Watch Out: Chanel Flies In Surf Star for Timepiece Bash

By Godfrey Deeny
Fashion Wire Daily

Fashion Wire Daily NY May 8, 2003 - Leave it to Chanel to find a champion surfer who is stylish, pretty, charming and looks great in the label's clothes.

Chanel flew in Holly Beck, a National Scholastic Surfing Association champion, for the launch of the house's new J12 watch in its Soho flagship Wednesday night, and one could not help thinking a star is born.

Beck drew the winning ticket in a raffle for a one-of-a-kind Chanel surfboard, eliciting howls of delight from the dinner - downtown's very own Amy Sacco, owner of everyone's favorite late-night club Bungalow 8, where the event's after party was staged.

"You're gonna' give me lessons, right?" Sacco asked Beck. "I certainly will, though it looks like you'll catch on pretty quick," responded Beck.

The event attracted, Frankie Rayder, Inez Rivero, and Sofia Coppola, who came with Stella Schnabel.

Though only 22, Beck has already surfed everywhere from Durban, South Africa and Tahiti to her hometown of Malibu to Biarritz, where Chanel's designer Karl Lagerfeld has one of his many homes.

"I've never won in competition abroad... so far," stressed Beck, looking particularly fetching in a mini, tight pink top and pumps, all by Chanel.

"The Chanel sport clothes are great looking. These tops are amazing, and the high-tech surf jackets are great. But what I'd really like to get into is this," said Holly, pointing to a barely there black bikini.

A trim, 5'7" tall, blue-eyed, white-toothed blonde, Beck looked spectacular last night, and well able to hold her own with supermodels on a Paris catwalk. Don't say you have not been alerted, Karl.