New York, January 26 – The atmosphere was rife with anticipation at the restaurant Pop, where we waited for Mischa Barton to arrive at a party celebrating her status as the new face of Keds. Will she be wearing Keds? And will they withstand the slush-covered sidewalks? And yes, Mischa finally arrived wearing sporty black-and-white polka-dotted Keds slip-ons. New fashion trend alert: The O.C. star paired a champagne-hued Chanel dress with the sneakers. You heard it here first, folks.

Earlier in the afternoon, Mischa wore the same Keds with a different dress on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, where she rang the closing bell. Mischa schmoozed with Stride Rite Corporation execs, owner of the Keds brand, and signed autographs for NYSE traders wielding pictures they’d just printed from their computers.

Mischa’s becoming quite a force in the fashion world; who could forget her presence at last October’s introduction of the “Paparazzi” watch, a joint venture of Microsoft and Swatch?