To Chet with love




Yesterday I decided to forgo the opening of the Jean-Charles de Castelbajac store in favour of the Let’s Get Lost screening and Q & A with Bruce Weber at the Curzon Cinema. I’ve been all excited about this for ages even though I could have sworn I’d seen it before. I couldn’t have though, as it transpires that this Chet Baker documentary – which first came out in 1988 – was only ever shown once at the ICA. The film I saw must have been Broken Noses, another Bruce Weber black and white film, this time about a hopelessly handsome boxer.

Anyway, Let’s Get Lost was a real treat. Bruce Weber introduced it by first giving a few shout-outs to those who had made the film possible, including Joe McKenna who did the styling and was in the audience (along with Pam Hogg, Jackson Scott, Claire de Rouen, the cute actor-y guy from Class of 2008 and um, Ben de Lisi) and then went on to say that he hoped what we would take away from the film was to embrace the characters we know. To ask them questions and make the most of them while they are still with us. (This was quite poignant as Chet Baker died suddenly before they finished making the film.) Next, completely out of the blue he introduced singer Angela McCluskey who I discovered a few months ago and who has the maddest, huskiest and most mesmerising voice I have heard for a long time. And here she was singing with a live jazz band, mere feet away from me in the same room as Bruce Weber and Joe McKenna! Life is so funny sometimes, innit?

The film was two hours long and beautifully shot and even though I don’t care for jazz, it just meandered along in a rather lovely way. There were some great characters in the film (Chet’s daughter Missy was especially gorgeous and endearing), a few laughs and wonderful cinematography, peppered with still photographs of the young Chet Baker taken by William Claxton. Certain parts of it looked like a Bruce Weber shoot come to life which is pretty much what it was.

In the Q & A that followed, Weber explained how he likes to work surrounded by people he knows – quite often in the filming they didn’t really know what they were doing, or what they were aiming for and that’s what he liked about it. He talked about how with his photography he loves the idea of going on a journey. He enjoys photographing people at the beginning of their ‘journey’ and the idea that they might show their grandchildren in later years. He is currently working on a film about Robert Mitchum, another one about a young bull rider and another on religion and how people deal with it.

Weber came across as a totally cool but humble guy. It’s always a bit of a risk meeting your heroes (even though I didn’t actually meet him) but he didn’t disappoint. I’m looking forward to seeing Bruce Weber Shorts next Saturday, followed by Broken Noses on the Sunday.

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Oh. dear.



This email came in today from PETA regarding a heated exchange between PETA VP Bruce Friedrich and Burberry’s Christopher Bailey on Monday night at a London College of Fashion talk moderated by Colin McDowell.

“After years of trying to reach executives at Burberry about the company’s use of fur—via polite letters as well as lively protests – and getting no response, PETA took the issue to Burberry designer Christopher Bailey personally Monday night when PETA VP Bruce Friedrich caught up with him at a London College of Fashion discussion. In front of more than 200 students, Friedrich confronted Bailey about his continued use of fur and refusal to meet with PETA. Below is Friedrich’s play-by-play.

“Event started at 6 p.m… It was “a discussion” about men’s fashion moderated by Colin McDowell of the Sunday Times. After about 30 minutes of talk about trends, I raised my hand:

Mr. McDowell said, “Oh good, a question! Yes. Oh and you’re prepared, you have notes! Please wait for the microphone so that everyone can hear you”

Me: Do you mind if I take the discussion in a slightly different direction?

McDowell: No no, please do!

Me (reviewing my notes, which is how I know exactly what I said—I had the microphone and spoke very slowly): I have a question for Mr. Bailey about morality in fashion. [Bailey starts to look nervous]. Specifically, fur farming is so cruel to animals that it is illegal in the UK and many other countries, yet you continue to put it into Burberry’s collections. Animals are anally and vaginally electrocuted and skinned alive [gasps], and you seem not to care at all. Is there any abuse of animals so hideous that you would object? For those who are interested, there is video and documentation available at BloodyBurberry.com.

Bailey: I would be happy to have that discussion with you, but not here.

McDowell (blustering, livid, bursts out): Now I have a question for you—What gives you the right to come in here, what relevance does that question have to the issue of men’s fashion. Take his microphone away!

Me: Well you asked me a question, so please do me the courtesy of hearing my answer. [he looked like “oh shit, well that was stupid of me”] What Christopher Bailey pays people do to do to animals on some of the worst fur farms you can imagine, would put him in jail for cruelty to animals if he were paying people to do it to dogs or cats. The fur industry is a violent bloody industry that skins animals alive and crams them into crates where they go insane, and he supports it. Every time and everyplace is appropriate for this discussion.

McDowell: Well he says he’ll talk w/you about it later. This is not the time.

Me: He told us that before and then he didn’t return our calls or reply to our letters.

McDowell: You have made your point. You’ve done what you came here to do. You are welcome to stay or go, but we will not be discussion this issue at this forum. [thunderous applause, though til this point, you could hear a pin drop].

“About 10 minutes later I walked up and slipped Bailey one of our Burberry leaflets and a note that read “Please make good on your promise this time. You told us you’d meet with us before; this time please call” and gave him my contact info. McDowell looked very concerned as I walked up. When they finished up, I was able to go up and have a very heated exchange with him, our faces about 5 inches apart, in front of the line of people who had come for his autograph.

Me: I hope you will meet with us; I think if you saw these fur farms, if you really understood the horrible abuse of animals involved in the fur industry, you’d agree to stop designing with this cruel material.

Bailey (moving in and putting his face about 5 inches from mine—very angry and intense): What gives you the right to come in here and hijack this event and take over everything and disrupt it and ruin this event? This is not the place for this discussion.

Me: You told us you’d meet with us and then you backed out. I hope you will call or email me to set up a meeting; you are supporting horrible cruelty.

Bailey: I have to talk with other people. You have no style [yes, he actually said “you have no style”; maybe he meant “class”?]

It was pretty bizarre—everyone on line for an autograph from Bailey took a Burberry leaflet from me (including Bailey and his handler and Jeremy Langmead, the editor of Esquire, who was sharing the stage with him.)”

Well well, what do we think of that?

[CLARIFICATION: Just to be clear, the above exchange was between the VP of PETA and Christopher Bailey. I’m just reporting it, I didn’t have a row with Mr Bailey!]

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Stop press



Bruce Weber is doing a Q&A at the Curzon cinema tomorrow as Let’s Get Lost launches in London. But it seems he’s in town already. My spy has just spotted him – plus trademark bandana and assistants – doing a light reading against the wall of Dub Vendor in Ladbroke Grove. (Either that or he’s a reggae fan waiting for the shop to open). Exciting!

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