Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/126231
SIMON GENTRY JANE SHIREK O ne of my all-time favorite advertising campaigns was the work of Fallon McElligott Rice for Rolling Stone in the mid-'80s. You probably remember the series of contradictory images positioned under the words "perception" and "reality." (My favorite was the presumably dope-smoking hippie contrasted with the clean-cut, khaki-wearing yuppie.) The message perfectly captured the magazine's true demographic and sold a lot of ads in the process. I often think back on the campaign, particularly when I find myself at odds with my own self perception. For instance, I pride myself on being a very cool customer when it comes to brushes with celebrity. I don't stare, take photos, ask for autographs or gush, "I loved you in Pulp Fiction!" — although, for the record, I'll cop to a Facebook update after spotting Spike Lee in the Admirals Club at Heathrow. But my self-purported suavity was recently put to the test when I encountered designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren during an interview at Forty Five Ten. These weren't just any famous folk, but a duo whose work I had long admired and even owned. Sure, I've never actually had a hankering to wear one of their upsidedown dresses, a fur coat of cartoonish proportions or heeled wooden clogs, but being in the presence of the minds who dreamed up such things … well, that's a different story. I literally couldn't sleep the night before our meeting. And, once introduced, I stammered through several questions in a voice pitched somewhere between a mosquito's whine and one of those silent dog whistles. After about 10 minutes, I had finally calmed down to the point that I could carry on a conversation in a normal tone due, in no small part, to their utter amiability. So much for my perception of cool. But the reality is that I got to meet Viktor & Rolf, and I'd call that a pretty fair trade. Amy Adams, executive editor amyadams@papercitymag.com in this ISSUE 4, 6, 8 PO P. CU LTURE . GOS S I P. 8 MAY 2013 | STYLE | FASHION | SOCIAL Style: The Karl Show - Chanel Métiers d'Art blockbuster show comes to Dallas. 1016 Party: The Dior boutique's opening fêtes Style: The Great Gatsby meets punk. 18 22 Fashion: Artists on the rise 2528 Style: Aesthete au courant Hanh Merriman PC House + Art Decoration: What's new in the design world Design: Gerald and Debbie Barnes' radical remodel 32 34 New Doors: Joule Hotel's newest settings Party: UT's Blanton Museum of Art celebrates 50 years. Party: Dallas Museum of Art's Silver Supper Special Section: Dallas Design District Little Dress. Big Contest. A Solange AzaguryPartridge S ummer — and the extensive air travel that comes with it — is around the corner. I still have friends who are a bit scared of flying. One buddy who flies more than 200,000 miles a year admitted to me the other day that he has to take a Xanax before each flight! I have been a pilot since I was 15 and even flew professionally in my late teens and 20s — mainly teaching people to fly and with a corporate flight department. I've always been obsessed with flight safety, and I have witnessed that safety (awareness, tools and protocols) has burgeoned over the past 30 years. Here are a few items that come to mind: incockpit traffic and terrain alerts, high-quality weather-radar uplinks to planes, computer-driven primary and multi-function displays that are more reliable than traditional instruments and that reduce pilot workload, computer-aided design of aircraft, engines and materials that greatly reduce failure and the prolific use of training simulators that mimic emergency situations and teach how to get out of them. One of the best apps out there for situational awareness — among other things — is from a Houston-based company called ForeFlight. On a softer side, there are now flying clubs whose sole purpose is to promote safe flying, in addition to countless air safety foundations that teach the aviation community — both general and commercial — protocols and procedures known to prevent accidents. Even my old glider club, where we used to patch aircraft together with duct tape and where operations were basically a freefor-all, has a formal safety manual with strict protocols to follow. (I fly towplanes on the weekend for fun. Gliding is a blast — and safe!) The numbers prove that it is safer to fly now more than ever: NTSB reports show that general aviation accidents and fatalities have dropped about 35 percent in the past 20 years and that there has only been one fatal U.S. airline accident in the past five years. So, take that Xanax if it makes you feel better. I still feel safer in a plane than in a car — flying myself, of course. Jim Kastleman, publisher jim@papercitymag.com Drama McQueen Alexander McQueen, Highland Park Village, Suite 44A, 214.559.6140; alexandermcqueen.com London-based architect David Collins can pack a lot of inspiration into nearly 1,900 square feet, as evidenced by the new Alexander McQueen boutique in Highland Park Village. References to imagined flora, Francis Bacon's paintings of popes, Rorschach inkblots and the human skeleton run rampant throughout the space, as do the collection's signatures Alexander McQueen such as curved seams and the armadillo Spring shoe. It takes a very secure designer willing 2013 to house one's work in a potentially thunder-stealing environment, but, clearly, creative director Sarah Burton is long on confidence. "It's very McQueen to see something from a distance and think it's one thing, and then to look up close and discover something else. It's important to us that everything in the store feel very precious," she notes. Smashed and reassembled marble floors, lacquered linen walls, molded plaster panels (featuring wings, shells, seahorse tails and more), velvet furnishings with bronze monster-claw feet and pink glass lighting reminiscent of a coral reef set the stage for women's and mens' ready-to-wear and accessories, including footwear, bags and the iconic scarves. Given that McQueen is the headliner at the upcoming Crystal Charity luncheon — and the current collection was inspired by bees — we can't imagine a sweeter draw. As if Highland Park Village needed any more buzz … Amy Adams little black dress has to make an impression without making an impression; it has to be timeless to make it essential. American Vogue got it right in 1926 when they nicknamed Coco Chanel's new black dress design — a simple drop-waist crepe de chine — the "Ford" because the modest garment was as reliable as the automaker's Model-T of the era. Hubert de Givenchy got it right when he designed the smartly cut black dress that Audrey Hepburn wears in the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's, probably the most famous little black dress of all time. So, who else can create a perfect little black dress? Ten young fashion designers in Dallas think they can; they are finalists in the 1st Annual Little Black Dress Designer contest. The frocks, recently critiqued by a bevy of fashionable judges including local retailers, designers, fashion-show producers and style writers (including PC's Amy Adams), will be seen on the runway at House of Blues Wednesday, May 22, at 6:30 pm; the winners of the contest, of which the top five will receive a portion of a $15,000 fashion scholarship, will also be announced. May the best dress win! Tickets $150 and $75 for runway seats, $50 for standing room, $35 for students. To purchase tickets or learn more about the event, visit littleblackdressdesigner.com. Kate Stukenberg "WHEN A LITTLE BLACK DRESS IS RIGHT THERE IS NOTHING ELSE , TO WEAR IN ITS PLACE." Simpson, Duchess of Windsor — Wallis MAY | PAGE 4 | 2013