Email throws shade on quality of Karin Upton Baker’s wardrobe collection
An anonymous email questioning the authenticity of Hermes handbags being auctioned off after the split of former Sydney glamour couple, Karin Upton Baker and Gary Baker, has thrown shade on the auction — and on the calibre of renowned wardrobe, Annette Sharp writes.
Confidential
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An anonymous email sent to a prestigious Woollahra auction house questioning the quality of Hermes handbags formerly owned by Hermes Australia managing director Karin Upton Baker cast a pall over an auction expected to bolster the coffers of Baker’s estranged husband last week.
The email, from “a very concerned observer”, was received by auction house supremo Andrew Shapiro on Monday, August 24 — the eve of Tuesday’s planned SH184 auction of “elegant couture, luxury design and fine antiques” — presumably sending a ripple of terror through the auction house.
In the letter, the writer claimed any Hermes handbag stamped with the letter “S”, as some of the bags in the auction were, suggesting the author had handled the bags personally, are “not perfect and therefore deemed to be faulty”.
In the email, also copied to Hermes executives in Paris and select local media, the writer suggested handbags previously owned by Upton Baker were “staff discount bags” and “inferior” to regular Hermes top shelf products.
As fashion insults, they don’t come much bigger in this city, with the letter throwing shade both on the auction and on the calibre of renowned wardrobe.
Taking the letter, and the perceived threat to his reputation, seriously, auction house proprietor Andrew Shapiro was quick to add a disclaimer to several lots.
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The disclaimer stated: “Please note: This Hermes bags (sic) display the S stamp on the interior. We understand the S stamp indicates that this item may have been initially purchased on sale. Fair Warning!” Shapiro could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Neither did Upton Baker nor her estranged husband — a former bankrupt who we assume could do with the cash — wish to be drawn on the slur and the ensuing witch hunt for the letter’s author.
In the end, the hero handbag featured on the catalogue title page, a Birkin bag with a $40,000 to $60,000 estimate, sold for $36,000. Other bags sold well under the auctioneer’s estimates.
LYNDI’S LOOKING FOR ANOTHER ROLE
Following news that businessman Stanley Phillip Kaftel was jailed last week for nine months over his deception of disgraced businessman and former eastern suburbs demigod Rodney Adler, we hear Lyndi Adler, wife of Rodney, has been making inquiries about jobs — although Adler’s assistant offered a “no comment” on Lyndi’s behalf.
Weeks after Rodney denied well-placed talk that has it the high-profile couple have finally gone their separate ways, we hear that Lyndi is looking to dip her toe back into the arts world.
With theatres currently shuttered due to COVID-19, Lyndi — a theatre lover who has some production credits to her name — likely has found herself with more time on her hands.
TV NETWORKS ALL A-TWITTER ABOUT MYSTERIOUS LOGIE POST
Having established himself as a production megastar at Nine before making waves on his way out the door to Seven thanks to his sensational Eddie McGuire “boning” affidavit, and then bouncing back to Nine after clashing with a staff member in the offices at Seven’s Sunday Night show, before leaving again last year, it was hard to know what to make of news producer Mark Llewellyn’s Twitter post on Thursday.
The star of the post was Seven Sydney news boss Jason Morrison — photographed possibly without his knowledge — peering out of the window of Seven’s Martin Place news HQ clutching a Logie award.
“Every day I walk past it’s the same damned thing …” Llewellyn posted, getting no response from Morrison despite tagging the executive.
Yesterday, Llewellyn, who is now back at Seven, said the two men have a history of playing practical jokes on each other.
“He wouldn’t admit to sleeping with (the Logie), but he does,” said Llewellyn, adding he was “super stoked” to be back at Seven.
As he might be, with the axe set to drop again at Nine News on the back of the company booking a $590m net loss for the year to June.
This in a year in which Nine saw two CFOs quickly depart — the first, Greg Barnes, last August, and Paul Koppelman in July. We’re wondering how long the newly appointed CFO Maria Phillips will last.