Valentino with Marisa Berenson at the opening of his boutique in Paris.
When ValentinoGaravani TookAndy WarholShopping onFifth Avenue
For our December 1975 issue, Valentino Garavani spent the day with Andy Warhol and Bob Colacello to ring in the opening of his boutique on Fifth Avenue. Between playing dress-up and spontaneous encounters with legends like Liza Minelli, Shirley Goldfarb, and Marisa Berenson, it was a day of culture, opulence, and gossip on Billionaire’s Row. Following the announcement of Valentino’s passing this week at the age of 93, we took a dip into the Interview archives to bring this iconic conversation between two titans of art and fashion to light.
———
[Sony C-90, Tape #1, Side A.]
[Two minutes of Italian.]
ANDY WARHOL: Gee, Bob, let’s get some shirts. How much are they?
BOB COLACELLO: 150.
WARHOL: I think they’re great.
COLACELLO: I wonder if these are men’s or women’s.
WARHOL: I can’t tell. Is this the men’s shop? Are these men? These are pretty. Is that a man? Yes, it’s a man’s. What do the sleeves look like?
COLACELLO: So beautiful.
WARHOL: I want to get some.
[One minute of Italian.]
VALENTINO GARAVANI: Hi, how are you?
WARHOL: Hi. The store’s so beautiful.
GIANCARLO GIAMETTI: Hello, how are you?
WARHOL: The store’s so great.
GARAVANI: We went to Chicago last night.
WARHOL: Wasn’t that great? I saw it twice.
GIAMETTI: So what are we going to do now? Are we going to stay a little here?
WARHOL: Let’s stay here. It’s such a beautiful shop. It’s just great.
GARAVANI: It’s a very beautiful shop—very clean. It’s like our Roman shop here no. We completely changed all the decor. The first one, you remember, was in dark brown. And now we change all the Valentino Boutiques to white.
WARHOL: It’s beautiful. That’s men’s shirts up there, isn’t it?
GARAVANI: These are all men. And we have pullovers there, blousons.
WARHOL: Such pretty colors.
GARAVANI: Sort of traditional.
WARHOL: Fifth Avenue really needed something like this.
COLACELLO: Let’s see the men’s suits
GARAVANI: Here. Grey, green, navy blue
WARHOL: I like black. Where’re the small sizes? What’s my size, Bob?
GARAVANI: I am Italian 38. Try this.
[Warhol tries on a 38 black cordurov jacket.]
WARHOL: A vest and everything. This is too big-
GARAVANI: Maybe 36 you are
[Warhol tries on a 36 navy corduroy jacket.]
WARHOL: It fits perfectly. This is nice—dark blue.
GARAVANI: It’s very well cut. You cannot imagine our pants. They are fantastic. You don’t like the navy blue?
WARHOL: No, I think it’s great. It’s better than black.
GARAVANI: I think it’s very chic—navy blue. You can wear it at night with the matching pants, in the day with the grey flannel pants or beige flannel pants. Let me get you some pants in your size. Which size are you pants?
WARHOL: 30
GARAVANI: We look for them
WARHOL: How much is it, Bob?
COLACELLO: 250.
WARHOL: With the pants?
COLACELLO: They’re 90.
WARHOL: With a zipper? You mean the pants don’t come with the suit? It’s all pieces? Look at all that champagne! Are these just props? Are these empty?
GARAVANI: Yes, that’s just for the window.
WARHOL: I didn’t know you could buy that. How great.
[One minute of Italian]
GARAVANI: If we have the jacket we must have the pants!
[Warhol goes to try on the 32 pants.]
A Clerk: These trousers are the smallest I have. We have 36, 34 and 32. He needs a 30
GARAVANI: The smallest you have is which size?
COLACELLO: Do these sizes correspond to the waist size? Maybe they correspond to the size of the jacket.
GARAVANI: This is very small. I am sure this goes with the jacket!
[Warhol comes back wearing the 32 pants.]
WARHOL: They’re too big.
GARAVANI: Too much? Yes? If it is too much they can fix it.
WARHOL: Maybe I should just get the jacket
GARAVANI: It’s a pity because the shape is so beautiful.
WARHOL: Ask him about the weather, Bob.
COLACELLO: Too bad they don’t have a vest. That would be nice to have, too,
WARHOL: Do you think we can charge it? Can you ask him about politics? If he’s a Communist?
GARAVANI: There’s a beautiful jacket in wool for Andy. Because we’re always in sweaters and… Look Andy, the jacket. So chic! Try this on. This is my favorite one. For weekends, for New York, when you want to stay in sweaters. Very Chinese. Not your style?
WARHOL: I wear neckties.
GARAVANI: You are completely classical?
WARHOL: It’s beautiful but it’s not for me.
GARAVANI: The cut I think is so chic, no? With a turtleneck sweater, no?
WARHOL: On you it looks good. You’ve lost a lot of weight. You look great. How did you do that? just not eating.
[Garavani shrugs.]
GARAVANI: He’s going to take the jacket.
A Clerk: Very good.
special order
take it?
send it?
cash?
check?
charge?
receipt?
WARHOL: It’s so busy here.
CLERK: You have to keep your eye on people.
WARHOL: Oh, I know, People’Il take a lot.
CLERK: They did that at the opening. Isn’t that disgusting?
WARHOL: Really? That’s terrible. People you invite. Don’t you have those things in the door that go off? You have to do that.
CLERK: I think that’s tacky.
WARHOL: Where do you want to eat? Bob, why don’t you call the Caravelle? Do you want to go there?
GARAVANI: There has to be a tie there, no?
COLACELLO: What about the King Cole Bar? Do you need a tie there?
WARHOL: You probably don’t. I think you can just walk in. You should get one of those machines here because you have so many people walking through. It really works at St. Laurent. You really need it, especially in New York. They put a little thing in each jacket. The boy said they stole things at the opening. Who designed the store?
GARAVANI: Originally, an American. I don’t know the name. But the idea is from an Italian architect for all the boutiques. Rome is the same, Milano is the same, the two new boutiques in Paris are the same, Munich is the same…
[They go out in the street.]
WARHOL: It must have been hard to get all this marble over here.
GARAVANI: It was very very difficult to do. And the brass.
WARHOL: It’s such a beautiful day. I never saw so many people.
GARAVANI: Yesterday, the first day’s opening in the afternoon, it was like a comedy act. It’s the area, also. Many people, they come just to look. In Europe it is different. At a boutique well-known in Rome, if you are not able to buy, you are so shy you don’t go in to look.
WARHOL: All the good shops are Italian now on this street. Cucci’s, Buccellati’s…
[They stop in front of the St. Regis Hotel, 10 East 55th St.]
GARAVANI: You like Buccellati, Andy?
elegant
simple
14 k,
18 k
GIAMETTI: We need a tie here. OK, let’s go to Orsini’s.
GARAVANI: We have the same problem, no? Why don’t we make a call before, no?
WARHOL: It’s right here. They’ll let us in. Someone can wear my jacket. I have an extra.
GIAMETTI: It’s so ridiculous in New York. In the shops they are so courageous, everything is accepted. In the restaurants, they are so safe and old-fashioned.\fashion in Paris business in Milano
[End of Side A.]
[Tape #1, Side B.]
movies in Rome
decadence in Venice
WARHOL: I love Venice.
GIAMETTI: I got a little apartment in Venice. I’m starting to decorate now. Eugenia [Sheppard] wrote yesterday that it was a palazzo but it’s just a three-room flat.
WARHOL: How long are you staying in town?
GIAMETTI: I’d like to stay another week. Valentino has to leave on Wednesday. I would like to stay and see how the shop is going.
WARHOL: I think it should really go well. The last shop was a good idea but it was just so small.
GIAMETTI: The merchandising, management—all that—is very much better here. Eve Orton is here as directrice and she is good. What did you do last night?
[They arrive at Orsini’s, 41 West 56th St.]
[Violin music.]
[One minute of Italian.]
COLACELLO: Valentino here, Giancarlo there…
one white wine
two San Pellegrinoes
one bullshot
WARHOL: So are you a Communist, Valentino?
GARAVANI: No. Are you?
WARHOL: I’m not but Bob’s a Fascist. He has a slogan.
COLACELLO: “Fascism without racism.” But seriously, I think New York needs a strong leader. We have no teachers, no garbagemen, no police, no…
GARAVANI: Yes, for the old-fashioned Fascists, maybe, but the new fashioned Fascists are even more terrible.
[One minute of Italian. Garavani is consulting with the waiter.]
WARHOL: What kind of diet are you on? You don’t eat much? You look great.
GARAVANI: I eat little. Are we going to have pasta?
[Two minutes of Italian. Garavani is ordering for everyone.]
Haiston’s house
white-on-white
very modern
a good party
GARAVANI: Bullshot—what is?
COLACELLO: It’s very good. Do you want to taste it? It’s consomme with vodka. The consomme gives you protein and the vodka gives you a rush.
GARAVANI: I hate vodka.
GIAMETTI: You don’t feel the vodka.
COLACELLO: You know who taught me about this? Paulette [Goddard]. Because she only eats protein.
GARAVANI: This could be very chic to give at a dinner. Warm, not cold, could be very good. You put some sour cream and caviar, could be completely Russian.
WARHOL: That’s Paulette’s other favorite food.
caviar
ermines
diamonds
Monte Carlo
WARHOL: Paulette likes very simple clothes:
GARAVANI: Merle Oberon—she is the same way. She likes just jewels. No dress at all. We did some evening gowns for her.
GIAMETTI: I spoke with Luis Estevez the other night at dinner about Merle. She has a marvelous house on the beach, a marvelous husband, very happy—completely another woman. She is no longer the wife of Paglai.
WARHOL: Who is this? Luis Estevez? Is this a new wife? The first wife?
GIAMETTI: No no no. Merle Oberon was the wife of Bruno Paglai, no? She is divorced now but is very close to Luis Estevez. Now she has a young husband, very good-looking, very young, house on the beach like Malibu, this kind of beach—very very happy.
WARHOL: Have you seen her?
GIAMETTI: Valentino made neckties in Mexico. There were five designers. One was Cardin of France, Geoffrey Beene from America and Valentino for Italy. So we went there and there was this fashion festival and every night one designer was showing And then Valentino, myself and our little entourage, we went to Merle Oberon for a weekend in Acapulco in a big house, all Indian inside—it was really fantastic And I remember Christina Ford was there with Henry Ford and we did a little show for them. So there was a little show of Valentino in the garden of Merle Oberon full of waterfalls and rocks.
GARAVANI: This was the first season, many, many years ago I did the animal things—giraffes, leopards, you know? It was very fun because the models came from the trees like wild animals. Private shows—this is something we don’t do anymore but in the beginning we did.
WARHOL: Did she get the house or did he?
[One minute of Italian.]
GARAVANI: Mr. Paglai, he’s already married with a very beautiful Italian girl. I saw them a few months ago in Milano.
WARHOL: I know all these girls that are married to gay boys. Why is that?
GARAVANI: Why? I think because they find in the gay men, they are more sensuous, they take care of all the clothes—is more…
GIAMETTI: More funny.
GARAVANI: Not so boring
WARHOL: Maybe that’s what it is.
GARAVANI: Anthropologically now it is very, very interesting. Girls are more free now and they want to do what they want.
WARHOL: Do you know a couple with a funny bisexual story behind them? I know a lot but maybe you have a better story. You don’t have to name names.
GARAVANI: The girls that love the gay men, sometimes when they are married they change completely. They become very very jealous after they get married.
WARHOL: Why? Because the husband goes out and does things?
GARAVANI: Why? Because there is a difference between what they think and what they get.
WARHOL: In Europe they don’t make a big thing about it.
GIAMETTI: It’s not open like it can be here. The men are still very in the closet. In New York it is more free.
COLACELLO: But then the freedom creates other kinds of problems.
GIAMETTI: The woman has to be very intelligent and the man has to be very intelligent. Things have to be very clear between them and between everybody. A little pesto? A little more, please.
WARHOL: No cheese, thanks.
GARAVANI: We saw two movies here, Nashville and The Day of the Locust, and they were both like a satire on America. Why?
COLACELLO: Because Americans are very masochistic at the moment. We lost our first war. We knew we were going to lose it but we didn’t think we were going to see thousands of people on TV hanging onto the bottoms of helicopters trying to get out. And then there was Nixon.
GARAVANI: It was like the neo-realism we had in Italy right after the war—all the Da Sica movies with Anna Magnani.
WARHOL: A Brief Vacation was so good. Florinda [Bolkan] was so great in it.
GARAVANI: Very, very good. Marina [Cicogna], she called me yesterday and said Florinda’s new one, Royal Flash, is very very amusing.
WARHOL: Do you watch a lot of movies?
GARAVANI: We have a projection room at home. We watch all the time.
WARHOL: That’s right. So what’s the most expensive dress you ever made?
GARAVANI: In my life or my career?
WARHOL: In your career.
GARAVANI: I think a wedding dress for an Arabian person. The cost was $15,000. The top was completely embroidered with tiny, tiny pearls and rhinestones and the skirt was very simple all in white satin. That’s all.
WARHOL: Do you have many Arabian people coming to you now?
GARAVANI: I have a few but I have two or three coming from the court—the royal family.
Diana Vreeland
red lacquer
Capri
luxury
opulence
the Orient
GARAVANI: Typical Diana!
WARHOL: She loves you.
GARAVANI: I love her. She’s so fantastic.
GIAMETTI: You remember when she was at Vogue and everything was opulence and luxury? She had a dress which cost $17 but she photographed it in Bali in the most expensive hotel and said, “This is opulence! This is luxury!”
GARAVANI: She really is ahead of time. She understands the future.
GIAMETTI: Usually women like her go out with women that are less intelligent, less beautiful than she is. But Diana always has first quality women around her.
GARAVANI: Have you met Mona Williams?
WARHOL: No, I’ve just heard Diana talk about her.
GARAVANI: She has more or less the same look as Diana. The other night we saw her in Capri and she was already all in Chinese. She always had Chinese before everybody else did. She has a marvelous house in Capri with the most marvelous garden and she got married with a Napolese head doctor, very funny, very easy, and Diana adores going to her place. Like she goes to Kitty Miller in Parma. She’s this kind of woman–the last dogeress of the world.
GIAMETTI: Kitty Miller, she lives in Venice now, not Parma. You know who I ran into the other day in Venice. I just took an apartment and it is next to Peggy Guggenheim’s house. I have a mansard and a tower—a very small apartment. And Peggy Guggenheim, she was there on the terrace taking salmon and moules from a maid—fantastic.
WARHOL: Do you go there often?
GARAVANI: We start now. Venice is going to be much more interesting in the future because they have the first ballet festival three months ago with Baryshnikov dancing with Gelsey Kirkland. I could not go so I went to Florencé to see Giselle — unbelievable.
WARHOL: Have you ever thought of doing costumes for ballet?
GARAVANI: Never. But you know, they ask me many, many times to do costumes for movies but you have to work very very quickly so l never never do it. Once I did the ugly dress for Elizabeth Taylor in the Rossellini film.
COLACELLO: Andy walked through that movie—The Driver’s Seat.
WARHOL: I know that dress very well. I saw it every day. But I thought you’d done a lot of movies.
GARAVANI: The first time was with Virna List in one Italian movie. The second one was Elizabeth Taylor in Nightwatch. I did all the clothes.
COLACELLO: Halston did some really nice costumes for Martha Graham here.
GIAMETTI: Martha Graham’s company was dancing there in Venice when I was there and it was unforgettable. At the end she went out and there was an ovation for hours. And everybody was there—Baryshnikov, Kirkland…
GARAVANI: And the last film I did was Ash Wednesday with Elizabeth Taylor—just one, the last one, the white one with the fox when she walks in the street. And for Helmut Berger, all the suits for Ash Wednesday. Marina, she talked to me last night. Now she’s going to Rio. She wants to organize for the next carnival a group of people—Florinda, herself, Phillip Niarchos, just four or five—maybe myself—to work in the samba parade.
WARHOL: She wants us to come.
GIAMETTI: Let’s organize it all together. It would be fun. You have to go something like two weeks before to learn the samba.
COLACELLO: You mean Andy’s going to have to take samba lessons?
GIAMETTI: In Portuguese you are going to have to learn to sing!
WARHOL: When I was at the White House for the Shah of Iran I was so worried Mrs. Ford was going to ask me to dance. I stayed in another room.
GIAMETTI: Today—what is today? Monday?
WARHOL: Saturday.
GIAMETTI: On Monday, two days from now, the direc-trice of the couture is leaving for Tehren to show the Empress.
[End of Side B.]
[Sony C-60 Tape #2, Side A.]
WARHOL: …really going with Carlo Ponti?
GIAMETTI: Never!
GARAVANI: Who is Dalila? The cousin of Sophia Loren?
[One minute of Italian]
Dino di Laurentis
Federico di Laurentis
Silvana Mangano
GARAVANI: A typical Italian family.
WARHOL: They’re doing very well here. Mandingo made so much money and now they’ve signed Scavullo for a movie role. It’s called Lipstick and it stars Margaux Hemingway who plays a model who gets raped. Scavullo plays a photographer.
GARAVANI: Is Silvana doing movies?
COLACELLO: Not that I know of.
GARAVANI: Typical of an Italian family.
COLACELLO: I think she’s one of the most beautiful women in the world.
GARAVANI: She’s very shy. What happened to all the movie stars in Hollywood like Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr—all those people?
WARHOL: We met Lana Turner a few month ago.
GARAVANI: How is she?
WARHOL: She’s funny.
GARAVANI: She lives alone? She’s married again?
WARHOL: She lives alone.
GARAVANI: She works?
WARHOL: She was on a tour with her old movies. She gives a really good lecture.
GARAVANI: Is she still good-looking? She was my big dream when I was little.
WARHOL: She’s really beautiful. And Hedy Lamarr lives just up the street.
GARAVANI: I want to find an old film with Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr, Micky Rooney, and Judy Garland—Ziegfield Follies.
WARHOL: It’s on TV. It’s so great.
GARAVANI: We cannot buy this film!
WARHOL: You can probably buy it here. I’ll try to find it for you.
GARAVANI: Oh, please! I must have this film.
WARHOL: Ziegfield Girls, that’s what it was.
dachshunds
pugs
the Duchess of Windsor
GARAVANI: The same little black pugs as me!
WARHOL: Isn’t that interesting? Maybe my dog will have an affair with your dog when we come to Italy. You didn’t bring the puppy with you this time?
GARAVANI: I left her in Rome. She was in Capri with me, last year in Tangiers- she comes a lot
WARHOL: We have reservations for my dog but 1 can’t decide whether to take him. He’s confirmed on all flights.
[One minute of italian]
GARAVANI: I am going to Tiffany. I want to buy a wine bottle in Tiffany—a crystal bottle, very very simple with a silver ring like this, very classical? They are so fantastic.
WARHOL: Bianca looked so great the other night.
GARAVANI: She called twice, “I just arrived! In ten minutes I am there!” So I wait, I wait, I wait.
And the dinner starts very late. She just made it. She arrived in Rome the night of my collection. She called me at seven o’clock. The collection was at nine. She said, “Listen, Valentino, I want to come to the collection but Alitalia has lost all my suitcase. I have nothing with me. No lipstick, nothing! Nothing nothing nothing!” So she came with pyjamas—not evening pyjamas but sleeping pyjamas. She was fantastic. She arrived at the last moment.
WARHOL: How come Fellini didn’t use her in Casanova?
GARAVANI: Fellini’s very strange. He uses Veruschka. And Monique Van Vooren, I think. He also takes one girl from London, the very very tall one.
WARHOL: That must be it. He must have wanted tall girls.
COLACELLO: … like a traffic jam of duchesses. And all of a sudden, like a flash of light, all of these people with all these titles and all this jewelry were just falling back and staring.
WARHOL: Where was this, Bob?
COLACELLO: We’re talking about entrances. Remember Marie-Helene’s [de Rothschild] big lawn party for Olympia and David [de Rothschild] where Jackie [Onassis] arrived in a little brown dress and a sweater? I loved when Bianca arrived and you saw all those flashes because it makes a little excitement. It was the same thing.
GARAVANI: Bianca, I think, has to be a star.
strange
beautiful
photogenic
sophisticated lady
vulnerable little girl
GARAVANI: She likes sometimes to be quite simple. She bought in Paris many, many blouses in silk, very very simple-she likes sometimes to be also very not extravagant.
WARHOL: She looks good in clothes.
GARAVANI: She can be fantastic in very foolish things and very classic things.
[One minute of Italian.]
GIAMETTI: Do you speak Italian?
COLACELLO: I can understand a little. I speak Spanish.
GIAMETTI: It’s so funny to hear Valentino speaking to the maid in Spanish. Also because this group of Spanish maids in New York goes to Franco Rossellini, to Marina Cicogna, to Marina Schiano, to Marella Agnelli—always the same little group. And they look all the same. Every morning you say, “Hello, Kika” and she say, “No, I am Juanita!” Then you say, “Hello, Juanita” and she says, “No, I am Elena!”
Filipino maids
Chinese cooks
houseboys
WARHOL: Your English has really improved since the last time I saw you.
GARAVANI: I am so, so lazy! Too lazy.
GIAMETTI: Valentino always has a new professor of English.
GARAVANI: After one week I am bored.
GIAMETTI: The last time we were in Capri, he got this English man. And Valentino said, “OK, you are going to follow us everywhere we go and talk to me in English.” After three hours he was already tired of him. Then this one started to take advantage of him. He was a very young, very educated young man. We brought him to a party that Schlesinger gave. After three days he disappeared. Instead of being next to Valentino talking English, he was doing socially very much more than we.
WARHOL: Oh, look. There’s Eugenia.
KISS/KISS
EUGENIA SHEPPARD: Hello, how are you all? So nice to see you.
GIAMETTI: Very well. What are you doing in town? Why are you not in the country?
SHEPPARD: Didn’t have time to go today. Too much work. Is your book going well? I love it.
WARHOL: Fine.
SHEPPARD: How’s your dog?
WARHOL: Fine.
GARAVANI: Bye, Eugenia.
SHEPPARD: Bye.
KISS/KISS
WARHOL: Who was she with? Someone we know? I missed her.
COLACELLO: Eleanor Lambert.
WARHOL: Two smart ladies. Isn’t that great?
GIAMETTI: You want that we leave?*
WARHOL: Get the bill, Bob.
GIAMETTI: Has already been taken care of.
WARHOL: No, no…
GIAMETTI: Yes, darling.
[They get up from the table.]
[Accordian music.]
[Two minutes of Italian.]
[They go out in the street.]
GARAVANI: I love New York in this weather. Have you been to the restaurant in Rome, Il Tula? It’s a tiny restaurant, a very very chic one, the food is very very very good. I don’t know if you have been to this restaurant. So they open in New York, too.
WARHOL: Really? How great. A new place to go. Every Saturday it’s rained. This is the first Saturday it hasn’t rained. You know Rizzoli’s doing a fashion thing here. Are you going to do something for it? You should.
GARAVANI: They ask me. It’s too complicated
WARHOL: I’m going to do something. You don’t have to do a dress. You could just do a little sketch or something.
GARAVANI: Maybe I do.
WARHOL: Tiffany’s! Let’s go to Tiffany’s.
the Rockefeller auction
pidgeon-blood rubies
colored diamonds
GARAVANI: I did a show in Monte Carlo one month ago with Bulgari. We did a formal show with all my clothes and his new jewelry.
WARHOL: Great.
[They arrive at Tiffany’s, 727 Fifth Avenue.]
[End of Side A.]
[Tape #2, Side B.]
WARHOL: I just love everything here.
GARAVANI: You know, I like very very much pearls. But my favorite stone is rubies.
WARHOL: So’s Paulette’s. She doesn’t like pearls. Have you ever thought of designing jewelry?
GARAVANI: Yes, of course, all my jewelry for the collection!
WARHOL: But precious jewels?
GARAVANI: Precious, no no. But you know for precious: you can give the idea but you have to design very very carefully because you have to know the proportion of the stone—everything about.
WARHOL: It’s all science.
GARAVANI: And the fashion designer is always occupied with the color of the collection so it’s very difficult sometimes to find stones in the same color. The last collection I did for the clothes a sort of Chinese necklace all in pink jade.
WARHOL: Look, Bob, you can buy Tiffany money. Isn’t that a clever idea? Gold and…
COLACELLO: It’s like a gift certificate. You give it to people and they come to Tiffany’s and pick out what they want.
WARHOL: You mean it’s not actually gold? It should be.
Bulgari
Elizabeth Taylor
the Rockefeller auction blue diamonds
1,800,000
WARHOL: The playing cards are pretty. In fact, they’re beautiful.
COLACELLO: How much are they? Only four dollars. It’s a good thing to know about for Christmas.
GARAVANI: I bring with me when you are Paris my cards—Valentino cards. I give them to you. We have them in the shop in Rome. Can you make pictures here in the store?
GIAMETTI: I want six sets of cards in blue and white.
WARHOL: It’s like a grocery store. It’s just unbelievable.
COLACELLO: You should have seen the day it opened—Elsa’s [Peretti].
GARAVANI: I was there!
COLACELLO: They were pulling and fighting.
[They stop at Elsa Peretti’s counter.]
WARHOL: Look at the bras. Aren’t they great? That’s terrific. And look at these. Aren’t they pretty? These are great. I like this simple one here: They’re sort of pretty.
GARAVANI: Is a belt, I think.
WARHOL: No, it’s a bag.
GARAVANI: Ah, yes. Is a long bag you can drape like this. Then you put like a pocket something inside. Is that a bathing suit?
WARHOL: What a great idea.
[One minute of Italian.]
[They stop at a display of copies of famous diamonds]
GARAVANI: These bracelets are beautiful.
WARHOL: They’re beautiful but they’re just glass. the Rockefeller auction colored diamonds
125 k.
28½ k.
the Corinar
the Hope Diamond
the South African Star
Queen Elizabeth’s crown
Elizabeth Taylor
COLACELLO: These are diamonds?
WARHOL: No, they are glass.
COLACELLO: I never knew diamonds came so blue.
WARHOL: Why is it so blue?
GARAVANI: Ah, darling, all colors! Green, tobacco, pink, blue— fantastic! It takes years to find them. If you want to spend something in Tiffany, you take all afternoon. The Elizabeth Taylor one you remember is very very big. The one she always puts on with the black diamond.
WARHOL: I forget where she got it
GARAVANI: I don’t know. She bought it in New York. But the ring is the Krupp one.
WARHOL: Really? Krupp’s in town, did you hear?
[One minute of Italian.]
[They stop back at Elsa Peretti’s counter.]
GARAVANI: Do you know the Elsa Peretti cigarette box? It’s one of the most beautiful things. The shape is like a bottle with the top in ivory and the shape of the fingers when you take it like this.
WARHOL: I know that one. Her one-of-a-kind pieces are really beautiful.
GARAVANI: What is this? A snake! Fantastic—her things.
GIAMETTI: She’s so sexy when she does a jewel. Because everything is anatomic and beautiful to touch.
WARHOL: Here’s the box, Valentino. Is this the one?
GARAVANI: That’s the one. That for me is the most beautiful.
GIAMETTI: The most anatomic, the most sexy.
[One minute of Italian]
COLACELLO: The security guard said, “You know why you can’t take pictures?” I said, “You’re afraid of robbery.” He said, “No, more than that were afraid of married men coming here and buying things for their lovers. And you might show the pictures to their wives just by coincidence.
WARHOL: He was just being funny.
COLACELLO: Aren’t they out of a 1940s movie?
WARHOL: I know. They really look like—security guards.
GIAMETTI: I have to wait three minutes more to have my package ready.
WARHOL: All my favorite jewels!
COLACELLO: I’d love to have them but not to wear, just to have around in a glass bowl on the coffee table. Or have a Christmas tree with all diamond earrings. But it’s so great to see so many people still buying jewelry.
GARAVANI: I spoke with Marisa [Berenson] one week ago. The opening is at the end of November in Hollywood. What is the name?
WARHOL: Barry Lyndon. They sent us great publicity on it.
GARAVANI: It’s very important for Marisa. If she’s good I think she will be very, very big.
WARHOL: She looks beautiful in every photograph and the clothes were beautiful. There’s 40 colored pictures and she’s in every one.
GARAVANI: I’m very happy for her because she’s worked so hard for this.
WARHOL: And her name’s up in Times Square. It’s “Ryan O’Neal and Marisa Berenson” above the title.
GARAVANI: It should be “Marisa Berenson and Ryan O’Neal”. When there are two big stars, the woman’s name should come first but…
WARHOL: He’s still bigger. Did you hear about the part Tatum [O’Neal] got? She’s making $35,000 a week.
GARAVANI: She’s ten.
WARHOL: She’s nine!
GARAVANI: But Marisa, she told me, when she was in London for the Kubrick film, she would go shopping with Marisa like really—a woman.
WARHOL: What’s Giancarlo doing?
GARAVANI: He’s waiting to pay for the playing cards.
WARHOL: Really? It takes so long just to …
[End of Side B.]
[End of segment.]
[Wednesday, October 22, 7:00 P.M. Warhol is at the opening of Garavani’s new Paris boutique on the Avenue Montaigne across the street from the Hotel George Cinq. The boutique is done in cream-colored Carrara marble with well-polished brass fittings. Georgina de Faucgny-Lucinge Brandolini, Garavani’s new PR person in Paris, greets guests at the door, wearing a black-on-black crepe de chine cocktail dress by Valentino. Next door, on the site of the new Valentino Boutique for the home, which will open in the spring, a striped tent has been set up for cocktails. Warhol wanders back and forth, trying to corner Garavani, who is being cornered and kissed by princesses, duchesses, countesses and mannequins, all dressed by Valentino. Warhol is wearing the usual. Garavani is wearing a black wool suit, a white shirt, a coordinated black and white houndstooth vest and a black silk tie, all by Valentino.]
[Tape #3, Side A.]
WARHOL: So this is Paris.
DANIELA MORERA: Ciao, Andy! How are you, darling? It’s OK?
WARHOL: Fine. What’s this about you having your own plane?
MORERA: Yes! Don’t you know that? I have these friends from Venice and they all send me the plane! Do you know, Andy, the Countess and the Count Borletti—Giovanna and Giorgio Borletti?
COLACELLO: Where is Valentino? Here?
MORERA: It’s here and there. There are some drinks and here is the real boutique.
WARHOL: Should we go where the drinks are?
Where’s Valentino?
the Rizzoli show
fabulous ideas
fabulous dresses
dog stains
GARAVANI: Andy!
WARHOL: This is Paris, right?
GARAVANI: You like the shop? The design is quite different, no? You come tomorrow for the show?
WARHOL: OK.
MORERA: So don’t you think, Andy…?
WARHOL: OK.
COLACELLO: You remember Georgina, don’t you? She just married Roy—Brandolini.
WARHOL: Great. You don’t mind if I stand next to you while you’re talking for a picture, do you?
GARAVANI: No, no, no. I saw the pictures about the party in El Morroco. It was beautiful. Which person asked to me when I would be in Rome?
WARHOL: We’re going to Rome next week. So we’ll see you there.
GARAVANI: Good. We organize a dinner for you. Perfect
MORERA: Valentino, if someone comes to see you and says, “Can I have an interview with you?” which is your first answer?
GARAVANI: “I have to find out something. Ask Daniela.”
MORERA: You know who is Daniela, Andy? Not me! She has the same name but she’s PR.
WARHOL: Puerto Rican?
MORERA: No, we use “PR” now in Europe to say, “public relations.” We don’t have so much yet the Puerto Ricans.
WARHOL: Hi, how are you? Where’s the baby?
EDITH COTTREL: She’s home. And I hope you are going to see her soon. Why don’t you come tomorrow night? I’m having a big party for friends.
WARHOL: Great. Talk to Bob.
COTTREL: I can try. So, Andy, where is Bob?
WARHOL: You are? For movie stars, you mean? Can you get me a part in a movie?
COTTREL: I can try. So, Andy, where is Bob? I didn’t know you were in town. Because the party is for you now. I didn’t know for whom it was but now it’s for you.
WARHOL: Why don’t you ask Fred? Because I might have to work.
COTTREL: You mean you might be too busy to come?
WARHOL: Maybe. Why don’t you ask him? But I want to be in the movies.
COTTREL: I want to represent you. Do you want me to represent you? Will I be allowed to put your name on my list?
WARHOL: That would be great.
COTTREL: I’m working for you already. Where’s Valentino because I have to go?
WARHOL: He was standing right next to me but then he disappeared
MORERA: Did you see the windows?
WARHOL: Aren’t they great?
MORERA: Did you see the black crosses on the other side? We can look from outside.
WARHOL: Where’s Valentino? I have to follow him around.
COLACELLO: So is Valentino next door?
SHIRLEY GOLDFARB: You know Guy, don’t you, Andy? He runs the discotheque at the Sept.
WARHOL: Hi.
GOLDFARB: I’m trying to figure out what I should wear now. What do you think would look good on me? You tell me. Andy, you are so much like me you can’t imagine.
WARHOL: Really?
GOLDFARB: I read your philosophy book and I said, “My God, if that isn’t me!” You’re so much like me it’s disgusting. It’s because both come from poverty.
GOLDFARB: But when?
WARHOL: Well, I’ll carry it with me from now on.
GOLDFARB: No, let’s make a date. Shall we make a date? I know where you live.
WARHOL: Work it out with Fred. I mean, Bob.
GOLDFARB: OK, and you’ll have the book there. It might be easier that I come by. Like one evening around six. Or one morning around noon.
WARHOL: Let’s go talk to Valentino.
GOLDFARB: Sure. I love Valentino. He’s the prettiest man in Paris. I adore him. He knows I have the hot rocks for him. Valentino, Andy’s following you around.
GARAVANI: I know darling.
WARHOL: She has the hots for you.
GOLDFARB: He knows that. How many women would say that?
GARAVANI: I have to find someone.
GOLDFARB: He’s like Rudolph Valentino. There’s nobody else that pretty. Andy, if you have the book ready, can I come by for it tomorrow? You have an extra one?
WARHOL: Ask Bob.
GOLDFARB: But I loved the book. I don’t think anyone can write better than that.
WARHOL: It’s just words.
GOLDFARB: What else? I also read in your book you can’t stand people who like you too much. Well, then I guess you can’t stand me But I loved that book so much. Just letting it all hang…
[End of Side A.]
[Goldfarb is still talking to Warhol)
bigger than average
comme ci comme ca
eat it like candy
a big tease
high heels
ballet slippers
up to his navel
you can imagine
very suggestive
“Deep Throat”
sweaty theatre
hats in their laps
tendencies
but he’s married
you shoulda seen it
did you see it?
did everything
the most disgusting thing
on the floor
while he watched
even worse
wife and everything
Jewish queen
then he slapped me
you woulda loved it
you loved it
go home and throw up
has a complex
latent
doesn’t have the nerve
small but it works
big enough
the knife slipped or something
lives in one room
takes a lotta showers
saw it myself
he’d tell you himself
smallest one in town
like not doing it at all
a big toe
a thumb
when I write my book
revelations
couldn’t care less
get this
almost as small
hasn’t stopped him
exhibits
it publicly
big mouth
the whole story
WARHOL: Shirley! This is supposed to be an interview with Valentino!
GOLDFARB: Frankly, I couldn’t care less, Andy. You know that.
WARHOL: Oh, there he is. He’s sort of all alone. Ask him some questions, Bob.
COLACELLO: So how do you feel? First New York, now Paris…
GARAVANI: Now, Paris—I am very pleased. Very very pleased
COLACELLO: It’s really beautiful. Lots of people came.
GARAVANI: Lots of people, many many friends.
WARHOL: Who were those people we met before?
GARAVANI: That’s very funny old stuff. When I was 18 years old I come to work in Paris, of course, I was in Guy Laroche. And all the staff—now it’s 18 years ago—they came tonight to say hello to me.
WARHOL: How great. It doesn’t feel like 18 years, does it? It’s like yesterday, isn’t it?
GARAVANI: No no no, I feel like it is today.
GARAVANI: Many many models, you know, they are older now but they still look divine, they come to say hello—very very touching for me.
WARHOL: And you look younger than they do. I mean, you look younger now probably than you did then.
GARAVANI: Do you have your suit yet or not?
WARHOL: I haven’t got the pants yet because I’ve been travelling.
COLACELLO: What’s going on next door?
GARAVANI: This is ours. We open in March a Valentino Decor Boutique—you know, the bedsheets, the fabrics..
WARHOL: Like in Rome. You should do that in New York.
GARAVANI: Yes, we have to do also in New York. But this means lots of time because the production is not like the dresses. For the china, we have to make many many orders, for instance. Now it’s Paris. We have Rome, we just opened in Milano 15 days ago, we open in Paris the beginning of March.
WARHOL: How do you think up so many designs all the time? It must be hard.
GARAVANI: I have not a moment to relax to go away for long weekends – never. Never never.never.
WARHOL: You must like it.
GARAVANI: I love my work. That’s the only reason.
WARHOL: I do, too. When you like what you do, it’s so much fun.
GARAVANI: When you take the pictures of me, what do you want me to wear? You want me in suit, tie…?
[End of Side B.]
[Tape #4, Side A.]
GARAVANI: …the days
COLACELLO:. Just Tuesday and Wednesday.GARAVANI: So I tell you Friday. We can decide for Wednesday night. I can invite Audrey [Hepburn Dotti]—if you think is amusing to invite— also Gina Lollabrigida…
WARHOL: Great.
GARAVANI: Some people like that.
COLACELLO: I miss Rome. Don’t you, Andy? How is Rome now? Fun?
GARAVANI: Much more, yes. Was a little down, now is much more, yes. Have you seen Marisa?
WARHOL: Yes, she looked great. I saw her walk into the shop. I think this is great having a tent right here in the middle of Paris.
GARAVANI: But, you know, this was the idea to put this because it’s not finished, the shop, for the cocktails. But I am sure I like this idea very very much and I was thinking, for the opening of the Valentino Decor— the china, the bedsheets, the tableclothes, everything—to do a tent like this all in light colors, all in off-white, like a display, with all my pieces of furniture, everything, in side. I think’s a good idea.
WARHOL: Great.
COLACELLO: Especially if you’re in the middle of town and you come into a tent you feel very refreshed.
GARAVANI: With all the straw, the pillows, the bed-spreads.
WARHOL: But is there a building over us? Is there a roof over us?
GARAVANI: The roof is mine, too.
FRED HUGHES: Giancarlo. invited us to the Sept. You know Giancarlo?
GARAVANI: Ah, yes, yes, yes. I know, my business partner
WARHOL: Should we go home? Hi, how are you?
MARISA BERENSON: Hello. We’ve found you. Are you going to leave now?
WARHOL: Yes, but the party’s still going. It’s really great.
BERENSON: Then I’ll see you tonight, at the Sept.
[End of segment.]
[Tape picks up at 10:00 P.M. at the Club Sept, Rue St. Anne. Warhol and Garavani are sitting around a big round table in the center of the mauve-colored dining room. Warhol is sitting between Marisa Berenson, who is wearing a yellow silk suit by Bill Gibb, and Georgina Brandolini. Garavani is sitting between Georgina Brandolini and Eve Orton, the directrice of the Valentino boutiques.]
[Soul music: the Silver Convention.]
GARAVANI: Andy, do you want the salad? Is bacon with eggs and spinach.
WARHOL: Great.
[Five minutes of French. Garavani is ordering for everyone.)
WARHOL: Doesn’t Marisa look beautiful tonight?
BERENSON: You’re so sweet.
WARHOL: So what’s new?
Venice
walking around naked
paparazzi in boats
telephoto lenses
so terrible
sue them
WARHOL: I love Venice. Along with Los Angeles. We had so much fun in California. Everyone watches TV there in the evening. We watched TV with Liza, Lorna [Luft], Raquel Welch . .
GARAVANI: I like New York the best when I don’t have to have meetings with business people. I like to have a quiet time with good friends, go to the theatre, go to the cinema.
COLACELLO: What’s this aboutMahogany?
GARAVANI: They told me the clothes, they are terrible. She did the clothes herself! I went one day to see Tony [Perkins] because I am very good friends of Tony and Berry so I went one day to see the shooting of the film and I saw just one dress on Diana [Ross]. It was enough. With two people they had lots of problems—the director and the cameraman. They change all the time. I think they changed them every week.
WARHOL: It’s making a lot of money. The people are all going to see it.
GEORGINA BRANDOLINI: I love Diana Ross. Does she sing in the film?
WARHOL: One song.
GARAVANI: You have seen Marina Schiano tonight? She was here for ten minutes. “I have to say hello to you! I have to leave! I have a thousand meetings! I leave in one week for Japan!” You have seen her—Marina? You have been to see the St. Laurent collection?
WARHOL: We saw her yesterday but we didn’t get to the collection.
GARAVANI: You know what we can do next weekend in Rome, Andy? I have invited Audrey and other people for dinner. We can see a film at home Maybe an old film would be nice.
WARHOL: You should get Mahogany.
GARAVANI: Ah, no! Please, They told me it’s awful. Funny, but awful.
WARHOL: It’s my favorite movie. It’s so great—all the clothes she designed.
GARAVANI: Yes? Why they tell me it’s awful? I was supposed to do the clothes, you know. The clothes—they are good or not?
WARHOL: Well, it’s funny. They’re all Chinese. No, the whole movie’s so great. It’s not terrible, it’s…
[End of Side A.]
[Tape #4, Side B.]
[Warhol is talking with Georgina Brandolini.]
[45 minutes of Italian.]
[End of Side B.]
[End of segment.]
[Thursday, October 23, 2:00 P.M., the Hotel George Cina, Avenue Montaigne. Garavani is showing the Valentino spring collection in the ballroom, which is filled with fashion editors sitting on lit-tie gold-leaf folding chairs. Warhol arrives to find Shirley Goldfarb sitting in his seat, wearing her trademark skin-tight black turtleneck sweater, peg-legged black jeans, spike-heeled black boots, black nail-polish and black lipstick.]
[Tape #5, Side: A.]
GOLDFARB: …but Bernie’s [Ozer] in great shape. He fell in love. He’s always falling in love—-Bernie. With impossible people. Anyway we had fun with him. We ate very well. For two days. He made a big dinner at the Coupole and he had me arrange it all for him. But you know Bernie doesn’t think anybody knows how to live. He’s the one who said that I’m wasting my life living in Paris.
WARHOL: I think I’m going to stand over there. I’ll give you my seat.
GOLDFARB: No, no, no. They’ll be furious. This is your seat. Do what you want. But that bitch will get after me. The one who said I couldn’t sit down. The one with the black hair.
WARHOL: Not after it starts
GOLDFARB: They’ll probably make me go. I never take my dog to things like this. Never. This is supposed to be the best show in town. Andy, why did you write, “To Shirley, with sex”?
WARHOL: What do you mean?
GOLDFARB: That’s what you wrote in the book. If my husband saw it…
WARHOL: Really?
GOLDFARB: They’re late getting started. In fact, they’re 55 minutes late. Pointy brassieres are out. And that lady has such a pointy one on her size 56 bra…. she’s covering it now. I think she feels self-conscious. She must have heard what we just said. But she smiled.
WARHOL: Listen, Shirley, you don’t ever wear one or have one.
GOLDFARB: I have one from the 5 & 10. It’s just made of nothing. It’s like a piece of Kleenex. Actually, I think we look terrific together as a couple.
WARHOL: So have you seen David [Hockney]?
GOLDFARB: I’m going to call him today. He’s busy with his dealer and things right now. The audience is very excited.
CARRIE DONOVAN: Hi!
WARHOL: We used to be in the Follies together. That’s Carrie Donovan. She’s the Editor of Harper’s Bazaar. We’re old friends from years ago.
GOLDFARB: Why isn’t that marvelous lady here who’s working at the Met?
WARHOL: Oh, Diana [Vreeland]? Because she just got back from Russia.
GOLDFARB: I saw a great movie yesterday. It was like my great-grandfather when he settled on Jew Hill on Altoona. They called it “Jew Hill”.
WARHOL: Why was it called that?
GOLDFARB: Because that’s where they put the Jews. He had a fish market and he had egg in his beard and he used to rock me on his knee and say, “Zige, zige, zige” with the egg in his beard.
WARHOL: What does that mean?
GOLDFARB: It’s Yiddish for—you know, something of other. But the movie was very nostalgic for me. But you wouldn’t like it because you’re not Yiddish
WARHOL: Are there any big stars in it?
GOLDFARB: No known people are in it but the photography is excellent.
WARHOL: What’s the plot? Is there a murder or anything?
GOLDFARB:The plot is about people who come from Poland to America and settle down and live horribly.
WARHOL: Listen, I lived on the Lower East Side. I know how horrible it was. It’s horrible now.
Gee, it’s so bright in here. Is that a spotlight?
[Soul music: the Silver Convention.]
ANNOUNCER: Mesdames, messieurs, ladies and gentlemen, nous avons le plasir de vous presenter …
GOLDFARB: I wonder why they moved away. Well, we can each have a seat now.
WARHOL: You have to describe the clothes.
GOLDFARB: You mean the colors and if I liked them or not?
WARHOL: And the shape and the material and…
GOLDFARB: Actually, I’m more interested in the models who are wearing the clothes than in the clothes themselves. If they’re sexy or not. Oh, look at her. She’s beautiful. She’s dressed in white, blue sunglasses, a blue and white parasol, marvelous baggy balloon pants…
WARHOL: Not so loud
GOLDFARB: …fabulous light baby blue decorations on her white outfit… here comes a charming mulatto… isn’t this gorgeous? Oh, I love it. These are sensationall Oh, look at that! This is the best show already.
WARHOL: The colors are so great.
GOLDFARB: Look at that skint He has all black girls in the show
WARHOL: That girl’s not black
GOLDFARB: Well, she’s sort of Eurasian She looks slightly yellow to me. She’s sun-tanned. Simply sensational! I wouldn’t mind wearing those.
WARHOL: What a great idea—not to get raped. It’s really feminine
GOLDFARB: They’d really have to look around for your parts. They couldn’t get in there.
WARHOL: Look at these girls! Look at Tom [Cashin] up there. He’s laughing at you, Shirley Goldfarb. Tom walked into the mirror. Is he a model, too?
GOLDFARB: You know Marion. They applauded him every time he came out at Yves St.
Laurent’s show. Because he’s black. Blacks are in this year. I love Marion… that one chewing gum on the stage. He has cute dimples but he also has a pimple. Who are they applauding?
Her or the boys? She’s terrific. Do you know her? She modelled for Bernie Ozer. She’s divine.
WARHOL: She’s American.
GOLDFARB: She’s like Barbra Streisand. She can make a schmata look like a Dior. That is so chic! Valentino has a good feeling for both men and women which is very rare.
WARHOL: Better than Yves? About the same, right?
GOLDFARB: Different. Yves is very very African this year. He’s influenced by Morocco. But this is so Capri. This is so Italian sophisticated—Via Veneto, Capri—aren’t they gorgeous? They’re like twins. That’s when you really know you’re going together—when you wear the same clothes.
Ted Tom
Marion
Marie
Letetia
Jack
Tasha Erica
Carla
GOLDFARB: There’s a Bianca, too.
WARHOL: Not Another Bianca?
GOLDFARB: They’ve got their numbers maxed up. Where do people wear these clothes?
WARHOL: Cruising.
GOLDFARB: That’s a very rich German look. How do they ever get out of those clothes so fast? I never can. And all I have to decide is. whether I’ll put on my black jeans or my blue jeans… the balloon pants are the innovation of this show… how’s Eric Rothschild?
WARHOL: I don’t know. What page are we on of the program?
GOLDFARB: I don’t know.
WARHOL: That one winked at you.
GOLDFARB: That must be Shirley. That’s why.
WARHOL: But he’s a boy.
GOLDFARB: I used to be in love with a boy in grade school in Altoona named Shirley. And he got killed in the War. His name was Shirley Carr. We used to go dancing together and he’d send me valentines. And he was black. I was mad about him… what number are we at?
WARHOL: I don’t know. That’s such a pretty dress.
GOLDFARB: She’s one of the best. She modeled like, five-dollar dresses for Bernie Ozer and she made them look fantastic!.. that one’s nice but I don’t like prints… the clothes hang so well. That’s also the Arabic influence. The harem look. But I can’t wear any of these
[End of Side A.]
[Tape #5, Side B.]
GOLDFARB: …turn me on
WARHOL: But he does things for little women.
GOLDFARB: Yeah, but not for little women like me These clothes make me wish I were very tall so I could wear them. I think I like Valentino as much as Karl [Lagerfeld] or Yves. I think they’re tops.
WARHOL: Was Karl’s show really great?
GOLDFARB: With the tennis shoes! And the layers Gorgeous Divine You woulda loved it Andy, how do men get so handsome?
WARHOL: I don’t know. And they stay handsome while women get wrinkled.
GOLDFARB: But they’re born that way. It’s good breeding through the generations. All those good genes. All their families fucked the right people just so they d turn out this way.
WARHOL: I know. I believe in that. I think the American rich really did it for a while.
GOLDFARB: But we’re all such hybrids. We’re freaks because our families never cared who they fucked. They just did everything. First come, first served. You know, that old saying.
WARHOL: But sometimes two horrible looking people have a real beauty. Isn’t that strange?
GOLDFARB: Yeah, they can have a really beautiful child. One never knows. Like Gregory and me. We had a nice looking kid. He doesn’t look like either of us… isn’t she divine? She’s the new model in town. Can you imagine—she modeled for Bernie Ozer, too.
[Five minutes of applause.]
GOLDFARB: Bravol Bravo! Something new. And very very classic. Look at the audience. They’re delirious.
[End of segment.]
[Friday, October 24, 12:00 poon, William Burke’s studio on the Rue de Cherche-Midi. Garavani and Georgina Brandolini have arrived to have their pictures taken by Carlos Eduardo de Suza Georgina is wearing a quilted black satin Chinese tunic and a grey flannel skirt, both by Valentino. Garavani is wearing a quilted black satin Chinese tunic and grey flannel pants, also both by Valentino. Giametti, wearing a black vinyl eye-patch, arrives late from the doctor, where he was treated for conjunctivitis caused by the smoke at the Club Sept.]
GARAVANI:.. so many people. I have to call Liza to see if she’s free.
WARHOL: No, but the Japanese really dress beautifully. Besides Paris I think the Japanese girls dress the best. I think it’s great.
GARAVANI: They just showed the pictures to me. But someone who was in Japan recently told me, “You can not imagine, Valentino, how beautiful they are— the Valentino Boutiques in Japan.”
WARHOL: Bob saw it. It is so rich.
Japanese French boutiques
Japanese French poodles
Zen gardens geisha girls
Japanese restaurants
GARAVANI: In spring I have to go to Japan.
WARHOL: They’ll really make you work hard there.
COLACELLO: There were a lot of Japanese people at your show.
GARAVANI: They have all the Valentino boutiques! There are 12!
WARHOL: But the girls really know how to dress. You just can’t believe it. Every shopgirl. And there’s so much press. It’s like the paparazzi in Italy only. five times more. There’s cameras everywhere you go. And tape recorders.
GARAVANI: Life is amusing at night? There are many night clubs? They stay long?
WARHOL: Yes. Strange bars. But the best thing was Maxim’s. They have a Maxim’s that’s an exact copy of the one in Paris. They even have a They even have the cobblestones out in front.
[Giametti arrives.]
WARHOL: What glamor. Is that just for pictures? That would be great
GIAMETTI: Just for the pictures, yes. A disaster.
WARHOL: What’s the matter with your eye?
GIAMETTI: They put an anesthetic inside. It’s conjunctivo—I don’t know how you say it. I suffer from it. Three years ago I had the problem. People will think I had a face-lift.
WARHOL: An eye-tuck.
SNAP/SNAP
SNAP/SNAP
SNAP/SNAP
[Two minutes of Italian.]
GARAVANI: In which hotel are you in Rome?
WARHOL: The Grand. Who’s your neighbor there now, now that Elizabeth Taylor’s moved out? Did some other movie stars move next door? Who lives there?
GARAVANI: Nobody.
WARHOL: No movie stars?
GARAVANI: Nothing.
WARHOL: Oh.
GARAVANI: Here we go. Thank you, Andy.
WARHOL: We’ll see you in Rome.
GARAVANI: You’re leaving tomorrow, is true? Listen, I call you anyway at the hotel but we shoot for Wednesday night dinner at home with Liza. OK? See you in Rome. Ciao.
[End of segment.]
[Wednesday, October 29, 10:00 P.M., Garavani’s villa off the Appia Antica outside of Rome. Garavani is giving a dinner in honor of Warhol, followed by a screening of The Romantic Englishwoman, co-starring Glenda Jackson and Helmut Berger. Dinner is downstairs in the informal part of the villa which is done in lacquered bamboo furniture by Valentino. The screening room is adjacent. Tutti Roma is there—Contessa Marina Cicogna, Stella Pente, Emmi Califri, Franco Rossellini and others. Liza Minnelli, in town for her father Vincente’s production of A Matter of Time, co-starring Ingrid Bergman, leaves right after dinner because she has to work early in the morning. Warhol corners her on her way out.)
[Soul music: Silver Convention.]
GARAVANI: We’re going to have a movie.
LIZA MINNELLI: I’m dying to see it but I’ve got to go home. I’ve got to wake up at 5:30.
WARHOL: Remember when you messed up your hair the other day? You looked so beautiful. Remember when you pushed it back? Do you ever wear it that way? You know, straight back?
MINNELLI: Well, I can. That’s how my father likes it, too. It’s a security blanket for me.
WARHOL: It’s a terrific look. When I saw it I just got so excited.
MINNELLI: When do you want to come and watch shooting and watch the rushes?
WARHOL: Well, we have to leave tomorrow but maybe I have to come back to do some more work.
MINNELLI: When you come back, just call—”Hil I’m here!” I was so tired last night l could not move! Literally. Because I was called in the afternoon to shoot. I didn’t think I had to shoot. I just died! I’m dead.
WARHOL: The whole movie is so exciting.
MINNELLI: I still want you to come see the rushes. I was so thrilled tonight. I’m gonna go home now. I’m gonna try to leave quietly without disrupting the party.
WARHOL: I guess we won’t see you in New York.
MINNELLI: Yes, you will. I’m gonna be there for one night-on the 10th of December for the premier of “Lucky Lady” You’re invited. it’s in New York
WARHOL: Great.
MINNELLI: But then I have to come right back here. It’s so awful.
WARHOL: Bring me back with you. I’d like to take your picture.
MINNELLI: You know what I’d like to do with you? You loved my hair back, right? So it would be marvelous to do a what-do-they-call-it? A striptease. To do it from here to there to there to there. And then back the other way again. Like somebody stripping. Because this is my security blanket—my look. But then to slowly pull it one by one back. And to expose myself. So, bye, Andy!
WARHOL: Bye.
No comments:
Post a Comment