CITY Issue 59

CITIZENS / TARA SUBKOFF DESIGNER DIRECTOR Tara Subkoff’s new collection for bebe brings her love of retro glam, and film noir, to the mainstream By Alyson Sheppard T ara Subkoﬀ doesn’t like trends. Who could blame her? She’s a including Johansson, Withe spoon, and Kate Hudson. Johansson and Ca men fashion designe /act ess/ﬁ lmmake . She lives in New o k/Los nElect a even modeled in one of he unway shows. geles. She hangs out with Chlöe Sevingny/Sca lett Johansson/Wes But the exclusive pieces fo bebe gave Subkoﬀ the oppo tunity to oﬀe nde son. By the time t ends become t endy to the masses, she and he fashion aesthetic to a la ge ma ket because it is sold at a mo e accessible he clique have al eady found new fashion to, well, make t endy. cost. P ices ange f om fo a top to fo a sequence d ess. Now Subkoﬀ ’s mainst eam fans can get ahead of all those othe sheepish “It was a g eat expe ience c eating t uly democ atic fashion,” she said. “It t endste s, because this Fall she is eleasing some unique, glamo ous styles at was as libe ating as it was const ictive in the sense that it is available to a the nationwide appa el and accesso y company bebe. much wide po tion of the ma ket.” “Bebe and I a e mutual admi e s, so I was ﬂatte ed when they app oached me “Ta a Subkoﬀ fo bebe,” the Fall/Holiday line available at select bebe to c eate this collection,” Subkoﬀ said. “Bebe was fantastic in giving me comsto es ac oss the count y, was inspi ed by Subkoﬀ ’s love of et o Hollywood’s pletely f ee c eative eign — we wo k eally well togethe in that we both igno e glamo ous women. what is meant to be on ‘t end,’ and go with what we think is cool ight now.” “I love celeb ating women being sma t and sexy. The combination of the Subkoﬀ said having the conﬁdence to wea st ong and sexy designs beyond two is st ong,” she said. “The sc een si ens like Bette Davis, Lau en Bacall, and what eve yone else wea s is “cool ight now.” nd she’s been on the pulse of Ba ba a Stanwyck we e po t ayed as bold, sexualized femme fatale temptwhat’s cool since d opping out of Pa sons the New esses. They we e always put in challenging situaSchool fo Design and moving to L. . to pu sue tions and ha d times, and they always came out I LOVE FILM. I'M VERY on top.” he acting ca ee . She was act ess Reese Withe INSPIRED BY FILM NOIR; spoon’s oommate, and appea ed in ove a dozen nd to p omote the new line, Subkoﬀ designed ﬁ lms, most notably The Cell with Jennife Lopez. di ected a da k ﬁ lm to appea on the bebe Web IT SEEMS THAT EVERY She then co-founded the fashion label “Imitasite. This is the thi d movie she has di ected fo FILMMAKER I ADMIRE fashion p ojects. tion of Ch ist,” whe e she and c eative di ecto STARTS THERE Sevingny emade vintage clothes into mode n “I love ﬁ lm,” she said. “I’m ve y inspi ed by pieces that d ew a cult following f om celeb ities ﬁ lm noi ; it seems that eve y ﬁ lmmake I admi e sta ts the e.” Subkoﬀ ’s take on the movie style, a ﬁve-minute sho t aptly titled “Film Noi ,” sta s socialite Lydia Hea st as an act ess being hounded by the papa azzi th ough s Los ngeles. “Lydia is a g eat f iend of mine, and I wanted someone who eally lives the life of a Hollywood sta let and unde stands the p essu es,” Subkoﬀ said. “It was g eat fun wo king with he — and she’s so damn beautiful!” The ﬁ lm was shot in black and white at Bette Davis’ legenda y L. . mansion and featu es a ca chase down Mulholland D ive in a Buick, biting commenta y on society’s obsession with celeb ities (t ends), placement of key pieces f om the bebe collection, and, like all g eat ﬁ lms about empowe ed women, a lesbian love scene. Subkoﬀ ec uited Danity Kane singe ub ey O’Day fo the titillating pa t. “We wanted to do something a little salacious, but this sp ead like wildﬁ e ac oss the blogs in minutes!” Subkoﬀ said. “That was c azy. Lydia was bomba ded by the p ess asking if she was a lesbian! But ub ey is anothe good f iend of mine and we all had a good giggle about it a e wa ds.” By defying pop cultu e’s ideas about female powe and sexuality, Subkoﬀ is hoping he new clothing line and mode n vixens, like the da k femme fatales who inspi ed he , cause men to c umble and women to ealize they can be sinLYDIA HEARST, DRESSED IN BEBE, STARS IN “FILM NOIR” DIRECTED BY TARA SUBKOFF iste and d ess commandingly without being — say it with me — t endy. 56 CITY TY

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CITY Issue 59

CITY Issue 59 Contents Have You Heard? Our Friends Action Wanted City Moment Diary Temporary Contemporary In Rogue The Amused Bouche Fast Food Tara Subkoff Alvarourbano Hardy Blachman Javier Peres Cult Classic Dream Jewels London Calling Argentina Good Airs Mission from God Your Place, and Mine One City, Many Destinations I'm Good, I'm Gone. 7 Hour Overdrive Where to Buy It Cityscape

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