Wealthy entrepreneurs ridiculed for being out of touch
What was intended as an innocent New York Times profile promoting their new clothing brand has backfired for wealthy married couple Nicole Hanley Mellon and Matthew Mellon, after their “annoying” comments prompted social media users to call them “insufferable” and “over-privileged.”
The Hanley-Mellons, both fixtures of New York society and the fashion industry, have been described as the “stupidest people in New York” after sharing their “deep affinity” for Africa and their “overprivileged” expensive taste.
Delicious parody of an insufferable, overprivileged NYC designer couple by @MarisaMeltzer for the NYT http://t.co/AUhOy9JG22
— Lisa Goldman (@lisang) April 14, 2014
When discussing their new clothing label, Hanley Mellon, the couple spoke of their desire to draw inspiration from a number of exotic locales.
“I’ve never been to Africa, but I feel like I have this deep affinity for it,” Ms Hanley Mellon told writer Marisa Meltzer. “I’ve read every Hemingway, we collect Peter Beard, I’ve watched Out of Africa. It touches your soul to visit and smell the smells, and you can’t recreate the experience without immersing yourself.”
Ms Meltzer describes the couple’s home, an apartment in a five-star hotel “lined with paintings by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Peter Beard and, Mr. Mellon said, ‘Taylor Swift.'”
According to the article, Ms Hanley Mellon was quick to correct her husband’s error, telling him “You mean Sam Taylor-Wood.”
Mellon mix-up: Popstar Taylor Swift (left) and a work by photographer Sam Taylor-Wood (right).
My jaw is still on the floor“@kurt_loder:At least for one shining moment, these are the two stupidest people in NYC: http://t.co/Nhbk2WQH0t”
— Kirstie Clements (@KirstieClements) April 13, 2014
Mr Mellon, who was formerly married to Jimmy Choo founder and designer Tamara Mellon, married Ms Hanley Mellon, a former fashion buyer, in 2010 and the pair promptly set up their brand. Together they launched hanleymellon.com, a lifestyle website featuring real-life outfit advice courtesy of Ms Mellon, who recommends everything from $1030 polo shirts to $3475 designer gowns.
Their Instagram account offers an insight into the couple’s stylish, privileged life.
