The last time the Daily Transom caught up with Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, the 24-year-old son of French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld, he had decided he would become an art show curator. He even organized a show at Collective Hardware during February Fashion Week for photographer friends like David Muchegan, P.C. Valmorbida and Salim Langatta. (Most of the photographs focused on female anatomy and ironic Americana imagery.)
“I want to work with people of my generation since I have so many people taking pictures around me,” he told us then. “So I want to keep on looking for talent, whether it’s in photography or any type of art and see where it might go. Every time it’s a big project to work on and I just started in this business, but I’m just trying to enjoy it.”
Naturally, we thought this phase would pass like others before it. Mr. Restoin-Roitfeld briefly worked as an assistant to a producer at Paramount and modeled a bit for Rock & Republic before moving to New York to be closer to his girlfriend, model Lily Donaldson, and his sister, socialite Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, and taking up curating. But it seems that the young Mr. Restoin-Roitfeld seems intent on sticking with this new career path.
During the upcoming Fashion Week, Mr. Restoin-Roitfeld will host an exhibition along with Andy Valmorbida (P.C.’s brother) of works by Richard Hambleton, best known for his shadow paintings from the ’80s, in collaboration with Giorgio Armani on Sept. 15.
The decision to hold the show during the time of year when his entire family will descend and dine together at Indochine, their favorite restaurant, is of course strategic. Mr. Armani is a friend of his mother’s, after all, and photographer Mario Testino, who will cause an even bigger fuss when he arrives in town due to his memorable role in The September Issue, is his godfather. “Mario is practically part of the family; he used to pick me up from school when I was younger and take me to fashion shoots,” Mr. Restoin-Roitfeld told us back in February. “I think that maybe by spending so much time with him that maybe I have a certain eye or an instinct for photography.” Mr. Testino and Mr. Armani are of course also known for their celebrity pull. Mr. Restoin-Roitfeld’s February show, sponsored by Louis Vuitton, brought in Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, Claire Danes, Gisele Bundchen and Mary Kate Olsen, not to mention a slew of society gals.
His mother told the Daily Transom at her son’s show in February: “I don’t know if he will do more shows or film, but when you try to produce things, it’s a hard hard job, and I’m very proud of him. I’ll be very happy if he becomes successful.”
