Stephanie LaCava

Rare birds of fashion do exist, but rarer still are those that live in that pretty place between substance and style. Stephanie LaCava is one such creature, but if her well-documented personal aesthetic and journalistic work are not already proof enough, her upcoming literary debut, An Extraordinary Theory of Objects, certainly is. A little book big on heart, it feels dreamy, personal, and utterly relatable all at once, and it draws the reader in with a strange sort of charm — much like LaCava herself.

"It's a narrative about my childhood growing up in Paris in the '90s, told in sort of fragmented essays and extended footnotes," the writer says. Seemingly random objects appear in the story and are explained via detailed historical asides. "But it's not meant to be a conventional story told in objects; the objects are just a way of showing how I would use things to distract myself from my own thinking — the footnotes distract from the narrative the same way I would use the objects, places, research, or obsessions to escape."

But if objects offer distraction, they also offer a point of connection — and it's precisely this sensibility that makes LaCava's book so appealing. "When you find those objects somewhere else, it's a bit of a comfort, and that's what the objects are about too. I think objects and people who share love of them have that in a way that's kind of unspoken. It's a way to relate, it's a taste, it's an aesthetic thing. It's not really the objects themselves that are important — it's the thought process."

Lately, LaCava has found new ways to explore that thought process. "I have so much fun with Instagram just because I can share that same kind of crazy sensibility. Whenever I find something that sort of has my spirit, I can register it right there and then. It's a way to convey that same sensibility without saying words; just having the spirit, having the aura."

In honor of that spirit — and the release of An Extraordinary Theory of Objects on Dec. 4 — LaCava takes us through some of her current object fixations and favorite snapshots. See them here, then contribute your own with #strangebeauty on Instagram.



Above photo by Fashionologie; all other photos courtesy Stephanie LaCava

>> They're making their lists — and checking them twice. Here come the holidays, and who better to spread the cheer than some of our favorite fashionable insiders? From the super-luxe accessories topping Melissa Coker's and Leandra Medine's lists to the souped-up sporting goods desired by Yigal Azrouel and Peter Som, here's a look at what those in the know are coveting this season. See who's hoping for Burberry, who's hoping for Hermes, and who's just hoping for some sleep — plus, glean gift-giving ideas from Anna Sheffield, Lauren Bush Lauren, Derek Lam, Stephanie LaCava, and more — all here, in the slideshow.

>> The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles hosted its annual gala on Saturday night, drawing Laura and Kate Mulleavy, Tilda Swinton, Rachel Zoe, Shala Monroque, and event chair Dasha Zhukova.

The evening, curated by the performance artist Marina Abramovic, started with guests being asked to put on a white lab coat before sitting down to dinner; each table, meanwhile, had a live, rotating human head for a centerpiece, with the attached performance artists sitting beneath. Diners were given a list of rules about interacting with the centerpiece, such as, "The centerpiece will observe you. You may observe the centerpiece." and "No touching, feeding, offering drink, or disrespecting the centerpiece."

Debbie Harry was shortly thereafter carried onstage to serenade the crowd with “One Way or Another” and “Heart of Glass.” Postperformance, two life-size nude cakes of Harry and Abramovic were brought out. With a machete, Harry removed her cake's red velvet heart, and then teams of shirtless men descended on the two cakes with meat cleavers, sending toes, breasts, and other various anatomical parts to the different tables on dessert plates.

Pictures from the event in the slideshow.

>> "An ode to the explorer" is how John Patrick described his khaki-filled Spring 2012 collection, which featured a mullet-hemmed olive "parachuter" dress, and olive drawstring pants, also in parachute fabric. But at the same time, Patrick noted, the goal was to go "very classic" because he's "trend-averse" — hence key pieces like a classic white button-down or a wide-leg, to-the-floor-long pant, added to the offering. Patrick also introduced his inaugural set of handbags — rucksacks from recycled Japanese nylon; cross-body satchels and pouches from vegetable-tanned leather; and an oversized silk tote — the SLC, named for the show's stylist Stephanie LaCava — cut from necktie fabric. That same printed fabric also shows up on a bevy of shorts: in red, gold, and olive.

>> Last night, Vanessa Traina launched her 14-piece capsule collection for the French brand Maje at Barneys, which has the US exclusive. She wore a black tuxedo jacket and pant from the collection, and was joined by her sisters Samantha and Victoria Traina and close designer friends like Alexander Wang, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Joseph Altuzarra, and Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, most of whom followed her to a celebratory dinner down the street at Le Caprice.

The idea for the collection, which ranges from $150 to $490, came about while Traina was in fittings for the brand's campaign (which she's appeared in the past two seasons). She told Vogue.com: "Maje asked me to do their campaign a few seasons ago and we all got along really well. We met the day before the shoot to do fittings, and by the end of it, we’d put together the proposal for a collaboration."

Her ideas for the collection — inspired by "a lot of old '90s editorial," she told us — came easily: "I had a whole folder with me . . . working in the industry and doing consulting quite frequently, I knew what to expect from a design meeting, and I think it really helped Maje understand my vision right from the get-go."

The resultant pieces are simple, primarily silk or lace, and sans color. In fact, minus one white silk maxi dress, they're all in black. "I wear black quite, quite often," Traina explains. "Because this was a one-time collaboration, I really wanted to do something wearable and [focus on] really great separates that fit into your wardrobe. And black goes with everything, so I really just kind of went with that." She told Vogue.com, "Although I must admit, I haven’t worn anything outside of my bedroom yet."

The collection also provided Traina with her first opportunity to design a shoe: "I mean, I've worked with Joseph Altuzarra and people on their collection from head to toe, so I've kind of worked with a shoe, but he [Altuzarra] really does the crux of it, so yeah, it's the first time. It's really cool because we initially started with doing a flat, and then I just thought it would be cool if we stuck a heel on it. So it's just a sandal design."

Even though she now has more extensive design experience, Traina says the collection is a one-time thing: "I really see myself more as a stylist, and I work as a stylist and do consulting. I was really grateful for this opportunity, it was really fun to do something like this, but I think the direction that I'm going in right now with styling is really what I'm passionate about, [and] is really what I love personally."

>> The second installment of Swedish magazine Intermission is jam-packed with interviews: Gaia Repossi, Isabel Marant, Joseph Altuzarra, Tabitha Simmons, Waris Ahluwalia, Victoire de Castellane, and Vogue Paris art director Johan Svensson among them — and all are translated from Swedish into English at the back of the issue.

John Scarisbrick photographed and Keegan Singh styled the two covers — one with Hanne Gaby Odiele, and the other Vanessa Traina, who inside talks to Stephanie LaCava about going to high school with Alexander Wang ("He used to cut up these vintage jeans and make us denim skirts. I still have them — and he’d make us T-shirts.  We used to place orders every season with him."), consulting for Joseph Altuzarra ("Our relationship is different than most because Joseph and I are so close.  As friends, we hang out at least four times a week."), and her boyfriend, Chad Muska ("I was with some girlfriends and he was with a friend of one of my girlfriends and we met at a restaurant one night in LA.  That was eight years ago and it slowly evolved into a relationship.  He’s a street skater. We live together in the West Village, but he also has a studio in Union Square.  He’s always been into photography, but he’s been playing around with it a little more and doing some large-scale work, a mix of photographer and painting.  I have his pictures hanging in our bedroom.  It’s a photo series he did of Kate Moss manipulated and painted different shades of pink.").

A peek at the issue, out this week at Opening Ceremony and Colette, below.

>> For the second year running, the Whitney Art Musem Gala was Donatella Versace's party.  Editors — Olivier Zahm, Lauren Santo Domingo, Glenda Bailey — commingled with designers — Peter Som, Moises de la Renta, Ruffian's Claude Morais and Brian Wolk — and a smattering of models like Chanel Iman and Hana Soukupova. Christopher Kane's Versus designs even made an appearance — the Fall 2009 crystal shoes were on Byrdie Bell's feet, and Taylor Momsen — who seems to be close with the Versaces, particularly Allegra, changed into a black Spring 2010 Versus frock for the Studio Party post-Gala Dinner.

Donatella was fashionably late to the party — two hours in, she was nowhere to be found; perhaps she was still upstairs tending to VIPs — as was Lindsay Lohan, who swept in, all blonde hair and gold dress — earning comparisons to Donatella's trademark look. Lohan said she came "for Donatella" before beelining to Brian Atwood for a chat.  Keeping with the "art chic" theme, the walls of one whole room at the party downstairs was covered in paper for guests to scribble on.

>> Last night, Anna Wintour hosted a premiere of The September Issue (which opens Aug. 28 in NYC, Sept. 11 nationwide), and no one dared be late.  Arrivals were scheduled to start at 7 pm, but Anna appeared and was joined (despite all the digs about her appearance she receives in the film) by September 2007 cover girl Sienna Miller promptly at 6:45 pm.  Even Sean Combs and entourage, when realizing they were late, "sprinted across the lobby," the New York Observer reports.

Despite the general consensus that the film's true star is Grace Coddington, last night was all about Anna.  Grace and Andre Leon Talley both avoided being photographed on the red carpet, and it appears that Vogue staffers were required to wear t-shirts for Fashion's Night Out (Anna's pro-shopping pet project) to the event.  Grace did comment on her portrayal in the film, however:

I hate to say it, but true to life! A very annoying person. But it’s not really bickering. It’s a process you have to go through for the job we do and it just makes everything stronger. Whatever gets through is then very valid and very strong. I think they focused on me in the movie because I’m a bit more outspoken and because I don’t care about the cameras, I’ll say whatever I want to say and I won’t hold back.

Bee Shaffer, who attended in Proenza Schouler and reminded her mother to put on her sunglasses while on the red carpet (which Anna duly did), thought her own scene in the film was "so embarassing":

It’s funny because that was two years ago and I wanted to go to law school then and that’s basically all I’m talking about and now I don’t want to go to law school at all so . . . [I] still don’t want to work in fashion, that was never a possibility. Now I’d like to work in theater.

Marc Jacobs, who was apparently speaking with a French accent, had his own Anna tribute to share. "She’s a risk-taker unafraid of taking chances. She doesn’t suck up,” he said. “And she’s been very good to me on a personal level as well. When I was having some personal problems, Anna was always there for me. She’s very maternal and caring to people she cares about."