Fashion Archives

New York, October 19, 2009 – Donatella Versace sponsored the Whitney Gala for the second year in a row, and we absolutely swooned when she walked in with Jet Li as her date!  Is there a more fabulous couple?  Li explained that the two found common ground while working to aid victims of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China.  “So this time we asked [hundreds of] children to draw a picture, and Versace put the pictures on bags and sells them, and the money comes back to Sichuan to help the children again,” LI explained.  “So we have a long relationship in helping people.”

But the fashion queen and movie king were but two of the A-list names at the gala.  Jennifer Hudson sang for a crowd that included Shakira, Gerard Butler, Mischa Barton, Chuck Close, Jeff Koons and Ellsworth Kelly.  A dance party followed the dinner - Taylor Momsen took a turn in the DJ booth – and as the evening wore on, the guest list swelled. 

Lindsay Lohan swooped in, and spent ten chaotic minutes marching back and forth across the museum lobby, trying to figure out where to check her coat and how to get downstairs to the party on the lower level.  Late in the evening, we realized that the mustachioed gentleman standing near us was none other than 007 himself, Daniel Craig. 

With Luisa Johns

New York, October 19, 2009 – Rag & Bone opened their third New York shop, at 119 Mercer Street in Soho, with a party on Monday.  The label’s designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville hosted a gang of fashion types like GQ’s Jim Nelson and Jim Moore, as well as friends like Sienna Miller, who knows the guys from way back and has attended their runway shows.  Miller is staying in New York at this time, rehearsing for her Broadway run in After Miss Julie, which opens this week.

Photo: Caroline Torem Craig

New York, September 10-17 – We were totally immersed in Fashion Week, reporting for New York magazine.  And what a week it was, beginning with the circus-like fun of Anna Wintour’s brilliant Fashion’s Night Out, where we roamed Barney’s, Bergdorf’s and Saks for hours before popping in to Oscar de la Renta’s Madison Avenue boutique for his sing-along with Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Barbara Walters.  Genius.  Diane Von Furstenberg proclaimed FNO a national holiday!

We chatted with Kanye West’s elusive muse Amber Rose.  Tim Gunn told us what he thinks about Ungaro’s hiring of Linday Lohan in an advisory role.  We witnessed Marc Jacobs’s awe-inspiring show, and Lady Gaga’s excellent performance at his after party. 

Narciso Rodriguez had the lovely Jessica Alba and the hilarious Courtney Love in his front row, and late-late at his party at Rose Bar, we bumped into his pals Cindy Sherman and David Byrne. 

Even Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman was amazed that her partner, Keren Craig, made it to their presentation just two days after giving birth!

At Calvin Klein, the beautiful Eva Mendes sat next to Jamie Dornan, the male model with whom she made those racy, oily ads.  Thandie Newton and Rose Byrne also graced Calvin Klein, and we talked poop with The Beautiful Life stars Sara Paxton and Nico Tortorella at the after party. 

Tommy Hilfiger scored the star of the week with the lovely Taylor Swift in his front row just days after she was infamously victimized by Kanye West at the VMAs.  It is interesting that Fashion Week opened with FNO’s hopeful nod to retailers, and Hilfiger closed the week with a star-studded party to launch his new Fifth Avenue store.  Could recession-wracked retail be coming back to life?

Photos: Caroline Torem Craig

New York, August 20, 2009 – J.C. Penney just opened its first Manhattan location and already the retailer has perked up the dull summer party scene with a celebration of its “I Heart Ronson” line by Charlotte Ronson.  And indeed there was much Ronson love at the bash: mom Ann Dexter-Jones and half-siblings Annabelle and Alexander Dexter-Jones were all in the house, and the designer’s musical siblings took care of the evening’s entertainment – Samantha Ronson manned the turntables and Mark Ronson presented a performance by UK band The Rumble Strips, whose record he just produced.  The entire family put up a united front in avoiding all talk about Samantha’s on again/off again relationship with Lindsay Lohan, who never showed up at the party.

However, Mischa Barton caused a paparazzi stampede when she showed up unannounced with her Beautiful Life costar Ashley Madekwe.  And as she danced and socialized, we overheard many people comment on how healthy Mischa looks, despite her recent stint in rehab.  Mischa’s ex, Cisco Adler was there, as was Hilary Duff, Sophia Bush, Eva Amurri and rock n’ roll spawn Sean Lennon and Zoe Kravitz. 

Samantha Ronson photo: Caroline Torem Craig

New York, August 19, 2009 – Anna Wintour hosted the premiere of The September Issue, R.J. Cutler’s documentary about the making of the biggest issue of Vogue magazine in history.  (Of course, that was the September 2007 issue, and not the current one, when magazines are suffering double-digit advertising declines.) 

Sienna Miller, who has been a no-show at numerous recent events in NYC, was the cover girl, and finally made an appearance for the premiere.  Renee Zellweger, in town for her own premiere the previous day, attended.  Rapper/fashion designer/perfumer/actor Sean Combs has apparently not embraced recessionary frugality, arriving at MoMA in a flashy Lamborghini. 

Fashion designers including Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Zac Posen and Cynthia Rowley, several of whom also appear in the film, attended the premiere. 

Another screening will take place in the Hamptons on Saturday, and Ms. Wintour will appear on the David Letterman show on August 24 to promote the movie, which opens in theaters in New York on August 28. 

Additional photos by Joy E. Scheller

New York, June 15, 2009 – With the big opening party for the long-awaited High Line park falling the same night as the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards, Monday was one big – and long – night in New York City.  While the fashion folks were handing out awards at Lincoln Center, Friends of the High Line supporters gathered downtown at Chelsea Piers for their summer benefit honoring actor Edward Norton and philanthropists Lisa Maria and Philip Falcone, who donated $10 million to the park. 

But that was just the start of the evening, as attendees from both events converged at the High Line, where Calvin Klein Collection sponsored the first party at the new park, located on an elevated railroad track running through West Chelsea and the meatpacking district in Manhattan.  CFDA Award winner Alexander Wang arrived at the High Line wearing a torn white T-shirt, and admitted it was simply what he wore under his dressier outfit earlier in the evening.  “I did a little switcheroo in the car,” Wang said laughing.  The designer did wear his short pants to the CFDA Awards ceremony, however.  “They’re Commes des Garcons, so I thought they’d be acceptable.” he explained.

Celebrity couple Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman got involved in the High Line through their friend, Edward Norton.  “This is my neighborhood; we live on 19th Street,” Perlman said.  “I’m so excited.  I can’t wait to get up there; I’m so glad it stopped raining,” she added. 

Many partygoers noted that this official “first party” on the High Line is actually the second – back in September, Calvin Klein, Inc. celebrated its 40th anniversary with a private party on the unfinished trestle – but they had to do their own landscaping for that extravaganza. 

New York, May 30, 2009 – Prince Harry’s first official visit to New York City culminated with the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic on Saturday. 

We spent an idyllic day sipping Champagne and watching the polo match in the sunshine on Governor's Island. Madonna, Kate Hudson, Chloe Sevigny, LL Cool J, Matt Lauer, Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan watched Harry’s Sentebale team triumph over Nacho Figueras’s Black Watch.

The match was a benefit for American Friends of Sentebale, a charity that Harry co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to support at-risk children in that African nation.

More from the polo match at NYMag.com.

New York, May 28, 2009 – Despite rain and fog, partygoers packed the rooftop of the Palace Hotel in midtown Manhattan shortly after 9:00 P.M. to witness the official lighting of the electric Burberry sign across the street, atop the fashion house’s new U.S. headquarters.   The Burberry sign became a part of the New York City skyline since the building at 444 Madison Avenue is one of only a few in the city zoned for such.

And so the rock band One Night Only blasted music as guests like Orlando Bloom, Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, Harry Connick Jr., Carla Gugino and Rose McGowan happily danced in the rain on the rooftop terrace.  Bloom laughed when we asked him a question.  “I can’t hear you,” he shouted.  “Honestly, I’m like, partially deaf.”   

Blake Lively, Penn Badgley and Justin Long arrived late, made a quick circle at the packed party and then decamped to the hotel’s restaurant for dinner. 

Burberry creative director Christopher Bailey had sole discretion over how the sign would look.  “Nobody’s allowed to have a choice,” CEO Angela Ahrendts said firmly.  “[Christopher] controls everything the consumer sees.  As far as the brand is concerned, he can have whatever he wants,” she said.