The highlight of my New York Fashion Week happened in the final hour this season. It was around 7 p.m., and I was at the Staud show on the roof of Spring Studios in Tribeca. An Instagram-famous dog and alleged “gay icon” wearing a pink tulle outfit was seated in front of me looking absolutely terrified. To my right was a giant, shimmering lemon the size of a car. (Not sure how that got on the roof?)
In my direct line of sight was none other than Larry David, beloved schmuck and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm. He sat front row with his long skinny legs crossed and his hands folded on his knees in a gesture of (what I read as) slight awkwardness and impatience. I watched him talk emphatically with the people next to him, who included Jared Leto. He seemed to be in true Larry David form: skeptical but also enjoying the spectacle of it all.
Until he wasn’t. About midway through the show, I watched him pick up his hands and plug his ears. (It was very loud.) And because it’s hard to hold up your hands for an extended period of time, eventually, he leaned over and rested his elbows on his knees, not looking up as one model after another strutted past him. Michelangelo himself couldn’t have sculpted a more perfect curmudgeon pose.
It was pretttty pretttty funny to behold, and I caught it all on video. (Cue the Curb music.)
Afterward, the question on everyone’s mind (and probably Larry David’s mind too) was, Why the heck was Larry David at a fashion show???
“Larry is a friend!” said Staud founder and designer Sarah Staudinger, who got a good laugh out of the videos and photos of him plugging his ears. “He definitely isn’t a usual at New York Fashion Week, but who wouldn’t want Larry in the front row?”
David was seated in the same row as Staudinger’s fiancé, Ari Emanuel, a Hollywood powerhouse and David’s agent. “I am so grateful and appreciative that he came and for his support,” she added. “I hope he liked the collection! But I think our New Balance sneakers are more his speed.”
Hope to see you next season, Larry.
Update, October 13:
On October 12, Larry David went on Jimmy Kimmel Live and explained how he wound up at New York Fashion Week — a situation where he was as out of place as Steve Bannon at a seder, he joked. “My friend’s fiancé is a great fashion designer,” David said. “Her name is Staud. She’s a wonderful gal.” Apparently, said friend — Ari Emanuel — told David his “presence would be helpful” at her show, to which David replied, “My presence has never been helpful, anywhere!”
The continued press Staud is getting would suggest otherwise. But we’re glad to finally have the full story. “It was very loud music, and that’s why I was covering my ears,” David concluded. And who can blame him?
