Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld Presents Ouattara Watts: Vertigo

Last night in Manhattan, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld hosted another of his infamous art openings, impeccably timed to coincide with the beginning of New York Fashion Week. His latest exhibition features the colorful textures of neo-expressionist Ouattara Watts in "Vertigo" with 18 of the works on view for the first time. Watts was born in West Africa in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire and studied at L’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris before moving to New York in the late 1980s under the influence of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Working to integrate his love of music and especially jazz with his art, Watts creates his intense collages and paintings primarily from recycled materials. He has shown at the Whitney Museum and the Venice Biennale among other notable venues. The current exhibit is on display through 19 February at 560 Washington Street. Guests toasted the affair afterwards with Hotpants cocktails at Acme, including the mother of the curator, Carine Roitfeld, attired in a striking skirt by Marc Jacobs, nude stockings with black seam by Wolford, and the racy hot rod pumps from the Prada Spring/Summer 2012 collection. Read more about Ouattara Watts in an intriguing interview by Cool Hunting.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, Ouattara Watts, et al photographs © 2012 Condé Nast and courtesy of vladimirrestoinroitfeld.com, bfanyc.com, patrickmcmullan.com, and artinfo.com. All Rights Reserved.

I Want To Be A Roitfeld Tees And Mugs

Show your love for all things Roitfeld and especially IWTBAR with our brand new tees and mugs! The official IWTBAR tee is American Apparel 100% cotton and fits quite snugly, shrinking one size after cycling through the dryer, so be conscious of this when choosing the correct size. Available in girly style S, M, L, XL (US sizes, complete measurements are listed in inches) in white only. The official IWTBAR mug is white ceramic, measures 4" x 4", and was produced in China. Both the tee and the mug are printed in the US. If you are interested, visit the IWTB Shop for more details. As always, thanks for your support!

I Want To Be A Roitfeld Tees and Mug images © 2012 Kellina de Boer. All Rights Reserved.

Happy 27th Birthday Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld!

Our amazingly talented contributing editor Lee Ferguson experimented with hatching (or hachure in French) to illustrate this masterful portrait of Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld in honor of his 27th birthday. Lee really captured his spirit with her strokes and I am mesmerized by his eyes. Happy Birthday, Vladi!

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld illustration © 2011 Lee Ferguson. All Rights Reserved.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld: Sinner Or Saint?

Last weekend, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld attended the annual Halloween costume party hosted at the Boom Boom Room by Andre Balazs and Andre Saraiva. This year's theme was "Sinners or Saints" and guests appeared to have a lot of fun with their fantastic costumes. Clearly Vlad chose to explore his sinful side for the evening, dressing as a skeletal Mad Hatter.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld photographs © 2011 Hearst Communications, Inc. and courtesy of purplediary.fr, bfanyc.com, and terrrysdiary.com.

Happy Halloween Roitfeld Style

Roitfeld family photographs courtesy of Fashion Spot. Halloween trickery by Kellina de Boer.