Scene: Two stubborn ladies clash over a man. Problem: One person steals another person's lover and then marries… Did you murder him?
One of the women, Margaux Goldrich, is fictional. The other is Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon, who plays a version of herself grilling the imperious fashion diva Margot, played by Patricia Black, and who finds her Margo suspicious of her husband's untimely death. tells a story.
You won't find this depressing melodrama on Netflix. The story appears on social media as a series of darkly comical illustrations conceived and created by jewelry designer Alexis Bittar as part of an ongoing marketing campaign for her eponymous company.
Mr. Bittar, who started the brand in the late 1990s, sold it to Brooks Brothers in 2015, and reacquired the business three years ago, introduced the video campaign last fall. Mr. Sarandon, 77, is the latest and biggest name to appear in dozens of short episodes that have since been released on the Alexis Bittar Instagram and TikTok accounts. “I was fascinated by the work he created with his satirical and unconventional skits,” she said in a text message.
Other top style world figures who have featured their own versions include: Mel Ottenberg, stylist and editor-in-chief of Interview magazine; model Coco Rocha; nightlife Amanda Lepore; And then there's Kelly Cutrone, a caustic and outspoken fashion publicist who stars in her own reality TV show.
Next, Ms. Black, a 66-year-old actress, plays Margo, a turbaned Upper East Side harpy who makes cold, high-handed demands on her long-suffering personal assistant Jules (played by performance artist Julie J) throughout the campaign. And a drag performer.
As expected, Mr. Sarandon receives softer treatment from Margo. Margot admires her floral biker jacket (her own) and her wavy umber-colored hair that Mr. Sarandon wears in her campaign. Margaux also fawns over Mr. Sarandon's stardom and left-wing politics. “You were fighting for the people,” Margaux said, coyly referencing Mr. Sarandon’s constant activism.
“I wanted to create a community,” said Bittar, 55, through the video campaign. He hopes he can react to the series' frantically increasing number of barbs, as well as the bracelets and bags he inserts into each episode. – A flood of characters.
“I wanted people to speak their minds and say inappropriate things. Even in today’s waking environment, it’s like the way someone actually speaks,” Mr. Bittar said.
He also said, “I wanted to create a love letter to New York.” “Part of that love has to do with showcasing characters we’ve known for years in the industry.” Some, like Margaux, were “horrible people,” Mr. Bittar added. But they influenced him equally.
He acknowledged that Margot was a provocative composite of autocratic trendsetters. Among them are Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and Diana Vreeland, and Vogue model-turned-stylist and fashion executive Marina Schiano, who has been intentionally reduced to a fashion stereotype. .
At one time Ms. Sasha Charnin Morrison, 59, who worked under Schiano and worked for years in the fashion departments of Harper's Bazaar, Us Weekly and Elle, said some viewers may disparage Margaux and Jules for her cartoons. “But I was “This is Jules.” said Morrison, who is now a freelance writer and digital content creator. “That was my life.”
She added that the campaign evokes nostalgia for the days when “you never knew if you were fired on a Friday, but on Monday it would always come back for more abuse.”
People who aren't associated with fashion dragons like Margaux may still find this character familiar. “We all worked for someone who was from Margaux or had a mother who was,” Black said. “If these relationships exist, why not just laugh them off?”
Mr Cutrone, who works in public relations, said he was thrilled at the opportunity to portray himself in a lewd and abusive way '100 times over'. She speculated that Ms. Bittar's video series could be the start of “more fashion people directing and owning their own content.”
She was not paid financially for her appearance like Ms. Sarandon and the other contestants.
So why did she take on the job?
Mr. Cutrone responded triumphantly, “I’ll work for a bracelet company.”