The Hudson’s Bay Company Presents: “When Tommy Met Anna”

“I don’t want to be cool, I want to be fashion!” – and fashion she most definitely is.  Possibly the most fashionable woman on earth.  According to the late German fashion photographer Helmut Newton, La Principessa di Bari Anna Dello Russo, is a fashion maniac.  The Editor-At-Large and Creative Consultant for Japanese Vogue owns over 4,000 pairs of shoes and a wardrobe big enough to have its own zip code.  Tommy Ton, along with countless other street style and fashion photographers, have been documenting her ensembles over the years.  Dello Russo’s outfits run the gamut from elegant to outrageous and at times, downright insane.
Last night, Toronto’s downtown flagship location of The Hudson’s Bay Company department store hosted an industry-insider and A-list only shindig in the store’s famed White Space/Room. When Tommy Met Anna, is an 81-photo, ten-day exhibition, chronicling the ongoing friendship between Ton and Dello Russo through the many photos he’s taken of her since first spotting her back in March of 2007.  “She’s gone from Anna Dello Russo to ADR to…I don’t even know what you want to call her today. Anna Dello Gaga?” says the Canadian blogger of Dello Russo’s evolution.  “He is my guru,” ADR explains. “For me, Tommy is now my fashion eyes,” says ADR in an interview posted on her website.
Killer DJ beats and exotic hors d’oeuvres accompanied by pink and white Veuve Clicquot kept the mood festive.  HBC’s CEO Bonnie Brooks, Fashion Television’s Jeanne Beker, actress Natalie Brown, nightclub king Charles Khabouth, and tons of photographers, stylists, and socialites partied the night away with a very friendly and approachable ADR and Tommy Ton.  Genius that Bonnie Brooks and what she’s done with The Bay.  Future generations will undoubtedly pour over HBC Case Studies as part of their Business School curriculum here in Canada.
It’s All Style To Me had a chance to speak with both Tommy and Anna at last night’s event (YouTube videos below).  Ton spoke about the prospect of taking on Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist) in a fist fight and the former Men’s Vogue editor (2000-2006) expressed her blatant disgust with the banality of men’s fashion and of yours truly.  For more photos of last night’s event, please visit the It’s All Style To Me Facebook Page.
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