Amal Clooney takes New York by storm
AT 10.30am on Monday, Amal Clooney walked into classroom 103 in William and June Warren Hall at Columbia Law School in New York.
The human rights lawyer and wife of actor George Clooney was by herself, far from the tangle of paparazzi who gather outside the Carlyle hotel, where the couple is staying while George is making Money Monster, a film directed by Jodie Foster.
Amal, 37, greeted a man preparing slides for the class in human rights for which she is a guest lecturer. As she spoke, passers-by peeked at her through the sliver of glass in the door.
“We are under strict orders not to discuss her or anything about her class,” said a student who declined to give her name. A representative from the law school politely asked a reporter to leave.
Amal has captivated the attention of New Yorkers in a way that has not been seen since Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt lived here in 2007. “What Does It MEAN?” wrote Racked.com when the London lawyer was spotted at lunch with American Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
Her frocks are breathlessly chronicled on the blog “Amal Clooney Style” and on New York Magazine’s “Amal Clooney Lookbook”.
None of the couple’s nocturnal wanderings go unnoticed by the media. The Daily News published a map of Clooney sightings, and editor Tina Brown even tweeted about her “quiet dinner” with the newlyweds two weeks ago. FASHION PLATE: Amal is glamorous and smart
Somehow, Amal’s New York sojourn has the mood of a carefully orchestrated coming-out party for the Clooneys. Her more famous husband has made movies here before. But rarely has he attracted the at- tention his wife has.
There is perennial talk, too, that George, 53, will seek political office. And in New York his wife has perfected the pose of a political spouse: head tilted to the left as she strokes her luxurious tresses and parts her lips just so while slipping into the back of a black sedan.
Peggy Siegal, the doyenne of New York publicists, said: “All of a sudden, George has this new stature of being married to a glamorous woman who is intelligent.” The Clooneys did not answer requests for interviews.
But Amal is no stranger to Manhattan, having lived here for almost a decade in the 2000s, studying law, working for a law firm and the office of the prosecutor at the UN special tribunal for Lebanon.
So far, the couple has es- chewed the Upper East Side cocktail circuit, opting for meals with George’s familiar posse of friends.
Designers seek to align themselves with Amal and regularly send out fashion alerts when she wears their clothes.
Although she has a background as a human-rights activist, she is not immune to the charms of her husband’s Hollywood life.
On March 21, the Clooneys ate dinner alone at one of the actor’s favorite haunts, Scalinatella. That night, cast members of the TV show Mad Men arrived for a late supper, and George asked if he could introduce the stars to his wife, who is a fan of he show.
“She was so excited to meet the cast,” Siegal said. “They were shocked.” — NYTimes.com