Person of Interest: Milan Vukmirovic

Every so often I come across someone who seems to be everywhere, but I have no idea who they are or what they do; but the man or women must be a person of interest because they are at all the right events, and looking undoubtedly stylish. After noticing his luxe sense of style on The Sartorialist (multiple times), and then in the front row of some great fashion shows, this suave bald man was spotted all over Europe at the A-list events. After a little bit of digging, I found his name, and then the details of his extremely respectable career emerged. Milan Vukmirovic is a frenchman who most recently left his post as Creative Director at Trussardi 1911, designing clothes and accessories for the Italian label. He also left   his position as editor in chief of the French mens fashion magazine, L'Officiel Hommes (which he founded). As far I can see, he does still co-own a portion of the Webster, a super sleek clothing store in Miami; by the way, that's really just in the past two years. This veteran professional has been apart of a number of successful ventures in the fashion world, including cofounding the hugely successful and chic Paris store Colette, he was the design director at Gucci under Tom Ford and creative director at Jil Sander. Not only is he savy in business and design, but he is also a photographer, who has photographed major ad campaigns for Giorgio Armani and Hugo Boss. Mr. Vukmirovic has shown longevity with a taste for everything, his short but jam-packed career has resonated with me, and given me the insight and inspiration to not limit myself to one field or position, and plus he is one of the most unfussy stylish men I have seen in a long time. 

Approaching Tacky in Boston (again)

Due to technical difficulties on my end, this feature was supposed to be posted last week, but because of my inept ability to do anything right, only the title was posted. Sincerest apologies. No wonder no one supports me buying a puppy. Anyway, in the midst of my slow demise that is the end of the semester, I found something to pull me out of my funk, and that was Glossed&Found.com. It's a snappy little online magazine that features short videos of cool people who live in and visit Chicago. I spent an entire night gorging on pasta and watching just about every video in their archive; they've interviewed some pretty great people, Simon Doonan, Kelly Wearstler, J.C. Steinbrunner, Corri McFadden, and naturally Ms. Piggy opted for an interview too. Almost all of the videos are hosted by Graham Kostic, the creative director of the site, who is just as funny as he looks. So while poking and prodding around the interweb, furthering my knowledge of Mr. Kostic, I came across his sweet little apartment in Boston. The tiny pops of color throughout are perfectly grounded by the classic color palette, all while being offset by the corky accessories scattered throughout. Notice I say corky; corky is the last stop before tacky. And I say that with great admiration, because the Gram and his partner, Fran made that same statement, 'We stop right before it gets there.' The home was featured in Boston Home Magazine back in September - I know, we're late to the party, but anybody that reads this blog shouldn't expect much. Graham and Fran recently moved back to Chicago, into an old soda pop factory, no less (why wouldn't they?), so I'm sure we'll all be anxiously awaiting another peek into their new home in Chicago.

Person of Interest: Glenn O'Brien

 

I began the week idolizing someone, so why not end it the same way? Continuity is my favorite. Andre Balazs was discussed on Monday, leaving Glenn O'Brien for today. Mr. O'Brien is most widely known as the "The Style Guy" in GQ Magazine, which is his monthly column that dishes out advice for the sartorially challenged readers of the magazine. The wit that Mr. O'Brien pushes out is outstandingly dry, all the while educational and wise. Having started in journalism while working for Andy Warhol at Interview Magazine, he became quite the man about town in the publishing world. His sharp tongue, strong style, and seemingly careless attitude of what 'men should do' is pretty inspiring. And he knows it. Given his strong following from GQ and its readers, he recently published a book. How to Be a Man, "a guide to style and behavior for the modern gentleman." If you're a man, and you haven't read it, I'd rethink your schedule today and peruse the insightful piece of philosophy / advise / how-to book.

Person of Interest: Andre Balazs

 

It's been a while since Luxe coveted a human being, rather than a sweater, so who better to covet than Andre Balazs? As one of the chicest hoteliers in the country, the European gentlemen owns some of the swankest hotels and properties across the country, from the reinvented Standard Hotel in Manhattan to the (in)famous Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Plus the thing that tops off his credentials as a man of substance is his recently failed ended relationship with The Ballbuster, Chelsea Handler. Mr. Balazs was recently featured in a campaign for Louis Vuitton to document The Journey of Menswear shot by the creator of The Selby. The campaign was made to showcase a few tastemakers in their own environment, naturally filled with Vuitton goods. Judging from this pictorial, Mr. Balazs is a sucker for anything LV, which makes sense for the amount of traveling he must do. However, I cannot tell if he uses the trunks for clothes or books. I'm not disrespecting either way. By looks of this photo journal, I have to say that Andre Balazs is one classy gentlemen with style. From the books in his office, to the framed photography on the walls, I like what I see.

 

 Photos courtesy of The Selby for Louis Vuitton

Person of Interest, Alexa Chung

Describing Alexa Chung as a "girl about town' would be an understatement; the English-native started out as a model, then turned to television, and is now a contributing editor at a few different fashion magazines, along with being a muse to several different designers. Ms. Chung is one of the most stylish girls in the New York fashion world, and is likely one of the few who can dress without a care in the world, and can still look like one hell of a knock out. Her bird-like petite body lets clothes drape off her in a beautiful way, while her girly-vintage look is still one of the freshest styles around. Plus she is one of the few girls who rock the SC Vuitton bag.

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Dream Dinner: Scott Schuman

The man behind many of Luxe's Saturday Sartorial Inspirations is Scott Schuman, better known as The Sartorialist. This extremely successful blogger has almost created a whole new genre of photography known as street style. His method of venturing out on the streets of New York and photographing different people and their style has connected the world on a different level. His work has absolutely blown up in terms of success, he has even published a book with photos from his street style shoots. The rawness of his photos translates well to the internet; his whole process can be seen on YouTube in a short video called A Visual Life. I especially admire Mr. Schuman because he made a simple blog into one of the most visited websites on the internet. 

Dream Dinner: Anna Wintour

Writing a blog is like editing a mini magazine, or at least that is how I think of it, to keep myself sane. And if you're looking for a more successful magazine that Vogue, you will come up short. Vogue is one of the most successful magazines in the world, and it has been at the helm of Anna Wintour for over twenty years. Ms. Wintour's work has only gotten better with age, and she is the ultimate publishing powerhouse. Her strong personality has made her a respected force in the industry, and she does not apologize for it. Her work at Vogue among other places is truly beautiful; she has made her own way in the fashion world, which has paid off greatly and will continue to pay off because she has styled Vogue in a way that makes it noticed on the world stage. 

Dream Dinner: Erika Bearman

This professional bombshell is as chic as they come, and represents one of the chicest men around. Erika Bearman is the mastermind behind the Oscar de la Renta fan base. She has single-handedly connected millions of fans via Twitter and Tumblr who all share a love for the richly luxe pieces from Oscar himself. Her airy anecdotes from Mr. de la Renta and special peeks inside the OdlR fashion house can only make me assume that she knows all about the world of luxe, and must be fantastic to talk to, considering she converses with people all around the world. Ms. Bearman is pioneering a completely new way of communications from brands to customers, her approach of creating her own content, rather than letting publications create content for them is great and definitely makes me respect her for breaking such a grand barrier. 

Dream Dinner: Andy Spade

Andy Spade has my idea of a dream-job. Partner's & Spade is the ultimate New York-chicy gallery that not only sells corky things, but also consults on all things creative. Mr. Spade got his start at an ad agency, and then eventually went on to create the husband-brand of Kate Spade, oddly titled Jack Spade. After remaking the idea of cool at Jack Spade, he went on to open his creative consultancy where he gives a helping hand of neat ideas that you are sure to have seen. My favorite project of his is definitely the J. Crew Liquor Store in NYC. But the one thing that sticks out to me about Mr. Spade is that Partners & Spade is actually a two man team, but he added Partners in front of Spade so to throw off any unhappy people... genius. 

A Blonde With Baubles, Kate Davidson Hudson

If you're an editor at a fashion magazine, you most likely have impeccable taste and get first-dibs on some of the most beautiful things out there. Elle Magazine's Accessories Editor is not only beautiful, but she has one of the chicest wardrobes around. One of our favorite website's The Coveteur featured Kate Davidson Hudson's stylish closet, giving them the chance to peek and poke around a truly beautiful collection of clothes. Ms. Davidson Hudson's drawers of baubles are popping with color and richness, including the no-longer made limited edition yellow-gold Van Cleef Cadeñas watch; naturally Ms. Davidson Hudson made sure she got one of the coveted watches before they became a serious collector's piece. Her whole style of mixing and matching what she puts on her gorgeous body gives her a certain luxe aesthetic. Embarrassingly enough, she first caught my eye a couple of years when she made an appearance on MTV's The City, but ever since I have recognized her straight blonde hair and perfect smile. Another interesting fact about KDH is that she was once Kate Lanphear's assistant, and managed to work her way up to a top editor in the industry. 

Photos courtesy of The Coveteur and Tumblr