New York, September 9 – This season, those imps at Imitation of Christ took a page from Martha Stewart’s reality, staging their fashion show at a lower Manhattan courthouse, complete with models in handcuffs. Guests had to get an I.D., and submit to metal detectors, which added to the ambience and made the late-arriving models even later.

IOC designer Tara Subkoff apologized to fashion photographers, saying that she couldn’t afford lights for the show, and offered to go out and buy everyone flashes for their cameras. (As if the show hadn’t been delayed enough already.)

Apparently Subkoff blew her budget on models; actress Scarlett Johansson was the first one out. She descended the grand marble staircase, smoking a cigarette, paused dramatically, and then walked in front of the crowd, which included Jimmy Fallon and Liev Schreiber, seated on barstools.

We followed Johansson outside after the show, and, snapping photos, joked, “As seen coming out of the courthouse…” “Yeah, right”, Johansson shot back, as the tabloid possibilities dawned on her. She darted down to the curb, security guard in tow, and couldn’t find her car, so they began leaning into limousines, with no luck. Scarlett politely declined a ride from a New York Daily News photographer, and headed back inside the building.

We hope this is not the end of IOC’s delightful theatrics, but Subkoff hinted that this may be her last show, and that she’d like to direct a film.