We CAN'T WAIT to check out all the mint, vintage Margiela pieces that will be shown and sold in a collaborative retrospective and super-sale organized by the dynamic vintage couture entities 1stdibs and Resurrection. A show of 350 of the most amazing pieces will open Feb.13th at a pop-up gallery at One Jackson Square, but over 1,000 pieces will be on sale and viewable at the website 1stdibs. The clothing is all from the estate of the late, obsessed fashion collector Marcia Berger.

With the looming loss of Deitch Projects, now that Jeffrey Deitch is headed to the MOCA in L.A., Manhattan's art scene is losing a huge edge. L.A. is pumping, folks. Check out this awesome five week film festival our old friend Aaron Rose organized called Projections that's taking place Roberts & Tilton in Culver City.
 
Billed as a festival of "rare and hard to see films," Projections will feature the work of lots of our favorite artists and friends: Cheryl Dunn, Mike Mills, Chris Johanson, Jo Jackson and Thomas Campbell to Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alia Raza, Maximilla Lucacs and Autumn De Wilde. And on opening night (January 16th) don't miss a screening of Jonas Mekas (he was my teacher in college!!!)'s legendary 1968 film called Walden: Diaries, Notes and Sketches featuring appearances by the likes of Alan Ginsberg, Warhol, John and Yko, Edie Sedgewick, Jack Smith and more. Check the Projections site for more information.


Projections
January 16th-February 20th, 2010
Opening reception, Saturday, January 16th, 6-9 p.m.
Roberts & Tilton
5801 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232

Aren't these the CUTEST shoes? I just got these photos sent to me from Robert Clergerie. They are reissuing these shoes which were originally sold in 1990. They're made in Morocco, and are not only cruelty free but they are fabulous, eh?

Check out this photo my friend Gary just sent me. It's of a piece of art (a hat? a wig?) made of customized fingernails. This was, it seems, shown at Spinello Gallery Miami during Art Basel created by Lee Materazzi. Pretty good, eh? (via artlurker.com)

The amazing fashion super-blogger Bryanboy stopped by PAPER Tuesday to pick up a copy of our new ish which has his fun article in it! WHAT a sweetie. Loved him.

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I died when I saw these amazing silk scarves that Patricia Field has made in collab with the Keith Haring Foundation. They are apparently for sale in her Bowery shop starting today. Fabulous, eh?

The first Isabel Toledo show in many years took place in Washington, D.C. at the Swiss Embassy last week, and it was gorgeous to see what (IMO) one of America's greatest designers  created for the occasion. She went all out. The clothes were amazing. Pictures speak louder than words in this case so take a look.

Tonight is book launch night: Three parties for three books by/about people I love.

So here's my schedule.

1) Stop in to toast my amazing friend/chef Marcus Samuelsson's newest beautiful tome called The New American Table. Marcus (born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, but now a proud citizen of the USA!) has traveled across America to pay tribute to our country's various immigrant-influenced American cuisines.

2) Then it's to Bergdorf's to toast my friend Jean Marc Houmard, whose new book INDOCHINE celebrates his amazing restaurant that has created culture for the past 25 years. The book is fabulous and documents the history of downtown New York that seemed to always take refuge in this wonderful restaurant. You may say, "how can a book about a restaurant be interesting?" But this one is, I promise! It's a keeper. If PAPER were a restaurant we'd be Indochine. If Indochine were a magazine it would be PAPER. It's about community folks!

3) Finally, I'll end up at a dinner at Café Select for the new Martin Margiela book. Of course, what can I say. Margiela has inspired me forever. I wear Margiela. I live for Margiela. I can't wait to get the book!

Our friends Hunter Hill, Perry Moore and Allison Sarofim produced an amazing and wonderful documentary that's airing at 7 p.m. tonight on HBO about Maurice Sendak, and it's directed by Spike Jonze. Don't miss this! It's a must-see before seeing Where the Wild Things Are. Sendak is hilarious, brilliant, emotional, and insightful. This made me fall in love with the guy.

I kid you not! Believe it or not, Nicolas Sarkozy decided to unexpectedly stop by for a meet and greet with a (shocked) Jeremy Scott in Paris last week. And it doesnt seem to be because he was in love with the Flintstones either. Jeremy just emailed me this photo and told me that the whole thing came out of the blue sky. It seems Sarkozy just happened to be in the neighborhood, Jeremy's PR people deftly invited him over and Sarkozy actually had the time and came by. I love that no, it wasnt Karl, it wasn't Jean Paul, it wasn't Galliano... but Jeremy! What a yin yang of hairdos. Go team!

My old friend, light designer/guru Ingo Maurer is in town, and I hung with him last night, attending a screening of the AMAZING film Precious. We both were dumbfounded at the end and sat staring like zombies. WHAT a film. Mo'Nique has the Oscar in the bag. She is SO incredible.

Meanwhile, Ingo's in town to unveil his most wonderful newest creation called the Cash and Carry Chandelier-To-Go!!! He told me he's had the idea for 40 years and just got around to making it. It's simply fisherman's netting with lovely crystals dangling from it. They come in three sizes. But the fun part is that the light itself is not in the mesh; it's mounted somewhere else completely and aimed to shine at the netting and crystals to illuminate them. BRILLIANT!!! check it out! Plus, Ingo also has packaged it in a "to go" fun kind of container and calls it his cash and carry chandelier! I LOVE THIS MAN.

How is it possible that the fashion world continues to enable (if not encourage by its silence) its star designers to exclude people of color on the runways and in their ad campaigns? These shows are looked at by zillions of people, and along the way set the example for companies and fashion magazines all over the world. IT IS SHOCKING AND REALLY MAKES ME CRAZY. What's wrong with everybody? Look around. Do you only see white women in the stores shopping? Do you only see white women on the streets looking good?

I could show you tons of other examples, but above you can see the entire casting for the last Jil Sander show as an example of what I'm talking about. Here are photos of EVERY MODEL that walked the runway in the show last week in Milan. Need I say more? Can the talented designer Raf Simmons really not see how hurtful this kind of casting is? Why isn't anyone but Bethann Hardison talking about this????

One of my favorite designers, Jil Sander, has designed a line called +J for Uniqlo, and the stuff is going to be amazing. Check out this fierce men's coat as an example. +J, featuring 100 pieces for women and 40 for men, hits stores Oct. 1.

It's the Flintstones! Meet the Flintstones! Here are some fun snaps of Jeremy Scott's fun show in London that The Cobrasnake sent me this morning. I love this show!!! Jeremy always makes me smile. SO FUN! Catch more pics here.

Threeasfour's collab show with Yoko Ono at Milk last night was such a perfect ending to Fashion Week. In addition to providing the soundtrack to the show, sitting in the front row, and inspiring the dramatic presentation, Ono's rarely-seen dot drawings were transformed onto fabric prints. A smart performance, lovely clothes and Yoko. Need we say more?

CLICK HERE FOR PAPERMAG'S COMPLETE DOWN-LOW FASHION WEEK SPRING 2010 COVERAGE. >>

Looking over the past week, I must say that one of my favorite shows so far has been Alexander Wang whose collection was really modern, really fresh and really strong -- especially for someone so young. Yup folks, he's talented. Here are some of my favorite looks... (you can see the rest at style.com)

CLICK HERE FOR PAPERMAG'S COMPLETE DOWN-LOW FASHION WEEK SPRING 2010 COVERAGE. >>

Threeasfour created their new collection in collab with one of their fave artists, Yoko Ono, and were inspired by Ono's dot drawings (which I can't wait to see tomorrow night at MILK). They've also collaborated on a limited edition of these cool posters which will be on display at their show and sold at Aaron Bonderoffs and Al Moran's O.H.W.O.W. in Miami.

CLICK HERE FOR PAPERMAG'S COMPLETE DOWN-LOW FASHION WEEK SPRING 2010 COVERAGE. >>

Tim Walker's peerless whimsy, epic theatrics and lavish locales are gloriously at hand in Vogue U.K.'s October 2009 "The Lady Who Fell to Earth" -- his otherworldly exploration of an intergalactic-trotter sightseeing throughout his beloved British countryside. This latterly-published editorial stars a freshly chopped and bleached Kinga Rajzak (who has since returned to a darker hue for the New York Summer 2010 shows) and fits the bill as an exquisite exemplification of Walker's fairy tale technique: staggering sets and momentous venues collocating with everyday absurdities and fabulous preposterousness. Astutely styled by Kate Phelan, the fanciful yarn is replete with 3-D glasses, flying saucers surging over equestrian jumps, and exploratory horseplay (smack of the Rod Serling sort) in prim prints and ladylike tweeds cleverly capped off by Louis Vuitton bunny ears, Alexander McQueen umbrella hats, and Karl Lagerfeld for Les Ateliers Ruby collaboration helmets. A welcome escape to help get over the mid-fashion week hurdle!

Following a stellar Fall 2009 debut hosted by Patricia Field in her personal home on the Bowery, Gerlan Jeans' sophomore presentation at the Audi Forum was a booming culmination of designer Gerlan Marcel's unconventional flair: an expectedly wacky affair chockablock with her idiosyncratic prints (past ventures of the Central Saint Martin's '00 graduate include designing kooky, colorful prints for Jeremy Scott, Calvin Klein, Barbie, and Libertine) and off-the-wall insanity. For Spring 2010, Gerlan steered toward a definite '90s SoCal vibe (think Amber's PVC/plastic dresses from Clueless), accentuated by daytime cotton streetwear recalling a distinct Clinton-era optimism and, perhaps, naiveté. Pot-leaf prints galore (played up by wicked hologram laboratory glasses seemingly ideal for Ernst Stavro Blofeld or even Dr. Julius No) and clear sky-high 'private dancer' heels may have been the most memorable motifs that I've witnessed thus far this Fashion Week. But the truly sellable high points include youthful Liberty-esque cotton floral prints perfectly fit for a romp in the sandbox, a dynamically spirited Doc Marten's collaboration, and a "yes we can" fist pump pattern befitting our current healthcare state-of-affairs.

Photos from Getty Images