HAUTE LIST
TALKING TOUGH
By DANICA LO
Last updated: 5:23 am
July 24, 2008
Posted: 3:22 am
July 24, 2008
'IF a girl wants to be girly, she can go to Victoria's Secret," says Tapout CEO Mask. "I don't make frilly stuff. I keep it kind of tough."
Tapout - the term Ultimate Fighters use to surrender - is the name Mask, along with colleagues Punkass and SkySkrape, adopted for their mixed-martial-arts-inspired clothing line.
The company, founded 10 years ago, is the Nike of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC); Tapout is a $100 million empire that includes clothing, accessories, gear, bottled water and a magazine. It's the most visible sponsor of the league's athletes, and its hugely successful eponymous reality show - entering a second season today on Versus channel's on-demand - follows the executive team as it discovers and fosters amateur talent.
The brand has become so iconic that it's not uncommon for UFC fans to have its logo tattooed in conspicuous places.
"This is a hardcore, hot, edgy sport that's rising in popularity," Mask says. "I've taken a little bit of Jimi Hendrix, some 1800s cowboy, some 2008 military and morphed them into something completely new."
* Listen to your friend Billy Zane: It's like the walk-off in "Zoolander," but better. New York-based design duo MJ Diehl and Roman Milisic are House of Diehl, and their roving party show, "Style Wars," returns for a national tour this fall.
The fast-paced, live fashion showdown pits young designers against each other in five-minute improvisational style challenges. We checked out their summer preview show over the weekend at Harrah's Atlantic City, where a busload of downtown design divas threw down - using things like helium balloons, duct tape, tinsel and beach balls to create stitch-and-bitch garments before hurling their good-sport, barely dressed models down the runway - in front of an unsuspecting casino crowd.
House of Diehl's "Style Wars" comes to a city near you - it'll kick off its autumn-winter tour in New York and has already scheduled dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago and Las Vegas. Check
houseofdiehl.com for more info later this summer.
* Peachy keen: Sue Devitt's "Bermuda Triangle" primer ($22 at beauty.com) does more than just sit there under your makeup - it has a hint of shimmer, optical diffusers to refract light and ingredients such as marine collagen spheres and vitamin C that firm and smooth fine lines.
* Baby's got a new It bag: Hollywood trendies such as Tori Spelling, Audrina Patridge, Katherine Heigl and Denise Richards have all been spotted toting Lockheart bags around town. We love the Alicia ($425) and the Brogan ($795). Lockheart is available at Esteli, 143 Orchard St.; (212) 420-6090.
* Line up: 84 percent of test subjects reported
Kinerase's Extreme Lift Face ($150) and Extreme Lift Eye ($95, both at kinerase.com) smoothed lines in five minutes flat. Compared to pricey Botox, this wrinkle-free face is a needle-free steal.
