Paris Fashion Week is the place to be right now, with Emma Raducanu and new boyfriend Carlo Agostinelli, Kate Moss, and Madonna’s kids Lourdes and Rocco taking their Chanel across the channel. But behind the scenes, not everyone is happy. There are rumours online of a “black market” for front row seats and after-parties, with tickets costing thousands for spaces that are meant for industry people. “The corruption is real,” Perfect magazine editor Bryanboy wrote online. Meanwhile, it’s musical chairs at the big fashion houses.
Insiders are guessing who will take over Alexander McQueen after Sarah Burton. Others are wondering if Kim Jones could leave Fendi after three years in charge. On the menu? Ozempic, of course. Despite fashion opening up to people of all sizes, we hear everyone’s on the diet drug. One guest found an empty box in their fridge at posh hotel Le Bristol. Sacre bleu…
All hail the start of a Brownaissance
Gordon Brown cut a rather a dour figure while he was PM, famous for biting his nails and brooding on the frontbench. But Brown, now 72, has rehabilitated his image, and has had audiences wrapped around his finger with some witty lines at events promoting a new book this week. “I’m too old to be a European politician, I’m too young to be a candidate in America,” he quipped at a Guardian Live Event last night, to laughter and applause.
The joke landed well when he said it the night before in conversation with Mariella Frostrup, too. Brown is touring the country to promote his new tome Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World. Should Sir Keir Starmer be taking note? “I’m not the best person to give advice about winning an election,” he laughed. “The best advice to Keir Starmer is not to take my advice.” Brown lost in 2010.
The ex-PM also echoed recent words by Tony Blair, saying he won’t be a “backseat driver” in any Starmer administration, despite both men having regular chats with Sir Keir. But Brown is a keen cheerleader. “Give Keir Starmer a chance. He’s a really good guy,” he implored the audience, before leaving the stage to a standing ovation. The Brownaissance is truly upon us.
Camera shy Sunak shows up for OWO bash
Rishi Sunak let his hair down last night and popped across the road from No 10 for the opening of the new OWO hotel, once Winston Churchill’s war office, now renovated by the billionaire Hinduja brothers. The PM declined to be pictured. Princess Anne cut the proverbial ribbon, tenor Andrea Bocelli sang and Andrew Lloyd Webber played the piano for guests including Mayor Sadiq Khan and Princess Beatrice.
In Camden, Björk made her first awards show appearance since 2012 for the AIM Independent Music Awards, bringing her own personal snapper. We spoke to Mercury-winning jazz band Ezra Collective’s Femi Koleoso, who said the genre could benefit from being “taken away from elitist jazz clubs and into other spaces”, and added that corporate giants like Spotify need to help save small venues.
