The Silver Foxes of Fashion: Tony Spinelli

Today’s installment of the series centers on a legendary and marquee fashion icon that has evolved into a silver fox. This might be your first meeting but, for those who are short on fashion history, his name is Tony Spinelli and it is his image that is emblematic of men’s fashion via the highest echelons of international design. These images and his person have graced every form of media while being the subject of some of the greatest photographers of the twentieth century and so his resume reads like a who’s who of the world of fashion.

click image to enlarge.. art by Marc-Antoine Coulon

click image to enlarge

He is one of the extremely rare and blessed men who achieved an international presence; his colleagues and collaborators have included Horst, Scavullo, Avedon, Newton, Bassman, Penn, van Wangenheim, Polly Mellen, Harry King, Way Bandy, Mario Valentino, Halston and Gianni Versace.  He has taken starring roles on the runways of the world and on the printed page of every leading publication for men and women including GQ, when it was the premier men’s fashion publication, UOMO Vogue, Vogue, and Esquire.

 

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

If the term super model, a term that is personally loathsome, was in the fashion dictionary of the ‘70s and ‘80s, then his photo would appear to its right.   Here he is today in his own words:

 

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

Jeffrey Felner: What is the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?

Tony Spinelli: My Armani tux, white tie of course, is amongst my favorites but I love to dress for any occasion. Elegance is always key and I expect that you do the same.

JF: What is your most sterling trait?

TS: If I do say so myself it is my personality; the character trait has definitely opened doors for me as well as sealed the deal more than once. Too many young people think it is only about looks but there is so much more than just a book that only shows you off in front of camera but looks don’t reveal how you interact with others.

JF: What is your guilty secret?

TS: I am absolutely never ever satisfied as I always believe there is room for improvement. There is always something more that one can give to a project, job or assignment. I believe that this part of me is why I achieved and earned my reputation and standing within the international fashion community.

 

click image to enlarge

JF: What’s your advice to the newbie?

TS: The best advice and you best learn it quickly is how to deal with rejection. Again, you have to use your personality as a tool and it helps to win a client.  You must never give up, you must take chances and be different from the rest, in other words don’t be one of the crowd. It is just as easy to stand out as it is to blend in.

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

JF: Who is your favorite designer or ideal subject?

TS: Gianni Versace, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana & Hugo Boss are only some of the designers that I favor. Having worked for some of these guys has helped me develop my own personal style which usually involves the pleasure I get from wearing a greatly tailored jacket.

JF: In 3 words or less, describe the current state of fashion.

TS: It is not my style at all, there seems to be too much sameness and not enough of those models who stand out as individuals. This trend of the very young boys who look like they need to eat a meal or the boys with too much facial hair doesn’t sit well with me and certainly not part of how I grew up in the business.

 

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

JF: If you could, would you ever approach one of your peers to employ; who would it be and why?

TS: There are so many to choose from, Halston being at the top of my list because he is one designer who demanded excellence and got it. He was a wonderful designer for the social set and a great teacher for me. Please remember that I did all the Z14 ads for the men’s cologne so I do know first-hand about his ethic

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

JF: If you could invite up to 4 people for dinner, who would they be…dead or alive?

TS: Dick Avedon, Polly Mellen, Yves Saint Laurent and   Coco Chanel top off my list as they were all ahead of the game. These people didn’t wait to be told what the trend was, they invented trends, they dared to be different and they all had the skill set and passion to accomplish greatness.

JF: Whose opinion do you value most?

TS: It is so interesting to me that I love to hear the opinions of the older and wiser crowd such as my interviewer here. They’ve been there and done that and are still here to tell the tales of how it was and not how we might perceive it to have happened.

 

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

JF: What store or which designer do you most like to shop in or wear?

TS: I am most at home at Barney’s New York since they have everything that anyone could possibly need, they cover a lot of looks as well as the best designers from around the world. It is interesting for me to even just look around and see what all these designers are offering.

 JF: Do you have a dream collaborator?

TS:Giorgio Armani would be the ultimate choice because I think he understands men and only pushes fashion so far without getting too crazy. When I wear his clothes I am totally comfortable, totally relaxed and if it was possible I would love to stand in front of a camera for any of his products.

 

click image to enlarge

JF: Who is your perfect dinner companion?

TS: When Casa Spinelli is filled with friends and family which happens to be almost every Sunday. Being Italian, family is part of what makes us who we are and what we have made of ourselves. I love this family thing because it takes me back and makes me look ahead.

chatting up RICK GILLETTE

There are few words that can describe my awe and respect for this man.  He first reached legendary status during his early career as a behind the scenes participant during one of greatest magazine/editorial eras of the 20^th century. So, today, we speak of Rick Gillette as he is known professionally. We will speak of what was and what is … the past and the present.

The past life of Rick Gillette included collaborations with so many of the legends and greats: editors, photographers, stylists and magazines. Think Avedon, Newton, Mellen, Hiro, Karen Graham, Lauren Hutton, Penn, Vogue, Vreeland and many more! Rick was behind the scenes on some of the most iconic magazine spreads ever to be published and then he moved behind the camera, tested the waters of design and finally to his destination as gallerist, curator and collector.

In his present incarnation, we find Rick Gillette as the proprietor of a 3,000-square-foot space by the name of FRG OBJECTS & DESIGN / ART in Hudson, NY. The space serves as showroom, selling floor and gallery space where he exhibits contemporary modern artists who exemplify the spirit of our times whether it is art, furniture or accessories.  One such artist is Sean-Paul Pluguez who will be featured in a one man show at FRG beginning May 16^th. The “Gold Project” or Vault, as it is called, will speak to the power of the color, the material and the transformative power that it possesses when everyday objects are sheathed in the molten liquid.

"For centuries, gold had a profound impact on history, as a symbol and a storehouse of wealth accepted universally around the world …. When people are worried about political instability, war or inflation, they often put their savings into gold."  Oddly enough this quote is from the Federal Reserve Bank and yet it sums up so much of how we view the color and the emotions that it evokes.

When thinking of gold within the art world one might journey back to so many religious works of the 14th and 15th century or even to a more contemporary point of reference such as the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt. Pluguez utilizes the potency of gold to demonstrate that it can transform the most common of objects into works of art. For some reason, to me, there is a surrealist overtone in some pieces.

The point is that you simply must get yourself to Hudson New York and explore the world of Rick Gillette. You might be lucky enough to engage him in a conversation about what was, but you might be far more interested in the present.

I took the liberty of asking 3 questions which should give you sufficient background and insight into the mind of this virtuoso! ... So here goes …..

1-In your current incarnation as gallerist/curator/interior designer; art, furniture or photography what is your end game? In other words what would be your goal and why did you decide on this?

End Game? I’ve never really known why I do the things I do. When you are driven by desire you don’t always think about where you’ll end up. My life has been and is a never ending journey toward a vision. The medium I work in changes, my financial situation varies but the process and doing the work is where I feel a kind of peace. It has never been about money or fame for that matter. I really only use those things to fund the next project and I’ve rarely planned what that will be. Life changes, demand for the quality of what I do may wane, I reach a creative limit and rather than fight it, move on. 

For better or for worse I rarely accept “good enough” it’s always about the potential in something. 

I value great art, architecture & design and recognize when something is brilliant, too perfect to change! Even then I tend to focus on a part or section of it and think that’s beautiful in itself. How can I use that in a new way, show its relevance and value in today’s world?

That brings us back to your first question, my goal is to make and show beautiful art and design, to nurture and support other artists and give the public the opportunity to have things in their lives that broaden their perception of who they are and what home can be.

2-Can you describe or recall your most memorable moment as well as your biggest nightmare (people, places, etc.) during the glory days of Vogue et al?

 I think I would have to say that my most memorable moment was in the early eighties. I was working on a proposal for a beauty book and my agent asked some of the greats I had worked with, Penn, Hiro, Polly Mellen, Andrea Quinn, Martin Stevens VP at Revlon etc. to say something about me. Reading their comments had me in tears. I had never really known how they viewed me even after more than a decade of working with them. I had been told in the beginning that I could not do both Hair & Make-Up, it just was not done, no one could do both well. Something gave me the courage to say that that’s what I do; I stuck with it and had to stand up to the biggest names in the business throughout my career. Someone had said early on you are only as good as your last sitting and I took that to heart and I approached every job as if that might be true. I obviously continued to work long enough that by 30 I was being called a legend in my own time and the most difficult person in the business to work with. Well, so when I received the quotes we requested and I read what people had said about me and working with me which could not have been more warm, positive and to the point about how and why I worked the way I did I was more than touched.

I mentioned some of my great nightmares above but I think the worst of it was when I was transitioning into photography, when various editors and art directors who had time and again thanked me privately for pushing everyone to do our best work, for the magazine awards, sittings we had done together had won, promotions they had gotten, I could go on and on…. 

And yet when they could have truly supported me as an artist, someone dedicated enough to give up everything to continue to evolve in the world I had practically grown up in, they would not work with me. Moreover the most powerful man at Condé Nast would not allow even his most trusted associate to give me a photography job and we never found out why. That was probably the worst betrayal of my life.

3-if you could incite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why?

Who would I invite to dinner? My parents, to thank them for never trying to determine my life for me, for telling their 5 boys four of which were gay that we should do what made us happy as long as we were GOOD people.

     

The photographer Hiro who was never unkind to me, condescending or critical of my decisions. He was brilliant and funny, when he didn’t quite get the make-up I had done for a cover for Italian Vogue (I had decided to do completely different make-up on Lauren Helm’s left and right eyes) he looked at me smiled and said Rick I’ll give you all the rope you need!  He was also interested and caring regarding my personal life, business queries and all for my taking pictures, when I showed him some work he said without hesitation “beautiful you should be shooting covers.

      

Helmut and June Newton for many of the same attributes as Hiro and for taking me under their wing in Paris. When I called Helmut from NY furious that American Vogue had cancelled us to shoot the French collections, he said get yourself over here we will do them for French Vogue together, I did and we shot them and he gave me my first Paris Vogue cover with Dale Haddon. 

Best of all when I met him at dinner in the South of France to work for American Vogue he said Rick sit here next to me, during dinner he whispered to me “I have a present for you, it’s coming with desert” so just as desert is being served in walks Peter Keating, Helmut kicks me under the table and quietly says “here’s your present right on time”.

      

Franklin D Israel, Architect and Professor of Design at UCLA, the best male friend of my life. He was the first person who recognized and supported me in my talents beyond hair & make-up. He was incredibly intelligent as you can imagine, and it was so inspiring to discuss endless things that had nothing to do with fashion. When I called to tell him I was selling my Park Ave. apartment and wanted to buy the top floor of a Gothic sky scrapper in New York’s financial district he got on a plane from LA to look at it with me. When I said we should gut it and create a Barragan village for my home and studio he might have thought I had lost my mind, but we did just that. Not only do I consider that loft my greatest achievement as an interior designer it changed the course of his career as an architect; he became one of the top in his field. Just before he died of aids in 1996 MOMA LA gave him almost the entire main floor of the museum for a retrospective of his work. Unwell and weak he walked me and my photography assistant through the entire exhibit while the museum was closed to the public, he took us to lunch and back to his home where we talked of our lives twist and turns, called our friend Duggie Fields in London who had introduced us in the early seventies, and hugged good bye. I never saw him alive again.

www.frgobjectsanddesign.com

Meet China Machado ..legend

In a few short days the Haute Couture will begin and what better way to recognize the event than to have you meet one of the most iconic and enduring personalities of the world of fashion. The name is China Machado (pronounced cheena) and the face is as unforgettable as the human being that inhabits a body that broke boundaries and outlasted and out classed so many of her colleagues and mentors. 

portrait by Marc-Antoine Coulon

This writer is humbled by her presence and enamored with a woman who has more life and zest in her than most 20 year olds. She has been indelibly etched in my fashion consciousness for as long as I can remember and quite simply one of the classiest women I have ever run across during my decades in this business. Her resume reads like a who’s who of fashion and yet she says “I am a simple person.” 

Well, her modesty and humility  betray her body of work as how many can say they worked with Avedon whom she is inextricably linked to , Weber, Sokolsky, Vogue, Bazaar, Balenciaga, Givenchy and probably every great designer and photographer of the 20^th century. How many would say that they still smoke and drink and eat what they want? She has achieved more in one life than any 10 people you may know in fashion.

She is a 21^st century woman who has seen so much and done so much as to boggle one’s mind; I would say she has done and seen  it all but alas “it aint over yet!” Honestly, to me, she is just entering into this new chapter of a life that leaves even the most jaded with mouth agape! 

I am forever honored, humbled and awed to introduce you to China Machado and it is here that I want to thank her for having been forever in my mind and probably a driving force behind my life in fashion …

1-What is the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?

1958 Balenciaga dark green lace dress and a navy satin James Galanos evening dress 

2-What is your most sterling trait and what trait do you treasure most in your friendships?

Loyalty and kindness

3-What is your bliss?

Loving sexual relationship

4-What is your guilty secret?

Chocolate

5-Where is your ideal home?

Where I live right now

6-If you could not be a designer/retailer/etc:, what would you be

I have been a designer and a retailer, I enjoyed them both but i always challenge myself to change not to be bored.

7-What is on your bedside table right now?

Cigarettes, chocolates, book of the moment and tissue

8-What do you wear to bed?

Depends on with whom.

9-What if any, book are you reading now or last read?

Piano Teacher.

10-What’s your advice to the “newcomer?” 

Never do what you do not like.

11-Who or what is your inspiration/style icon?

Gloria Guinness

12-What is the best advice you ever received?

From Avedon: Only do what you do best but be curious.

13-In 3 words or less, describe the current state of fashion.

No comment

14-If you were a retailer, would you wear your own designs or shop in your own store? or where would you shop?

My own designs otherwise who would believe they were any good.

15-If you won a $200,000,000 power ball (lottery), what is the first thing you would buy or do?

Let it happen first then I will tell you.

16-If you could invite up to 4 people for dinner, who would they be…dead or alive?

I want to have a good time so most probably Porfirio Rubirosa, Orson Wells, Kay Thompson and Stanley Donen.  All of whom I have met.

17-What is your favorite movie /or movie star? 

Citizen Kane

18-What is the one thing you would change about yourself?

Impossible to say one thing.

19-Whose opinion do you value most and why?

Both of my daughters

20-What store or which designer do you most like to shop in or wear?

I do not really shop. Most of my clothes I make. I dress simply.

21-What’s your take on magazines, books versus the internet?

It depends on how much time I have.

22-Do you have a dream collaborator?

Avedon!!

23-What is your crowning achievement thus far in your career?

Most people will say breaking the race barrier in 1958

24-What’s your music library like?

I like South American music because it makes me happy and the musicality of Jazz.

25-What and where is your favorite meal?

I cook the food of Macau, my roots and soul food.