BASSO RUNS WITH HILARY: Dennis Basso has no shortage of front-row favorites, but Hilary Rhoda is the only one who will headline his fall ad campaign.
Photographer Bernard Hunt shot the IMG model at The Art Factory, a 19th-century cavernous, industrial space in Paterson, N.J. Rhoda appears in the black-and-white images seated in a floral chiffon gown with leather gloves. In search of a sultry look, the designer said Rhoda represents the Dennis Basso brand and woman in that she has “a very strong look and is beautiful and naturally glamorous. She is a true American beauty.”
Gillian Wilkins served as stylist and art director, Frankie Boyd oversaw the makeup and Rolando Beauchamp did the hair. Basso first met Rhoda — who also appears in Via Spiga’s new campaign — through another fashion connection, Mary Alice.
The designer is giving the Hunt-shot ads to Harrods to break in its magazine, before running it in other fashion publications.
Rhoda and Avery, who married last fall, will join Basso at the head table when the designer is honored by FIT May 9 at The Plaza. Later in the month Basso will be the center of attention for another reason. He and his husband, Michael Cominotto, will be on hand May 22, when the remodeled chapel that they financed at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center on East 68th Street is unveiled.