During this recent Fashion Week I had the opportunity to attend the opening of the Ron Arad: No Discipline exhibit at the MoMa with my friend stylist David Widjaja. Notify jeans, the official sponsor of the exhibit and their sometimes muse Linda Evangelista brought together a delightful mix of personalities on a warm night in Manhattan that drew us away from the hullabaloo of the tents for a delight of the senses. From the spectacular nibbles provided by Yannick Alleno of Paris' Le Meurice with the ample assistance of Daniel Bouled to the unique 20^th Century covers of American iconic music by first-time New Yorker French musician Laurent Voulzy the evening attracted a brilliant Francophile community as well as designer Richard Chai, artist Francesco Clemente (who previously created a portrait of the artist), actor Josh Hartnett and author Fran Liebovitz who held court in the garden.

Fast Company’s Ken Carbone’s review brings up many salient points about this stunning presentation by MoMa curators Paola Antonelli and Patricia Juncosa Vecchierini: In retrospect, this work is impressive but it feels oddly out of place in the world today. Its material extravagance seems in stark contrast to the present societal mood of making do with less, and risks feeling irrelevant….Design is at its best when this level of invention, creativity and craft is harnessed to address the needs of the many rather than the indulgence of the few.

From the Museum of Modern Art: Ron Arad: No Discipline : Ron Arad stands out among the most influential designers of our time for his daredevil approach to form, structure, technology, and materials in work that spans the disciplines of industrial design, sculpture, architecture, and mixed-medium installation….For nearly three decades, Arad has countered the traditional separation of the roles of architect, designer, and artist. Prominent in art and design communities while keeping a foot in industrial mass production, he has inspired a new generation of designers in many fields to adopt hybrid practices that have the flexibility to match today’s shifts in design applications. His work has been imitated, idolized, feverishly discussed, and criticized, but never ignored.

Ron Arad: No Discipline celebrates the designer’s interdisciplinary and “no-disciplinary” spirit. Physical concepts are traced through works in different materials and scales, and objects are grouped in families based on a shared form, material, technique, or structural idea. The exhibition culminates in Cage sans Frontières, Arad’s giant structure that cradles all the other works.

The exhibit includes an insightful catalog of conversations with the artist created by Notify, which includes wonderful snippets of thought behind his work an inspiration. More on that to come. (nstallation view of Ron Arad: No Discipline at The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Jason Mandella) for a video on the artist:

Get Your Drink On With Delicious Customized Cocktails: Daddy O

For a piece in the current issue of the fabulous "h" monthly out of LA, available nationwide, visit www.h-monthly.com to find a copy:

Creative Cocktails with exotic ingredients wash over Manhattan and whip your taste buds into shape...here's the first of three posts:

Daddy-O 44 Bedford St at Leroy/New York City 212-414-8884

Nestled on a bucolic corner of Bedford Street in the west village, Daddy O is a local destination that serves up some of the freshest ideas in cocktails you only thought you knew about. Owner and bartender Phil Casacelli proudly welcomes everyone with a menu of cocktails and specialty concoctions he’s patiently whipped up often toiling for hours at a time in his off time to get the mix just right.

Every taste bud is considered, every ingredient gently measured for its finest flavors, here Daddy O serves up a classic Strawberry Daiquiri that isn’t frozen but tastes fresh and inviting. “My last conquest has been the classic strawberry daiquiri, I made a fresh strawberry puree, added some white rum and liquor to the puree, fresh squeezed lime juice, simple syrup and Brugal rum from Dominican Republic,” Phil espouses enthusiastically…Brugal? Delicious!

With a mantra of “Simple is always best—keep it simple and it tastes better,” the bar offers a destination for drinking your favorites but also learning about smaller bespoke brands you’ve never even heard of. It’s a friendly drinkers bar with no judgments, for people who know their spirits and those that want to sit back, relax and learn. “Sometimes people ask me what to drink, I like to introduce people to gin—I think gin has a lot of misconception, especially that it’s a higher proof—it gives you a different buzz, gin adds depth to a drink and it’s a challenge to make it right, they’re not coming here to shop around—they’re coming to drink.”

Working on his own take on the classics and originals he’s also created the ice capped Herbaceous Mojito originally for a cocktail shakeoff, it didn’t take the prize, but it will when you taste it. The small batch Herb’s Cilantro Vodka, a roasted jalepeno simple syrup, and fresh Pinapple and Lime juices swim together to perfection, turning even this jaded new Yorker who normally despises this otherwise murky drink into a fan of Herb and his specialty vodka.

Digging deep into the archives of drink recipes that date back to the early 20^th Century, this bar has updated, tweaked and modernized cocktails one cool recipe at a time. The classic Brown Derby is Maker’s Mark bourbon bathed in honey syrup and fresh grapefruit juice, the Daddy O Root Beer Float contains Sazerac 6 year old rye whiskey, Abita Root Beer and the remarkably smooth Coole Swan Cream Liqueur, a sweetly milky liqueur that’s dangerously delicious. Sidle up, sit back and enjoy the ride!

Kayla Ewell, the Vampire Diaries Bad Girl Speak Up

Based upon the books of L.J. Smith, The Vampire Diaries is brought to us by Kevin Williamson of Dawson’s Creek fame and premiered on the CW September 10^th and has quickly received a lot of buzz and was the networks highest rated premiere to date. I had the chance to catch up with Kayla Ewell who plays bad girl Vicki Donovan on the set in Georgia. The following interview appears in the current h Monthly from LA which I freelance with.

Explaining she’s a new fan of Atlanta, she took a few minutes to chat about her character on the show and what it’s like to work with Kevin Williamson.

The show is set in high school in the small town of Mystic Falls, tell me about your character:

Vicki is the bad girl, she’s the slutty one--every small town has one. She has no girlfriends, and sleeps with all the men in her life. Each episode, all the sex, all the drugs revolve around Vicki, it’s fun to play the bad girl! The first time I read the script I knew I wanted to play her—its great to go places as an actress that you don’t allow yourself to go personally.

Vicki plays an important role at the end of the first episode, what should we expect to see from her?

There is so much that is going to happen to Vicki, it’s exciting! I got the second script and I was like wow, they really expect a lot from me, it’s great!

As the show progresses you start to see the humanity and feel sorry for her, and pity her. There are so many moments of vulnerability and her family life is explored. She has no girlfriends, I never have scenes with the girls in the cast it’s always with the men! Vicki only knows guys and sleeps with them!

There’s a bit of love-triangle…

Vicki is not a one-man kind of woman. Basically her whole mindset is “what can I get from you?”

Vicki and her brother Matt don’t have a lot of money, and Tyler who Vicki is dating is super-rich, he’s the mayor’s son which is why she’s with him---and it kind of shows the contrast. In one episode his mother says…that’s what happens when you bring the trash to the party—that’s me!

And Jeremy is in love with you…

They are writing a lot for Steven McQueen’s character Jeremy who’s trying so hard to win Vicki over but she isn’t interested. I told him just wait to the show comes out and all the girls will love you!

Vampires are hot right now, how does the show compare from what else is out there?

I think that Twilight is PG rated, True Blood is R, and we’re PG 13. There’s a lot to the show, it’s got romance, action and mystery…and our men are hot! I think 13 year olds will love it and 30 year olds will too!

The biggest surprise each week is the story line…who they decide to turn into a vampire—who they decide to kill is so interesting and shocking. Everybody will think that nobody is safe!

What’s it like to work with Executive Producer Kevin Williamson?

It’s so great to be involved with someone I respect so much, I was nervous when I first met him! I grew up watching Dawson’s Creek and I loved that show, to have the chance to work with him is awesome. He’s a very busy man, he’s writing Scream 4, but we talk to him about everything and know he’s there for us. He takes time out to call each of us, it’s very cool the amount of respect he shows, he always makes time for you and it makes the whole cast feel great about being on the show.