(Long Island, N.Y.) This past week the holiday season continued with two wonderful Christmas Events. The ladies of Frank Public Relations kicked off their Christmas event at 99 John Street, right in the heart of Wall Street, New York.
Frank PR is a boutique public relations agency specializing in entertainment including films, restaurants, non-profits and events. The firm was established by Clare Anne Darragh and Lina Plath formerly of New Line Cinema (Time Warner) in October 2008.
Ms. Darragh and Ms. Plath have worked in the film business for more than fifteen years on a broad range of movies from major box office hits to significant independent features. They have outstanding relationships with entertainment media including film critics, feature writers, bloggers, personal publicists, managers and agents. Both ladies have a rich history of promoting films at prestigious film festivals including Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Berlinale, IDFA, Venice and the Hamptons Film Festival.
Cognac Wellerlane interviews Lina Plath and Clare Anne Darragh from Frank PR at their 2010 Christmas Event
Their mission is based on the common sense approach that the strategy and execution of a national publicity campaign express honest and straightforward communication to their clients and media.
For more information please visit www.frankpublicity.com
Patrons, customers, clients and celebrities enjoyed Costume and Fashion Designer Michele Savoia’s annual Holiday get-together at his chic’s men’s shop, The House of Savoia.
Savoia The Tailor has been designing and tailoring custom built clothing and costumes since 1984 for the music, sports, motion picture, Broadway, HBO and television industries. Savoia’s designs have been worn on the Red Carpet from the Grammy’s to the Emmy’s. Savoia’s work has been featured on “Sex and the City” and Actor Chris Noth “Mr.BIG,” Actor Dominic Chianese “Uncle Jr,” “Soprano’s” and “Analyze This” Actor Robert DeNiro have all worn his carefully crafted designs.
Savoia acquired his knowledge of tailoring from his Sicilian grandfather’s workshop. From 1978 through 1982 Savoia worked directly with Bill Kaiserman on all aspects of design through final production. He was also in charge of coordinating and communication between the many licensing agreements that the design house established.
His interest and creativity are extensive and colorfully broad. His talent as a designer is showcased in his men’s shop which opened in November of last year. At the entrance visitors immediately see a vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycle which he rebuilt as well as the layout. Savoia is also responsible for furnishing and designing the interior of his exclusive men’s custom made boutique.
His specialty men’s shop is located at 147 Essex Street in the trendy part of lower Manhattan. This high-end men’s boutique has a masculine feel. The shop is furnished like a men’s club with an executive office in the rear for clients, a vintage pool table, a stocked bar at the back and dressing rooms on the left. Although the setting and backdrop is completely unique, the shop is reminiscent of Marc Guyot in Paris. Both establishments embody the look and feel of a private men’s club from the first half of the 20th century.
Cognac Wellerlane interviews Fashion and Costume Designer Michele Savoia at the House of Savoia
Customers are surrounded by merchandising triumphs. The biggest deal is the custom fabric room. As a part of the overall House of Savoia experience Michele has designated an area for fabric books and select vintage fabric bolts. The House of Savoia is dedicated to exquisite fabrics, attention to detail and excellent custom made garments including a menswear topcoat with classic details like a curly lamb trimmed collar creating an elegant coat standout. This classic design is seldom seen today.
His men’s shop has a wonderful library and collection of books and magazines on men’s clothing, film and sundry related topics. If you judge a tailor strictly by his historical collectibles, Savoia ranks on top of the charts. Volumes by Bruce Boyer, Flusser, vintage copies of Esquire from the 1940s, Ian Kelly’s and Nick Foulkes’ biographies of Beau Brummel and Count d’Orsay are included in his vast collection of publications. All in all The House of Savoia has the best library of any men’s shop or tailor that I have witnessed.
Careful attention is always paid to every garment Michele Savoia creates. From the paper to the cashmere, Savoia does and oversees it all. The staff at House of Savoia does not send paperwork off to some far-off location to “interpret” a client’s measurements. Savoia takes your measurements, cuts your paper pattern based on his measurements and lays out the fabric you choose.
Savoia meticulously goes over every inch of the cloth double checking for imperfections. He traces the pattern onto the cloth and then cuts your garment himself!
Personalities that attended the holiday bash included Burlesque Star Brooklyn Baby Doll, Motorcycle Expert Copper Mike, Actor/Photographer Luigi Scorcia and Frank Gulemmo who works with the entertainment industry renting vintage cars for movie sets.
Brooklyn Babydoll has been an established burlesque and pinup star for at least ten years and has worked with numerous photographers including Greg Theakston, Bunny Yeager, Vincent F1 Photography, Viva Van Story, Rose Callahan, Clayton Cubitt (Siege), Mark Swenney and countless others!
The Brooklyn Babydoll is a tried and true pin up girl and ultimate glamour queen.
Her credits include: Tease ! Magazine, Varla Magazine, Atomic Pinup, 11211 Magazine, Metropop Magazine, UK Rock and Roll Magazine, Custom Machines Magazine (Spain), Stop Staring! Clothing, Starlite Lingerie, CBGBs Broads on the Bowery Show, Penelope Tuesdaes Femme Fatale show, The Brooklyn Psychobilly Festival Pinup Art Show, Instant Glamour Accessories (myvintagehut.com), Gothfox Designs Pasties, SP Fanzine (featured pinup), Street Voice UK Music Magazine (featured pinup) and Javas Bachelor Pad Magazine.
You can visit Brooklyn Babydoll at www.brooklynbabydoll.net.
In addition to her website, you can also reach her through at www.myspace.com/belissimababydoll.
Luigi Scorcia is a Brooklyn-born New Yorker. He studied photography in Atlanta, Georgia where he received his Bachelor of Arts in the Visual Arts. A New York based commercial photographer, he currently has a studio on the Bowery where he photographs portraits. He has worked as a nightlife photographer for the Miami Herald’s Night Life section in the 90s with Tara Salmon. Mr. Scorcia has also photographed celebrities on South Beach, photographing for Ocean Drive Magazine, Fort Lauderdale’s Sun Sentinal, and Fame Night Life for photographer Patrick McMullan. Mr. Scorcia’s work has appeared in the Village Voice, the New York Post and many music magazines. His clients include MTV and Bravo. He has photographed such events as the Los Angeles and Tompkins Riots and the 9/11 Tragedy. Mr. Scorcia’s photos have been published internationally in many magazines.
As an actor he recently has worked on two independent films “We Own the Night” in 2007 and “Couples” in 2008 and has appeared in countess TV shows including “Ugly Betty.”
For more info please visit http://luigiscorcia.com
I also had the pleasure at Michele Savoia’s Holiday bash to interview Copper Mike who established Gravesend Cycles in Lindenhurst, New York on Long Island.
Gravesend Cycles is the shop of master builder Copper Mike Cole, a lifelong motorcycle rider and craftsman originally from Gravesend, Brooklyn. Copper Mike founded Gravesend Cycles in order to follow his dream in creating authentic, handmade bikes using high-performance components and flawless detailing. Combining the best of vintage and contemporary elements, Copper Mike constructs each motorcycle from the ground up. His creative process is open-ended, always evolving and uncompromising in terms of quality.
Gravesend Cycles’ inaugural build was a bobber with an eye-popping skin. Known as Precious Metal, this one-of-a-kind motorcycle was designed with a variety of precious metal finishes: Platinum leaf, 14-karat-gold accents, and of course Cole’s trademark copper. Determined to ride in the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in mid-August, Copper Mike worked continuously from spring through summer straight through the 110-degree heat in the shop to complete Precious Metal in all its glorious detail. The result was an extremely refined build that spoke for itself launching Gravesend Cycles into the public spotlight.
Cognac Wellerlane interviews Burlesque Star Brooklyn Baby Doll, Copper Mike and Frank Gulemmo at the House of Savoia
Motorcycles have always been a part of life for Copper Mike. His passion for bikes started when he was a young teenager. Copper Mike wasted no time in hitting the street at age 18 and rapidly gained experience in many different aspects of the bike world. By working in various shops as well as for himself, he learned how to restore and rebuild classic vintage bikes as well as customize new builds. After buying in as a partner in an existing shop for several years, he eventually felt the need to go fully independent, thus Gravesend Cycles was established.
One of Mike’s early bikes, a ’39 Knuckle with hand-beaten copper tins named the Coppa Choppa, gave him his industry name of “Copper Mike.” The hand sculpted, hammered, and brazed copper is perfectly proportioned on the rigid frame with contrasting contemporary rims establishing him as a true craftsman and bike designer with this vision as an inspiration. Another of his signature bikes, Heavy Metal, is a cool and inexpensive example of a raw metal bobber stripped to its bare necessities to illustrate and highlight its mechanical perfection. This bike was built seemingly on sheer sweat and ingenuity-no frills, no paint, no budget-using found parts collected through swap meets and take-off parts.
Copper Mike delivered another strong punch with Gravesend, a 1972 Harley shovelhead modified to accept 1940s cylinders and cylinder heads. It was named in honor of Copper Mike’s hometown, Gravesend, Brooklyn. This famous bike was not only a statement in its own right but it fiercely crystallized and defined his inimitable style of bike building: vintage, contemporary and handmade. Matching the burnished tones of the copper-plated frame, signature paintwork comes in matching metal flake with graphics on both sides of the oil tank depicting the Brooklyn Bridge and the “Gravesend” legend across the face of the fuel tank.
In addition to being a creative, perfectionist builder, Copper Mike has the innate ability and talent to see a client’s vision and bring it to reality. The bike he calls Lucky 13 was born as a blend of another bikers dream combined with Mike’s bobber style, talent and vision of red translucent metal flake and a Harley EVO motor.
Copper Mike has stayed true to his roots but his work has also earned him a worldwide reputation. His bikes have been featured in exhibitions in France and Monte Carlo and he has built custom bikes for several European and Russian clients. These clients commissioned the custom Gravesend bobbers in signature copper finish with vintage Harley motors after viewing the bikes on exhibition in St. Tropez and Monte Carlo in 2008.
In 2009, Gravesend Cycles was included in the grand opening of a new motorcycle showroom in St. Tropez, France and was featured in various summer exhibitions in Europe. Gravesend Cycles also participated in the Daytona 2009 Limpnickie Lot, a showcase of the most innovative choppers and bobbers.
