Shepherding was the unlikely topic of conversation on the evening of Friday, Sept. 5 at the Dolce & Gabbana store on the Upper East Side, where guests had gathered to celebrate the release of The Good Shepherd, a new book by Vanity Fair Fashion and Style Director Michael Roberts.
The book is collection of photos that Mr. Roberts took in Sicily over two and a half days, the theme of which is a glistening male model posing as a shepherd while wearing sheepskin designed by Dolce & Gabbana. (Hel-lo!)
We wondered if Mr. Roberts was concerned about PETA coming after him.
"They have an issue with everyone so at least I won’t feel left out," said Mr. Roberts. In fact, he was a bit more concerned over the reaction to his inclusion of sheep in some of the shots.
"One or two people actually thought it was about bestiality which I found really annoying," he said, unnervingly calmly.
Carla Gugino, an actress on Entourage (who was once again outfitted in an A-line dress befitting the set of Mad Men) appeared to be quite taken with with Mr. Roberts’s photos.
"I was just saying, what if you were wondering through the Sicilian country side and found him?" she said, pointing at the male model, wearing nothing but socks, white boxer briefs and a sheepskin coat.
What would you do, Ms. Gugino?
"I don’t know that I can tell you!" she replied, suddenly getting shy. "I would possibly have to capture him or something."
Also milling about were socialites Maggie Betts and Lauren Remington Platt, who recently told Vogue they’ve been trying to show less of themselves at parties such as this one because they are concerned about overexposure.
Hewing to her newfound reticence, Ms. Platt, who was wearing wearing fitted gray slacks, a blue button-up shirt, and an oversized silk scarf over her left shoulder, declined to chat with Daily Transom. "I don’t do press," she said, before saying hello to Fabiola Beracasa, Dori Cooperman, Annie Churchill, Jennifer Creel and Anisha Lakhani.
And just as we were feeling a tad rejected, we found ourselves in the company of actor Danny Masterson and his business partner and childhood friend, stylist Ilaria Urbinati. The duo are in town browsing Spring and Summer collections for their new, 5,000-square foot store, Confederacy, which is scheduled to open around September 15 in Los Angeles.
"There’s the neighborhood where we all live and like to hang out—most likely you’re downtown, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, or East Hollywood—and no one likes having to go to Beverly Hills to shop. It fucking sucks," said Mr. Masterson.
"And to shop at all the same stores!" chimed in Ms. Urbinati.
"So instead of spending six hours driving to Beverly Hills, you can come and hang out at our store in East Hollywood," Mr. Masterson explained.
“It’ll definitely be a store that you’re more likely to see in New York than L.A.—brick walls, tin ceilings, cement floors, and recycled wood everywhere,” he continued, before his partner finished his sentence for him.
“And we’re also going to have a gallery, a café, and we’re going to have bands perform,” she said."It’s going to be a little bit of a culture center. I think L.A. really lacks that kind of thing."
On the topic of their ideal customer: “Someone who is rad,” said Mr. Masterson.
“Some who has a lot of money,” said Ms. Urbinati. “Kidding!”
“It’s someone who really digs the aesthetic of the shop and the clothes. Basically someone semi-cool. If you’re semi-cool you will really enjoy it,” said Mr. Masterson. “If you’re stuffy and conservative, it probably wouldn’t be for you.”
