I make it a habit to arrive early when I expect a sold-out crowd to be attending an event here in the Upper Delaware River region, which happens frequently, and last Saturday was no exception. …
Stay informed about your community and support local independent journalism.
Subscribe to The River Reporter today. click here
This item is available in full to subscribers.
Please log in to continue |
I make it a habit to arrive early when I expect a sold-out crowd to be attending an event here in the Upper Delaware River region, which happens frequently, and last Saturday was no exception. Anticipating a mob to show up for musician and celebrated designer Andy Hilfiger’s highly touted fashion show, “Bellbottoms and Butterfly Wings” (www.bethelwoodscenter.org), I pulled into the lot with the Wonder Dog and noticed a blonde parked next to me in a convertible with the top down, applying lipstick and singing at the top of her lungs. Without hesitating, I nodded in her direction and slipped into the passenger seat, singing along, as she warbled “Happy Days are Here Again,” and I joined in with the counterpoint tune “Get Happy”—a duet made famous eons ago by Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand on Garland’s 1960s television show. As the last notes faded into the cool night air, the blonde took out her cell phone and snapped a selfie of the two of us behind the wheel as I gasped, “Aren’t you Lady Gaga?” Petting the pup, she smiled slyly and laughed. “Uh huh” she murmured, proffering her hand. “Who are you?” I laughed nervously, stammered something unintelligible and woke up.
In point of fact, Gaga is slated to perform with the legendary Tony Bennett in the Pavilion at Bethel Woods on Saturday, July 25, and I do have plans to attend, so perhaps my vision was prophetic and I’ll have an opportunity to be star-struck in the near future. But Hilfiger’s runway show was not a fantasy, and as I searched my closet for something that wouldn’t embarrass the fashion guru, I googled him. “Andy Hilfiger is an American businessman and musician,” I read, “and the creative director of ‘Andrew Charles,’ a rock ‘n roll-inspired fashion line, of which Steven Tyler is the face... Andy’s other love is music, and he has been playing bass guitar since he was a teen. In 1982, Andy moved to Manhattan from upstate NY, where he began to further his career, touring with members of The Ramones, Kid Rock and Blue Oyster Cult” (www.wikipedia.org).
Along with his designer brother, Hilfiger started the accessories division for Tommy Hilfiger USA and played a major role in launching the “JLO by Jennifer Lopez” brand. Little wonder, then, that the fashion show, featuring clothing inspired by the music industry was (IMHO) out of this world, featuring vintage garb worn by the likes of heavy hitters Lopez, Tyler and Keith Richards. The show served as a fundraiser for Bethel Woods and leads up to an exhibit, “Threads,” which opens on June 11 and will “showcase 1960s clothing and its influence on modern styles, drawn from the personal collection of Hilfiger and the permanent collection of The Museum at Bethel Woods.”
During the reception and cocktail hour, I chatted with Andy and met his brother Bobby, wife Kim and their son Andrew, who was slated to walk the runway in an outfit Hilfiger had dubbed “Rock and Roll Circus.” We discussed his family and the odd coincidence that we had met previously (in our teens) at Seneca Lake, when Hilfiger’s folks visited with neighbors of my parents, while Andy enthused about Bethel Woods, his connection to the region (his family has a home in the vicinity) and the show about to commence. “We have local models from the upcoming Allyson Whitney Foundation calendar (www.allysonwhitney.org) along with some employees of Bethel Woods and assorted luminaries from right here in your own backyard, sprinkled in with a few from Manhattan.”
All told, there were more than 30 models, and the fashion statements built in momentum, while the crowd went wild. There were, indeed, both bellbottoms and butterfly wings on the runway and I attempted to photograph them all, as the flashbulbs popped and the local paparazzi flew into a frenzy, basking in the glow of Hilfiger’s vision, which was stunning. Thanking the audience for coming out, designer Hilfiger was both charming and down-to-earth in his sincere enthusiasm regarding Sullivan County and the impact that the Arts Center has had on the area, and although he neither confirmed, nor denied, any connections he might have with Lady Gaga or Tony Bennett, he and his beautiful wife Kim graciously posed on the red carpet with me and the dog, should that photo-op influence the duo and find them moved to do the same when they appear here later this summer. After all, Hilfiger’s fashion show was a dream, so anything is possible.
[To view all of the photos from Andy Hilfiger’s “Bellbottoms and Butterfly Wings” fashion show at Bethel Woods, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theriverreporter.]
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here