Image courtesy of newyorktimes.com
Andre Leon Talley’s housing issues continue. Last week, we reported that Talley was in danger of being evicted from the 11-room Victorian home that he has lived in for over 15 years. Talley contends that he entered a gentleman’s agreement in 2004 with former Manolo Blahnik CEO George Malkemus and his partner Anthony Yurgaitis that he would occupy the 1.5 million home, located in White Plains, New York, making monthly payments until he could pay off the cost of the home. Talley gave Malkemus and Yugaitis a $120, 000 down payment on the home.
Malkemus and Yurgaitis sued Talley in court in November 2020 for lack of payment, totaling over half a million dollars. Talley countersued in February contending that he has paid over $1 million dollars plus over $200, 000 in repairs.
As reported on Page Six, Malkemus has recently filed a counterclaim in New York Supreme Court. “Despite making periodic rent payments through the years, Plaintiff fell drastically behind, failing not only to pay the $6,333.33 per month rent, but also failing to pay the real estate taxes and insurance,” explains Malkemus.
Fashion designer Akeem Smith recently launched a GoFundMe page to help Talley with his back payments. Though thankful for the GoFundMe account effort, Talley has refused help.
Image courtesy of cnn.com
The D & G controversy continues
Is Dolce & Gabbana’s (D & G) defamation suit against Diet Prada violate freedom of speech? Well, that depends on whom you talk to.
In 2019 Dolce & Gabbana claimed that Diet Prada had started a smear campaign against the brand. This smear campaign used the D & G racist Asian 2018 ad campaign and alleged racist remarks Mr. Gabbana to further insult and demonize D & G.
D & G contend that Diet Prada’s smear campaign consisted of “serious and repeated defamatory conduct” aimed at damaging the Italian brand and costing it 3 million euro in damages. As a result of this smear campaign, D & G contend that certain celebrities—Cardi B and Kim Kardashian no longer want to be associated with the brand and the Chinese government canceled their elaborate runway show, as well as various brand partnerships never materializing.
After mediation between D & G and Diet Prada, D & G filed a lawsuit in Milan two years ago. Today, counsel for Diet Prada issued a formal, lengthy response—47-page answer—to the D & G lawsuit. One wonders why Diet Prada’s legal team thought it was necessary to publish such a long response. That said, Diet Prada has launched a GoFundMe page to cover its legal costs.
Image courtesy of vogue.com
Gigi and Bella strut again
Gigi and Bella Hadid are back on the runway. And they are back on the runway of one of the biggest shows of the season, the fall 2021 Versace show. Top models Irina Shayk, Precious Lee, and Vittoria Ceretti joined Gigi and Bella on the Versace fall 2021 runway show. This is Gigi’s first runway show since having her baby.
Donatella Versace presented her fall 2021 collection outside of traditional Milan Fashion Week dates. The runway show was in the shape of maze the mirrored the iconic Versace La Greco house logo.
“I have realized that this is the future, the new way of communicating collections,” the designer said, as reported in fashionweekdaily.com. “Models are like actors, they bring the designs to life, just like when a performer portrays a character.” “During the filming of this show, I saw how important it is to give the models time to ‘feel’ the clothes they wear on the runway,” Donatella Versace added.
—William S. Gooch
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