Big Congrats to Jennifer Saunders for winning the Bafta award over the weekend! She deserves it!!!

As much as I adore Iris Apfel, its important to shine a light on her other half, Carl Apfel.

Carl just turned 98. Check out the smile on his face and those floral pants! He calls me “his son” and I feel blessed to have him as an honorary Father.

This Sunday we were having dinner at Marea and he gave me the best relationship advice. I was asking him if he and Iris have ever had a bad patch and what was the longest that it’s lasted during the last 64 years. I was expecting something like a month or two… Wrong!

His answer, “Never go to bed with your partner mad at each other. It just builds up. Better to get to the bottom of it that day,  so you can move past it. Don’t go to sleep until you are both in agreement.”

Love him.

Bergdorf Goodman had an honorary dinner to celebrate Iris Apfel, and her contribution to University of Texas. She’s been recognized as an official professor at the university. She was in full regalia in her ombred monkey coat. I spent the night with her husband, Carl, who just turned 98. He was giving me lessons on love and relationships. They’ve been married for over 60 years, so my ears were perked up.

In the photo above, Iris with Joanna Mastroianni.

Please meet a dear friend of mine (for over 20 years now!), Jimmy Paul.

He’s at the top of his field as a hair stylist/artist and has worked for every photographer (including: Steven Meisel, Testino, Patrick Demarchelier) and has done tons of covers and features in Vogue (US, French and Italian).

I met him when I was 19 years old in the East Village at some dive club. He was hanging out with Miss Mona Foot, a notorious drag queen.

I wanted to make the introduction to him and his work since I am super proud of what he has accomplished. Make sure to check out his website for even more amazing work!

I stumbled upon a dream-like scene  the other weekend:  four  young Chinese girls recreating a homeland ritual in the park.  They were glowing in delicate flowing pastel fabrics.  Incredibly beautiful and sweet…  I thought it was worth sharing.

There was a great turnout at the recent fundraiser for OHMH. I appreciate the people that came to give their support to this new found organization. Here are some images of the night…

I’m a lucky guy to have inherited several surrogate mothers.  Rachael Zoe is a well known American fashion stylist and a friend.  On Monday, I got to catch up with her Mom.  Both mother and daughter are fans of our jewelry and occasionally we’ll get a rushed phone call from Rachel asking us to put together a gift for her Mom.  This is always a pleasure.  I like seeing her Mom who’s the obvious source of Rachel’s personality — solidly grounded, charming, and warm.  She seems like the ideal person to spend a holiday dinner with.

Please note the matching luggage. All hand painted.

Very Zoolander “Derelicte”

At 8am on Saturday morning Habibi and I were at the dog run.  Two things happened simultaneously:  I was suddenly beaned on the head  by a ball that someone was throwing for a dog, and a baby sparrow fell from a nearby tree.  The chick was quickly surrounded by 3 curious dogs and was rightfully scared to bits. I decided to pick it up.  We humans are often an unexpectedly compassionate lot.  Once it was in my hand I felt responsible for it.

Speed forward to the moral of the story.

“What do you do a with a tiny wild bird?!” At this point there was no chance that I could put it down and leave it to its fate in the bushes.   So off to the local vet who said that survival was a 10% possibility.  Not too promising.  And it wasn’t because the bird was mildly hurt, but because he or she needed to be fed every 3 hours.   I  thought “I can’t take care of this bird and wake up every 3 hours for however long it will take.” Then it was suggested that I take him to the new Bird Refuge on 88th and Columbus Ave.

I thought, “Hmmm… is this going to be some city refuge;  someone there will probably thank me for my concern and when I leave just dump this tiny lowly sparrow in the trash.”

Once I got uptown I was dumbstruck by this new facility. I was greeted by these amazing women who were so warm and gentle I couldn’t believe that they exist in the fast-paced, high voltage NYC. The facility was spotless: it even had a water rehabilitation tank. There were about 100 birds roaming around, seagulls with broken wings, pheasants, doves, sparrows and of course pigeons. The people working there  were INCREDIBLE.  You couldn’t not fall in love with them.

Needless to say this sort of operation could only be privately funded.  The city has no role in supporting it. So get ready for my next fundraiser when the place officially opens on June 2.  Some newly designed AB bird pins are now on the drawing board, are headed to production, and  the bird refuge will get 100% of the profit.

I know you are probably thinking, “Who cares about a bunch of  wild birds?  Pigeons — ugh!”   But, when you see these women donating their time you will get swept up in the sheer caring that takes place.  It’s a pretty amazing example of good will.  As a footnote,  I was told that Alexis Sparrow will survive.

Habibi was aggressively trying to catch these mallards in the pond in Prospect Park while enjoying the water.

HEY EVERYONE- I’M REALLY HOPING YOU CAN HELP AND JOIN ME AT THIS OHMH EVENT! WE NEED YOUR DOLLARS SO GET YOUR ARSES DOWN THERE!!

HERE ARE A FEW REASONS WHY I’M INVOLVED:

After going to Africa numerous times, I was struck by the lack of human rights for women. Overall women are disregarded and often treated like objects for bartering. Very few women in southern Africa go past high school and are often traded, and in some tribes circumcised. When I was in Tanzania and Kenya, the men would kill the cattle and eat the meat. They would leave the organs for the women to eat. The women were considered less important and not worthy of eating meat.

I feel that this organization is one small step towards building an infrastructure in the community to help rehabilitate and educate women who are homeless, abandoned and considered worthless. The organization helps build a skill set to build self esteem and enter into the work place. This can only help future women to follow in their footsteps. I hope you come join me in welcoming and supporting this Charity.

AND CHECK OUT THE YOUTUBE VIDEO BELOW FOR SOME MORE INFORMATION! HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT!

Lucite cameo with gamet and labradorite.

Woven Elizabethan neck form with onyx. It took 3 weeks to make.

Fall editorial look book for 2012.

I was excited to combine a sense of overly embellished baroque with a 90’s modernist sensibility.

Above: Hand woven cultured pearls on a fencing mask. Baroque pearl armor. Took 4 weeks to make.

Hand painted Lucite to look like Malachite with a 1930’s deco feel.

Panther in a reliquary.

Icarus brass helmet.

Headpiece that we custom designed for Jeremy Scott’s runway show.

Hand formed Lucite encrusted with crystals.

Habibi makes it in OK Magazine… It’s gone straight to his head.