Last night's Costume Institute Gala offered plenty to marvel at, but it wasn't the red-carpet fashion or the Schiaparelli and Prada dresses encased in glass that had Karolina Kurkova buzzing at the Crown after-party: "I loved the cookies!" the model told Style.com as she made her entrance with Rachel Zoe. "There were a lot of amazing things—Bruno Mars!—but those cookies were really good."
The crooner's performance back at the Met's Temple of Dendur had everyone on their feet. "People were grooving out pretty hard," said Jonathan Tisch, who added that his personal highlight was "saying hi to Tom Brady, and that's a lot coming from me." (Tisch, for the fashion types reading this, is a co-owner of the New York Giants.) There was no sign of Brady at Crown, but there were other sports stars in the mix, including Alex Rodriguez and basketball player Tyson Chandler—both of whom gave the model set a run for its money in the height department. "Wow, I bet she could make a few slam dunks," said a cocktail waiter when Chanel Iman strolled in.
By 1 a.m., the party was winding down, with some in the crowd moving on to the Prada-sponsored bashes at the Fletcher-Sinclair mansion and at the Top of the Standard. "I am going to the Prada after-party at Boom Boom after I change," said Kurkova, whose sparkling Rachel Zoe column gown and matching headpiece was one of the more opulent looks of the night. "I'm wearing all black. The turban is coming off, hair is coming down, everything is coming off."
—Kristin Studeman read more..
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Costume Institute Gala-Karolina Kurkova-Rachel Zoe-Fashion-Prada
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Narciso Rodriguez-Proenza Schouler-35Th Anniversary-Leelee Sobieski-Fashion
It was the usual intersection of art and fashion at the New Museum's 35th anniversary gala last night, staged in the vast Cipriani downtown space. With Narciso Rodriguez, the Proenza Schouler boys, Leelee Sobieski, and Chloë Sevigny circulating, it was easy to forget it wasn't always this way. "Twenty years ago, I used to get crap for being into fashion," Anh Duong told Style.com. "But nowadays, the art world practically expects its female artists to run around in heels." Nearby, leading by example, a dressed-up Hope Atherton bantered with friends, and Marilyn Minter chatted with Francisco Costa, the designer of her Calvin Klein cocktail dress. "Anh's the most stylish artist around," Minter declared. "I'm just trying to age gracefully." Her trick? "Wearing lipstick always helps."
The museum gave the evening's special honor to L.A. artist Paul McCarthy for (speaking of aging gracefully) his genre-busting 40-plus-year career. He accepted with a performance art piece: random word associations that eventually formed a chronologically arranged speech. McCarthy's work has often been inspired by L.A. The heel-loving Duong prefers NYC. "I think I would be distracted with all that space and perfect weather," she said. "I've always done my best work in New York."
—Bee-Shyuan Chang read more..
Friday, 2 March 2012
Golden Globes-Kirsten Dunst-Sofia Coppola-Elle Fanning-Van Cleef
With the Golden Globes just wrapped and the SAG Awards less than two weeks away, Los Angeles is party central this month. But the dinner Elle Fanning hosted at the Chateau Marmont last night celebrated fashion, not the movies. In partnership with Van Cleef & Arpels, the young actress invited Kirsten Dunst and Sofia Coppola, among others, to toast Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy. "Sometimes it's nice to steal away and celebrate what you've done with the people you've worked with for a long time," Laura told Style.com, referring to a recent spate of projects, including the A Magazine they guest-curated, their Fra Angelico solo exhibition at LACMA, and a just-announced collaboration with the L.A. Philharmonic. "It's good every once in a while to take a step back and say, 'That was really cool that we did this together.' " Fanning, who wore a dress from the designers' Spring collection to the Critics' Choice Awards last week, first fell for Rodarte at a photo shoot. "I love how they take all the memories they have from when they were little and put that into their dresses," the actress enthused, referencing their shared passion for collecting dolls. "I always look at their show first." The adoration goes both ways: "Elle loves fashion and all the things that young girls love," Laura said. "It's fascinating for me to watch her experience them."—Alexis Brunswick read more..