Parties You Will Never Get Into

Life is a cabaret. This goes for all the tastemakers in Germany. No slump in the economy is stopping these people from reveling at the Mercedes-Benz Berlin Fashion Week. This year’s Berlin Fashion Week was kicked off by Hugo Boss’ Boss Black runway presentation, which was followed by a post-show soiree at the Hamburger Bahnhof museum.

The likes of Matt Dillon and Hillary Swank gathered inside a massive tent behind the stage. The excitement of the event was mirrored by the ambience of the party. All sorts of beautiful people were impossible to miss as they roamed the L.E.D.-lit dance floors. Apart from that, the place was also filled with high tech digital projections and magnums of champagnes.

Berlin’s merrymaking throng had continued to party their way to Friday at the historic Friedrichstadt Palast Theater, where the second-annual Style Nite was held. The event showcased three of Berlin’s most talked about labels: Kaviar Gauche, Michalsky, and Lala Berlin. The event had taken the conventional flashy display of fashion up a notch. The event, which went on for about four hours, kindled the love for musical theater among these Berlin fashionistas. The event welcomed all 2,000 martini-swigging guests with a presentation of Lala Berlin’s collection for the season.

Right after Lala Berlin presented his final fashion masterpiece, a dancer clad in a Kaviar Gauche mirrored bodysuit took the crowd’s attention as she swiveled under laser beams. What came next was Bella Berlin the Dancer followed by Michalsky’s Heinrich Zille-inspired couture collection. The event, which was far from disappointing, was sealed with a timeless performance from Spandau Ballet.

After showcasing all the creations of Berlin’s biggest names in Fashion, the crowd of revelers moved to a more sedated party scene at the Bebelplatz, where they partied on with pyrotechnics, booze and gossip aplenty.

This year’s Australian Vogue Party at Fox Studios was one of the best shindigs in all of 2009. And how could it not be? After all, 2009 marked the 50th successful year for Vogue Australia.

The party was a great success. The fact that Audrey Wilder Sang and Jenny Kee twirled around with glee were signs that the party was an absolute blast. It was one of the simplest ways to sum up the magazine’s opulent celebration. The iconic designer, Jenny Kee, had taken the stage in a burst of colors, commencing the glamorous festivities.

But before the guests, of whom there were around 700, had witnessed the impromptu podium dancing, they were greeted upon their arrival at the studio’s soundstage by none other than the chief executive officer of News Limited himself, John Hartigan. Along with the News Limited CEO came a charged line-up of male models and Kirstie Clements, the classy editor in chief of Vogue Australia.

Upholding Vogue’s superior standards, the party served the guests—all 700 of them—a magnum of Moet and Chandon while they were prettily seated in King Furniture. So far, Vogue standards on this side of the globe have never failed to anyone’s wildest expectations. It comes as a small surprise that the company has gone through 50 years of success and glamour.

The guest list in itself was one of the main reasons the party was so brilliant. Parties seldom become boring when the likes of Cate Blanchett, Megan Gale, Miranda Otto, and Collette Dinnigan are in attendance. In addition to that bunch, the who’s who of Australian fashion were also found present at the event. These included Kit Willow, Jayson Brundson, Lydia Pearson and cover girls Abbey Lee (who were all dressed in Max Azria), and Nicole Trunfio (who was clad in Louis Vuitton).

MacDella Cooper, the humanitarian from New York who is also known as “Liberia’s Angel,” revealed her plans for the MCF Academy in Liberia that she carried out with the support of the MacDella Cooper Foundation and her committee of luminaries of media, fashion, and design. She said that the plans would be primarily about the establishment of the first tuition-free school for the less fortunate children in Liberia.

On the final night of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York, the MacDella Cooper Foundation Fashion Week After Party planned to raise $500,000 for the MCF Academy, which will open next year.

“Having escaped the brutality of a decade-long civil war in Liberia myself, I know firsthand that Liberia desperately needs a new generation of empowered, educated individuals to continue its recovery,” said Cooper, who is also the president of the MacDella Cooper Foundation.

The After Party had Winka Dubbeldam’s (the architect for the Academy) designs for the institution. It also had an exclusive Fall 2009 Collection screening by famous fashion designer Korto Momolu, an appearance by a Project Runway Season five finalist as well as a keynote speech by the chief executive officer of Women’s Wholesale at Jones Apparel Group, Susan Metzger. Cocktails were served that night filled with dancing and tunes from DJ Dusko.

Some of the hosts for the MacDella Cooper Foundation Fashion Week After Party were: Interview magazine’s publisher Samantha Fennell, New York Post columnist Julia Szabo, Ralph Lauren Corporate Sonya Pankey, The Rachel Ray Show’s designer Evette Rios, CESLIE-The Women’s Network’s editor-in-chief Ceslie Armstrong and Lifetime Networks’ Barbara Brennan.

Among the honorary chairs of the event were Krystyna Houser, a dedicated sponsor to one of the many academic facilities on the MacDella Cooper Foundation Academy, and Donna Poyaidjais.

First off, before the party-hopping started, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a celebration of the new retrospective of Ron Arad. The event was hosted by fashion model Linda Evangelista and was attended by some of the most prominent names in the fashion industry: Rachel Zoe, Anouk Lepere, Yigal Azrouël, and Franca Sozzani. They had the chance to get into culture, and probably on the front page by the next day, just before going to back to back parties.

Recording artist and live performer Lady GaGa—who is known for having unique and eccentric live performances topped with her crazy outfits—was performing at the Out magazine’s bash at the Box. It was the third consecutive night that she performed live at the venue. Apparently, an insider said they were only really short sets.

Coco Before Chanel premiered that night on September 16th. It gave the New York crowd the chance to settle down and, for the ladies, to rest their feet from wearing those inches-high stilettos for a few hours. Among those who attended the debut of the film were Agyness Deyn, Charlie Rose, Candice Bergen, and Rachel Bilson. And they most certainly enjoyed the party right after the screening.

Lindsay Lohan & Taylor Momsen

At the G-Star’s show, platinum blonds rising star Taylor Momsen and singer-model-actress Lindsay Lohan (aka LiLo) were spotted at the event huddling together and enjoying the event. Vanity Fair dubbed them as the “Front-Row Doppelgangers” that night.

Finally, Fashion Week would not have been as great as it was if it weren’t for the backing of a Roitfeld, which was proven by Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld who hosted a party for high fashion designer Giorgio Armani that sponsored a Richard Hambleton show. Just a few of the attendants who were excited about the artwork were actor Josh Hartnett, Mary-Kate Olsen, queens of R&B Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys and Bar Rafaeli. After the exhibition, they went to Indochine, where the party continued until the early hours.

That night at Horseferry House, the Burberry head-quarters, was flowing with Snow Leopard vodka cocktails and Champagne as the Burberry chief executive officer Angela Ahrendts and creative director Christopher Bailey invited celebrity friends and fashionistas to celebrate its homecoming and end of the London Fashion Week.

Following its glamorous show of color and high fashion outfits, Bailey proposed a toast to 25 years of London Fashion with his invited guests. Some of these include Harry Potter franchise star Emma Watson, Lord of the Rings co-star Liv Tyler, singer-actress Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Posh Spice aka Victoria Beckham, Agyness Deyn, Alexa Chung, Mary-Kate Olsen and Erin O’Connor. Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel and Freida Pinto were seen being intimate with each other as they held hands entering the party.

The Burberry fashion house went all out as it offered five types of classic cocktails, with bottles of Moet and Chandon champagne filling every empty glass in sight. Aside from having these drinks, the party, which was held in Westminster, London, also had a stream of canapés such as mini Welsh rarebits, fish pies, bite-sized burgers and even little Yorkshire pudding swirls with horseradish and beef.

The live performance of The Kooks kept the crowd on their feet, then Deyn and Chung were taking turns on the DJ’s deck in playing for a dance floor that was jam-packed with prominent figures in the entertainment, film and fashion business. Bailey, who was wearing a white blazer, was even spotted making shapes before the marble dance floor were owned by two models who attempted to do some freestyle break dancing.

When the 80s sound of Take On Me by new wave band A-ha had reached its outro, the crowd disbanded late in the evening, with every event participant on a natural high as the London Fashion Week came to a close.

The party capping Alexander Wang’s show surfaced as one of New York Fashion Week’s best ever. Gotham’s wildest party animals even likened the merriment to those by Marc Jacobs, only that the latter never held his in a gasoline station.

MAC and Katie Grand engineered the September 12, 2009 party at the Mobil gas station next to Chelsea’s Milk Studios. Come party night, eager revelers swarmed towards 10th Avenue at 15th Street for the elusive ticket. It never came for many non-celebrities, of course.

Even with the gas tanks turned off by Mobil attendants, the aura within this hallowed expanse was one of paranoia. At one point, the DJ had to remind chain-smokers that it was, after all, a gas station. But the edginess was part of the explosive allure.

More than the makeshift bars serving Belvedere vodkas, revelers loved the station’s paid-for-everyone convenience store. Butterfingers and junk foods galore beckoned to the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Jared Leto, Mischa Barton, Agyness Deyn and Lily Donaldson. Pixie Geldof raided shelves of Nerds, as Cup Noodles started going into Alice Dellal’s bag.

Veuve Clicquot champagnes stood side by side with gas station staples like Gatorade and Orbitz gums. Baited with Pop cheeseburgers and fries were names such as Anouck Lepere, Devon Aoki, Kristian Laliberte, Amanda Leigh Dunn, Zev Norotsky, Isabeli Fontana, Trish Goff, Tallulah Harlech, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Theodora Richards, Will Blondelle, Jamie Burke and Lykke Li.

Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction was seen negotiating through the port-a-potties to catch the night’s main event: a Courtney Love mini-concert. In between expletives and puffs of fags, the onetime Hole front-woman revisited hits like “Malibu” and covered songs like “Bette Davis Eyes.” Rapper Santigold likewise performed.

BFFs Wang and Erin Wasson took to the stage in the small hours, when the DJ initiated a titanic dance party.

In the end, the Devil does indeed wear Prada.

Clothed in Prada Cruise, American Vogue’s deified editor-in-chief Anna Wintour heralded the premiere of The September Issue with close friends and VIPs. The long-gestating documentary played August 19 at an invitations-only screening party hosted by Wintour in New York City.

Moviegoers were a roll call of fashion overlords. Designers Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Vera Wang, Jack McCollough, Jason Wu, Lazaro Hernandez, Richard Chai, Georgina Chapman, Zac Posen and Thakoon Panichgul all made sure to attend, lest they enrage fashion’s legendary “Nuclear Wintour.”

Insiders considered the screening party one of the most important dates for fashion in 2009. After all, the R.J. Cutler-directed documentary is a voyeuristic chronicle of Vogue’s September 2007 edition, one of the thickest magazine issues of all time.

A flood of people vied for a ticket to the premiere, which included a private dinner with the Vogue editrix herself. Despite the limited invites, folding chairs had to be hauled in the venue at the Museum of Modern Art for extraneous viewers.

Wintour accorded the September 2007 cover girl her seat of honor at the screening party. Sienna Miller, who graced the cover in a now-iconic shot by Mario Testino, calmly sat front-row as Wintour impaled her onscreen with icy putdowns.

Indeed, this is the film where Wintour famously dismissed Miller as being “too toothy” for Vogue.

If there were any acrimony between the two, nothing of the sort was seen at the premiere. Arriving with daughter Bee Shaffer, Wintour closely accompanied Miller on the red carpet, the actress clad in a sky-blue mini-dress by Thakoon.

Renée Zellweger, who was also a Vogue cover girl, was included in Wintour’s guest list, along with P. Diddy, Cassie, and Alexa Chung. Models Karlie Kloss, Chanel Iman and Caroline Trentini also came.

Not to be missed at the party were Wintour’s famous Vogue subordinates, Andre Leon Talley and Grace Coddington.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show will be broadcast Dec. 1, 2009. Heidi Klum, of course, led the parade with her post-baby body at the annual event Thursday, Nov. 19.

Klum gave birth five weeks ago to a daughter.

Here is a slideshow of the girls preparing for the taping.

See more pictures and coverage here.

Outfits were centered around four themes that included Star Trooper, Pink Planet, Enchanted Forest and Romantic Journey.

London Fashion Week ran its course in 2009 with a bang. A day before it concluded, British luxury brand Burberry put on a homecoming fashion show to top all others.

Burberry—which had chosen to mount its shows in Milan for the last eight years—was home in London on Sept. 22. Such message resonated well among stars and socialites, many of whom had come from both sides of the Atlantic to see the show.

Burberry’s return to UK was enough to induce frisson among the U.S.’ fashion-forward British expatriates. American Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour led uprooted countrymen—like Harry Potter witch Emma Watson, Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and New York-based model Agyness Deyn—back to their motherland for the rare engagement.

Showcased in the show was Burberry’s highly anticipated spring/summer 2010 Prorsum collection. Chief designer Christopher Bailey commanded everyone’s attention with show-stopping pieces, including stylized revisions of the brand’s iconic trench coat.

More than 1,000 guests saw the show, which was timed with London Fashion Week’s 25th anniversary. Lucky witnesses included the editors of French Vogue and American Harper’s Bazaar, Carine Roitfeld and Glenda Bailey, respectively. Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Erin O’Connor, and Hannah Marshall also viewed the collection.

Yankee fashionistas like Mary-Kate Olsen and Liv Tyler jetted to the English capital especially for the event. Gwyneth Paltrow, one of Britain’s famous American expats, was another estimable presence, along with UK-bred aristocrats Sir Philip Green, Lady Victoria Hervey, Lord Peter Mandelson, and Samantha Cameron. Read more here.

Once silver confetti poured unto the catwalks in the Chelsea College of Art & Design, attendees moved to Horseferry House, Burberry’s new London headquarters. Inside, Bailey and company had cooked up a party for the ages.

One of the first things that greeted guests, which included movie magnate Harvey Weinstein and photographer Mario Testino, was a high-tech light show in the atrium. Nearby, somewhere in the ground floor, online terminals invited guests to update their Twitter and Facebook statuses.

There were other diversions as well. Burberry had tapped The Kooks for entertainment, but others could dance to tunes by amateur DJs Agyness Deyn and MTV hostess Alexa Chung. Meanwhile, everyone had Snow Leopard cocktails and Moët champagnes.

With celebrities dominating magazines nowadays, one feels nostalgic for times when real models graced their covers. In honor of fashion’s most inspiring faces and bodies, The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art has dedicated their spring exhibition to models.

Titled “The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion,” the exhibition runs from May 6 through August 9, 2009. It formally opened May 4 with a gala benefit attended by a large throng.

Marc Jacobs served as the gala’s Honorary Chair. His co-chairs were Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour; singer Justin Timberlake; and supermodel Kate Moss.

Ninety-six of Moss’ peers, including current supermodel Gisele Bundchen and model-turned-host Heidi Klum, gushed forth into the museum’s Tisch Galleries for the exhibition. “Muse” exhibits around 80 fashion creations dating as far back as 1947 and as recent as 1997. It features such models as Twiggy, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Amber Valletta, Lauren Hutton, Suzy Parker, Shalom Harlow, Jean Shrimpton, Veruschka, Nadja Auermann, Lisa Fonssagrives, Peggy Moffitt, Janice Dickinson, Beverly Johnson, Jerry Hall, Helena Christensen, Sunny Harnett, Brooke Shields, and Dorian Leigh.

Moss wore a golden turban and a high-hemmed Marc Jacobs lamé toga to the event, while Bundchen donned a blue sequined Versace. Designers like Carolina Herrera, Jason Wu, John Galliano, Stella McCartney, and Donatella Versace also walked the red carpet.

Still, mainstream celebrities studded the event. Renée Zellweger, Jessica Alba, Kate Beckinsale, Liv Tyler, Anne Hathaway, Katy Perry, Victoria Beckham, Blake Lively, Ashley Olsen, Mary-Kate Olsen, Eva Mendes, Kate Bosworth, and Rachel Bilson all enjoyed their model turns on the carpet. On the unconventional hand, Madonna stopped museum traffic with thigh-high boots, blue barmaid dress, and towering bunny headgear by Louis Vuitton, while Rihanna cross-dressed in a Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo.