NEW YORK — This was one fashion week invitation I wasn't going to pass up.
Rather than show her fall collection in her studio, as she normally does, handbag designer Dee Ocleppo and husband Tommy Hilfiger opened up their fabulous apartment in the Plaza Hotel condominiums. The couple reasoned that the collection, based on an opulent Grand Bazaar theme centered around the Istanbul marketplace, fit in with the surroundings of the lush apartment.
"It's definitely not a springy, summery-looking apartment. It's deeper, darker tones. It's the old-world concept," Hilfiger explained.
"It's definitely not a springy, summery-looking apartment. It's deeper, darker tones. It's the old-world concept. She thought that because it's the fall collection, she would show it here," Hilfiger explained as he welcomed guests to the 18th floor penthouse apartment.
"It just shows better here than in the showroom," Ocleppo said as she conversed with accessories editors from the major fashion magazine in the dining room, where classic black-and-white photos of Hollywood celebrities and politicians dotted the burgundy walls. "And I like that I didn't have to walk across the street (where her showroom is). It was convenient."
In the living room, Ocleppo's collection was grouped in vignettes beneath an Andy Warhol painting of Grace Kelly (showcasing lapis-shaded handbags in various sizes), on an inlaid mother-of-pearl desk with a dramatic view of midtown Manhattan (where jeweled leather clutches were on display) and near a famous Warhol portrait of Elizabeth Taylor (featuring jade handbags from the new collection).
In the adjoining dining room, an mostly-red collection was displayed on the large center table. Ocleppo pointed out the Palm Beach bag, with a removable Kalgan lamb fur panel, for versatile luxury. "I'm a big fan of this one," she said, noting an attached smaller purse that fits into an exterior pocket of the handbag.
Interchangeable covers Detachable reversible covers are a hallmark of Ocleppo's design and for fall/winter, she centers on wooly-looking Kalgan fur panels that can be removed or reserved to feature a different looking handbag of arabesque tapestry embroidery, burnished python or exotic leathers like ostrich. Other distinctive features include fringe trim, peacock feather embroidery and embossed designs.
Ocleppo, who is half Turkish, also noted the chic "evil eye" Plaza clutch in mink — versions include all-black or all-white with a contrasting blue eye inspired by the Turkish Nazar.
Ocleppo, who is half Turkish, also noted the chic "evil eye" Plaza clutch in mink.
Beyond the dining room, Hilfiger directed guests to what he calls the "Eloise room," with a domed turret-tower and a custom-painted mural by Hillary Knight, the original illustrator of the beloved children's books about the child who lived at the Plaza. The room was decorated with a round table and place settings for an afternoon tea.
"We're really located in an ideal place," Hilfiger said. "(Dee's) office is right across the street and we stop at Bergdorf's on the way back and forth. We go to Central Park to go jogging, to Cipriani restaurant across the street. Saks is right down the street on Fifth (Avenue). The children love the Apple store down the street and our small children love the FAO Schwartz across the street. "
Even so, Hilfiger has listed the apartment for sale for a cool $80 million, although it appears to have been taken off the market recently, Curbed reports.
Hilfiger and Ocleppo were in Houston twice last year, where she showed her handbag collection at Saks Fifth Avenue and to kick off the store's Key to a Cure shopping weekend. And both said they were eagerly looking forward to coming to Texas again.
"We hope we can do the Rodeo," Ocleppo said. "I've heard that's a bucket list thing to do."
An Andy Warhol portrait of Elizabeth Taylor is a focal point of the room.
Photo by Clifford Pugh
An Andy Warhol portrait of Elizabeth Taylor is a focal point of the room.
These European house mixes are certainly different than Topaz McGarrigle's work in Golden Dawn Arkestra.
Even though Topaz McGarrigle has never released a solo album before, Austinites know to expect the unexpected. With Golden Dawn Arkestra, the fashionable, bizarre sun cult known for funk jams, he's an otherworldly prophet for the sun god, Ra. As a solo artist, he's a different kind of devotee.
For his new EP, under the single name Topaz, McGarrigle only has eyes for his wife, Rose Barnett. This adoration unfolds over the course of three music videos — a "cosmic opera trilogy" — each rife with symbology and lush, yet minimalist set design. High fashion drips from everyone onscreen, and will turn heads at a June 29 release party at Roma, a sensuous new dance club downtown.
The three music videos (directed by Ben Blanchard) are already out on YouTube — all the better for fans to study before heading out to the party. All guests must be dressed for the opera, whether that's to see it or to be in it. (Check out McGarrigle's Pinterest board for some ideas ranging from old Hollywood, to queer ballroom, to Cher, to actual opera costumes.) But these inspiring images onscreen will live long past the one-night release extravaganza, where McGarrigle will serve as a very fashionable DJ and sax player.
That means one track remains, to be unveiled when the EP, The Gift, drops as a whole on June 28. Named for a mysterious gift Barnett gave McGarrigle during the pandemic, it never becomes fully clear what that gift was, but all the hinting is much more fun. One obvious contribution is Barnett's fashion sense; The creative director for Golden Dawn Arkestra, she appears in each music video in impeccable looks, from the Fosse-forward "Amsterdam" to the etherial "North Star." (That's Melon Collie, with the Infinite Sadness, right? We all see it?)
While the sexy former single represents summer, and the cool, shimmering latter represents winter, "The Gift" ties it all together in a speed run through all four seasons, from falling golden leaves to editorial spring blossoms. The sleek aesthetics are accompanied by highly processed Europop: the perfect soundtrack for such aloof glamor.
Barnett appears in mysterious silence throughout the trilogy.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
Although the seasons aren't necessarily integral to understanding each song, they do create a sense of passing time that is befitting of a lifelong bond — not to mention the celebratory springtime highs or the frigid lows any relationship weathers. At the lowest level of analysis, these are simply creative prompts resulting in gorgeous alternate dimensions.
"I mean, other sh*t's boring. I don't know," says McGarrigle of his high-concept proclivities. His inspiration comes from the 70s icons of his childhood — Parliament, Fela Kuti, James Brown, and David Bowie — as well as a desire to exit the ordinary. "I just love drama and grand concepts. But also, I feel like we're in a space and time where we need to be pulled out of our present moment. We get so caught up in our phones and our technologies, and it almost takes a little bit more to get people into [it]."
Whether it's for Topaz or Golden Dawn Arkestra, there are always fashionable dancers.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
McGarrigle also references his hometown of Dripping Springs, which at least at the time he was growing up — or just in his neighborhood; he can't decide — was a "Bohemian haven." Neighbors grew weed or smuggled cocaine, and everyone was a character worthy of the minimalist, avant garde operas that have recently caught his attention.
Willie Nelson was a musical inspiration, but not as much as folks in the neighborhood: McGarrigle's jazzy saxophone teacher who played for George Strait, 90-year-old Mexican cowboy Tom Alba, or just "Suzie" who milked goats down the street. A steady stream of "freaks" issued forth from the Austin Waldorf School. Although the artsy Barnett is a very worthy muse, it sounds like she couldn't have found someone more open to having one.
"That energy of freedom and doing what you love, I think, is what really informed my [creativity]," says McGarrigle.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
The pandemic was a fruitful one for many artists, despite the slowdown of gigs and the introduction of other new hardships. Suddenly, with time to create (or more pessimistically, a reality that easily inspired escapism), creatives turned to unexpected new projects. For McGarrigle, this meant writing more personal music.
"I never really used to write more personal love songs; It was always more grandiose and cosmic," he says. "Definitely during the pandemic it transitioned me into speaking to the human condition a little more, and just realizing that we're all going through this crazy sh*t right now on this planet, and speaking to that. The whole EP, is kind of a love letter to my wife. ... I loved the pandemic. I think we should all pause for a year or two every 10 years."
Musically, too, this creative rebirth took the songwriter from jazzy, organic jams to tracks that would be nearly impossible to recreate live — at least not without heavy programming. While DJing at home with Barnett and two Golden Dawn dancers, he got more acquainted with synth pop, French house, Italo disco, and bloghouse, which all influenced the sounds on The Gift.
Whether it's the fashion or the narrative arc through the singles, The Gift is high art all around.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
This is good news for revelers stopping by Roma on Saturday, if they like dramatic dance environments. They'll find different activations in each room, aerial dancing, pop-up operas, strings, and more immersive elements. The goal, McGarrigle says, is to sweep guests up into the feeling of being in an opera.
Tickets ($20) for the album release party at Roma (206 Trinity St.) are available via Eventbrite. The Gift officially comes out as an EP on June 28. More information is available at topaz-music.com.
Barnett appears in mysterious silence throughout the trilogy.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
Whether it's for Topaz or Golden Dawn Arkestra, there are always fashionable dancers.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
"That energy of freedom and doing what you love, I think, is what really informed my [creativity]," says McGarrigle.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
Whether it's the fashion or the narrative arc through the singles, The Gift is high art all around.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ