Valentino and Vanity Fair
by habituallychic
07 . 28 . 10
I considered boycotting the August 2010 issue of Vanity Fair since Angelina Jolie was on the cover. (I am on Team Aniston mainly because of her hair.) I’m glad that though I didn’t because it was chock full of great design stories including Bunny Mellon’s Secret Garden, Architecture in the Age of Gehry, and my favorite, Valentino’s New York Revival. If you watched Valentino: The Last Emperor, you saw a glimpse of his Fifth Avenue pied-à-terre but it was a bit dated to say the least. He called his designer on speed dial, Jacques Grange, to “make something more light, and more for my art collection.” Now the Basquiat, de Kooning, Prince, Warhol, and Lichtenstein pop off of the white lacquered walls. Looks like retirement is suiting Valentino and his apartment very well!
Photos by Jonathan Becker
16 Comments
I did see the Last Emporer…and applaud this update to the apartment! Lighter, fresher….still super chic.
Elizabeth
Delicious! On all levels! 🙂 thanks for sharing!
Loved the Last Emperor. Thanks for sharing this update on Valentino’s apartment:)
I couldn’t agree more, retirement suits him well. The art in his apartment is stunning. I must pick up the issue of VF, I’m a huge Jolie fan..it’s because of her ‘kick-ass’ movie roles. I’m always the good-girl, nice to fantasize about ‘not’!
Shed a few tears watching that movie. Can he do anything wrong when it comes to design. The man is one of my heros. Thank you for this gorgeous post! I’m going to get the magazine.
Teresa (Splendid Sass)
Valentino was born in a town very close to where I grew up (Milan) so of course I feel partial and being the genius he is I admire everything he has done. The movie was superb and I wish we had a similar movie on Chanel instead of the 2 recent ones (by the way I have a post on “Coco & Igor Strawinsky” movie) Thanks for pointing to Vanity Fair, same as you I did not buy it when I saw the cover, but now I will. Ciao.
Love this! His collection of art is stunning. I need to watch the Last Emperor!!
Nancy
Did you notice how GORGEOUS his butler is? I tore that picture out of the magazine and the room was just icing on the cake!
I think you are absolutely correct about the annoying cover choice but the magazine was quite interesting. My favorite article is the one on Architecture. I am particularly interested in the reference to the HighLine in NYC. Here’s the link to my blog post on the subject.
http://designdestinations.wordpress.com/category/new-york-city/
I’d be interested in knowing what you and your readers think of the High Line in NYC.
I love this apartment. I also love how Valentino is still modern despite the fact that he is of another era. Classic antiques have been despised by trend-setters for years, but this apartment proves that classic antiques can be made modern and fresh.
The lacquer-work is truly amazing, but paired with the art works, it is spectacular. Mary
haha you are too funny!! love these pictures though. & you really cant give up vogue for too long
stop by sometime<3
http://passportglamour.blogspot.com
I must see that Valentino movie! And yes, I’d boycott that Angelina issue too lol
Gorgeous! I’m on Team Aniston too…b/c of her hair, too funny! 🙂
Simply amazing! I wonder how Valentino is taking retirement? It seems someone like him has to keep busy…. I’ll bet he’s behind the scenes…designing…
I loved The Last Emperor. I would love to have to redecorate to show off my collection of paintings…first must get millions of dollars…then must get collection of paintings 🙂 Love him