Mychael Knight’s Fashion Week debut, Tiny on T.I., Gupta talks “Terror,” and “Bat Baby” takes flight

Atlanta fashion designer Mychael Knight hits the big time Saturday night when his Spring/Summer  2012 fashion line roars onto the runway for his NY Fashion Week debut in SoHo. But the “Project Runway” alum hasn’t forgotten his supporters back in his hometown. When his Mesozoic Era-inspired Lost World collection clomps onto the catwalk Saturday night at the Red Bull Space at 40 Thompson Street in New York, fans enjoying cocktails at Wet inside the downtown W at 45 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard in Atlanta will have a front row seat to the action. Thanks to Knight and the W’s bar happenings guru Pablo Henderson, Atlantans will enjoy a live feed from the festivities in New York in the W’s poolside lounge, beginning at 8:15 p.m. Knight has also pre-recorded a special message for his local admirers.

 

We’re told Knight’s collection will “evoke the fierce strength and tenacious splendor of dinosaurs.” Or as the designer himself explains of the line that includes separates, day dresses, swim wear and evening gowns: “This collection is about extracting beauty from the beasts.” Atlanta salon owner and society shutterbug Richie Arpino has been asked to join Knight’s team of style experts in New York for the show. Arpino tells us he’s looking forward to his first-ever NY Fashion Week: “I’ve always wanted to work with Mychael on something but I never imagined the first gig would be this!“

 

“It’s important that the world know how unfair he’s being treated on such minor charges, all because he’s T.I. There are way more dangerous and carefree [celebrities] that get slapped on the wrist and sent on their way.” — Atlanta reality star and T.I.’s missus Tameka “Tiny” Cottle to TMZ on her hubby being hauled back to prison after courting VH1 producers on his tour bus while enroute from prison to an Atlanta halfway house this month. Cottle’s husband, incidentally, is also the same convicted felon who pleaded guilty to 2007 federal weapons charges for attempting to purchase a small arsenal and was sentenced to a whopping  year and a day behind bars after character witnesses, including Andrew Young took the stand in his defense. The rapper/reality star will likely be re-released from custody later this month after serving additional time for violating his parole.

 

Former AJC dining critic Elliott Mackle will draw on his real-life four-year stint in the Air Force during the Vietnam era to fuel the fictional lives of the characters in his forthcoming third novel “Captain Harding’s Six-Day War,” (Lethe Press). Mackle will introduce the city to the book during a Sept. 21 signing at Outwrite Books in Midtown.

 

On Saturday night at 9 p.m., CNN will air an encore presentation of its searing  9/11 anniversary doc “Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: Terror in the Dust.” The report focuses on the lives of the first responders who inhaled toxic dust and fumes as they rescued workers at Ground Zero. While waiting to board a flight Thursday afternoon, Gupta phoned us to discuss the unsettling take away from the doc: “At the 10-year mark now, we’ve gone from anecdotal evidence to actual science

that the first responders who breathed in that dust have some very serious health conditions as a result, including the possibility of cancer. Cancer was always a question mark and a controversial one for sure. And now we have a very well done study talking about a cancer increase with these New York fire department first responders. Just at the 10-year mark, which is early in terms of science, we’re seeing an increase in the cancer rate with these individuals. The concern is that at the 15 and 20-year mark, this could get even worse. It’s important to remember that there are people who are still dying from what they suffered 10 years ago. Hopefully, now with this information and health screenings, we can improve if not save some lives as a result. That’s the really important message we’re hoping to get out there.”

 

 

The Superions, B-52’s frontman Fred Schneider‘s goofy side project with Miami musicians/enablers Noah Brodie and Dan Marshall have just released a sneak preview of “Bat Baby,” the act’s Halloween single out next Tuesday. The dance track follows on the heels of the band’s shoplifters’ lament “Who Threw That Ham at Me” and the new holiday standard “Fruitcake.” When he was in town this month, Schneider attempted to explain his lyrical inspiration: “Oh, I don’t know. Some songwriters come up with incredibly smart commercial things and I come up with ‘Bat Baby.’ It has a real 60s feel to it. Some of the lyrics are: ‘Bat baby, vampire bat/Bat baby, vampire brat!‘ He’s not an especially well behaved baby vampire bat as it turns out.”