7th on Sale

Can I tell you...about 7th on Sale. Last November 15, the CFDA & Vogue magazine hosted the biggest and chicest sample sale of the year to raise money for the fight against HIV and Aids. Months of planning and thousands of designer donations later, the 69th Regiment Armory was transformed into a majestic medieval castle replete with a bazaar full of merchandise all priced at 70% retail! I donated several choice samples from my Fall collection. By the time we got there, only 1 was left, which is a good sign.

I went with my girlfriend Ann Watson, who also happens to be the fashion director of Henri Bendels. We came for dessert, shopping and for some good old people watching. This was a much anticipated event. Hordes of celebrities, socialites, fashionistas and designers showed up and shopped til they dropped.
How can you resist cashmere sweaters for $60 in 20 colors. Oy, it was not easy. There were books, shoes, bedding, mens, kids, womens, home and art! My favorite were iconic photographs from the pages of Vogue. Unfortunately those sold like hotcakes. Within an hour they were all sold out.

The best one was Peter Lindbergh's photo of Christy, Naomi, Cindy and Linda all wearing Chanel biker chic on location in Dumbo. That sold for $50k!

Fashion illustrations by Ruben Toledo were sold instantly of course. Darn!
We bumped into Tracy Reese, wearing her Rafe gold python clutch. John Bartlett was casually going through the racks of menswear. Thakoon, Philip, Narciso, Donna, Diane,and Peter (you know all their last names, don't you) were all busy shopping and schmoozing.
Actors Jennifer Connelly, Kate Bosworth and Ashley Oslon did some major credit card damage as well. Natalia Vodianova was wearing a gorgeous vintage Valentino pink chiffon with ostrich feathers at the hem. I managed to snap the back view.
We caught up with Mary Alice Stephenson who is co-hosting America's Smartest Model...really funny in a sic sort of way.

Constance White was telling me her Rafe bag story, apparently everybody has one!
The sale opened to the public for the next three days. This event's goal is to raise over $3.4 million. If you missed the actual shopping event, you can still go and buy online via E-bay. So what are you waiting for...shop!

30/30

Can I tell you ...about the party for the 30 new members of the CFDA. Last July 30, Diane Von Furstenberg, CFDA's president and the board of directors hosted a cocktail reception for the organization's lastest inductees. Every year the CFDA admissions committee meet to select and approve or reject a list of designers applying for membership. Unfortunately, I can't divulge what the requirements are, the process and who are on that committee. I just know that it's not that easy to be approved. Not everybody who wants to get in, gets in.
This year's party was held at Diane's fabulous new store/showroom/design studio/pied-a-terre space in the heart of the Meatpacking district. Designed by Dan Wood and Amale Andraos, it has the most amazing views from the top. We got a private tour and our jaws dropped. The design studio is exactly what you imagine design studios to look like. Colorful, inspiring, lost of light and space, surrounded by books and art...in a word..WOW! Then there's the rooftop garden where Diane practices yoga and employees can have lunch. I couldn't take photos, sorry.

This year we accepted 30 members, the biggest number ever. I think it's a first actually. They are: Kate and Laura Mulleavy from Rodarte, James Perse, Laura Poretzky from Abaete, Jessie Randall, Lela Rose, Rachel Roy, Michelle Smith of Milly, Jean Yu, Tory Burch, Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig from Marchesa, Justin Giunta, Philip Lim and Adam Lippes among others.



It was a fun party and it was great to meet the new members as well as mingle with select editors and press. Everybody was bemoaning the near end of summer and anticipating the craziness of fashion week which is early this year to accommodate the Jewish Holiday. It is New York fashion week after all. Oy vey!

Our Oscars

Can I tell you...about the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America)Awards night. It's our version of the Oscars. This year is the 25th Anniversary of the awards show and it was Diane Von Furstenburg's 1st major event as President. The designer attendance was impressive. Donna, Vera, Ralph, Oscar, Marc, Michael ( you don't need last names do you?) and the rest of the membership. She even got Calvin Klein to come out and he almost never shows up for anything. We also got our share of Hollywood A-listers: Eva Mendes, Claire Daines with BF Hugh Dancy, Chloe Sevigny, Oprah Winfrey, Kate Bosworth, Uma Thurman, Heidi Klum, Iman with husband David Bowie, The Olsen Twins and Ellen Barkin who was the hostess of the evening.
My date for the evening was Japanese runway superstar Anne Watanabe (yes, she is Ken's daughter) who flew in from Tokyo a couple of days before. Coincidentally she was scheduled to be in town for a photo shoot so it all worked out. I got her a white mini bustier dress from Peter (Som) to showcase my silver snake clutch and bejeweled platform slingbacks. She looked divine of course with smokey eyes, a little bit of glitter and a neutral glossy lip.
This was her first CFDA awards so she brought her camera to take her own pictures. At some point we were starting to compete with each other it was kinda funny. She knew a lot of the designers she already modeled for so that was great. We worked the room during cocktails til Diane was literally shooing everybody to dinner. Cocktails is the best part of this event as far as I'm concerned. You get to see everybody up close and it's the best people watching...I swear. The champagne is flowing so the mood is festive and you can chat up almost anyone you want to. There's a lot of networking going on and secret deals being hatched, or so I've heard.

The dinner was brief, thank God but the whole ceremony still took several hours. We didn't get out of there til 11:30 and we got there at 6:30. Imagine that! Poor Anne, her jet lag hit her at about 10ish and she could barely keep her eyes open but she was a trooper. Ralph won 2 awards, Oscar and Proenza Schouler were a tie ( a first), Derek took the accessories award and Piere Cardin took the International Award.

Annoyingly Monsieur Cardin gave his acceptance speech entirely in French and we know he speaks fluent English. Was this his way of giving us the finger? We all looked at each other in disbelief. Diane even made her way to the stage to bring him down but thankfully he finished just before she could yank him.
I dragged Anne to another party after for Zappos but they had already finished so we headed home. Besides, she was already falling alseep in the car. I promised to take her for some Filipino food this weekend. She was craving for some since she was in the Philippines a few weeks ago for a photo shoot. So we're off to Cendrillon!