O GILLES: When it comes to snagging top-tier fashion photographers, Equinox never seems to sweat it. Gilles Bensimon is the latest to join the ranks, having just shot Equinox Orange Label, the health club’s first private label collection. Terry Richardson, Ellen von Unwerth, Steven Klein and Sante d’Orazio are among the other well-known photographers who have shot for the chain.
Bensimon made the most of the Desert Dry four-way stretch moisture-wicking workout wear, picturing models using their tops, shorts and pants as resistance bands for exercise. The photos will be used online and possibly in Equinox’s shops and store windows. Afterward, the lensman talked shop with Equinox’s creative director, Bianca Kosoy, over some chilled Sancerre at Milk Studios’ bar. “It was very French. We had a couple of glasses of wine and talked about photography and design,” she said.
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Bensimon isn’t the only big name collaborating with Equinox, which will open five new clubs this year, including its first international one in London. Jennifer Lopez has just compiled a new playlist for Equinox.
— ROSEMARY FEITELBERG
BOWING OUT WITH GRACE: Jay Fielden, new editor in chief of Town & Country, is no longer writing Grace Coddington’s memoir. Back in October, he told WWD that he was able to save the book when his house in Connecticut caught fire and burned to the ground. But Coddington confirmed on Thursday that Fielden, with whom she’d worked in the past on a coffee-table book, is no longer involved with her autobiography. “We both recently began to realize that having a job like Jay’s wasn’t going to allow us the time it takes to write a story as detailed as mine,” said Coddington. “So we shed a few tears and agreed to reconvene for volume two.”
And Fielden added, “I may not write this version of the story but I can’t help feeling I’ll one day return to the year I spent imagining I was a fashion legend with enormous red hair.”
Coddington, creative director at Vogue, noted it’s too early to say who will take over for Fielden.
— AMY WICKS
DIOR BELLE: Mathilde Meyer, longtime European public relations executive at Prada, is moving over to Christian Dior as head of p.r., a new post reporting to president and chief executive officer Sidney Toledano. Meyer is known for her broad and strong society connections in her home base of Paris, all the way up to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as her personal style. She made Vanity Fair’s International Best-Dressed List in 2009.
— MILES SOCHA