Parties

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Patricia Field, who is not known for subtlety in her styling or personal sartorial choices, threw a Disco Valentine’s Ball Friday night at Capitale in NYC. To get everyone in the mood for Valentine’s Day, she invited her fabulous friends to come in costume, preferably red.

Drag queens, lots of T&A, and a fair amount of Harajuku-esque dressing set the scene–this was not about tasteful fashion. Trojan was one of the sponsors, so you can only imagine what sort of debauchery was encouraged. The costume contest winners–for “Sexiest Couple,” “Sexiest Single,” and “Best Costume” were awarded trophies and a $4,000 shopping spree.

Patricia Field hired go-go dancers to entertain and get the crowd in the mood. She also dressed them–we spotted metallic snake skin bras, transparent harem pants, shiny pasties, and thongs–lots of thongs.

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As darkness fell on the first day of New York Fashion Week, we headed west to check out some art courtesy of Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld’s curation, and show off our faux fur at PETA’s fashion week party.

The first stop was a warehouse on the desolate Washington Street where Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld and Andy Valmorbida were hosting RETNA: The Hallelujah World Tour. The open and dim space smelled of fresh paint (there were splatters of it on the floor) and graffiti artist RETNA’s canvases filled with abstract black and white symbols lined the walls. The crowd, sipping on what we’re pretty sure was straight vodka, was as eclectic as the art itself. Fashion folk like Eddie Borgo and proud mama Carine Roitfeld mingled with a young flock of skateboarders (boards in tow), older women in hulking fur coats, and disheveled yet chic Parisian-looking men.

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QVC’s finest hit the red carpet Friday night during the shopping network’s Fashion Week kick-off party and live-streamed runway show, co-sponsored by Vogue. And by “QVC’s finest” we mean everyone from Isaac Mizrahi to Kim Kardashian to Lori Goldstein.

The ubiquitous Kardashian sisters (just Kourtney and Kim) were on hand, to support their K-Dash for QVC line. But Kim was still stuck on her spread for Harper’s Bazaar. “Elizabeth Taylor sent over one of her gowns and I was able to belt it and wear it for the shoot,” she gushed.

Isaac Mizrahi admitted he was exhausted before he went on-air to present his latest QVC designs. His secret to putting out a zillion Mizrahi collections?

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On Thursday night, The Ace Hotel got to feel cool when GQ took it over for a party celebrating the nominees of their fourth annual Best New Menswear Designer, which they award in conjuction with the CFDA. The nominees included Kirk Miller (of Miller’s Oath), Patrick Ervell, Riviera Club’s Derek Buse, Joe Sadler and Greg Ullery, Alex Wang for T, Michael Bastian for Gant, and Rick Klotz, the mad genius behind Warriors of Radness.

Alexander Wang was announced the winner this afternoon. He was chosen by a panel that includes Tommy Hilfiger, GQ editor-in-chief Jim Nelson, creative director Jim Moore, and others, and will receive $50,000 and a contract to collaborate with Dockers (last year it was Levi’s, a match made in heaven for Billy Reid, who took home the prize).

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Everyone loves to bemoan the state of fashion today: it’s too fast, it’s too big, it’s too corporate, it’s too global, it’s too accessible, they say. But no one really does anything about it. Technology speeds things up and fashion follows. Everyone wants more and they want it now. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. But last night one of fashion’s most respected brands brought together some of fashion’s most respected names to slow things down, talk, and reflect about the state of fashion.

Lauren and I felt very lucky to attend Miu Miu’s second “Miu Miu Musing” hosted by the incredibly gorgeous and stylish Shala Monroque, who looked like a Miu Miu barbie doll in a bright red wig. The theme for the evening’s salon discussion was “constructive superficiality.”

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With its incredibly well-curated merch (Balenciaga and Alaïa and Lanvin, oh my!) and cool West Side Highway venue, Jeffrey New York is on every fashion insider’s list of prime NYC shops. But founder Jeffrey Kalinsky values philanthropy far more highly than this season’s Céline totes, having launched David Yurman’s Madison Ave. townhouse hosted a shopping event along with Details to kick off this year’s Jeffrey Fashion Cares Gala, with the evening’s sales benefiting the noble cause. “It was really Details hat brought us together with JFC,” explained David Yurman’s Director of Global PR, Elizabeth Reid. “And philanthropy is much a part of the David Yurman DNA.” Added JFC co-chair Todd Sears, “It’s great when our fashion sponsors get excited about our cause. It’s not just that they write us a check—it’s that everyone truly wants to get involved through their donations of time and effort.”

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In a city known for tourism, chic boutique hotels are a dime a dozen. Still, how many of them boast their very own Global Fashion Director? Last night, we hit the W Hotel in Times Square to toast the company’s new crop of Fashion Next designers. And for a hotel so well known for their contemporary aesthetic, the program seems to be a total no-brainer. “W’s passion is design,” explained Eva Ziegler, the hotel’s Global Brand Leader. “And this is just an extension of our point of view. We want to give these emerging designers a global platform.”

This year’s crop of honorees—Mara Hoffman, Frank Tell, Mandy Coon, Tess Giberson, and Michael Angel—were in full celebration mode.

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It was a mix of two pleasures that drew the fashion crowd into Gucci‘s Madison Avenue store last night; the combined launch of Gucci’s made-to-order Bamboo bag and a preview of works that will be up for auction March 10 at Christie’s Contemporary Art Sale.

The store was filled with a mix of art, cocktails and luxurious leather goods with guests enjoying the teeniest of hor d’oeuvres. A Mark Rothko was perched between vintage Gucci handbags, and a whole wall was dedicated to the classic bamboo Gucci bag. The bag is available in three sizes, and is now available made to order in any color, texture and finish (be that plain or patent) crocodile leather that you so desire. You can also choose your own hardware and have your initial’s hand stamped on the inside of the bag. With the largest bag starting at $17,000, one of the extra-special touches is a letter from creative director Frida Giannini herself half way through the process.

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Sophie Theallet is always wearing red lipstick. Except for, that is, the day the Nine West team visited her Brooklyn flat to begin work on her capsule collection for the brand. (It’s set to hit select stores this May.)

“For my first meeting with Nine West I wasn’t ready for them…they all came into my apartment and I said, ‘Oh, you’re here! But I don’t have my red lipstick on!’”

Luckily, it worked out. Because Theallet was most certainly wearing red lipstick–a lovely Bordeaux color, if you must know–at last night’s event celebrating her collection with the shoe super label. It’s the first collaboration Nine West has done with a ready-to-wear designer in years. (Vivienne Westwood, Thakoon and Sophia Kokosalaki teamed up with the brand in 2006.) The French designer, who lives in Brooklyn and works at a brand new studio in Manhattan, was not only excited to team up with Nine West, but the brand’s creative director Fred Allard. (Who also happens to be French.)

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Swiss luxury house Bally has partnered with DKMS, the world’s largest bone marrow donor center, in the fight against Leukemia.

Last night, the brand hosted an exclusive preview of their sporty Spring 2011 collection, along with DKMS Americas co-founder Katharina Harf, in the Madison Avenue Bally boutique. Guests were invited to shop the collection of leather trimmed canvas totes, color blocked wedges, and an array of leather goods for men. The particularly nice part? A hefty 20% of the evening’s sales was donated to DKMS to help recruit bone marrow donors for Leukemia patients.

DJ Mia Moretti and violinist Caitlin Moe entertained the chic crowd with remixes of Robyn, MGMT, and Yelle dance tracks as models clad in minimalist, floor length dresses from the line floated about the space. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday evening.

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“Am I in it?” Kinder Aggugini asks no one in particular as we watch a promotional video for his new Macy’s collection. The London-based Aggugini, who has worked for the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Versace, is the first designer to sign up for Impulse, the department store’s answer to Target’s Go International collections. (Next up is Matthew Williamson, then Karl Lagerfeld.) His appearance in the video is fleeting, but he’s there–looking very handsome, wearing a leather jacket.

But tonight isn’t about Kinder. Well, not really. It’s about his clothes, a mix of dresses, rompers, and jackets all priced at around $100. And while his name might not roll off the tips of most American tongues, Macy’s shoppers won’t be able to deny the strength of this collection. “Here, no one knows what my name is,” Kinder told Fashionista. “I thought, ‘What if I created a collection that people buy because they like it?’ There’s no reason other than because they love the garment and they want to buy it.”

It is sort of a novel idea in an age of super brands and celebrity labels. But while there’s no hard evidence–as of yet, at least–that Aggugini will accomplish his goal, we’re betting the collection will be a hit. The trompe l’oeil dress and play suit will appease any Chanel-loving girl without making her look like a poser, while the dotty dresses and floral frocks flatter women of different ages and sizes. Kinder Aggugini may not be a marquee name, but he’s most definitely a marquee-caliber designer.

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The hundredth anniversary of Palm Beach? The fifth anniversary for antique jewelry boutique, House of Lavande? And one private beach front property? For House of Lavande’s owner, Tracy Smith, all this equaled a spectacular reason to celebrate. The lauded vintage jewelery connoisseur opened her home in Palm Beach’s North End to a chic crowd of New Yorkers. Among the hand selected group of sixty guests were medialites Amanda Hearst, Becka Diamond, Andrew Bevan, Luigi Tadini and Mickey Boardman, as well as designer Chris Benz and stylist Mary Alice Stevenson.

We wish you could have been there too, but we took the liberty of attending on your behalf. While we struggled to interpret the dress code, which called for “modern vintage,” others didn’t. Guests were draped in everything from Michael Kors corduroy suits to vintage Vivienne Westwood. See ow they complemented their wardrobe with Smith’s expertly chosen House of Lavande pieces.

**All photos courtesy of the Billy Farrell Agency.

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