NICOLA WALI

PORTFOLIO

FD Magazine, August 2013

EATING IN,
ELEVATED
My father, the Alfa male
(AND WHAT DOES A SEDUCTIVE ITALIAN
SPORTS CAR HAVE IN COMMON WITH
A BESPOKE ITALIAN SUIT?)

by ASHLEY NICOLA WALI

t has been 46 years since Dustin Hoffman made Alfa Romeo

famous in The Graduate, piloting his fire-engine-red graduation
gift all over the silver screen. Now, the Italian automaker is
making a triumphant return to the United States after a long
hiatus, and it is making it with the ALFA ROMEO 4C.
Its hard to imagine an American kid being brainwashed by slow
doses of stories of growing up around Italian Alfas. But thats me, and
my dad is the storyteller. His infatuation with Alfas began while
growing up around his Uncle Steves Alfa dealership in St. Asaph,
Wales. His obsession with exotic cars grew with a steady diet of hours
spent at the dealership (rather than doing homework) and riding
alongside his Uncle Steve. The Alfas represented something far away
and mysterious, compared to his quaint hometown, St. Asaph, with its
Dickensian air and small roads meandering through valleys of green.
There is nothing more distracting than that bucolic setting being
punctuated by the netherworld sound of an Alfa. And now, a lifetime
later, Dad is first on the waiting list at an Austin dealership
for a new 4C.
I had to know more about the impending new toy. When I asked
Alfa Romeos chief exterior designer, Alessandro Maccolini, to detail
his inspirations, I expected a cookie-cutter response mixed with lofty
claims. In contrast, Maccolini defined the design process as a task
closer to that of a specialist tailor who has to create a suit around the
body of an athlete. The compact sports car borrows from Alfas iconic
33 Stradale of the late 1960s, but with modern aesthetics and
exaggerated proportions. Its lithe body is muscular, its stance
aggressive. The 4Cs minimalist design is carried through the interior
as well, with subtle details such as exposed carbon fiber in the cockpit
and contrast stitching on the leathers. The 4C Launch Edition comes
in just two superchic hues: a heavenly matte white and a devilish
glossy red. Only 500 of the handsome coupes will debut in the U.S.
later this year, and pricing has not been announced.
Maccolini envisions the 4C driver to be sporty. He explains that
when driving the car, you need to imagine the approach that a
motorcyclist might have to his bike, because, he says, they are each
an extension of the other. (Has Alfa done the impossible? Has it found
the sweet spot where man and machine become one?) The 4Cs pice
de rsistance is not its brawny turbo engine or its rapid acceleration,
but its feather-light weight. It is a skeletal 1,900 pounds, with a
superlight carbon-fiber chassis a recipe that may make it devour
curves better than a Bugatti. With about 240 horsepower and a
zero-to-60 time of 4.5 seconds, the mid-engine coupe is already in
Porsche 911 territory.
When my dad left the U.K., his uncles parting gift to him was a
model Alfa Romeo. While my dad is looking forward to getting behind
the wheel of his 4C, I am looking forward to stealing his 4C just like
I did the model car. Information 4c.alfaromeo.com.

14 AUGUST 2013

Above, smokedsalmon crostini. Below,

Fullosophie co-owners Jess Shain (left)
and Tarin Holcomb

Ive done the juice cleanses several

of them, and not well. Ive tried the
morning smoothies, adding leafy greens
and frozen fruit to my Vitamix. Sure, I feel
a little lighter and maybe theres a slight
glow to my skin (though that may be just
the glimmer of sweat from this good ol
Texas heat), but what Im really left with is
an empty stomach. Im hungry. I miss the
fork and knife. Id like to get all of that
healthy goodness that the liquids give
you, but in the form of actual food. (And
as importantly, Id like it to be just as easy
to obtain as those six-packs of juice were.)
Enter FULLOSOPHIE, a
Dallas-based food-delivery company,
which offers all that and more. Owned by
foodie friends Jess Shain and Tarin
Holcomb, Fullosophie is a farm-to-fork
service that offers healthy, all-natural
entrees and sides delivered right to your
front door. You can choose from
just-reheat-to-eat meals or, if youd
rather whip it all up yourself, DIY
cooking kits that come with a recipe and
prepped-and-portioned ingredients.
The watermelon, tomato and feta salad
topped with jalapeo dressing is
something I can handle on my own.
The menu changes weekly: Recent
goodies have included Greek chicken
with tabbouleh, summer sweet corn
chowder and a warm salad of millet, kale
and carrot. Most are organic and free of
hormones and steroids; there are
gluten-free options and food for the
kiddos, too think mini-cheeseburgers
and cheese quesadillas, to name just two.
Prices are in line with what youre
spending in restaurants; a delivery fee is
added, $8 at most, depending on the total.
Fullosophie delivers to 11neighborhoods,
from downtown to Devonshire; order by
midnight on Monday and your meals
come to you and not the other way
around on Tuesday. With all this time
curled up at home, I wonder if I need to
beef up my Netflix account. Information
630-362-9628 or 214-326-4700;
fullosophie.com
Bradley Agather Means

PULP FRICTION: The top-selling books at

the new Taschen Library at The Joule hotel downtown?
The Big Book of Breasts 3D and
The Big Penis Book 3D. We knew the
space dark and sexy, with moody
lighting and a plump sofa in which to
nestle was sexy, but perhaps we
underestimated just quite how.

FULLOSOPHIE FOOD AND PORTRAIT: HEATHER HAWKINS

FIXATED

TRENDING

How Dallas native Mickey Ashmore found a shoe and a business

HOME
Home

CULTURE
Apparel & Beauty

DESIGN

FASHION

FIRST PERSON

Search...

FD LOVE

FD HOUSE

NASHER PRIZE

Perfect skin by Kate Somerville, ve ways

Perfect skin by Kate Somerville, ve ways

BY FD ON JUNE 14, 2013

APPAREL & BEAUTY

For Los Angeles-based beauty guru Kate Somerville, beautiful skin isnt all glitz and glam. The paramedical esthetics expert combines extensive
experience in medical aesthetic procedures with advanced skincare techniques and has, subsequently, enlivened the beauty business with
her eponymous line. Which Kate Somerville goodies are keeping our skin fresh for summer? From rare oils to a must-have sunscreen, ve of
our favorites:

Dilo Oil: Kate Somerville discovered the magic of Dilo Oil while vacationing in Fiji, noticing that all of the islands inhabitants boasted curiously awless skin.
Indeed, they all use said oil the trees that produce Dilo are only found on the island which is proven to make the skin look healthier, restored and
hydrated. Kate re-created the Fiji Dilo Oil for her line, and the bene ts include everything from improving elasticity and rmness to helping diminish the
appearance of lines and wrinkles. The best part? You can use it on your face, hair and hands. Oh, and the tropical scent is enough to have you feeling like
youre in Fiji with just a mere whi .

Daily De ector Waterlight: This lightweight sunscreen is a summer essential. It uses a reservoir delivery system, which guarantees that the sunscreen
stays on the skins surface, all while the anti-aging ingredients permeate your pores. The sunscreen provides SPF 50+ protection, plus skin hydration and
anti-aging bene ts. Thats a skin win-win.

IllumiKate CC Cream: To our delight, Kate has nally given in to incessant customer requests for a colored product. Her new tinted complexion correcting
cream will be released in August, and will not only provide SPF 50+ protection, but will also use plant extracts to rejuvenate skin. It is available in four
shades, and is the happy medium between a light-tinted moisturizer and a full-on foundation.

Age Arrest Advanced Reviving Cream: Age Arrest uses Telo-5-Technology, which is based on Nobel Prize-winning research about the bene ts of prolonging
the life of telomeres a section of DNA at the end of a chromosome that guards the chromosome from weakening. This cream it has a whipped
texture diminishes the appearance of wrinkles, hydrates skin and reduces skin discoloration.

KateCeuticals Replenishing Toner: The Replenishing Toner may become a must-have in your daily regimen. The toner will deliver instant hydration,
replenishing skin while also knocking back the appearance of ne lines without depleting natural oils. The toner will be available in September, exclusively
at Neiman Marcus.

Kate Somerville at Neiman Marcus, Nordstom, Sephora and katesomerville.com.

Ashley Nicola Wali

Share.
RELATED POSTS

NOVEMBER 17, 2015

Luxury consignment boutique To Be Continued

celebrates grand opening

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

Bottega Veneta to host Jackson Pollock exhibition

preview at the DMA

NOVEMBER 1, 2015

Out Now: The November FD

!""#$!%"#
&'()**+
#$%&'()*('$

he walls of a mirrored cube shatter to expose a

portly nude woman covered in moths, her face
obscured by a gas mask. Raccoon-eyed humanoids
slither through a derelict warehouse filled with the echoes
of screeching birds and crashing cars. A model spins on a
wooden turntable, arms aloft, as two luminous machines
shoot black and yellow paint against her ethereal white
dress. These are the eyebrow-raising runway works of Alexander McQueen.
Lee Alexander McQueen possessed a savage and enigmatic imagination that was unlike any other designer. From
his theatrical staging of transgression to a fascination with
spectacle and artifice, McQueen continually danced on the
fine line between beauty and horror. He effectively raised
a middle finger to high fashion, relentlessly defying doctrines with dark stagecraft and visceral designs. With one
boundary-breaking show after another, McQueen was aptly
dubbed the enfant terrible of fashion. The iconoclastic
provocateur existed where glamour shades into abjection
and sketched the darker side of commodity culture. He
designed with unbridled passion, tailored with a surgical
precision and evoked a phantasmal wonder with every single stitch of fiber he touched.
One of the most striking creative works to ever grace the
runway is the hologram that ended McQueens Fall 2006
runway show, titled The Widows of Culloden. The wistful
collection had patent influences from McQueens Scottish
roots, with austere tartan crinolines, romantic feathered
gowns and exaggerated silhouettes. Based on the final
battle of the Jacobite risings, the show exposed the crux
of McQueens aurahis heritage. The elegiac, yet refined,
collection was a sophisticated departure from McQueens
legendary Highland Rape collection, which referenced the
slaughter of his Scottish ancestors. As the show concluded, a
languid wisp of smoke appeared inside the hollow glass pyramid. The spinning shadow finally settled into the shifting
silhouette of Kate Moss, her slight frame shrouded in the
folds of her eerie white gown. The melancholic theme song
of Schindlers List resonated, magnifying the existing feeling
of emptiness. The notes reverberated as a rosy cascade of

organza ruffles twisted around her ghostly frame. Moss

seemingly floated in air, her wispy blonde hair and lucid
arms swaying in a surreal beauty that was both fragile and
haunting. Her apparition danced angelically until it shrank
away into obscurity.
On February 11, 2010, the fashion establishment was orphaned by the loss of McQueen. McQueen was the undisputed genius of this generation, a mastermind who could
so effortlessly incite an uneasy pleasure that merged both
wonderment and disbelief. It was his emotional intensity,
his remarkable appreciation of beauty and his unfettered
passion that progressed fashion in an inconceivable directionthat is, out of its commercial confines and into his
very own sinister and fantastical world. This surreal world
saw McQueens cerebral aesthetic plunge into the darkest
corners of his soul and allowed him to create from the outermost peripheries of his prescient imagination. McQueens
design lexicon is almost eclipsed by the kinetic dichotomy
of his workan endless dialectical opposition between light
and dark, life and death, decadence and contagion, sanity
and insanity. An artist with an unmatched ability to inspire,
McQueens passionate pursuit of the marriage of theatrically
and fashion manifested in the glacial beauty of his sartorial
oeuvres. He was a poetic artificer with an affinity for the
dark and dystopian, a visionary and an artist in every sense
of the word, whose appetite remained unhindered by commercial spirits. McQueens legacy is in a word, sublime.
Only Alexander McQueen had the creative capacity to envision such an astounding and magical feat. The audience,
left in a trancelike state, echoed in awe after observing such
an inconceivable event. McQueen revisited his Highland
concept of the torment of the Scottish, with Kate Moss
embodying the soul of Scotland as a widow. Similar to the
numerous pyramids of the past, the glass pyramid of McQueens show paid great homage to the pain of the Scottish.
The ecstatic applause thundered in honor of this experience,
a prominent memory in the history of fashion. The most
memorable moment was the eerie silence between when the
hologram ended and the rapturous applause began. That
silence spoke volumes.

!"

!"#$#%&$#%'"#%

!"#$%&'(
!"#$$%&'()'*#+,-.'/.-#

In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be

different Coco Chanel
They wear effervescent hats, sublime maquillage,
gravity-defying heels and phantasmagoric ensembles. They are the fashion eccentrics. They are
the gods of styleoccult, irrational and ineffable.
They are the spirited tastemakers who are willing
to transcend trends and color outside of the lines.
They are true fashion savants, integral to the advancement of style, who valiantly stand out in the
sea of sameness. They break rules that we didnt
even know existed.
Simon Doonan has written a book about them,
T Magazine has devoted an entire article to them
and nearly every fashion publication has lauded
their individuality, so who exactly are these mesmerizing creatures? True eccentrics are visionaries
like Marchesa Luisa Casati and Elsa Schiaparelli,
who gave way to style setters by the likes of Isabella Blow and Anna Piaggi. Eccentricity is an elusive
concept that means so much more than airbrushed
perfection. Eccentricity is not just a way of dressing or a type of personit is the combination of
the two.
The Marchesa Luisa Casati, easily the most scandalous woman of the Belle poque, was an alluring
aesthete who treated life like an artist treats an
oeuvre. Tall and thin with a predilection for eccentric garb, the Marchesa was known for her fiery
tresses, kohl-rimmed green eyes and androgynous

)*

silhouette. She was an enchanting heiress, a magnetic muse and a fashion titana living work of
art. John Galliano, an eccentric in his own right,
paid homage to her in the 1998 Christian Dior
Haute Couture spring collection, as did Tom Ford
for his 2004 Spring/Summer Yves Saint Laurent
collection. The list goes on with Zac Posen, Karl
Lagerfeld and Marchesa (she inspired the name for
the brand). The Marchesa, notorious for her flamboyant spirit, had a particular taste for evening
strollsthat is, naked under a fur coat, parading a
cheetah on a diamond-studded leash.
Elsa Schiaparelli, an iconoclastic Italian designer,
was a brilliant nonconformist who used fashion
as a medium to express her outr ideas, creating
madcap designs that only women of style and substance could wear. Her wild and whimsical designs
included pieces like a black suit jacket with red lips
as pockets, handbags in the form of music boxes
and a sprightly shoe-shaped hat that she designed
with surrealist painter Salvador Dal. Schiaparelli, who was as much an artist as a designer, persistently flouted convention in a radical aesthetic
revolt.
Why do we need eccentrics in fashion, you ask?
Eccentrics force us to ponder our willingness to
push the envelope and act out the sartorial desires
well hidden within the confines of our minds. Eccentrics shape the landscape of fashion and show
us that art and life depend on spontaneity. Each

()*#$+,-&#.#/0))&$$
unconventional provocateur is radically different
from the other, but still unified by the red thread
of revolt that they each embody.
Take, for instance, veteran British fashion editor
Isabella Blow, who single handedly launched the
careers of sartorial wunderkinds like Alexander
McQueen and Philip Treacy. Blow was held together by a thread of eccentricitywith an unmatched penchant for outlandish ensembles (see:
pink burka) and a blatant disregard for societal
conventions.
Italian fashion editor Anna Piaggi was another
striking portrait of eccentricity continually
sporting heavy rouge, candy-colored hair and intensely cultivated style. Piaggi is a genuine muse in
a world of sartorial charlatans, a mind numbingly
extraordinary figure that lived for fashion that
existed at its own margins.
While eccentrics embrace the odd, the ugly and
the over-the-top, they are on the wane. Today,
instead of these stylistic geniuses, we have the

ephemeral street style stars. They are the assassins

of eccentricitythe cookie-cutter, celebrity-obsessed herd that trapeze on the streets of any given
fashion capital in their prosaic couture confections. Theyre the kind of people who primp and
preen outside of fashion showsteetering on their
vertiginous heels, adjusting their side-cocked hats.
The showoffs that dress purely for the camera
are nothing more than prepackaged subversion.
Eccentricity isnt about cultivating a look with a
surgical precisionyou need intelligence beyond
the aesthetic. Eccentrics dont care about what
people think, and these faux eccentrics care about
nothing else.
While fashion is known for saluting eccentrics,
they have gone by the wayside in recent years. Big
name brands could very well be contributing to
this decline of oddball apparel. Designers are now
taking their creative cues from mainstream consumers whose tastes are becoming increasingly
homogenized, devoting their energy to mass-mar
ket mechanisms rather than creating art.

!""#$%&#''&

)+

6*#70))#$8)9:
These designers, who were once lauded for their
artistic virtuosity, are now isolated in creative quarantine and compelled to sell essentially the same
clothes to the mainstream flock. Trends like Spartan urban minimalism have led to the casualties of
fashions purveyors. In order to succeed both commercially and creatively, fashion must find the delicate balance between commerce and art. Take a walk
through your local mall, study the cyclic displays,
browse the analogous metal racksyoull find that
the scale is tipping towards the former.
The future of fashion lies in the hands of the designers who will remain steadfast in their eccentric
premonitions and the women brave enough to wear
these creations. The biggest mistake people make is
taking fashion too seriously. If there is anything we
can learn from eccentrics, its that clothes dont have
to be conceptual, outrageous or shocking to be memorable, it just has to be a reflection of you. Nevertheless, as any unconventional seducer worth her weight
in Hussein Chalayan knows, one should never
mourn the end, but instead celebrate the beginning.
So where exactly is the second age of eccentrics?

),

1#/,-0*#$23&*#$4#*#5&