W magazine (Aug 1993)

THE JUNIOR JET SET

If Pepsi and "Star Trek" can have a new generation, why not the Jet Set?

They're mad, bad and advantageous to know, and it's not because they're fashionable and rich-and give a lot of fun parties. They're also as well connected as you can be at 25, with parents (and stepparents) who cover the social waterfront from shipping magnates and horse breeders to designers, decorators and deposed kings.

The Junior Jet Set does whatever it wants, and in these politically correct days that includes having a job. You can find them all over Sotheby's, which is notorious for hiring for connections, or at a variety of high-profile investment banks like Lazard Freres or Chase Manhattan. They're also sprinkled on the masthead of the new Mademoiselle. "They contribute ideas and create an aura," suggests one Conde Nast editor. "But you couldn't trust them to edit copy."

Just as well, since The Set really shines at night. And you could see how brightly (and wildly) at a recent dinner party hosted by four of its charter members: Olga of Greece, niece of King Constantine; Marie-Chantal Miller, daughter of Robert Miller, the Duty Free king; Arietta Livanos, of the Greek shipping family, and Karina de Brabant, Livanos's college roommate. Olga's large Soho loft was swathed in white sheets with garlands of leaves strewn everywhere. Guests lounged on cushions feeding each other Moroccan food. Pavlos of Greece, son of the King, dressed as a Roman centurion; Fernando de Cordova, Duke of Canovas del Castillo, came in a toga and Rollerblades; de Brabant wore a Sixties sequined toga that belonged to her mother; fashion designer Maria Snyder came in a bikini number with a feather train carried by a young man in just a pair of Calvins, and Tatiana von Furstenberg, daughter of Egon and Diane, came as a Greco-Roman Eve with a pair of leaves taped to her breasts.

Von Furstenberg is the most outspoken member of The Set. Also one of the funniest. She has just finished her first story for Mademoiselle, an interview with Keanu Reeves. It took place at her Gramercy Park apartment, where she wasn't afraid to ask Reeves even the most searching questions about his sexual preferences. "He was so hot, I definitely wanted him," she jokes.

Von Furstenberg got her undergraduate degree, like many of her friends, at Brown University. "It is sort of a joke how many of our group actually went to the school," says an alumnae. On the list of Brownies: Arietta Livanos, Karina de Brabant, Marci Klein, Serena Boardman, Len Morgan, Eliza Reed, Sloan Lindemann, Liz Steinberg, Taiana's brother Alexander and host of Greek royals, including Alexandra and Nikolas of Greece. (They were listed under "O" for "of Greece" in the campus phone book.)

In every group, of course, there are rebels, or at least exceptions. Twenty-two-year-old Stefan de Kwaitkowski, whose flamboyant father Henryk recently bought Calumet Farm in Kentucky, didn't go to Brown. He wanted to be an artist, so he went to the Rhode Island School of Design, which is conveniently nearby in Providence. Since graduation, Kwiatkowski has been pursuing the life of a sculptor and painter in a large loft in downtown Manhattan. He says he's having his first show at the Berman Gallery in October, and to ensure that he'll be ready, Kwiatkowski flew down to his father's house in Lyford Cay, "to be alone and paint." After the Bahamas, Kwaitkowski said he was going to paint some more in Hungary. "I get great inspiration from rural settings," he says. "Sometimes I sleep on the street and go poor. You learn things that way," Before Hungary and hunger, however, Kwiatkowski was stopping in Paris to see the couture shows with his stepmother, Barbara.

Before a mass migration to Europe, manu of Kwiatkowski's friends spent the first part of their summer in the Hamptons. One hub of Set activity turned out to be the big but rather sparsely decorated house of Arietta Livanos and several friends in Water Mill. Livanos, who works in the family shipping business, is both beautiful and friendly, and the house was always packed. "It's endless, "sighed one housemate, Emilio Ocampo. "The house was rented for 12 of us, and it's like 30 every weekend."

One recent Saturday, Prince Dmitri of Yugoslavia showed up with a blender and a lot of fresh mint. At the ripe old age of 35, and with a big Cuban cigar in his mouth, Dmitri is sort of a grand old uncle to the group. He also invented The Set's favorite drink. "I call it Eshtrepetchiky. It consists of plenty of mint, plenty of sugar, plenty of lime and a whole bottle of vodka," explains the Prince, who has recently been rechristened, to his probable annoyance, Dmitri of Bosnia-Herzogovinia. As the evening wore on, and the other ingredients were finished off, even the sorbet was turned into a vodka drink. That's when some of the men went topless and performed a striptease on the tables.

Not far away, the Miller sisters-also princesses of The Set-spent the first part of their summer in considerably more luxury at a huge Southampton house rented by their 22-year-old Astrid Kohl. Alex Miller, the youngest sister, was trying to maintain a low profile, having hit the less savory gossip columns a few weeks before, when she broke up with Alex von Furstenberg and briefly dated Matt Dillon. "Oh, it lasted about two weeks. Matt and I are just friends now," she said. "Our lives are so different." She was with her two older sisters: Pia, who is married to Christopher Getty, of the Getty Gettys, and Marie-Chantal, who is dating Prince Pavlos of Greece, the son of King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie.

Pavlos, who mixes a mean Pimm's Cup, came to visit, of course, but he couldn't stay very long. As a lieutenant in the Bristish Army, he had to do his yearly military service. "I look forward to it," he says. "This year, I might actually get to partake in military exercises."

JUNIOR JET SET HOT SPOTS

August and much of July are to be spent in Europe, where the JJS jump from country to country as easily as they go from club to club. Arietta Livanos heads to the family island, Coronis. Olga of Greece and Karina de Brabant go to Patmos, while the another group goes to St. Tropez. The Miller sisters stick to the sea: on yachts owned or rented by their father.

The Set likes to lunch uptown at place like Bilboquet and Harry Cipriani, but for dinner, downtown is more popular. You can find them at Cafe Tabac,Kin Khao,Ahnell and Jour et Nuit.

New York nightclubs of the moment include Tavern on the Green on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, Club USA on Thursdays, and on the weekend, Country Club Conscience Point in Southampton. Occasionally, they can be found at Frederick's, uptown or at the Merc Bar in Soho.

Keeping trim is important, but you wouldn't exactly call the JJS fitness fanatics. Still, they do have their favorite gyms, including Equinox and the Vertical Club. Radu is popular, especially his summer workouts in the Hamptons.