LYRA MAG.

Text, Vivian G. Kelly Images from the official website, www.casacasuarina.com Additional Images, VGK Although Casa Casuarina now belongs to telecommunication tycoon, Peter Loftin, and is now a Private Hotel/Club but it will forever be known as “the Versace Mansion” and it’s unlikely that tourists will ever stop posing in front of its wrought iron gates. Gianni Versace’s “Beach House” has always served as a source of inspiration, most recently when we rebuilt our house. Like Jonathan Adler, Versace believed in color and mixing together whatever he pleased – and it worked. THE NAME The mansion was named after the hardy CASUARINA tree that survived after the devastating 1926 hurricane, which wiped out much of what is now South Beach. TIMELINE: 1930: Mr. Alden Freedman builds Casa Casuarina with his son, Daniel. In the exterior courtyard, there’s a brick taken from the Christopher Columbus mansion in Santo Domingo. He originally built it as a 32-room hotel. Things have come full-circle, an...

Text & Images, Casi Densmore-Koon Edited by Vivian G. Kelly SOME BACKGROUND After much anticipation, we attended a trunk show for Colombian jeweler designer, PAULA MENDOZA, at MULEH, DC’s trend setting boutique. Not only did we get to discuss Paula’s line of earthy, organic baubles, we had the opportunity to meet Muleh’s storeowner, Christopher Rieter. When sitting down with CHRISTOPHER REITER, we would have never guessed he was a previous savvy vintage thrift store shopper or a Stock Broker in Asia; we have never met someone with such passion for what they do. Walking in Muleh feels as if you are being invited into a beautiful home and that you’re shopping in dear friend’s closet; the vibe is cozy and welcoming. The building has a lot of history, it was a car dealership in the fifties as well as the former home of The Black Cat, a well-known nightclub. WHAT IS MULEH? Muleh (Moo-Lay) means, "to come home" in Javanese. The store opened in 1999 and became a go-to destinatio...

Text, Vivian G. Kelly Images, Richard Spiegel TIME: FRIDAY NIGHT, JULY 18TH,: 8 – 9:30pm Where: 500 Brickell, in the heart of Downtown Miami Going to a fancy real estate party was the last thing we’d expected to do while in town for Mercedes-Benz Miami Swim. We’re always up for an adventure, though especially as we were promised a DVF fashion show on a runway that bordered the pool. Upstairs in the VIP Lounge on the 42nd floor, the scene was civilized with a minor pool where we lounged on white leather sofas and snacked on chicken piccata and Cuban steak from THE CAPITAL GRILL. Downstairs on the 11th floor, Real Estate honcho, Gorge M. Perez, Chairman of the Related Group, explained the 500 Brickell Project to the 200+ attendees, which included the Mayor of Miami, Manny Diaz. For more information on the Brickell and the Related Group, visit their website, www.relatedgroup.com THE DVF SHOW PUNCHY PRINTS This is the first time we watched a show in such comfort – sitting on the edge of t...

When & Where: a gorgeous Friday afternoon in downtown NYC Text, Vivian G. Kelly with contributions by Laura C. Wood Images, Nelson Bakerman, courtesy of Laforce & Stevens Public Relations If you thought living the eco life meant having to give up luxury, think again! Our walk through River House gave us the impression of being aboard a luxurious yacht. This building is special, it’s an environmentally friendly building that responds to its environment. There are loads of luxury condominiums on the market, but very few [if any] can claim that they have already exceeded Gold Rating, according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design [LEED]. River House has already passed the GOLD mark and is loaded with Green Amenities. THE ECO PART: WHY IT’S GREEN LEED measures sustainability in 4 key areas: 1. Energy efficiency: RH is almost 30% more efficient than NY State code requires 2. H2O savings: RH conserves the equivalent of 320,100 bottles of 12-oz water DAILY! 3. Indoor envi...

Text, Vivian G. Kelly Image of Lizanne Falsetto, courtesy of Think PR Product image, from www.think™products.com WHILE in LA last month, we dropped into THINK PR’s stylish and unique new LA digs, 2 floors of space on a quiet street in Beverly Hills, complete with exposed brick wall and a patio to give press previews and hold launch parties. THINK PR [no, they don’t actually make the bars, but they do the publicity] introduced us to THINK THIN™ bars as “ a healthy and delicious alternative for the woman on the go”. The timing was perfect, and as we were already contemplating what to eat on the plane that wasn’t either: 1. Messy or 2. Unhealthy ABOUT THINK™ PRODUCTS THINK™ Products are an operating unit of Prime Health Dietary Supplements, Inc. and was founded by LIZANNE FALSETTO, a former international fashion model. There’s money to be made in bars, lots of it. So far, Ms. Falsetto has grown think THIN™ into a $20 million-dollar-a-year independent natural foods company, starting with ...

Text, Vivian G. Kelly Images from show, Richard Spiegel Images of patio party, Vivian G. Kelly WHEN: The Cocktail hour, June 5th WHERE: The patio at the Ports 1961 showroom, 610 W. 26th Street, NYC There were a myriad of fifties’ inspirations on hand you could pluck out from Tia Cibani’s Restort ’08 Ports 1961 collection. First and foremost, there was the zany, loveable Lucille Ball, who always looked camera ready, in a circle skirt dress and red lipstick, even when she was just preparing dinner for Desi and “Little Ricky”. As any good designer knows, the trick to making a reference work is to not interpret it literally. Accordingly, Ports' Creative Director, gave her fifties housewife an edgy twist. We got in the mood to view the collection the moment we stepped into the spacious Ports showroom and glimpsed, “I Love Lucy” episodes playing on flat screen TVs. The real party though, was outside on the long narrow patio in which we imagined we were hanging out with Desi Arnaz in pre...

Text, Vivian G. Kelly Images, courtesy of Donald J. Pliner Everyone loves Baby Doll Pliner. We sat with Donald Pliner in his gorgeous showroom high above Fifth Avenue and talked about Baby Doll and the Peace for the Children Foundation he founded with his wife, Lisa Pliner. Baby Doll - an adorable white Maltese - is in all the current ads. "She’s on the front page of the Birmingham News [Alabama] in an article that was about my coming to do a trunk show at Belks," said the designer with pride in his voice, “Lisa [Mrs. Pliner] is coming out with a book that talks about what it’s like to have a [human] baby from a dog’s point of view." LYRA MAG: It seems like Baby Doll is really part of the family. DONALD PLINER: We’re a family of 4 – Lisa, Star, BabyDoll, and me. She travels with us, she even goes with us to Las Ventanas in Cabos and gets a massage there, minimum, once a year! LYRA MAG: Wow, no “dog’s life” for Baby Doll! On a more serious note, you mentioned that Baby...

Text and images taken at Caravan, Vivian G. Kelly Image of Carob nib tins from www.sweetriot.com Image of Tee from www.teesforchange.com Time/Place: Mid afternoon, Earth Day 2008, April 2008, Caravan's Uptown shop, 128 East 91st Street, NYC In the spirit of Earth Day, we made the hike over to Caravan’s uptown location, located on a quiet tree lined street, nestled among some of NYC’s oldest homes. THINK PR had organized a gathering for the eco minded to celebrate the day hosted by Lauren Bush and Fashion Designer Sylvia Heisel. Over 100 people showed-up to socialize with some inspiring people, such as the hostesses and Sarah Endline, and environmentalist, Danny Seo,who are helping make the world a better place to live. In honour of the day, we wore a few eco friendly pieces, among them, an incredibly comfortable bamboo and organic cotton tee from Tees for Change. Our eggplant tee had one of the Colorado based company’s upbeat sayings, “Choose Happiness”, printed on the front. Th...

Text, Vivian G. Kelly Images of GUESS GREEN collection, courtesy of GUESS Inc. Images of 2003 GUESS ad campaigns by Ellen Von Enwerth, from www.bender.frognet.net Never mind “Earth DAY”, April is now considered Earth MONTH, and GUESS is right in step with their own green initiative - the GUESS GREEN program. In April, GUESS by Marciano will be offering organic cotton jeans and tops for men and women. Says Paul Marciano, GUESS by Marciano’s CEO and Co-Chairman of the Board, "Not only is GUESS GREEN fashionable and environmentally friendly, but it also meets the needs of the ever-growing population of people who are making an effort to live a 'greener' lifestyle." Since 1981, GUESS by Marciano has been famous for its fashion denim-wear and unforgettable ad campaigns. We still fondly remember our skinny GUESS jeans with the zippers at the ankles that blew our meager Grad School budget, but were worth every penny. Since then, there have been innumerable “designer Jean” l...

Text, Vivian G. Kelly Images, from www.janecartersolution.com With the end of winter come dry skin and hair and only a few weeks to get your skin ready to see the light of day again. Always in search of some great eco friendly products, we recently tried out the JANE CARTER SOLUTION – homegrown hair care line. The line uses natural ingredients such as: essential oils, shea butter, and vitamins. WHO IS JANE CARTER: Jane’s a real person, not a made-up marketing name. Furthermore, she’s got over 20 years of experience tending tresses behind her, part of that included traveling with Clairol’s National Style Tea and owning her own highly successful New Jersey salon. WHAT’S DIFFERENT: Jane wanted to offer her customers products that would actually improve the quality of their hair from the inside out, rather than a quick surface fix that would only last until you washed the product out of your hair. THE KEY: Natural ingredients. Jane replaced synthetic ingredients like dimethicone and petr...