Gold beaded napkin rings by Colin Cowie, for JCPenney
I was paging through the October issue of O Magazine – yes, a guilty pleasure – when I came across a four-page advertisement for Colin Cowie’s new merchandising venture with JCPenney.
Subtitled “From Aisle to Eternity,” the ad features Calvin Klein-esque models frolicking in a seaside wedding fantasy, a sunglassed Colin himself arranging a wine goblet just so under a billowing white canopy. (Is it just me or is that tagline some copywriter’s idea of a joke – as in “From (shopping) Aisle to Eternity”?)
It took me back to last May, when I’d had the privilege of seeing Colin’s attention to detail up-close and in-person. My husband and I were among a fortunate group invited to attend a Colin Cowie-designed wedding at the Lodge at Koele, which has been named ‘One of the Best Places in the World to Stay’ by Condé Nast Traveler, on the Hawaiian island of Lana'i.
For those not familiar with Colin’s work (and I hate to admit it but I wasn’t prior to attending this fabulous, lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous wedding), he is considered one of today’s leading style and decorating gurus. According to the BusinessWire press announcement, Jerry Seinfeld, Lisa Kudrow and Hugh Hefner have all said "I do!" during ceremonies created by master event planner Colin Cowie. He also has had his own television show, has written books, and of course, has his own website. The wedding we attended on Lana'i is featured on his website here.
Everything about this multi-day celebration was so beyond first class I don’t even know what you would call it. Uber class? Infinity class? Trying desperately not to sound like I gawked my way through the entire event (though I did), it truly was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.
It was the details that made it so special. Like little jade (yes, real jade) 'party favors' set out on the dinner menu. Which I’m sure were entirely relevant to the Chinese theme but I never did get the story on what they actually signified. Candles in rectangular glass containers suspended from trees. Gorgeous, opulent displays of tropical fruit casually (but clearly with careful awareness) strewn about the table at the beach party. Of course, we realized early on that we were in for something special when the wedding invitation arrived, hand-embroidered on raw silk sewn onto a bamboo rod, carefully rolled up in a silk-covered box, and tied with, yes, a green silk ribbon.
What was equally fascinating, especially to someone who has coordinated events – though not even remotely close to this scale and lavishness – was all of the planning and manpower that went into it. The island’s locals were convinced that J. Lo and Ben were getting hitched, there was that much advance activity and preparation. Not to mention the cargo, which started arriving weeks in advance. Tents, candles, chairs, lights thousands of yards of fabric, Chinese dragons, fireworks – you name it, it all had to be flown over. And Colin had a staff on site of about 125, including construction workers who built elaborate settings ranging from the Simply Red welcome reception (there was nothing simple about it) to the recreation of Paris' famed Buddha Bar nightclub, complete with music of popular Parisian deejay, Kemedji.
The wedding also provided the impetus to spend a few days on Maui before taking the ferry to Lana'i. We were both overwhelmed with the beauty and peacefulness of Maui, Gerard especially, because to his jaded New York mentality – which he has since overcome, by the way – Hawaii had never been on his list of “must see” places.
We spent our days rising early and eating papaya before setting out to explore quiet spots, one day happening upon a waterfall which poured off a cliff into a pond on the edge of the ocean. Another day we drove along the narrow and twisty road a third of the way around the island to find the church and cemetery where Charles Lindbergh is buried, and later, while I read on the veranda of our rustic lodge, my husband scribbled away, working on what would become one of his most moving poems ever.
But getting back to Colin, the man known for million-dollar weddings who has teamed up with JCPenney to offer his trademark style to couples across America. USA Today picked up the story in an article September 20 headlined “New style gurus pick up where Martha left off.”
The wedding business is booming, and J.C. Penney wants its piece of the cake. Colin Cowie was on the WE network for four years with Everyday Elegance and now is developing a syndicated show with Fox. His J.C. Penney line, unveiled last week in New York, features a "chic-within-reach" home collection. Those signing up with J.C. Penney's bridal registry will get free Cowie wedding style, trend and planning tips. The chain hopes to leverage the Cowie line to promote other wedding necessities that it already sells, such as tuxedos and rings.I think it’s a good thing for JCPenney. What with Martha getting packed off to do her time and all –a genuine travesty of our American justice system if you ask me, but we won’t go there right now.
For those of us mere mortals unable to personally contract with Colin to arrange a wedding, we can at least buy ourselves a little bit of that Colin Cowie Lifestyle, and at a very reasonable price, I might add. It certainly worked for Target, first with the wildly successful Michael Graves Design line, then with Mossimo and Isaac Mizrahi, and let’s not forget the mother of all design sellouts, the Martha Stewart collection at K-mart. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. No doubt many households were better off for it.
I checked out Colin’s merchandise on JCPenney and it was all I could do not to reach for my credit card. Just look at these gorgeous beaded napkin rings, a set of four on sale for $9.95, and these red glass bowls caught my eye as well. Best of all, on the JCPenney website, not only do you get great prices on stylish designer housewares, you also get Colin’s pithy decorating advice, for free!
A shot of color can punctuate any place setting. Colin Cowie
And do not, I repeat do not expect me to say anything bad about JCPenney. I have vivid childhood memories of the much-anticipated arrival of the fat catalog every fall, and dog-earing pages of the latest trendsetter fashions, hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, this time my mom would order those blue and green paisley corduroy flares, the ones with the matching turtleneck, and the absolute elation the day the brown box arrived on the front porch. Oh, the joy! I must have worn those pants every other day in third grade (making quite a style statement of my own, with my permed hair and thick cat-eye glasses), and only reluctantly, tearfully let my mom tear them from my hands when the cord ridges had rubbed smooth and the hems were above my ankles.
Plus my mother worked part-time for JCPenney for a number of years, first in customer service, and later processing orders from a converted home-office. Mainly, I think, to get the 25% employee discount. A pretty thrifty shopper myself, I can imagine her glee when the end-of-season sales were going on, and she would pull out her pocket calculator as she sifted through racks of Final Markdowns, triumphantly extricating that one item destined for her closet. “Let’s see, that’s $24.99 for this cute gingham blouse, marked down 70 percent, and then with my 25 percent off that, it’s only $5.62! Ka-ching!”
In closing, I’d like to send a special note to Martha: don’t let those girls bully you one bit, you hear? You just snap them with a delightfully fresh and cleverly folded towel and they’ll leave you alone.
Hey, it worked for me.
Photos:
Entrance to the Simply Red welcome reception
Menu with jade "party favor"
Colin and I go way back
Luscious table displays at lunch beach party
We had playful guides on our catamaran outing
Pineapple gazpacho served in...well, pineapples, of course
Candles were suspended from trees along the wedding party's path.
Waterfall on Maui
Church and cemetary on Maui where Charles Lindberg is buried
We even rode ATVs, and were rewarded with this great view
Oh, those waterfalls. That was the way to shower.
Posted by: Gerard Van der Leun | October 03, 2004 at 02:39 PM