The best
places to ...
FEAST ON FRIES AND
PEOPLE WATCH
The Spotted Pig
314 W. 11th St.; 212-620-
0393; thespottedpig.com •
The gastropub frequented
by Kobe Bryant and Lou
Reed is so popular that one
blogger declared getting
in a “hipster blood sport.”
Mark Badgley says, “The
fries with rosemary and
garlic are heaven.”
Why We Love ...
New York
at September’s New York Fashion Week at
Lincoln Center.
“We love the melding of the business
of fashion with the performing arts history
there—there’s a sense of sophistication
and pizazz,” Mischka says. “After all, fash-
ion is theater!”
Drama marks their own climb from early
anonymous toil: Badgley’s at Donna Karan
and Mischka’s working the men’s collection
for Willi Wear WilliSmith. They ventured
solo as a pair in 1988, with a cramped Hell’s
Kitchen apartment-cum-showroom. In the
’90s, they spun a bridal collection, evening
bags and footwear—all to rave reviews.
Through it all, they’ve maintained a winning
formula: well-crafted dresses evoking ’40s
screen goddesses.
Even in real life, “we find the mix of historic and modern exciting,” Badgley says. The
couple has lived in a “rickety Civil War– era
walk-up” in Chelsea, a 19th-century brownstone in Greenwich Village and a “new glass
box in the sky” in Midtown.
“We love most where we live now,”
Badgley says. “The West Village, with its hid-
den passageways and surprise courtyards.”
“This is New York to us,” Mischka says.
“It keeps changing—mostly for the better.”
—MICHELE ME YER
BUY ANTIQUES
Lars Bolander
232 E. 59th St.; 212-924-
1000; larsbolander.com •
Airy antiques make Lars
Bolander the go-to Swede
for heavy-hitters.
Designers Mark Badgley and
James Mischka celebrate
Manhattan as the world’s most
stylish jet-setters converge
on Fashion Week
SEE THE SKYLINE
The Circle Line
Sightseeing Cruises
Pier 83, W. 42nd St.; 888-
880-9108; circleline42.com/
new-york-cruises • “The
boat tour around the island
is a must-do for a unique
look at the city,” James
Mischka says.
Their glamorous silhouettes sing Hollywood,
but fashion designers Mark Badgley and
James Mischka will take Manhattan.
“People think we’re in Hollywood
because we work with many celebrities,”
Badgley says.
“But no city inspires us like the energy
and pace of New York,” Mischka says.
The dapper duo—best identified by
their sophisticated gowns for the likes
of Kate Winslet, Catherine Zeta-Jones
and Taylor Swift—met at New York’s
Parsons School of Design in 1982 and
have been personal and then professional
partners since.
These days, they’re fitting gazelles at
a spacious studio in the heart of Seventh
Avenue’s legendary garment district, planning to debut their latest spring collection
The dapper duo—best identified by
their sophisticated gowns for the likes
of Kate Winslet, Catherine Zeta-Jones
UNWIND WITH
COCKTAILS
Gramercy Tavern
42 E. 20th St.; 212-477-
0777; gramercytavern.
com • “Their Bloody Bull
is an extraordinary twist
on a classic: a Bloody
Mary made with beef consommé,” Badgley says.
