FASHION Rocks, the annual musical extravaganza staged by Condé Nast at Radio City Music Hall, has sparked tremendous Internet bidding wars for tickets.
One Web site last week was offering orchestra seats for $8,182. This week, others further back in the crowd were going for $4,000. Ticket prices originally ranged from $104.50 to $254.50. The event is set for Sept. 7 and will be hosted by Elton John and televised on CBS on Sept. 8.
Among the performers on tap are Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Bon Jovi, The Black Eyed Peas, Daddy Yankee, Jamie Foxx, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.
Last year’s show, which occurred right around the time of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, raised more than $14 million in relief money.
Condé Nast Media President Richard “Mad Dog” Beckman decided to put the bite on sponsors again this year for charity; proceeds from the show will benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, who had steered clear of the Fashion Rocks “outsert” magazine in the past, served as the editorial director of the magazine that will be polybagged with 17 other magazines.
Jonathan van Meter, author and former editor-in-chief of Vibe, served as the editor of the magazine, which will for the first time be offered for sale as a separate standalone magazine. It is hitting newsstands nationally this week with Beyonce and Jamie Foxx on the cover.
Test run
Another window into the somewhat secretive world of Condé Nast Portfolio opened a crack last week when several hundred thousand pieces of direct mail started turning up in the homes of potential subscribers.
The direct mail plays up launch editor Joanne Lipman‘s past, with the announcment, “New from Joanne Lipman, formerly of the Wall Street Journal.”
The piece that made its way to Media Ink has a cover featuring Sir Richard Branson and the headline “Egos in Orbit.”
Cutlines also promise stories on the “Wall Street Brain Drain,” a story on how an automaker landed in jail and a “Hollywood Showdown about a star, a studio and a $1 billion fight.”
A Condé Nast spokeswoman said that the cover is a mockup only. It doesn’t reflect what will be on the actual cover when it hits in April.
Inside, the magazine promises to cover media, money, personal finance, real estate, technology, fashion, advertising, sports “and everything that shapes the world of business and the world at large.”
David Carey, the president of the Condé Nast business group, said the package we saw was one of six that went out, featuring three different price points – from a high of $22.95 for a one-year subscription to a low of $12 for 13 issues, plus a $3 handling charge.
Carey said this mailing is only a small effort: “We’re testing lists and price points. At the end of the year, the big push will come.”
Art/news
Last week, the hottest ticket in town, literally, was the Donald Robertson art exhibit at the Atlantic Gallery in SoHo.
There was a constant parade of chief editors into the gallery last night, even though the small air conditioner by the bar was no match for the sweltering heat. It was all run by Ariel Foxman‘s Art Stable. Robertson and Foxman had worked together as art director and editor-in-chief, respectively, of the now-defunct Cargo.
Longtime partner Bonnie Fuller arrived late with her husband and her oldest son in tow. James Truman, now CEO of LTB Media, was on hand, as well as his successor, Tom Wallace, the editorial director of Condé Nast. Kelli Delaney bumped into her former boss, Fuller, for the first time since American Media pulled the plug on Celebrity Living. Robertson uses newsprint to create a canvas upon which to paint, but there was no word on whether the work entitled “Keith Kelly,” featuring a Media Ink column, sold that night. The asking price was $950 – beyond our price range.