Swissair In Coach, 4-Days in Zurich

3 movies, 2 articles drafted, 2 long read Vanity Fair profiles, and 3 hours of valium-induced sleep and I finally arrived in LAX from Zurich. My flight was overbooked and my business class upgrade was not honored so it was route 66 in a bulkhead seat for 12 hours on Swissair. I survived the epic journey and can still say the trip to Switzerland was all worth it.

It’s amazing what can take place in 4 short days in a city. I was a guest of the Swiss Textiles award and I thank them for including me in the award ceremony. I’ve lobbied before to be a jury member and ill repeat that request here. My deepest thanks however goes to Gatsby Magazine’s Stefan Hottinger-Behmer for his assisted support in arranging everything from a suitable car service from the airport to upgrading my stay from the down market Ibis (where other attendees stayed) to the much superior Park Hyatt hotel. Caroline Cerny, marketing and communications manager at the Hyatt and her staff took splendid care of me. Massages were organized, exotic fruits were shipped in every morning and the overall service was impeccable. These amenities are crucial for adjusting to new environments and time zones.

Zurich was a mini-explosion of global fashion for a 24-hour period. On awards night I ran into so many fashion folks from all over the globe. Diane Pernet and Dana Thomas were in from Paris. Imran Amed and Fiona Harkin from London. Tiziana Cardini of la Rinascente, Raf Simons, Haider Ackerman, etc. Granted many of the high wattage attendees were past winners and jury members but an impressive turnout nonetheless.

Alexander Wang won the top prize award and had the jury and audience alike fired up about the win. The consensus was that he didn’t deserve it. Read more in my profile on the event tomorrow.

Julia Muggenburg was in town and in tow and we had a gorgeous time at Rive Gauche at Baur au Lac Hotel, a late night at Onyx bar at the Hyatt and of course afternoon tea at Sprungli with the Lynda Real, Marc Gysin and the rest of the Gatsby magazine crew. An art gallery visit to Kunstfokus (where you can view snippets of artists’ works as teaser before visiting their studio for the full experience), and visits to Trois Pommes’ closeout stores rounded out the visit. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the treasure trove of goodies that I scooped up from Tina Turner’s private collection.