Hadid it

Can I tell you...about the Chanel Mobile Art exhibition. I had read about the latest Chanel marketing coup several months ago and was intrigued by it. Karl and Zaha, what a combination! I'm a fan of Zaha Hadid's work and the idea of a self contained traveling art exhibit of all things Chanel was definitely worth seeing. Coincidentally, I happened to be in Hong Kong where they debuted the structure.The Chanel Contemporary Art Container was erected on the Star Ferry Carpark in Central,the business district of Hong Kong. It looked like an alien space ship (7,500 square feet) had landed with chic little UFOs milling about dressed in...you guessed it...Chanel. The structure's organic and fluid lines was such a stark contrast to the geometric and angular skyscrapers, it was stunning. My bff and Hong Kong man-about-town Choy Urra reserved several tickets to see the exhibit. It's only by appointment so you can't just go on a whim. You reserve tickets on line and they messenger the tickets to your address...for free! Can you just imagine what kind of marketing budget they have to go to this extreme?!We got there right after lunch so we avoided the after work crowd. Each guest is given an MP3 player to listen to. The soundtrack was created by the American label Soundwalk in collaboration with the artists. You had the choice of Chinese, French or English. Once I pressed play I was hypnotized. It was French icon Jeanne Moreau speaking to me as well as some ambient sound effects and original music. I can listen to that raspy voice all day. She told me to go, stop, sit, look into a well, in boxes, peek inside a little S&M room, to listen and to dream.I was transported into a Chanel acid trip. I've actually never done acid but I have an active imagination and this is as surreal as it gets. The whole experience was like being in a "3-D film" going from section to section, each featuring different artist's vision of Chanel's iconic 2.55 quilted bag."2.55" signifies February 1955 when the bag was designed by Coco Chanel. There were a total of 20 artists such as Yoko Ono, Sylvie Fleury, photographers Nobuyoshi Araki and Stephen Shore and the Russian collective Blue Noses hand picked for this project by curator Fabrice Bousteau. The 'trip' lasts for about 50 minutes. At the exit they give you a magazine as memorabilia.The magazine contained the artist's bios and the concept behind the whole exhibit just in case you walked out of there a little confused and wondering if you should be rushing over to the Chanel store across the street to buy something...a lipstick, Chanel No.5 perfume or preferably the everlasting Chanel 2.55 quilted bag. Some of the women from our group did exactly just that. Now that's successful marketing! I had friends who weren't crazy about the whole experience, finding it self consciously hip and condescending. Fashionistas can be jaded. Personally I enjoyed it. It takes a lot of guts (and cash) to be able to poke fun at your brand at this massive scale. But then again, when you're Karl Lagerfeld, it seems like anything is possible. With Karl at the driver seat, I'm happy to go along for the ride.
This 'gallery-to-go' will be on the road for the next 2 years going to Tokyo this May, New York in September, London in June '09, Moscow in September '09 and finally Paris in February '10. Catch it where you can, this is one experience you don't want to miss. Thanks Karl, that was fun!

Rome if you want to

Can I tell you about ...my weekend in Rome. Last year the HBO series Rome really reignited my affection for this ancient metropolis. The writing, the cast, the sets and the costumes were brilliant. I hadn't been in a few years so this past March while in Milan, I decided it was now or never. I needed some inspiration and weekends in Milano can be awfully dull. I convinced Steffanie, my partner in crime in all things design related, to join me. I had to twist her arm (not)!I warned her that we would 'do' Rome in a weekend. That meant a lot of walking...and I mean a LOT of walking. I wanted to see as much as I could in 3 days. Fortunately, the city is great for walking around. The Colliseum and the excavated grounds around it are closed off from traffic on weekends so that was perfect. No tourist album is complete without photos with the gladiators so I hammed it up with one of them and took photos of his sandal as well. You never know right?The Vatican was a hop and a skip from our hotel so we got there bright and early. Those ceilings gave my neck a cramp. Incredible works of art and so over the top.Campo de Fiori is a really picturesque part of town. Every weekend food and flower vendors take over the piazza. It reminded us of Union Square market here in New York. The sun was out so all the cafe's were packed. It was great people watching.We also walked around the Ghetto, Rome's equivalent to the East Village. We hit Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, the Pantheon and across the river to Trastevere. We had high tea at Babingtons and pizza at Gusto. Hundreds of photos later and a few pounds lighter (yes, all that walking was bound to benefit us in some way), we managed to see quite a bit of Rome. I even got to make a wish at the Trevi. It's compulsory for all tourists. All we needed was a little Vespa to scoot around in and our weekend would have been the ultimate Roman holiday!

Forever Young..Ish!

Can I tell you...about my birthday. Last February 21, I turned 40. As you can imagine there was a lot of pressure leading up to the day itself for reasons too tedious to enumerate. Most of it came from friends asking me what I was planning to do because apparently 'everybody' does something major. I certainly witnessed that with Sophie's uber glam party in Paris when she flew me in just for the weekend. I'm more inclined to do smaller gatherings and that's exactly what I did. This way I get to celebrate and make a wish several times over. I don't see anything wrong with that, do you?First of, dinner with the family. We went to Danal, one of our favorite restaurants in the city. We've been going there for years; for brunch, for dinner and even for our company Holiday parties. In fact, I designed my first collection in Danal back when they were still an antique store serving tea and sandwiches on the side. Danny, the proprietor, always throws in a few cookies or dessert at the end of every meal. We love freebies. A few days later, I went to Zampa, my new favorite enoteca in the West Village. It's the perfect place for a small crowd. David invited all my closest friends and it was a really lovely and intimate evening. We were only supposed to stay a few hours but we ended up staying all night and drinking more than our share of wine. The problem with cocktails is that once you get started you can never seem to stop.The next day, I had some more cake at Rafe (the company), where every birthday is celebrated with everybody singing and having a slice or two of cake sometime after lunch. It's what we call "merienda" in the Philippines. Mine was no exception except instead of cake, Mom got me my favorite Mixed fruit tarts from Ceci-Cela. Perfect with coffee. Soooo good!
I left for Paris several days later for my bi-annual trip to attend Premiere Vision, the biggest and most important trade show for designers. My girfriend Sophie Albou treated me to a very special dinner at L'Atelier du Joel Robuchon. You must know that it is virtually impossible to get a reservation at this restaurant especially during PV but Sophie knows all the right people. I've indulged at his other outposts in Hong Kong and Tokyo but this was my first time here in Paris. In a word...Wow! What a feast that was.
An unforgettable gastronomic bacchanalia. Adolphe Besnard, the designer of Paul & Joe, who I've known for years and my other girlfriend, interior and fashion designer Roseanne de Pampelonne came as well. Each dish was better than the next. I've never eaten so well in my life. Okay, a hyperbole but you get the point.That Sunday, Adolphe and his partner Didier Bertrand invited me to their home in Montemarte for another intimate dinner. Every time I'm in Paris I have dinner chez Adolphe so this was a tradition but with the extra bonus of celebrating my birthday. More cake for me. Yay!
My last celebration was with my friend Victor Magsaysay and his partner Raymond in their domicile in the Marais. It was actually Raymond's birthday dinner.Coincidentally Raymond and I are a few days apart so Victor decided to celebrate mine as well. More cake, but for the last time...really!
If turning 40 is this much fun, I think I'll turn forty again next year. All kidding aside, as far as I'm concerned I'll be forever young...ish! LOL