Dear Gucci: Thanks For Not Inviting Me to The Party in My Own ‘Hood

I’ve bought a few Gucci items in my life — great design, over-priced. Personally, I’m more a Louis Vuitton gal. Was it Gucci heels that broke for my daughter on the streets of NYC when she was 16? No … I think it was Prada.

Regardless, I think we may have found the next most publicized home in Dallas. Happens to be right down the street. Gucci + Two by Two + CNN = Hot Listing. But of course…

“If Gucci calls, you answer,” writes PaperCity’s Billy Fong.

Such was the case when I was invited to attend their pop-up — appropriately dubbed the Gucci Dallas Space. Honestly, I was half-expecting a trunk show with a dozen or so handbags (granted they all would be drool-worthy) on display with some caterers passing about champagne flutes. I should have known better — Gucci and creative director Alessandro Michele do not roll that way.

Save your saliva, Billy. I’ve never found Gucci handbags drool-worthy, to be honest.

Dallas is getting more like LA every day.

So I started to get a lot of calls from my neighbors. My husband, probably the most demanding reader I have, asked me repeatedly why we were not invited to the party and what is going on with the house. Neighbors were upset that we suddenly had an event space in a neighborhood known for walking and tranquility. Then I found out that Gucci had come in, as they often do in LA, and turned the house into a pop-up space. In LA, and in some parts here, too, companies sometimes buy houses just for entertainment purposes. Karen Eubank traveled to Austin for one last year.

The home will be listed for $10.9 million.

Not unless they want to pay $10.9 million. As soon as the Gucci stick-up wallpaper is peeled off the walls, 6645 Northaven is hitting the MLS at $10.9 million.

Brad Oellermann, chief sales manager with Crescent Estates Custom Homes, would not talk about the event. But judging from Fong’s Gucci worship epistle, he was smart to agree to lease the home for the “VIP cocktail party hosted by Cindy Rachofsky and Lisa Runyon for TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art (which annually benefits amFAR and the Dallas Museum of Art). The luxury fashion house had generously offered to donate 10% of the evening’s sales to TWO x TWO in their support of amfAR’s AIDS research initiatives and the Dallas Museum of Art’s contemporary art acquisition program.”

Charitable and smart.

The entire house served as a showcase for Gucci’s high jewelry (some pieces I was told had rarely left Europe) and precious skin bags, along with made-to-measure and customizable pieces. Also on view was Gucci’s Love Parade Collection. I’m sure you’ve heard of it — the fall runway spectacle welcomed fashion journalists, style influencers, and half of the movie-star set to Hollywood boulevard. Tina Craig, who was among the attendees, shared that it was as magical and glamorous as it looked on Instagram.

Tina Craig was in my ‘hood?

Despite the hotness of our market, get used to seeing more creative use of beautiful homes such as 6645 Northaven for these sorts of events. They do a great job in getting a home publicity, getting it out among the influencer and money crowds.

Crescent, by the way, bought 6645 Northaven last year and has spent months taking it back to the studs, remodeling, and reinvigorating the home. I got a sneak peak when Richard Quest and I got in in late January.

Brad, the brilliant marketer that he is — recall he sold the Crespi Estate — actually left his family at church on a Sunday morning to let in the whole crew from CNN.

Now his listing is getting international attention!

So Gucci, hope you had fun in my ‘hood, but maybe holler at me next time you are in town!