On the last week of October 2010 Pierre Cardin visited Manhattan.

He received an award from a Cardin-clad Marisa Berenson at the Fashion Group International's "Night of Stars" gala, signed his new book CARDIN at Assouline and hosted his own fashion show at the very cool Milk Studios downtown.

All this was in celebration of the eighty-eight-year-old genius' sixty years in fashion.

Routinely unpredictable and eclectic, Cardin, a goodwill ambassador for UNESCO, is the owner of the historic turn of the century restaurant Maxim’s (as well as its varied branches and products), as well as Vaucluse Castle, once the Marquis de Sade's lair in La Coste and now partially restored, where he holds music festivals. He also lives part of the time in an antique, lavish and fabled Venetian palazzo Casanova called home..

Apprenticed with Schiaparelli and eventually head of the Dior atelier, Cardin founded his own house in ... Read More

“We don’t need no education. We don’t need no mind control”- Another Brick in the Wall -Pink Floyd

This season the Spring 2011 Fashion Shows were at Lincoln Center. The much more accessible new location also suggested the possibility of the addition of an artistic element to the usual cat walk run. And Carlos Miele, Brazil’s most exportable and exported designer, took full and good advantage of this chance. He fused his show with another one, the performance of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall by ‘bad girl’ mega watt international Bossa Nova crossover star Bebel Gilberto.

In a body hugging, brightly patterned strapless cocktail sheath, her dark hair loose over her tanned shoulders, Bebel sang solo and without a break from the time the hem of the first design made its appearance on the runway until Carlos led her by the hand to a finale ... Read More

Douglas Hannant makes dresses in the great American tradition of Kasper, Blass and de la Renta for women in the great universal tradition of ladies who love to dress up.

I first saw Paris Hilton at a Hannant show. As she slinked sulkily down the narrow runway, the man sitting next to me gulped, “Who is that-… that blond?”

Much, much more recently, there was a relaxed and festive presentation in a ballroom of the Plaza with marble and mirrors and space to walk around mannequins, take ones time, see all the details and, also, to greet friends.

For Fall 2010, Douglas did something really unexpected. He channeled Jean-Michel Basquiat: The heroine-addicted half Haitian 80’s graffiti artist; Mudd club & CBGBs performer; protégé of Andy Warhol; subject of Julian Schnabel’s first film; and who Whitney director David Ross called the “greatest artist of ... Read More

Recently, astrological authority and sun sign love guru Liz Rose teamed up with Skinny Jeans expert Catherine Heart to create a collection of ‘Stellar’ jeans . Their skin-clinging legs, specially constructed inseams and artful shading and fading conspire to make women look really thin as well as really cool. Their fashion show at Juliet Supper Club featured Todd English nibbles, Moet & Chandon, a large, jovial crowed and a live and lively band.

Tucked into the “goodie bag” was Liz’s book, bedazzled! An Astrological Guide to Earthly Bliss with Your Man. This tome has been translated into many languages, including French, Dutch and Russian. It contains such advice as (for handling a Sagittarius man), “Let him see how appealing his friends find you” and (for a Pisces), “Just make sure he’s not married before you start an adventure”. It’s all quite sensible and is also very ... Read More

One of the most fascinating aspects of fashion is the group known as “friends of the house”: Those personalities with whom a fashion designer surrounds his or herself in order to achieve his or her own special brand of buzz. I was particularly curious to learn who Gills Mendel, perhaps the most idolized designer of luxury for women now, would invite to the February 25th dinner I was planning for him at Philippe Restaurant in celebration of his appearance at the French Institute Alliance Française on.

Gilles’ talk, designed to shed light on congruence and dissimilarities between French mode and American style, was the first of three on this topic organized by the French fashion writer Pascale Richard. The other two in the series star Tommy Hilfiger and Marc Jacobs.

Gilles’ list was a tad top heavy with beautiful women: Well what do you expect, after all, ... Read More

Christian Cota has just entered his late twenties and exudes, at first glance, a faintly dangerous, Mephistophelian allure.  Tall, slender, with blue black hair, twinkly blue green eyes, high cheekbones, an aquiline nose and an aristocratic slouch, he could easily be mistaken for the spoiled boy star of one of Visconti’s historic Italian epics.

However, when he starts to speak, his soft, well-bred Spanish lisp is immediately apparent. So there’s nothing Italian about him after all. And in about five minutes, one can’t avoid realizing that there’s nothing even remotely decadent or wicked about Christian either. On the contrary, as Ana Oritz recently noted, he’s a really, really “good soul”, and, fortunately for female fashion followers everywhere, he’s currently one of the most talented, forward-looking young designers in America.

Some facts: Christian was born, bred, and still vacations (at Playa del Carmen) with his family in Mexico. He traveled ... Read More