[ Photos by: Owen Geronimo ]
Throngs of San Francisco’s night denizens, hipsters and glitterati descended on the Metreon’s City View, overlooking Yerba Buena Gardens and SFMOMA, for the Lexus Attracts event. I’m excited to see the Ellen von Unwerth photo exhibit because I’ve loved Devon Aoki since her modeling days. Most would recognize her from her films, but I’m also a fan of her super DJ brother Steve Aoki.
I asked the usher at the elevator about celeb sightings and she said “yes, one.” Walking into the venue, the bar line in the main room was endless, so I opted for the strawberry ice cream stand. In the corner, enjoying the night, we spotted Joel Goodrich of TRI/Coldwell Banker, Lili Balfour of Atelier Advisors and Michelle Hinderleider of Bloomingdale’s.
Next, we headed to the tent outside City View. One reason we attended this event was to see if we could say hello to Jonathan Adler. Robert Nixon, CFO of SFFAMA/Fashion+TechSF, attended Brown University with Adler. Months before, we had discussed inviting Jonathan Adler Inc. to participate in AIGA SF Design Week. Entering the interior of the bright tent, with another awesome Lexus motor car in the middle, we ran right into Jonathan Adler and his partner Simon Doonan. I gestured Robert to say “hi” and we had a brief conversation about next year’s SF Design Week (and strawberry ice cream) with Adler, Doonan and their perky, statuesque publicist Lisa. So, we’ll see. After a few quick snapshots, in parting, we got some reasonable assurance that Jonathan Adler or his store would love to participate in SF Design Week next year. By that time, Anna Pintz of Mode Walk walked up and we dove into a brief conversation about her new fashion project.
The sushi and oyster bars were plentiful, and the drink bars were overcrowded, but parched, I braved the bar at the edge of the terrace and chatted with photographer Jessica Chavez until I got my Benitos cocktail, a very yummy alcohol concoction.
I was excited to return to the main room to see the photo exhibit, Ellen von Unwerth’s body of work specially photographed for this event. The black and white photographs were blown up and superimposed, covering the walls and converging the experience of the new Lexus line with the playfulness of the famous couple models, in this case, Devon Aoki & James Bailey, Jamie King & Kyle Newman, Jason Schwartzman & Brady Cunningham, Simon Doonan & Jonathan Adler. Also enjoying the exhibit was Mai Le, of Fashioni.st, who told us about her upcoming photo exhibit.
The best part of the evening, for me personally, was the Style Spy exhibit featuring street style photographers from around the world. The exhibition showcased street style fashion in its glory, reminiscent of and/or inspired by the likes of Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist, Street Pepper and Yvan Rodic of Facehunter.
The big reveal of the evening was the Lexus LF-LC concept car. It is a hybrid 2+2 sport coupe with the signature Lexus spindle grille. It will go into production in three years. It is awesome. Long on style and design, the Lexus LF-LC absolutely bridges the gap between the Japanese auto industry and their sexier, more expensive luxury sportscar competitors in Europe.
Though it was a last minute decision to attend this big society event, it was well worth it and fun. I realized that I am a closeted extrovert with some occasionally strong reservations about the social scene. I did miss Jamie King, but she was somewhere in the house that night. I’m guessing that she’s the celeb the elevator usher had spotted earlier that evening. ~ Written by: OWEN GERONIMO Follow: @owengeronimo
