By Benedetta Pignatelli
Is there a style lymph in Las Vegas? Has the recent designer arsenal bestowed upon us courtesy of deluxe malls touched the indigenous crowd yet? Are we ever gonna be more into Oscar de la Renta than Oscar de la Hoya? Transition seamlessly from Las Vegas to Las Vogueas? And would a sudden style epiphany cramp our historical style anarchy? Las Vegas Weekly thinks (hopes?) so and has unleashed a style-sniffing mission in the streets of neonopolis. After all, Las Vegas could share monogrammed towels with Louis Vuitton.
Appearing this week: Mr. Ken Kastle, a brown-hued vision we found in the entrails of the Fashion Show Mall.
So, who’s wearing you?
My shoes are Ferragamo, pants and jacket are by Kenneth Cole, in brushed brown leather, the belt, shirt and tie are from Armani Collezioni and the socks are from Neiman Marcus. Glasses are Prada, the coat is a sentimental present, a Christmas gift from my sister. A Pamela McCoy fur coat she got at Bergdorf Goodman in New York. My watch is a skull watch from Chrome Hearts. And the rings I design on my own. The ones I have on today are: a cougar with ruby eyes and diamond, a Burmese ruby, a giant piece of coral from Tibet, a dragon with cabochon red emerald eyes, a Tiffany bracelet and cuff links in ruby and diamonds that belonged to my father.
What do you do, Mr. K., and when and how did you get to Las Vegas?
I’m an architect, designer and feng shui master [just appointed master of the Dragon Gate Sect at the White Cloud Monastery in Beijing]. I first came to Las Vegas seven years ago from West Hollywood, California [where he used to hang out with Christian Audigier, aka Ed Hardy]. I drove my 1983 black and chrome Mercedes SL560 Sport Roadster. That I’m currently in the process of resurrecting.
How would you define your style?
Layered opulence with periods of swami chic.
Could you rate Las Vegas on a style scale of 1-10?
I think short-term we can aspire to a 5. I’d say by 2012. And then later to a 7.
A 5? But we have a Lacroix, dahlin’!
I know, but there still seems to be a dichotomy between what’s available and what’s on locals’ backs. It’s mostly out-of-towners that seem to stock up on deluxe fare; especially Europeans, what with the currently moribund dollar and nuclear euro. But I believe it’ll change soon enough because people used to come live here for bargains. And Las Vegas has officially abandoned bargain status. People are gonna come to Las Vegas because they have money, not because they don’t. I believe the very wealthy are gonna lead the way to a more style-aware local fauna. For now, this town is still somewhat grungy. But I’m on a personal mission to make it more fashionable. I put a lot of energy into the way I look, and I see that it is starting to rub off on my nearest and dearest.
