ME, MYSELF AND I: Japanese designer Kenzo Takada is more known for his flower prints than his paintings. But that won’t last for long. For the first time in Paris, Takada will exhibit eight new works, all self-portraits. The paintings will be part of an exhibit titled “Un certain style de vie,” or “A Way of Life,” which will take place at Paris Urban Arts Gallery, Studio 55. The setting will be like in a private apartment where Pierre Cardin’s original furniture will mix with Salvador Dalí’s silverware or Joy de Rohan Chabot’s golden bronze seat and other paintings from Jean Faucheur and C215. The exhibit, which opens today, will run until July 10.
A BURBERRY BONUS: Angela Ahrendts, chief executive officer at Burberry Group plc, took home a bonus payment for the year ended March 31 that took her salary to 3.16 million pounds, or $4.67 million at current exchange. Her base salary was 910,000 pounds, or $1.35 million, and her bonus was the maximum possible — 200 percent of her base salary, or 1.82 million pounds, or $2.69 million. In addition, she received a cash allowance of 387,000 pounds, or $572,760, and benefits worth 45,000 pounds, or $66,600. In the 2009-10 fiscal year, Burberry pulled itself out of the red and reported profits of 82.2 million pounds, or $121.7 million.
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PRESIDENTIAL SWEET: Karl Lagerfeld, decorated earlier this month by French President Nicolas Sarkozy as a Commander of the Legion of Honor, was summoned back to the Elysée presidential palace Friday. According to a Paris source, Chanel’s acclaimed couturier was the guest of honor at a private dinner to celebrate the distinction, hosted by Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Among those in attendance, the source said, was Bernard and Hélène Arnault and Italian Vogue’s Franca Sozzani.
MISTER TWISTER: Mr. Nils, Lars Nilsson’s new men’s wear brand that bowed in January, could already be in trouble. According to Nilsson, Mabro, the Italian firm that manufactures the label, owes him more than $100,000, and has payments outstanding to suppliers. That means stores including Colette, Dover Street Market and United Arrows might not receive their orders for fall. Mabro chief executive officer Alessandro Giudice has been ousted from the company, according to sources. Mabro declined to comment.
HAVING A BALL: Diane von Furstenberg, Francisco Costa and Kenneth Cole will be front and center when Life Ball 2010 bows July 17 in Vienna. More than 40,000 people are expected to crowd City Hall Square to catch top models in a major league fashion show outside City Hall that will serve as a curtain raiser for the event. Each of the three designers will have their own runway show that will run one right after the other. Bill Clinton and Whoopi Goldberg will be on hand for the ball. Organized by AIDS LIFE and designed to raise awareness about the fight against HIV and AIDS, Life Ball 2010 will be held on the eve of the start of the XVIII International AIDS Conference.
YSL THROWS OPIUM PARTY: When Yves Saint Laurent threw a party last year for its Parisienne fragrance, security had to abate the hipster masses gathered on New York’s Norfolk Street, clamoring to get into the deconsecrated synagogue where the bash was being held. On Thursday, the brand is celebrating yet another scent, Opium (a reissue of the 1977 original), with a fete at a space on 37th Street, and it looks to be another sensory overload. Ambient music will waft throughout the rooms decorated in blue tones. There will be holograms as well as fortune tellers and jugglers. Alexa Chung and Alexandra are DJing and each guest will get a CD of their Belle D’Opium playlist. It seems YSL has no intention of scaling down after last year’s mobfest. Hopefully, when it comes to security, they’re scaling up.
ROOM SERVICE: Fashion designers keep dabbling in hotel design. Later this month, the chic Les Etangs de Corot hotel, famous for its luxurious Caudalie Spa and located right outside Paris, will unveil a junior suite decorated by the French contemporary brand Paul & Joe. The 325-square-foot room will rent for 285 euros, or $350 at current exchange. Last year, Les Etangs owners Alice and Jerôme Tourbier tapped Maison Martin Margiela to decorate a suite at their other famous spot, Les Sources de Caudalie spa near Bordeaux.
CHANNEL HOPPING: London’s emerging men’s wear designers are heading to Paris. In a collaboration among the British Fashion Council, the U.K.’s Center for Fashion Enterprise and Fashion East, a nonprofit organization that supports emerging designers, 14 London men’s wear designers will show their collections at Tranoï Parc Royal in Paris June 24 to 27, to coincide with Paris Men’s Fashion Week. Among the designers showing their wares will be Christopher Kane, who has worked up a line of printed T-shirts for men, along with Carolyn Massey, Christopher Raeburn and James Long.
FOOTLOOSE: Adding to his bulging portfolio of clients, Giuseppe Zanotti has been tapped to produce a footwear line for Vionnet, due to be presented on June 21 at Vionnet’s Milan showroom. Zanotti already designs shoe lines for the likes of Balmain, Thakoon, Proenza Schouler and Christopher Kane.
GOING WESTFIELD: “I’ve eaten meals on top of mountains and in a room like a fish tank, but this is quite special,” said Roland Mouret during a dinner at Bistroteque’s pop-up restaurant that’s perched atop a building site in East London. The designer joined Tracey Emin, Richard Nicoll, Roksanda Ilincic, Pam Hogg and Antony Gormley to fete the young designers who won Westfield’s Studio East competition for fashion, product design, art and environmental design. The winners — Julian J. Smith, Lee Broom, Tatiana Echeverri Fernandez and Laurence Kemball-Cook — will have their designs showcased at the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre, which will open next year. The Bistroteque rooftop pavilion, which overlooks London’s 2012 Olympic Village, will remain open for three weeks.