The whole world is mourning Michael Jackson who died at age 50 of “stage fright”…

I remember seeing him for the first time at director Sydney Lumet’s house. They were shooting the Wizard of Oz with Diana Ross and I remember a smiling young boy with an afro.

Later, I went to a number of his concerts and heard the crowds scream as he was moonwalking in Madison Square Garden. I also went to his ranch, Neverland, for Elizabeth Taylor’s last wedding…we never spoke but I saw him from afar with tenderness and respect.

We should all remember him as a great artist who brought happiness and a whole new “beat” to the world! We will miss him but we will have his music forever!!!

with the CFDA statue

Last night was the CFDA Fashion Awards at Alice Tully Hall, and the evening was beautiful, fun…and funny!

The red carpet was busy, with lights flashing in every direction. So much gorgeous fashion everywhere. Finally we got everyone inside the theater to take their seats and our host Tracy Ullman came out! She made an impression of me leaving a message on her machine that was very funny…but the most amusing part came when Graydon Carter did a video with all the nominees for Menswear Designer of the Year. He asked them Proust-like questions and even pretended to hem Scott Sternberg’s pants! The audience was hysterical, and then applauded when Scott tied for the award with Italo Zucchelli from Calvin Klein.

Jim Moore also did a very funny video with cameos from Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Cruise, and was presented with the Eleanor Lambert award. Anna Sui received the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award and we were treated to a show of all her clothes through the years. Antoine Arnault presented Marc Jacobs with the International Award for Louis Vuitton. Other winners included Rodarte, Justin Giunta, and my mentee Alex Wang! He was so happy to win, and I was thrilled to see so many young designers walk away with awards. MORE >

When I went back to work in 1998, I came downtown and made my studio in an old carriage house on 12th street. New to the area, I decided to meet my neighbors and found an extraordinary group of people who not only cared for their community but also actually acted to make it better. That is when I met Robert Hammond and Joshua David. They had a dream… to save the High Line (an elevated abandoned railroad) and turn it into a park. MORE >

Not Cannes or St. Tropez this year, but the island of Borneo!! This mythical island with stories of headhunters and explorers is a land of very rich diversity and we are in the North of it, the Malaysian state of Sabah.

We landed in Kota Kinabalu and went to the island of Pulau Tiga, where after a swim in the warm ocean, we went on a walk in a lovely forest full of monkeys.  At the top we found a natural bubbling mud bath where I made a mask for myself.

Sunday we went to the local market of Papar and drove to the Crocker Natural Park. There we went on a very hard hike where the danger was to be attacked by leeches. Sure enough, some of us got bitten!! A helicopter ride of one hour took us to the center of Sabah, in the Maliau Basin…we went down to the river and its beautiful waterfalls. The water was a bit red, but Christian and I jumped into the water and it felt great!!

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Deborah Kenny, the founder of the Harlem Village Academies, is a true hero, a visionary who has transformed so many lives. I have visited the school, met with teachers and students and was really impressed with the results. This year, Deborah decided to have a benefit concert at the famous Apollo Theater to raise funds for the school. What a turn out it was…with Hugh Jackman as the MC, Joss Stone, John Legend, Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash performing… the audience went crazy. But it wasn’t only the music… Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson came and announced that the school had a 98% score, and then Rupert Murdoch presented his gift of $5.5 million. The crowd was full of applause and optimism…it was a real victory!!

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