Amazon Bails on New York HQ, French Elle Sold to CMI

by Aria Darcella

Read today’s dose of chic intel right here…

Amazon Officially Pulls Out of New York (The New York Times)
Amazon has officially canceled its plans to open a new headquarters in Queens. Plans for the sprawling campus projected the creation of 25,000 jobs for the city, but activist groups worried about displacement and gentrification created by rising living costs, similar to what has happened in Seattle where Amazon’s first HQ is located. Additionally, some lawmakers opposed the $3 billion in government incentives that were part of the deal.

French Elle Sold to Czech Media Invest (WWD)
The French company Lagardère Group, which owns French Elle, among other titles, has just sold its portfolio to Czech Media Invest for €52 million. This is not the first major French fashion title Lagardère has let go of in recent months — last July, the company let go of its stake in French Marie Claire.

(French Elle)

Adut Akech Explores Family as CNN Style Guest Editor (CNN)
CNN Style has commissioned Adut Akech to be a guest editor for fashion month. The model has decided to focus on the theme of “family,” and in addition to having stories about designer Kerby Jean-Raymond and the film Roma, she has penned an essay for the site. In it she opens up about being a refugee, and how she has found a family-like comfort in the fashion industry, despite the nomadic nature of being a model.

Adut Akech Bior (Courtesy)

Katy Perry Is Engaged (Harper’s Bazaar UK)
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom spent their Valentine’s Day getting engaged! Perry posted a picture of the ring — and a peek at the heart-shaped balloon decor — on Instagram.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

full bloom

A post shared by KATY PERRY (@katyperry) on

Mapplethorpe Film Wows in New York City
On Thursday night, Samuel Goldwyn Films with The Cinema Society hosted a screening of “Mapplethorpe,” starring Matt Smith as the titular artist. The film was a labor of love for writer, director, and producer Ondi Timoner, who has dedicated more than nine years to the project, workshopping it at the Sundance Institute in 2010 and finally shooting it over a mere 19 days in 2018. The film opens on a young Robert Mapplethorpe dropping acid alone in his room at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he majored in graphic arts, but never graduated. Soon, he meets up with a young Patti Smith, played with casual ease by Marianne Rendón, and the two begin a love affair that ends when Mapplethorpe, no longer able to deny his true self, confesses his attraction to men. The film that follows is dark and sad and, at times, quite lovely, moving along at a brisk pace and never shying away from the more problematic aspects of its hero’s life and personality.

Following the screening, VIP guests including Eliza Dushku (who produced the film) Charlotte Gainsbourg, Clara McGregor, Tony winner Lena Hall, Rebecca Dayan (Novitiate), Mary Harron, Bob Colacello, Sante D’Orazio, Tonne Goodman, Lazaro Hernandez & Jack McCollough, Simone Aptekman, and Timo Weiland were invited to an after party at The Fleur Room at Moxy Chelsea, the very first event hosted in the new space.

Marianne Rendón, Matt Smith, and director Ondi Timoner (Patrick McMullan/PMC)

Ermenegildo Zegna Opens Its New Global Store in NYC
Peter Marino has designed the newest Zegna store, located in New York City’s historic Crown Building on 57th street. The New York Global Store will exclusively carry the new Taccuino capsule collection inspired by the notebook Ermenegildo carried with him on his founding trip to NY.

(Ermenegildo Zegna)

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