New York, December 6 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art decided it had had enough of being upstaged by the A-list parties over at recently touched up rival MOMA. So the Met quietly asked Roberto Cavalli to sponsor an exhibition for its Costume Institute, and then asked the Hollywood-darling fashion designer to toss a little dinner party in its honor. Voila. MOMA who?

Julianne Moore, Beyonce Knowles, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child, Julia Stiles, Serena Williams, Thalia and Tommy Mottola, designers Arnold Scaasi, Cynthia Rowley and Anna Sui were all guests in the big house for art.

Anne Hathaway turned as she was entering, saw who was behind her and exclaimed, “Holy S--t! That’s Lenny Kravitz!” Kravitz was with his daughter, Zoe. Pharrell Williams out-Lenny'd Lenny in a giant fur coat. Legendary film producer Dino De Laurentiis grabbed Mischa Barton, who was mid-interview with a TV reporter, dragged her down the red carpet and said, “This is my new star”. No word on the project, but De Laurentiis is working on his own Alexander the Great biopic, scheduled for a 2006 release.

Alicia Keys looked slightly out of place wearing jeans, but her black jacket was by Cavalli. Keys was late, arriving at the Museum around 9:30; she was also scheduled for a private performance at Planet Hollywood at 9:30. Fashion comes first, naturally.

All the guests gushed about Cavalli’s clothes, and his animal prints that are part of the exhibition, titled Wild: Fashion Untamed.