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The Mission was intrigued when my friend Christopher Pape, PARK’s Publisher, asked me to be the magazine’s Editorial Director. I rushed to Webster’s to find out what my duties would be. Suddenly, I realized I’d always had a dream to assign stories to writers, engage with photographers, create alluring themes and bring my vision of a life well lived to the pages of our coffee table magazine. My goal for PARK is to create a bouillabaisse of modern chic with a dash of posh nostalgia. PARK is about life; people, philanthropy, art, culture, travel and above all Fun! Cover by Gilles Bensimon The biggest challenge of my job is the cover. For me, it should either be a legend or someone I think you should know. For the Art Issue, I thought: who would Slim Aarons like to photograph today? And I came up with gallerist Isabelle Bscher who is also the most eligible girl in the world. I tapped noted Hong Kong-based writer Bennett Marcus to tell her remarkable story. Gilles Bensimon provided the cover shot, and Johnny Pigozzi, Isabelle’s longtime friend, provided the snapshots that reflect her life. Slim Aarons & Patrick McMullan Iconic society photographer Slim Aarons, who documented the lives of the privileged in their natural habitats, from Palm Beach to Palm Springs, and from Cannes to Capri is represented in a 10 page spread featuring holiday shots in a story by PARK’s Palm Beach editor Christine Schott who also delves into the world of designer Lilly Pulitzer. I asked Patrick McMullan, who one could argue is the modern-day Aarons because of his entrée into the world of the elite, to document the cognoscenti at Art Basel.
Editorial Director’s Letter New York Times best-selling author, to write a piece on whether Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis would still be relevant today. I also drew from his book 740 PARK, about the fabled building that was Jackie O’s childhood home. To illustrate the story, I turned to the legendary paparazzo Ron Galella, as he was the ultimate Jackie hunter. Charles James & Halston For my part, I wrote about my friendships with Halston and the couturier Charles James, whose career was celebrated at the Met with a retrospective in 2014 and who’s “La Sirène” gown takes pride of place in the museum’s current exhibition In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. I used an iconic photo of Charles by the incomparable Ciel Beaton. Party Pages No magazine would be complete without party coverage, and I’m offering up 24 pages reflecting the city’s philanthropic and cultural goings-on, including this season’s “Big Five,” The Metropolitan Opera, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, the NY Film Festival and the Met’s Costume Institute Gala. Andy Warhol & Larry McMurtry During my life, I’ve been exposed to many creative people; in the world of print including my teacher Larry McMurtry, Truman Capote, George Plimpton, Timothy Leary, William Burroughs, Leo Lerman, Diana Vreeland and Andy Warhol who gave me my first job as a Contributing Editor at Interview Magazine. They continue to be my inspiration. I hope that you’ll have as much fun perusing the magazine as I did creating it.
Jackie O, Ron Galella & Michael Gross For the real estate section, I asked Michael Gross, the R. Couri Hay
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