’s close
friend Nicole Davison Fox is a managing di-
rector. (Her husband works with Mezvinsky.)
It was felt in some quarters that Chelsea, who
hadn’t paid her dues—by, say, spending real
time in Africa, or cutting her teeth at one of
the programs—was coming in and throwing
her weight around. Lindsey and others com-
plained to President Clinton but to no avail.
“He has no ability to say no to her,” says a
source familiar with the shake-ups.
F
or all the grumblings about aul Bettany and Jennifer
nepotism, others believe that Connelly met while acting in 2001’s A Beautiful Mind, for
Chelsea is just the enforcer which Connelly nabbed a best-supporting-actress Oscar.
the foundation needed. Under Now, after 12 years of marriage and three children (includ-
her leadership, the various ing Connelly’s son from a previous relationship), they are
YA SUDA ; GRO O MI NG BY KU MI CR A I G; PRO DUCE D O N LO CATI ON BY THE CUSTO M FA M ILY; F OR DE TA ILS, GO TO VF.CO M/C REDI TS
branches, once physically sep- working together again, in Bettany’s directorial debut, Shel-
H A IR P ROD UCTS BY O R IB E ( CON N EL LY ) A N D R & CO . ( B E TTA NY ) ; MA KE U P PRO DUCTS BY L AU RA ME RCI ER; NAI L ENAME L BY DI O R;
arated, were consolidated under one roof, ter, out this fall. Inspired by a homeless couple who lived in
BETTANY WEARS
CLOTHING BY
GIEVES & HAWKES;
WATCH BY
PATEK PHILIPPE.
CONNELLY WEARS
CLOTHING BY
LOUIS VUITTON.
SOCIAL PRINCESS
Gigi Hadid epitomizes the new breed
of supermodel, powered by social media
G
igi Hadid, the 20-year-old international modeling sensa-
tion and daughter of a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills, was
born to be in front of the camera. Almost literally. When she
was still in diapers, she scored her first ad campaign, for
Guess Kids. Her mother, Yolanda Foster, a Dutch model and veteran
cast member of Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise, put her career on
hold while Hadid attended Malibu High School. But once Gigi gradu-
ated—class of 2013—and calls from the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
and Tom Ford started coming in, Foster morphed into a blond-haired,
Kris Jenner–esque momager and began grooming her daughter’s ca-
F O R DE TA IL S , G O TO VF.COM / CRE DI TS
Gigi Hadid,
photographed at
the Plaza hotel in
a Legacy Suite,
in New York City.
HADID WEARS
BRIEFS BY GUCCI.
P H OTO G R A P HS BY SEBASTIAN FAENA
ST Y L E D BY J ESSICA DIEHL www.vanityfair.com VAN IT Y FAIR 283
284
VANIT Y FAIR
It Girl
S EPT E MBER
2 015
HAI R P ROD UC TS BY J OHN F R IE DA ; MA K E U P P RODU C TS A ND NA I L
E NA ME L BY D IOR ; HA IR BY H AR RY J OS H; MA K E U P BY FA R A HO MID I;
MAN I C UR E BY HONE Y; F OR D E TA ILS , G O TO V F. CO M/C R E D ITS
Hadid, in
New York City.
HADID WEARS A
SWIMSUIT BY
CHANEL AND SHOES
BY PAUL ANDREW,
AND, OPPOSITE,
A CORSET BY
GIVENCHY BY
RICCARDO TISCI.
BEAUTY and
the BRUSH
‘A
n Oriental calligrapher”
is how Christian Lacroix
describes the artist
David Downton, invoking
the hummingbird hover and dart
of the brush in his hand. Downton is
our dauphin of fashion portraiture,
heir to both René Bouché and
Gruau—and today in a class by
himself. His haiku of line and color,
informed by art history (strokes of
Pablo Picasso, Egon Schiele, Franz
Kline) yet free of ego, play hide-and-
seek with moments in time. “I like
the images to float on the surface
of the paper,” he has said, “as
Iman, drawn
from life at the
Crosby Street Hotel,
in New York City,
July 2012. Opposite,
Dita Von Teese,
captured at the
Elsa Schiaparelli
apartment on the
Place Vendôme,
in Paris,
January 2014.
I MA N W EA R S A
D RES S BY A Z Z E DINE
A L AÏ A . VO N T E E SE
W E A R S C L OT H ING
BY S CH I A PA R EL L I
CO U T U R E.
COLL I N S W EAR S A
COAT BY N I CH O L AS
OA KW EL L CO U T U R E;
VE I L BY ST EP H EN
JON ES M I L L I N ERY.
EVAN G EL I STA
WE A R S A D R ES S BY
D I O R CO U T U R E;
C ROWN BY ST EP H EN
JON ES F O R D I O R .
D E L A F R ES S AN G E
WE A R S A P UL L OV ER
BY P R ADA; PAN TS BY
STO U L S ; B O OTS
BY RO G ER V I V I ER .
D E N EUV E W EAR S A
JACK ET BY YV ES
S AI N T L AU R EN T.
VON FU R ST EN B ERG
WE A R S A D R ES S BY
DVF; E A R R IN G S AN D
N E CK L AC E BY
DVF FOR H. ST ER N .
Portraits adapted
from David Downton:
Portraits of the
World’s Most Stylish
Women; foreword
by Christian Lacroix;
afterword by Dita
Von Teese; to be
published next month
by Laurence King;
© 2015 by the author.
Though he’s famous as the amoral lawyer on Breaking Bad and its
has been Mr. Show with Bob and David, the Python-esque
With a new Odenkirk-and-Cross collaboration premiering on Netflix,
294
Mr. Show R
VAN IT Y FA IR P H OTOG RA P HS BY JEFF LIPSKY S E PT EMBE R 2 015
ST Y LED BY G AELLE PAUL; G ROOMING BY CHERY L
hit prequel, Better Call Saul, Bob Odenkirk’s true gift to comedy
HBO sketch series he created with David Cross in the 90s.
GEORGE GURLEY looks back—and ahead—at the duo’s comic exploits
starting place of modern comedy … and be- been rocking what he calls an “American Odenkirk coached Hader before he audi-
yond that, there’s nothing. I mean, the impact loser” ensemble: cheesy, white guy’s version tioned for Lorne Michaels, who quickly hired
that thing had was incredible.” of a tie-dye; Jamaican-colored hoodie; camo him on S.N.L., where he thrived for eight sea-
“I used to go to the Mr. Show tapings cargo shorts; and hideous “barefoot” sports sons. Kristen Wiig, a client for 12 years, got
and it was clear that this was our Monty shoes. After shooting the rest of the her start as a babysit-
Python,” says Judd Apatow. “It felt like Donnie stuff he’s going to have to ter for the Odenkirks
the most fertile comedic space I had ever change his clothes and re-shoot THE SHOW MUST GO ON before becoming an
“I knew early that it was
seen. Every show would blow your mind.” some of the David stuff. He has S.N.L. cast member
very special—he did too,”
to study lines now. Odenkirk Cross says of his and and movie star.
has to go pick up his son soon— Odenkirk’s partnership. Naomi Yomtov
CROSS WEARS CLOTHING AND
A HAT BY BROOKS BROTHERS;
SHOES BY ESQUIVEL.
ODENKIRK WEARS A SWEATER
BY KITON; SHIRT, PANTS,
AND TIE BY BRIONI; SHOES BY
ALLEN EDMONDS.
T
be a premise or a core idea and then a twist— move faster, and not be afraid to have a tonal
from silly to surreal, angry to hilarious, then moment that isn’t grounded in a joke. In fact, he future comedy duo didn’t
maybe another turn into the realm of “meta” each episode will start with just such a mo- get along at The Ben Stil-
anti-humor, a moment of pathos, and back to ment—inspired by Breaking Bad—which we ler Show. David was carefree
smart-silly. “There was a trust in the audience never even considered for Mr. Show. and cocky; Bob was a dick and
that it didn’t need to be boiled down to just “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about fucked with David. (“I’m blunt
some essentials,” says Naomi. “Instead, there what With Bob & David means,” Odenkirk and a bit out of touch with
could be multiple observations.” says, “what kind of comedy it should sug- reading people’s feelings sometimes… Rude,”
Unlike S.N.L., Mr. Show went to great gest, and I haven’t come up with much out- Bob says. “But people put up with it.”)
lengths to avoid the topical and very rarely made side of silly stuff with a point of view some- “We hired David as a writer in the middle
a direct reference to a celebrity or anything else what connected to real shit.” of our short run,” says Apatow, “and we all
going on in the mid-90s. “There’s a lot of com- instantly realized how funny he was and that
I
edy that is anchored in satire or parody of what Buddy Comedy he clearly should be acting on the show, too.”
is in the news,” says Odenkirk, “but we live in n the foreword to Mr. Show: What But in early 1993 the show was canceled, af-
some in-between region. It’s why so many Mr. Happened?! Janeane Garofalo tells ter 13 episodes.
Show sketches are still funny 20 years later.” the story of how she introduced “One of the great tragedies of our can-
Yet many things on the show “came true.” In Cross and Odenkirk in the early cellation was that we all were just beginning
2010, the Web site Street Carnage cited a dozen 90s. Cross was visiting Los Angeles to realize what everyone was capable of,”
examples of sketches based on ideas that later from Boston. He had a hit live sketch adds Apatow.
became reality, including baby massages, curs- show, “Cross Comedy,” but was getting tired The relationship improved after the show
ing in TV ads, a man on death row too retard- of being poor, taking part in gross medical was canceled. They had mutual friends.
F
is upstaged by an au-
dience member (Bob). @vf.com
“If I had one thing To see the Mr. Show
STA R S goof around,
I wanted to do that go to VF.COM/
was hard to achieve at SEPT2015. or as long as he can remember, Austin Stowell wanted to pitch for the
ST Y L E D BY J OH N MO OR E ; H A IR P RO DU CTS BY O RI BE ; GRO O MI NG P RO DUC TS BY GI VE NCHY; GROO MI NG
S.N.L., it was to re-write New York Yankees. Growing up, he’d take trips in his father’s Oldsmobile
and develop something, and rehearse it,” Bob from his Connecticut home to 161st Street to see the Bronx Bombers play,
BY L OS I ; P RO DUC ED O N L OCATI O N BY T HE CU STOM FA MI LY; F O R DE TA IL S, GO TO VF.CO M /CR E DI TS
says. “There is so little time at S.N.L. to prep. all the while dreaming of getting up on that mound one day. An avid
We’re comedy writers first and wanted the baseball and football player throughout his life, he suffered an injury dur-
ideas to be executed as best as they could be, ing his junior year in high school that abruptly ended his young athletic career. At the
which takes time.” egging on of his buddies, he auditioned for his school’s production of You Can’t Take It
B
with You; he was cast in the role of Boris Kolenkhov and instantly fell in love with the stage.
ob had a rough stint as a staff Thirteen years later, the actor has more than half a dozen features under his belt,
writer at S.N.L. According to including last year’s Oscar-nominated indie hit Whiplash. But 2015 will undoubt-
the book Live From New York,
edly be the breakout year for Stowell, who has signed on for
Lorne Michaels threatened
not one but two Steven Spielberg projects: this month’s new TV @vf.com
him during a meeting (saying, To see Stowell’s
show Public Morals—a gritty cop drama set in 1960s New York, Brooklyn P H O T O
according to Conan O’Brien,
who was also a writer there, “Odenkirk, you created by actor Ed Burns—and, in October, Bridge of Spies, the S H O O T, go to
VF.COM/SEPT2015.
speak again, I’ll break your fucking legs”). In Spielberg-directed Cold War thriller in which Stowell stars along-
another incident, according to the book And side Tom Hanks and Alan Alda. “If Steven called right now, I would get up out of
Here’s the Kicker, Al Franken was pitching a this chair, get on a plane, and drop everything to be with him,” Stowell says. “Not
new character he’d come up with, Stuart because of his legacy but because of the experience that I had with him.”
Smalley, and was telling everyone he was the And the feeling is mutual. Spielberg calls Stowell “an exciting new presence,”
man for the part. “Here’s an idea,” Bob an- and adds, “His work on Public Morals convinced me he was the right actor to play
nounced. “Why don’t we let one of the actors Francis Gary Powers in Bridge of Spies.” With that kind of support behind him,
do it?” Franken C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 3 1 8 Stowell looks to be headed for the major leagues after all. — A N D RE A CUT TLE R
The BOY
WHO LOVE
300 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2 015
BOY WONDERS
Karl Lagerfeld
(right) with godson
Hudson Kroenig in
Seoul, South
Korea, May 2015.
D CHANEL
SEP T E M B E R 2 015 P H OTOG R AP H BY KARL LAGERFELD www.vanityfair.com VAN IT Y FAIR 301
F
there soon—a trick he had learned hobnob- Salzburg, Seoul, and Paris. He is always
bing with fashion-magazine creative direc- accompanied by his dad on working trips,
tors. The camp trick totally cracked up La- while his mom usually stays home with his
gerfeld and Rihanna because the guest was brother, three-year-old Jameson. Brad says
seven-year-old Hudson Kroenig. with a laugh, “Hudson doesn’t want to
Hudson describes himself this way: “My walk down the runway with me anymore,
hair is blond. My eyes are brown. My skin though. I guess I’m not cool enough.”
is a little beige-ish, a little gold-ish. I wear a New Jersey is where the family lives and
size-1 shoe. I am 49 inches. I have big pecs, where the two boys go to school. When
and I’m lean like Daddy.” Hudson gets home from modeling in
“Hudson is a modern version of Jackie whichever exotic locale, the first question
Coogan, the child actor who starred with out of his mouth is “When is the next job?”
Chaplin in The Kid,” says Lagerfeld, who And then he starts the countdown. “When
should know because Hudson has worked he was younger he’d say, ‘Twenty more
for the designer since he was two, when he nighty-nights, 19 more nighty-nights, 18
caused a sensation at the spring 2011 Chanel more nighty-nights,’ ” remembers Nicole.
ready-to-wear fashion show in Paris. Dressed The miracle is that Hudson does not
in a tiny Chanel three-button suit, he walked lord his glamorous, global adventures over
the entire runway of the Grand Palais (394 his classmates. In New Jersey he slips right
feet, or 1,188 baby steps), holding hands with back into his regular-kid routine at school.
his dad, Brad Kroenig, a fashion model who The teachers are aware of “his other life,”
has enjoyed a thriving career of unusual lon- but no one makes a big deal about it. Still,
gevity. Hudson’s mom, Nicole, is the daugh- you can’t deny there are differences be-
ter of Nick Bollettieri, the famed tennis tween him and his classmates. For show-
ashion dinners are not coach of Andre Agassi and the Williams sis- and-tell he was the only one who brought
always as glamorous as they sound. You eat ters, among many others. Not in the fashion in magazines with Chanel ads starring
late, if at all, and you can be seated next to world, she remembers Hudson’s Paris debut himself alongside pop star Pharrell Wil-
guests who are impossibly heavy furniture. In as suspenseful for her. “At the beginning I liams and Cara Delevingne, the in-demand
February, Fendi threw a New York dinner for thought Brad was nuts for thinking he could model of the moment, who has more than
a new store and to toast the company’s cre- do it,” she says. “I was in the audience and 15 million Instagram followers, almost
ative director, Karl Lagerfeld (also the long- my heart was beating so fast.” twice as many as Lady Gaga. Delevingne
B
time creative director for Chanel). The fash- is Hudson’s favorite model. When I asked
ion tribe flocked. The bread kept coming, but rad, now 36, is such a fa- her if he in turn is her No. 1, she gushed,
stomachs were rumbling, and the hour got vorite of Lagerfeld’s that the “Oh God, yes.” She skipped a beat. “In
late. Always one to make the best of any situ- designer became Hudson’s his age bracket.”
ation, Lagerfeld concentrated on entertaining godfather, so it’s hardly sur- Delevingne says Hudson likes her be-
his dinner companions. At least they had lots prising that modeling has cause she acts his age. When they have
to say: the pop star Rihanna, to his left, and become an obsession for downtime on a job they wrestle and poke
the editor in chief of Vogue and Condé Nast’s Hudson, who himself is fast becoming an each other. “Sometimes he’s more profes-
artistic director, Anna Wintour, to his right. obsession of the fashion community and sional than I am,” she says. He can indeed
Lagerfeld looked across the table at the beyond. Gisele, the Brazilian supermodel, seem almost a parody of professionalism.
impeccably dressed guest who had been and Katy Perry, the singer, are just two who On a recent job in which father and both
watching him closely, occasionally making have unexpectedly served as unpaid baby- sons modeled for Tiffany’s Christmas cam-
a funny face at him. The guest then picked sitters at various fashion events; they found paign, Nicole recalls, Hudson said good-
up his dinner knife and made as if he were him such a kick. He has modeled in Chanel bye to everyone when the shoot was over
going to slit his throat if he didn’t get out of shows in Dallas, Dubai, Edinburgh, Rome, as if he were the company’s C.E.O. “It was
I
Brad, and Hudson
asked Dele- Kroenig, and, at rear,
Sebastien Jondeau,
vingne what Lagerfeld’s personal
in her opin- assistant and sometime
ion makes a model.
good model.
Her answer:
“To be able to be animal, to be able to be
exposed, to be able to be truthful, to be able
to be morbid, to be able to be a blank canvas
and transform yourself into what the client
wants.” Hudson can do all that without bat-
ting an eyelash. Delevingne describes him as
Lagerfeld’s mascot. “Karl gives him the free-
dom to explore and use his mind differently
than anyone in the world,” says Brad. Lager-
feld says, “It would be different if he neglect-
ed his schoolwork or didn’t take it seriously.
He does all the regular activities, including
lots of sports. The thing is that he loves to
model, and I think he could have a bigger
PHOTOGR A PH BY M A RI O M AGNA N I /B AUE R- G RI F F I N/ F I LM MAG I C
career than his father. His face is open like a clothes, and I do his hair. We change up- son showed me his closet full of Chanel
window. There is something like sunshine in stairs and then we come back downstairs outfits custom-made for him. He went
it, like [silent-movie star] Mary Pickford when for the show. Mom and Dad wait in the liv- through them one by one, including the
she was just starting out. But he also has a ing room on the couch. We start out in the shoes, citing the themes of the shows that
certain melancholy like what one sees in the bathroom, walk around the living room, they were created for and the countries in
Chaplin films. In a way he is beyond fashion, and go back upstairs, and I choose new which he wore these things. He is too big
but he loves it.” outfits.” His mother says that he doubles for many of them now, but they’re still
On weekend mornings at home in New as the D.J. too, playing music by such fa- arranged neatly in his closet in pride of
Jersey, Hudson often stages private fashion vorites as Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Justin place. He also loves to sketch, something
shows for his mom and dad and any guest Bieber. “And he’ll give his brother a spritz else he learned from Lagerfeld.
who might be visiting. “I put on clothes of cologne as they hit the runway,” says Ni- About how mad Hudson is for model-
from Chanel,” he explains. “And I dress cole, laughing. ing, Lagerfeld says, “It’s better than staring
up my brother, Jameson. I choose his When I visited the family home, Hud- at the Internet all day.”
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in New York City.
A II RR
The cast of Metropolitan—
www.vanityfair.com
www.vanityfair.com
P H OTOG R APH
BY
Spotlight
JONATHAN BECKER
S E PT EMBER
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ST YLED BY ALICIA LOMBARDINI. LEDER’S CLOTHING BY TOMMY HILFIGER; SHOES BY TOD’S. RUTLEDGE-PARISI’S GOWN BY ROSIE ASSOULIN; JEWELRY
BY HARRY WINSTON. EIGEMAN’S CLOTHING BY BRUNELLO CUCINELLI. KEMPE’S C L OT H I N G BY C A R U S O . GILLIES’S GOWN BY ZAC POSEN; JEWELRY
BY VAN CLEEF & ARPELS. H U N D L E Y ’ S G OW N BY J . M E N D E L ; J E W E L RY BY CH O PA R D . FA R I N A ’ S G OW N BY O S C A R D E L A R E N TA ; J E W E L RY BY CH O PA R D .
SHOE S BY J OHN LOBB. N ICHOLS ’ S C LOTHI N G BY BU RB E RRY L ON D ON . ST IL LMA N’ S C LOTHI NG BY T UR NBULL & ASSER . HAIR PROD UCTS BY R ENE F URT ER ER .
MAK E U P PROD UC TS BY CHA NE L . G ROOMI N G PRO DU C TS BY SIS LE Y. HAI R , MA KE U P, A ND G ROOMING BY BIRG IT T E. F OR D ETAILS, G O TO VF.COM/ CR ED I TS
THOMPSON’S GOWN BY J. MENDEL; JEWELRY BY H. STERN. CLEMENTS’S TUXEDO BY BL ACK BY VERA WANG; SHIRT AND BOW TIE BY TOMMY HILFIGER;
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ne shouldn’t be out at night eating hors d’oeuvres when tors channeling the “urban haute bourgeoisie”—or “U.H.B.’s,” in the
one could be home worrying about the less fortunate.” movie’s parlance—with razor precision. On the rare occasion of a
It is one of the many indelibly sardonic lines from Met- cast get-together, they slip right back into the rapport that made the
ropolitan, Whit Stillman’s 1990 debut movie, about an shoot so successful. “It’s like a family reunion,” says Carolyn Farina,
uptown clique of over-educated and under-employed young Man- who played the dewy bookworm Audrey Rouget. Since 1990, they
hattanites who slouch around during deb-ball season contemplat- have all gone forth in the wide world racking up successful careers
ing the upperness of the upper crust. Twenty-five years later, in the in everything from film and television to law, psychiatry, writing, and
era of the 1 Percent and schlock-anthropological dissections of Up- even the ministry. It gives Stillman—now directing Love & Friendship,
per East Side folkways, the film feels like anything but a faded cotil- a movie based on Jane Austen’s Lady Susan—a proud feeling. Met-
lion corsage; it’s as crisp as ever. Which is a good thing: this month ropolitan turns out to have been a “nice finishing school—or starting
Rialto Pictures is re-releasing the enduring favorite, whose fans like school,” he says. “The kids have all turned out nicely.” The kids, most
to recite pages of Stillman’s dialogue verbatim. of whom have kids of their own, return the compliment. “We are so
“People treated it like a documentary, with real people,” says Still- ridiculously proud to be a part of this film,” says Dylan Hundley, who
man, an eternal prepster at 63. But that sprawling ensemble cast in played Sally Fowler, the group’s intrepid hostess. “And we’re filled
their gowns and tuxes were, in fact, a talented bunch of young ac- with tremendous joy that it continues to live on.” — M A R K ROZ ZO
BODY OF WORK
Dustin Yellin, with
assistants, in his
studio, in Red Hook,
Brooklyn.
BIRG I TTE ; F OR D E TA I LS, G O TO VF. COM/ CR E D I TS
ST Y LE D BY S OR AYA DAYA N I; G ROOMIN G BY
A
Within days, the 15 Lincoln Center Psychogeographies sculp- “Who Is This Kid?”
tures were not only sold out, at around $150,000 each (one to s a congenital outsider, Yellin would make an un-
Lincoln Center itself), but also featured on the front page of The likely member of any ruling caste. “He was the
New York Times. Simultaneously, a Sotheby’s lobby exhibition of weirdest kid, a willful loner,” says his mother,
Yellin’s apocalyptic, Hieronymus Bosch–inspired, 24,000-pound Jackie Yellin, a Hawaii-based entrepreneur whose
Triptych—a super-terrarium containing a blood-spewing fountain, real-estate company leases properties to nursing
a cyclopean female serpent, and foaming geodesic domes—led to homes. His father, Ben, who, with his current wife,
its acquisition for $1.7 million. “The asking price!” Yellin marvels. operates a chain of Los Angeles martial-arts schools, adds, “Dustin
“My art is food for Pioneer Works. Everything I do is about that was always digging through garbage, bringing home rocks and oth-
larger mission—my Rizzoli book, my TED talk, the Psychogeog- er oddities, arranging strange junk in his room. He couldn’t have
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given a damn about school. But he always knew how to make mon- When he returned to Aspen, BLOCK PARTY
Yellin’s installation
ey. When he was a little kid, he went down to Venice Beach with a Yellin found that a girl he knew for the New York
boom box to break-dance. He attracted over a hundred people.” had taken up with an older man, City Ballet’s 2015 Art
(Yellin can be seen some 30 years later break-dancing in Jay Z’s a physicist. Spellbound, Yellin told Series, at Lincoln
2013 “Picasso Baby” video.) the physicist that he wanted to Center’s David H.
Koch Theater,
Yellin recalls, “When I was 11, I smoked pot. My mother said, study with him. “He introduced me in New York City.
‘If you don’t drink or do drugs again until you’re 18, I’ll buy you a to poetry, religion, science. I had no
car.’ ” At 14, he began “hustling Swatch watches,” hiring homeless culture—I had dropped out of As-
PHOTOGR A PH F ROM A N DY RO ME R PH OTOG RA P HY
people to buy up one-per-customer limited-edition timepieces for pen High School,” Yellin says. And he also subjected the wayward
resale, a scheme that in two years netted him enough money to buy teen to experiments of a dubious nature. “He blindfolded me, put
an Audi. When Yellin turned 18 (he and his divorced mother had me on a saltwater bed in a dark room, and injected me with liquid
meanwhile left Los Angeles for Aspen, Colorado), he told her, “I ketamine”—the anesthetizing drug also known as K. “He told me I
kept my promise. Now you owe me a car.” But since he already had would think I had died. I felt like I had exploded through the uni-
one, Jackie gave her son $35,000 instead. “I spent every cent of it verse—like I had been reduced to a single cell.”
on drugs, sex, and rock ’n’ roll,” Yellin says. He hitchhiked through Finally, Jackie intervened. “I told him never to go near my
New Zealand, Australia, and Thailand, “read Freud, learned about son again,” she recalls. “But somehow some of the eccentric
Warhol, wrote bad poetry, and dropped acid in Bondi Beach while things Dustin did rebuilt him psychologically.” Yellin concurs:
watching Woodstock.” “I had seen my whole future. I knew I wanted to make a real so-
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310 VAN IT Y FA IR www.vanityfair.com S E PT EMBER 2 015
PIONEER SPIRIT
Top, left to right: Yellin at his Red Hook studio;
a detail of his Sensorium; bottles of acrylic paint arrayed
in Yellin’s studio. Center: Yellin gets a hug from
a friend as his mother, Jackie, a real-estate entrepreneur,
looks on, at the second annual Pioneer Works Village Fête,
May 3, 2015; the Village Fête dinner; Yellin and
an assistant work on one of his Psychogeographies.
Bottom: a detail from one of the Psychogeographies;
Yellin’s studio; the exterior of Pioneer Works.
Y
this kid?! Where did he get this apartment?! What does he do?! I
may have even found him a little bit annoying back then, like ‘Is et all had not been well in Yellin’s bohemian para-
this guy for real?’ ” dise. In 1999, following a period when the denizens
Yellin also attracted uptown types, including Andrew Kern, then of Yellin’s downtown salon had been reading “a
a Brown student and now an evolutionary geneticist and Pioneer lot of Fitzgerald,” as one friend recalls, and Yellin
Works board member. “Dustin had an incredible magnetism,” had maybe ingested too many substances, the artist
Kern remembers. “He stepped into the social scene through his embarked upon a quixotic mission to rescue Zelda,
crazy antics. His place was a clubhouse, almost more for work than who he was convinced was incarcerated, Rapunzel-like, in Central
parties. I’d be working on a science project, Dustin on his art. There Park’s Belvedere Castle. After repeatedly beseeching security guards,
was even a rehearsal studio going on in the back. We took it very se- Yellin was arrested for trespassing and was locked up in the psych
riously—an amalgamation of different disciplines working together.” ward of Roosevelt hospital. “They even took my shoelaces,” he says.
Landscape designer Taylor Drayton Nelson, a member of Kern’s Jackie, who flew in to get him released, says, “Dustin didn’t want
Brown clique, says, “He always had the magic keys to clubs and res- to leave the hospital. He still thought he was in a book.” Yellin, it
taurants. The velvet rope disappeared for Dustin.” Yellin elaborates, turned out, had taped the delusional episode on his camcorder, and
“I met Giuseppe Cipriani when he was starting downtown Cipriani. the video lives on as a piece of performance art, called The Crack-
He said, ‘Anything this kid makes I’ll put up on my walls.’ When Up. “It is a total psychotic break captured on film,” Kern says.
the restaurant opened, I’d take out a big group to Cipriani and Giu- Then, early in 2000, the 24-year-old Yellin received his first real
seppe would feed us all for free.” publicity—not for his art but for another hospital visit, this time for
F OR DETA I LS , GO TO V F.CO M/C RE DI TS
Even with his hyperactive social life, Yellin was always obsessively a stab wound to his calf accidentally inflicted by Bijou Phillips. Just a
making art—at that point mostly paintings, collages, and, Nelson few months later, another Stable-related incident took a far graver
says, “psycho-repetitious drawings of multi-cellular entities.” Posen turn. One habitué died of an overdose. “It was a huge tragedy. It
adds, “He was probably too prolific—he could have used editing. broke up the whole scene,” a former Stable regular says. Kern ob-
But he was open to discussion.” With the avuncular aid of Tony Du- serves, “Dustin has had to come out of that shadow. He left New
razzo, an interior designer Yellin had met in 1995, his efforts grew York for a while and he grew up a lot.”
incrementally more accomplished. On Durazzo’s first visit to the “Everyone grows up and gets married,” Yellin says today. “So
then,” Liv Tyler says, “like ‘Is this guy for real?’ ”
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“He is doing all this instinctively, and brilliantly,
I did, too.” He had his first solo gallery show, at the Lower East In 2011, with a loan guaranteed by his mother, sales from his art,
Side’s James Fuentes Project Space, and took as his bride “a Cana- and funds advanced from collectors, Yellin purchased the derelict
dian girl named Danielle Pittman.” Just before their 2003 wedding, brick behemoth and its adjoining garbage-strewn lot for $3.7 mil-
at his mother’s compound on Kauai, Yellin and Nelson went swim- lion. “It was a shithole,” he says. “We had no windows, no floors,
ming on an isolated beach, a known shark breeding ground, and, no stairs, no utilities.” And when the comprehensive renovations
Nelson remembers, almost drowned getting back to shore. Finally, were nearly complete, Hurricane Sandy hit and he had to re-start
winded, quaking, and bleeding, the pair scrambled over perilous reconstruction, from the bottom up. Yellin likens the entire under-
rocks back to the house, with 15 minutes to spare before the cer- taking to Fitzcarraldo, the Werner Herzog film about a madman
emony. The bride wore Zac Posen; Yellin had bartered a sculpture, who hauled a steamship over a mountain to build an opera house
a resin cube in which the artist had inserted a dead mouse, for the in the Peruvian jungle.
dress. “The marriage lasted eight months,” Yellin says. “She want- Yellin established Pioneer Works as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and
ed to have children. I didn’t. I left her and got back on my feet.” assembled boards of directors and advisers, among them entre-
In the early 2000s, Yellin had an epiphany when Durazzo, a preneurs such as Andres Santo Domingo, who was won over by
Carroll Gardens native, took him and some friends on a road his friend’s “persistent innocence,” and artists such as Mickalene
trip to Brooklyn. “We stopped at Defonte’s, in Red Hook, to get Thomas, who got involved, she says, because “I’ve not met anyone
sandwiches, and sat by the water eating,” Durazzo says. Yellin who thinks that big.” So as not to “confuse my mission,” Yellin set
looked around the neighborhood, which Life once reported to be up his studio in a 15,000-square-foot converted food warehouse two
a crossroads of crack consumption, and declared that this was doors away and rented an apartment close by.
where he was going to live. Kern, who had joined the expedition And what exactly is the mission of Yellin’s perpetually mutating
that day, remembers, “Dustin had a little money—his art was pro- “cultural Utopia”? According to its Web site, the Pioneer Works
gressing. He took a chunk of that money” and, circa 2004, Center for Art and Innovation “is dedicated to the creation, syn-
bought a 2,500-square-foot former garage on Van Brunt Street. thesis and discussion of art, science and education.” Chanel global
“This was the most disgusting garage you’ve ever seen. I told him C.E.O. and Yellin collector Maureen Chiquet explains, “Dustin
he was nuts,” Kern continues. “Well, of course he turned it into a is breaking the model of siloed education. I’m on the board of
really nice place. He has this vision. He sees things in spaces, Yale—we’re looking at ways to combine art and science and get
people, and the world that others just miss.” past brick walls. Dustin is doing all this instinctively, and brilliantly,
Next, in 2007, Yellin bought with his photographer girlfriend, from scratch.” Chiquet is not the only representative of a blue-chip
Charlotte Kidd, a 15,000-square-foot warehouse on Imlay Street, corporation paying attention to how Yellin is cross-pollinating dis-
in Red Hook. An offbeat, mixed-use complex, the Kidd Yellin ciplines—so is General Electric. Beth Comstock, president and
space became part studio, part house, part gallery, and part han- C.E.O. of G.E. Business Innovations, says, “I watch incubators in
gar for Yellin’s 1952 Airstream. Silicon Valley and all around the world. Pioneer Works is leading the
Though Kidd Yellin was founded partly as an alternative to the way. It’s a great community to keep plugged into. You never know
Chelsea art scene, Yellin held a few one-man shows at Manhattan’s where innovation is going to happen.”
Robert Miller Gallery. The first, in 2005, sold out; the second, in Bob Colacello, a Pioneer Works advisory-board member and
2007, was a critical failure. “There is a superhuman aspect to the ac- a Vanity Fair special correspondent, says, “I’m asked if Pioneer
tual making of these pieces,” Roberta Smith wrote in The New York Works is anything like Andy Warhol’s Factory. It’s not. Dustin is
Times, “but extreme skill is no guarantee of profundity… His work more generous. He has exhibitions and workspace for other art-
is highbrow kitsch.” Subsequently, Vito Schnabel, Richard Heller, ists. He has a radio station, a recording studio, scientists, a photo
and other dealers showed his work, but Yellin has now more or less lab, a 3-D printer, an education program.” More than 2,000
forsaken galleries. “If any of your parents want to buy anything,” students of all ages so far have enrolled in short- and long-form
he informed a group of Chapin schoolgirls touring his studio one courses, covering everything from lock picking to the works of
afternoon, “tell them to come directly to Papa.” Adam Smith. “He has these fabulous Second Sundays,” Cola-
cello continues, “where you can see open studios and live per-
Y
Art Utopia formances. One time there was an all-female mariachi band, with
ellin and Kidd broke up, and their space went to gorgeous Mexican girls.”
her. But he already had his eye on a bigger prize, With money from grants, donations, and fund-raisers, Yellin ex-
a 25,000-square-foot, three-story, pigeon-infested pects in a few years to generate a total operating budget of around
Civil War–era ironworks building with 40-foot ceil- $5 million per annum. Pioneer Works no longer relies heavily on
ings, around the corner at 159 Pioneer Street. “I income from sales of its founder’s art; Yellin, who lives relatively
can remember so clearly the day he told me about modestly, channels much of that revenue back into his studio’s
Pioneer Works for the first time,” Liv Tyler recalls. “He was jump- overhead, rapidly escalating due to the increasing demand for his
ing on a giant pogo stick, and he pointed down the street to a huge output.
abandoned factory and said, ‘Liver’—what he has always called Among the dozens of artists who have benefited from a Pioneer
me—‘you see that building? I’m going to buy it one day and turn it Works residency are the art duo Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly,
into an art center.’ And then he went on to describe what it would who spent several months in 2014 developing their lauded perfor-
be like. And now here we are five years later and he did it. It is real mance piece Timelining in a second-floor studio and a third-floor
and it is beautiful and impressive.” rehearsal space. “Dustin doesn’t have all the gatekeepers and snob-
314 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2 015
from scratch,” says the global C.E.O. of Chanel.
biness you usually find in the art world,” Kelly says. Gerard adds, Only some of the activity seeped into Yellin’s studio. There, phi-
“He hands you your space and gives you whatever you want. Be- lanthropist Joanna Fisher was staking her claim on a rose-tinted Psy-
cause Dustin’s an autodidact, Pioneer Works is almost like an alter- chogeography for her Hamptons house, while her husband, Brian,
native school for him. In a way, everyone is there to teach Dustin. a developer, listened to Yellin’s plea for a Pioneer Works elevator.
His generosity as an artist is something we’ve never encountered. Some Yellin sculptures were wrapped in brown paper, ready for re-
Usually artists are competitive.” Yellin’s friend the Pulitzer Prize– moval; one bore the inscription “Lauren Santo Domingo.” From
winning author Tom Reiss agrees: “Dustin loves everyone else’s the sidelines, Yellin’s girlfriend, the French filmmaker-artist Zoé Le
creative egos. He’s learned the magic formula, which is that if Ber, noted, “Dustin never stops working.” By 2009, Yellin had re-
you’re competing with other creative people you’re just depleting nounced resin as his main medium—“It was highly toxic and going
your energy and destroying yourself.” to kill me,” he says—and switched to glass. The giant microscope-
As far as the sciences go, board member Matthew Putman, a slide-like sheets of glass used in the Psychogeographies and The Trip-
former Columbia physics professor and the founder and C.E.O. of tych are still, nonetheless, held together with a resin, which—as it has
Nanotronics, a microscope and artificial-intelligence company, has the same refractive properties as the glass—preserves the sculptures’
donated to Pioneer Works one of his company’s $250,000 micro- essential transparency.
scopes. In 2014, Putman oversaw resident artist Bruno Levy’s cre-
W
ation, via the microscope’s technology, of startling digital images of Tomorrow, the World
vitamin-C crystals. Putman, in fact, became so enamored of Pioneer hen Yellin changed media, Tony Du-
Works that he situated a Nanotronics research lab across the street, razzo returned to his original profession,
where a Pioneer Works bookshop has also opened. “A place like and new assistants now help plot the
Pioneer Works had been my dream forever,” Putman says. “The dif- topographic-map-style contours nec-
ference between Dustin and me is that I didn’t realize it could actu- essary to build up the illusion of 3-D
ally happen.” humans, landscapes, and beasts. The
Meanwhile, Barnard astrophysicist Janna Levin is writing her lat- studio, in fact, resembles a morgue or massive operating room,
est book in a third-floor office, while also coordinating a “Scientific with unfinished Psychogeographies (a few now sprouting animal
Controversies” series, in which she pairs thinkers who dispute such heads) lying prone on worktables, awaiting the careful insertion of
topics as the possible existence of more than one universe. At the end paper collage elements from the section of the atelier called the
of the inaugural “Many Worlds” debate, panelists each went home “cutting room.” Tiny images, clipped from books and magazines,
with a tintype portrait taken by resident artist Robyn Hasty. “We are sorted into bins of varying sizes labeled “Black and White,”
have a brain trust here—a Beuysian social sculpture!” Yellin says. “Gemology,” “Animals,” “Symmetry,” “Icebergs.” These bits
Reiss elaborates: “Dustin’s got this incredible carnival going on, of cultural detritus are attached to the glass plates with a simple
a massive social structure that exactly parallels the art he’s doing. Staples glue stick by Yellin and members of his fluctuating team of
He’s trying to contain everybody—and everything—in his boxes.” about 20 studio deputies. “We’re trapping consciousness,” Yellin
O
says. “These are maps of our species.”
n the Second Sunday in March, more than 400 The still, quiet center of Yellin’s world is located not in his studio
people filtered into Pioneer Works in spite of the but in his spartan apartment nearby, which he currently uses “only
arctic temperature. (The numbers would spike to to sleep,” he says. The walls are lined with paintings by Rene Ri-
nearly 4,000 by June.) “Build it,” Yellin says, “and card and Benjamin Degen, drawings by Marcel Dzama and Ernesto
they will fucking come!” Local hipsters and their Caivano. In an antique glass-fronted bookcase Yellin safeguards his
children mixed with kids from the local housing first editions of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Nabokov, Isherwood, and
projects, foreign tourists, street-cred-seeking Manhattanites, and Henry Miller. Another shelf holds photo albums, visual diaries of his
Yellin’s ubiquitous mutt, Townes. On the second floor, the studio of life, including full documentation via Polaroid of the young, beauti-
Korean artist Hyon Gyon bulged with prismatic, textile-encrusted ful, and soon-to-be-famous visitors to the Stable. And arrayed fastidi-
wall hangings, while that of the Brazilian Henrique Oliveira teemed ously on surfaces, or secreted inside a vintage dentist’s cabinet, is a
with labyrinthine graphite drawings. “Eventually, a Pioneer Works salmagundi of natural and artificial curiosities, some of which Yellin
school of art will come out of here, as in the Hudson River School,” has treasured since childhood: a glittery geode, a moldavite chunk
Pioneer Works advisory-board member Justin Stanwix, an eBay that glows like kryptonite, a geisha’s spiky sex toy, a ghoulish 18th-
executive, predicts. In a dimly lit office on the third floor, Levin, century ivory crucifix, a Mesopotamian cylinder seal, a shrunken
Putman, and futurist Michael Vassar argued, beers in hand, about head (“probably a fake”).
whether Ptolemy was any more mistaken than their own contem- Several weeks later—after his autobiographical TED talk in Van-
poraries about the classification of planets. “This discussion would couver, where he fraternized at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel until
never take place in an academic setting,” Levin says. A few smokers one A.M. with Google’s Larry Page and the city’s mayor—Yellin is
wandered outside to the half-acre garden, which in due time would back in town, shilling for Pioneer Works. He has donated a diminu-
blossom with flowering pear trees, mullein, and sunflowers. (The or- tive sculpture to the Oceana gala at the Four Seasons restaurant;
ganic vegetables also cultivated there will supply the produce for an just before it is auctioned off for $31,000, he finds his way to Michael
upcoming Pioneer Works restaurant.) Indoors, a live band played Bloomberg’s table. A supplicant on bended knee, Yellin manages
on the ground floor, where stragglers could still be found dancing to extract from one of New York’s richest citizens both his personal
near midnight. e-mail address and a promise to visit Pioneer Works. “Dustin,”
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his mother says, “has no secrets and no shame.” Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, monize artists for being too ambitious.” But
“I’m a manic optimist!” Yellin exclaims at among others, which in a week’s time would Yellin, he believes, disarms detractors by “want-
Sant Ambroeus SoHo, where, by the time net them more than $800,000. ing the arts to be a tool for success for everyone.”
his pasta cacio e pepe is set before him, he As the speeches, auctions, pig roasts, and
has brokered a deal with the manager for a
“lifetime of free food” in exchange for a col-
laged glass backgammon board. Later, back
O n the sunny afternoon of the party, a bevy
of early birds—Alexa Chung, Lauren Santo
Domingo, Sienna Miller, Poppy Delevingne—
tarot readings roll out according to plan, Yellin
surveys his improbably idealistic, fully function-
ing wonderland. “I’ve done exactly what I set out
at Pioneer Works, he and his cousin and co- sets the tone of the evening by celebrating Dele- to do 20 years ago,” he says. “I look at the world
director, Gabriel Florenz, strategize about vingne’s 29th birthday outside with Oreos and and know I can change it. I will make more Pio-
goals for their second “Village Fête” fund- Bombay Sapphire gin. Santo Domingo’s hus- neer Works—in Kauai, L.A., Paris, Lagos, San
raiser, hosted by Brooklynite power couple band, Andres, reflects, “People sometimes de- Francisco, London. We’re just getting started.”
Dr. Fredric Brandt So, it wasn’t just on his outer self that Fred his courage, his sheer force of will, allowed him
wanted a do-over, it was his inner too. His de- to turn his liabilities into assets, into style, and he
sire, essentially, was to be both Pygmalion and became not only a towering figure in his field
Galatea, Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, but the final word in chic: he shaped the looks
Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Frankenstein’s mon- of so many of those whom we aspire to look like.
ster. That, of course, is an impossible dream And even when it was all gloom and doom
to realize, and if it were possible, it would with him, it wasn’t. My first novel came out
probably turn into a nightmare. a couple of weeks before Fred died, at which
But enough of this talk. It feels wrong to close point he’d already fallen down the black hole
the piece hypothesizing about the reasons Fred of depression. I called Rob while he was at
might have had for killing himself. That he did work, began to dither on about which passage
shouldn’t be considered his defining moment, I should choose for that night’s reading, or the
since it was an anomalous one. His life was, in number of people coming or not coming—
was asked which
C ON T I N U E D F ROM PAGE 270 all the important ways, a triumph of the comic some Nervous Nelly thing.
historical figure he would most like to be. principle, and if he succumbed to a tragic im- Suddenly a voice piped up in the background.
pulse, it was only at the very end. Fred didn’t It was muffled-sounding, so I couldn’t make out
You may admire somebody but you don’t have it easy: born to uncongenial parents; on the any of the words. But then Rob said, “Fred told
know what inner turmoil they’re experienc- dweeby-looking side; gay at a time when to be me to tell you that when they turn your book
ing… So I don’t want to take anyone’s life.
Now if I was reincarnated, that’s a different gay was to be on the margins. These are serious into a movie, he wants to play the male lead.”
story. Then I could build my own personal- handicaps, enough to cause most people to hit Once more the voice piped up, and this
ity… I would like to form all the aspects of the wall or the bottle. But Fred wasn’t just a pure time I heard it, clear as a bell. “Or the female
myself and not have all the external influences heart, he was a tough cookie too, and somehow lead!” And then he let loose with that crazy,
of growing up. that combination saw him through. His talent, beautiful laugh.
Chelsea Clinton C.G.I. would cease accepting new donations about foreign influence, the Clintons’ lu-
from foreign governments and that the Clin- crative speaking careers have raised ques-
ton Foundation would report all donors on tions of simple good taste. Since 2001 the
an annual basis. We now know those terms family has made more than $130 million
weren’t honored: for example, the Health in speaking engagements. Bill puts roughly
Access Initiative failed to disclose its con- a tenth of his fees into the foundation; Hil-
tributors. Making things murkier, the foun- lary, somewhat more. More than $11 million
dation continued accepting donations from in speaking and appearance engagements
foreign individuals, their foundations, and have come from relatively small charities—
companies, including a member of the Sau- the Happy Hearts Foundation, the Boys and
di royal family and a Ukrainian oligarch— Girls Club of Long Beach, among others—
more than a dozen in total, which added up which have discovered that having a Clinton
to between $34 million and $68 million dur- in the house comes at a hefty price. Con-
C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 2 8 0 attests to Chel- ing the years when Hillary was secretary of sider the case of model Petra Nemcova’s
sea’s compassion when she talks with victims state, according to The Wall Street Journal. Happy Hearts Foundation, which rebuilds
and survivors. After Hillary stepped down, the board, schools hit by natural disasters. Sue Veres
which includes Chelsea, voted to resume ac- Royal, the former executive director, recalls
Taylor Swift self a lot”). But then she considers the question planned anything. But, hey, I like him as a per-
further. “Or I call my mom. My mom is the last son. And that’s a really good, nice first step, a
straw. She is the last-ditch effort for me to feel nice place for us to be.” I tell her that there’s
better because she’s really good at being ratio- an animated GIF of her and Kardashian, danc-
nal and realistic. She’s going to always bring me ing in the audience at the Brit Awards, that
back to a place where I’m not so imbalanced.” I really like, and she immediately knows the
one I’m talking about. “I love Kim,” she says.
Gossip Swirl “She’s the sweetest. She’s just a really sweet,
Mr. Show attention of manager and producer Bernie Brill- “A Bob Angel”
stein, who took them into HBO. So with the help
of a handful of friends from the burgeoning
alternative-comedy scene of the 90s, Mr. Show
‘T here surely is! Holy shit!,” Bob says
when asked if there is real affection be-
tween him and David. “I think so highly of
was born. It debuted at midnight on November him and his mind that it’s hard to put into
3, 1995. “We were all hanging out every night words. It feels pretty goddamn special, more
anyway,” says Sarah Silverman, who appeared than you want it to be almost.”
on Mr. Show numerous times. “So when Bob “Well, I feel very much the same way,”
and David made this show and used their Cross says. “I knew early that it was very spe-
friends to write with them and be in it and be cial—he did, too. You know, we’re similar. We
wardrobe, it felt like—even before it was in retro- definitely share some similar traits. I think
spect—like we were a part of a special moment we both have our ideas of what works and
in time, and I knew I was lucky to be part of it.” what doesn’t.” Have their minds and person-
C ON T I N U E D F ROM PAGE 29 9blew up and, ac- Conan O’Brien, who joined S.N.L.’s writing alities rubbed off on each other over the years?
cording to legend, either punched Bob in the staff in 1988, a year after Odenkirk did, remem- “Oh, absolutely,” Cross says. “I go into
face or kicked a chair and injured himself badly bers thinking that Odenkirk didn’t adapt to the other projects—and I imagine I’ll continue
enough he couldn’t perform. medium; the medium was finally ready for a guy to do this in my professional career until it’s
“Al threw a football at me,” Bob says. “He who’d been a few years ahead of his time. “Mr. over—with almost like a Bob angel on my
claimed he thought I’d catch it even though I Show is huge,” O’Brien says when asked about its shoulder whispering into my ear, you know,
wasn’t looking in his direction. I like Al—we’ve historical significance. “I think of modern com- his point of view, and I’m lucky to have that.”
become good friends in the past few years. I edy as starting really with Monty Python, [which] Two days after With Bob & David wraps, Cross
think he’s a character and one of the funniest split the atom because they ended a sketch the will fly to London to shoot the third season of the
and smartest people I know in the world. Over minute it stopped being funny and just said, Let’s IFC show The Increasingly Poor Decisions of
the years my consideration of S.N.L. and what start a new one. Now, to me that is to comedy Todd Margaret. Cross admits to being an Anglo-
Lorne does there has changed immensely. I what fire or stone tools is to civilization. That’s just phile. “Yeah, in an embarrassing way,” he says. “I
wanted that show to be what I wanted it to be, a massive leap forward, but there were many leaps mean it certainly informs a lot of my humor and
not what it is. There are limitations and chal- forward. And I think what Mr. Show did at its best music and literature. And my dad and his whole
lenges there that bothered me, and Monty Python was take the abstract riffs that were making writ- side of the family were off the boat; they grew
was always my touchstone. Python clearly had ers laugh in the room and just put them on TV.” up in Leeds—so I grew up around somewhat of
more time to re-write and cut things together in “For me, Mr. Show always reminded me to that, and from a very early age: Python, Peter
interesting, offbeat ways, also to shoot a scene just make yourself laugh—that’s the most impor- Sellers, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, all that.”
in a live format or filmed, whatever was best for tant thing,” says Bill Hader. “Don’t be pander- The 51-year-old Cross, who spends most of
the idea. I wanted to do Python! So did David.” ing. Just do the thing—it might seem weird, the his time in upstate New York with his wife, Am-
The seed for Mr. Show was planted on stages inside thing that makes you laugh, and some- ber Tamblyn, an actress since childhood and a
in L.A. comedy clubs, where the duo caught the times it connects, and sometimes it doesn’t.” poet, has lived in several hipster neighborhoods
318 VA NI T Y FA I R www.vanityfair.com S EP T EMB ER 2 015
(Silver Lake, Los Feliz, the East Village, DUMBO) David is also Shangy Two, Rick Shangwell, an Shingy isn’t a household name and his vid-
over the past two decades, and today’s young oncologist at Sloan Kettering who was working eos haven’t gone viral. Those who have heard
aspirants fascinate him: “The irony is that they on a non-invasive treatment for prostate cancer of him will feel in on the joke. To anyone who
feel they’re unique, but all their stuff is derivative before realizing that impersonating his younger hasn’t, the pre-tapes and David’s performance
of another era, and it’s a mishmash of stuff, and brother was much easier and far more lucra- will be hilarious on their own—while taking the
then they choose to live amongst themselves. tive, so he mostly does that now. Bob, sport- air out of new-technology worship, the ridiculous
You’re not unique anymore. I mean, move ing a feathered mullet wig, severely broken pretention of some TED talks, and the pomposi-
to fucking Gary, Indiana, and do that—then nose, and blue squeaking clown shoes, plays ty of anointing yourself the prophet of anything.
you’re awesome. You can’t move to Williams- the oldest brother (Shangy Three), George, “He speaks with such confidence,” Bob
burg because you want to grow a mustache.” a dim-witted former roofer with a speech im- says, before impersonating Shangy One. “It’s
But nothing prepared him for Shoreditch, in pediment from falling off a roof a couple of just like ‘Forget about brands! People want sto-
London. “I was doing stand-up over there, and times and biting his tongue (hence the slurring). ries! Stories are—long or short? Short. The best
I was like, Man, I owe Williamsburg an apol- Playing his brother is a pretty sweet deal for story is always short. The longest story you
ogy,” Cross says. “I had no idea. Shoreditch George because all he has to do is say the word ever read is the shortest story you can tell.’ ”
is like a set dresser with a billion He pauses. “ ‘Think about it: Casa-
dollars went in and was like, O.K., blanca. Man. Woman gone. That’s
what can I do to create my own it! That’s the whole thing!’ ”
hipster mecca, in eight square David, in costume as Shangy Two,
London blocks? I have photos is getting ready to climb inside a hot-
on my phone right next to where air balloon and, while aloft, deliver a
I was staying. They had a Pop-art crazy word-salad lecture to “Richard
artisanal-umbrella store: hand- Branson.” When Jason Woliner, the
crafted umbrellas, the finest can- Human Giant alum who’s directing
vas, hand-dyed—like, who gives the sketch, says “Action!,” the Bran-
a shit? It’s a fucking umbrella.” son look-alike is crouched in a corner
and looking up at Cross as Shangy
Shangy Two, who begins riffing away: “Digital
hair, Skrillex-style glasses, and all spring forward, fall backward, but
kinds of crazy outfits, and de- what if it turns out no one’s here—
scribes himself to his 15,000 Twit- SHOW ME THE FUNNY spring back, fall forward—it makes no
ter followers as “by day a creative Bob Odenkirk and David Cross sense except in the digitive world.”
inventor of ideas for the future, influenced by in the mid-90s in a publicity still from They nail it. They get the shot. The scene
the now. Accidental singer-songwriter by night.” Mr. Show with Bob and David. will end up in With Bob & David’s third epi-
Since appearing on the scene, he has been sode and last 12 seconds. In another memora-
equally praised and derided. Shingy is a bril- ble scene filmed that day, the camera tilts down
liantly subversive performance artist, or one of “digital” a few times and he’s golden. In a pre- for four seconds to show Shangy Three moroni-
the most ludicrous public figures of the century. tape already shot, Shangy Three fills in at a con- cally squeezing his blue squeaking clown shoe.
They decided David would take on the role ference in Russia. After being introduced to a “Oh God, isn’t that great?,” Odenkirk says
of a “digital soothsayer” named James Shang- large crowd by Vladimir Putin, he says “digital” later at Book Soup. “Sometimes when I think
well, who goes by Shangy, and who has two enough times and then takes a sledgehammer to about these shows, however much a sketch
brothers who fill in for him when he can’t fit a watermelon, sending hunks flying at the movers is good or bad, it’s those little moments that
a personal appearance into his busy schedule. and shakers sitting up front, much to their delight. make you so happy. Make you so happy.”
Mindy
KALING
After eight seasons on The Office and three as the star of The Mindy Project, which
she created, the actress is back with a second book, Why Not Me? Here she
discusses drinking alone, “Irish exits,” and being reincarnated as a young Leo DiCaprio