New York, February 1-4, 2008 – We’re half way through New York fashion week, and it’s been a hectic four days of back-to-back celeb-filled shows and parties. 

Rag & Bone started things off Friday evening at Cipriani 42nd Street, with Ellen Pompeo and Chris Ivery, Julianne Moore and Gisele Budchen sipping Bellinis in the front row.  Gisele declined to discuss the Super Bowl – her beau, Tom Brady, was in it.  Becki Newton told us that Gene Simmons surprised her when she worked with him on Ugly Betty. “I’d seen him in all that Kiss makeup and platform shoes, and I had no idea that underneath all of that, he was an incredibly smart man.”  The hilarious Newton was with her equally outgoing hubby Chris Diamantopoulos.  At Erin Fetherston, Anne Hathaway told us about her Super Bowl party, and later on, at Fetherston’s party at the Gramercy Park Hotel, we chatted with Ally Hilfiger, Jason Preston and Gossip Girl’s Taylor Momsen. 

Pompeo and Joss Stone were among the celebs who hit Saturday night’s Rock & Republic extravaganza, which featured an orchestra on the runway!  Backstage before the show, Sophia Bush told us what she looks for when trying on jeans: “The first thing I do is see how they look from the front, and then I assess how terrible they look from the back, and you know, if the butt looks good, you’re good to go.”  Nicky Hilton and Katrina Bowden were front row at Australian design duo Sass & Bide on Saturday. 

We were surprised to see so many actresses so early on Sunday morning - Mandy Moore, Rose McGowan, Christina Milian, Joy Bryant, Padma Lakshmi and Ginnifer Goodwin among them – at Max Azria’s Herve Leger show.  We asked MisShape queen Leigh Lezark if she’d ever before been up that early on a Sunday.  “Yes”, she said, and then laughed.  “No, I’m lying”. 

Azria, who showed three separate lines, brought in another bunch of stars the next day for his eponymous label.  Black Eyed Pea Fergie flew in the night before just for the show. “We had a fitting during the Super Bowl; we had a Super Bowl fitting party!” she told us. 

Charlotte Ronson has gone fur-free, and the Humane Society sponsored her show.  We chatted with her Grammy-nominated brother, Mark Ronson, who brings his dog, Maude, to the recording studio with him.  “She has her own nickname from Amy Winehouse”, Mark told us.  “Maude-eleh.”  Oy vey.

Later on Monday we dashed down to 7 World Trade Center, where backstage we found Eric Dane.  McSteamy even outshined a roomful of male models in various states of undress!