TABLE OF CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2008
Features
338 PARIS MATCH
Carla Bruni, the enchanting new wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, raised eyebrows with her hit CD, sexy Internet photos, and past conquests (Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton). Not only has the Italian ex-model won over her adoptive country, but she may even help her embattled husband. Getting to know an unusually candid First Lady, Maureen Orth assesses l’effet Carla. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz. Web special: A slide show of Carla on the catwalk.
348 THE KING OF CENTRAL PARK WEST
With sales of its 201 luxury apartments at roughly $2 billion, 15 Central Park West is the world’s most lucrative residential building. Roaming through architect Robert A. M. Stern’s answer to the Manhattan glass-tower trend, Paul Goldberger pinpoints what has lured Wall Street mandarins and Hollywood stars to its English-oak-paneled lobby. Photographs by Todd Eberle.
354 A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Naomi, Cindy, Linda, Claudia, Stephanie, Christy: the original supermodels needed no last names, just one another, to conquer the fashion scene. Fifteen years later, and as glamorous as ever—the proof: Mario Testino’s portfolio—they recap their power-posse days for Bob Colacello.
360 TRULY, MADLY, NICKY
With his smashing looks and catlike grace, Nicky Haslam practically invented Swinging 60s London, then swept through New York and Hollywood. Thriving as an interior designer, his memoir on the way, the ultimate man-about-town—chum of Andy Warhol, the Duchess of Windsor,and Mick Jagger—takes Evgenia Peretz on a dizzying, occasionally wistful tour of his not-quite-charmed existence. Portraits by Jonathan Becker.
366 FOUR FACES OF LONDON
David Bailey and Nicholas Coleridge spotlight four faces—Veruschka, Penelope Tree, Twiggy, and Kate Moss—that chart the evolution of London cool.
368 AN IMMOVABLE FEAST
Charles Masson thought his wife, Giselle, was crazy when she signed a lease for 3 East 52nd Street in 1962. But their restaurant, La Grenouille, is now a beloved New York institution. Run today by their son Charles, it owes its longevityto food, flowers, and fiercely high standards. Douglas McGrath has the saga, from Masson Sr.’s army-mess-hall epiphany to a showdown with Robert Kennedy, to post-9/11 Francophobia. Photographs by Jonathan Becker.
372 LESS IS MAIER
Bottega Veneta doesn’t flash logos. Neither does German designer Tomas Maier, who rescued the Italian luxury-goods company from the brink of ruin in 2001, creating a new style juggernaut. In Milan and Palm Beach, Matt Tyrnauer learns how Maier imposed his discreet elegance on the age of bling. Photographs by Todd Eberle.
376 THE NEWMAN CHRONICLES
Paul Newman’s on-screen magnetism (and blue, blue eyes) has brought him worldwide adulation. Instead of buying into his own legend, he created new ones: director, businessman, philanthropist, and devoted family man. Amid concerns about the 83-year-old Newman’s health, Patricia Bosworth examines the turning points in a remarkably private life. Web special: A slide show of Newman’s life.
FANFAIR
219 30 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE
Patrick Demarchelier comes home
222 The Cultural Divide
224 Lisa Eisner suits up for Jack Taylor; Eliza Griswold casts a ballot for American Wife; Lisa Robinson tunes into Largo’s new locale
228 My Desk—Christopher Bailey
230 Elissa Schappell’s Hot Type
232 Design for living
234 The rising stars of American fashion pose for Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton
238 Lisa Robinson’s Hot Tracks
240 Patricia Bosworth remembers the Warner brothers; Jon Kelly expects big things of Little Britain USA; John Ortved gets sucked into True Blood
242 Brigitte Lacombe’s latest photography compendium, Anima/Persona; My Stuff—Minnie Mortimer
244 Q&A with Victoria Beckham; Stila’s Backstage Beauty Collection; Hot Looks
Columns
254 ON THE LIMITS OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT, PART III
Against all odds, Christopher Hitchens’s extreme makeover (teeth whitening, smoking cessation, Brazilian waxing, etc.) has actually improved him. But even as he braves both a Fekkai haircut and a $14,000 exercise machine for his final report, the columnist confronts his mortality in the mirror. Photographs by Art Streiber.
260 ANIMAL HOUSE
Prince Louis Albert de Broglie revived a zoological treasure trove when he bought Deyrolle, Paris’s fabled taxidermyestablishment, in 2001—only to see it ravaged by fire. Thanks to Hermès, the French Army, and others, Deyrolle is rising from the ashes, as Olga of Greece reports.
266 DAY OF THE CROCODILE
After maintaining his stranglehold on Zimbabwe in an internationally decried election, Robert Mugabe is continuing his ruthless, decades-long pattern of bloody repression. Reporting from a country closed to Western journalists, Peter Godwin sheds light on the man behind the mayhem.Photographs by Jeffrey Barbee.
278 AMERICAN DYNAMITE
Seen as the “crime of the century,” the deadly bombing of the Los Angeles Times in 1910 presented an irresistible challenge to America’s greatest detective. In an excerpt from his upcoming book, Howard Blum follows William J. Burns’s investigation, which crossed paths with Clarence Darrow and D. W. Griffith and uncovered a nationwide anti-capitalist plot.
290 THE 69TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL BEST-DRESSED LIST
The ballots are in, and it’s Obama, by a thread! That’s Michelle Obama, who joins fellow political wife (and cover subject) Carla Bruni, and—better late than never—James Bond in V.F.’s annual style poll.
318 MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MARK SELIGER
Celebrating a quarter-century of its photographic art, V.F. showcases Mark Seliger’s work, while Ingrid Sischy explains the intensity behind his images.
Vanities
333 I DREAM OF GUGINO
334 Billie Jean King shows George Wayne some leg
Et Cetera
172 EDITOR’S LETTER
179 CONTRIBUTORS
192 LETTERS
The Bill Clinton Show
251 FAIRGROUND
337 FRONTISPIECE
September Song
406 CREDITS
408 PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE
Carolina Herrera
Did the RF have to give up the crown jewels to get her that spot or what?
