Parties You Will Never Get Into

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.

Fuchsia and pink heated New York City as its fashion, business, and showbiz authorities showed up in full support of a fundraiser by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). Titled “Hottest Pink Party Ever,” the party ordered invitees to show up dressed in the color on April 8, 2008 at the Waldorf-Astoria.

Gwyneth Paltrow wore a fabulous outfit in the prescribed color. She was one of 1,200 faces who swarmed the hotel’s gathering, which was underwritten by the Hearst Corporation, Time Inc., Wrangler, and Condé Nast Publications.

Elizabeth Hurley, who is married to Indian entrepreneur Arun Nayar, donned a pink-tinged sari to the event. She also emceed it and publicly acknowledged BCRF Founder and Chairperson Evelyn Lauder.

She was all praises for Lauder, whom she called the “hottest gal of all.” Evelyn Lauder’s niece, Aerin Lauder Zinterhoffer, assisted her as she went onstage to give a speech. Aerin is Estée Lauder’s granddaughter.

BCRF’s Chairman of the Executive Board of Scientific Advisors, Dr. Larry Norton, also spoke to the assembly. He related his experiences as Director for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s breast cancer programs.

Sir Elton John brought the house down in a seismic show with his band. John’s mini-concert honored is good friend, the late Linda Stein. Stein was a member of the BCRF Advisory Board. John had partner David Furnish in tow.

The night’s other ostentatious guests included Project Runway winning designer Christian Siriano, and world class designers Vera Wang, Tommy Hilfiger, and Donna Karan.

BCRF also enticed David Alan Basche, Padma Lakshmi, Dee Ocleppo, Myra Biblowit, and Katrina Bowden to attend the important event. Television’s ambassadors included Deborah Norville, Carson Kressley, and celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito.

Celebrants left the gala with $5 million in funds raised for breast cancer research.

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Victoria’s Secret has been known to throw out extravagant and glitzy fashion shows every year with alluring supermodels flashing their skimpy yet fabulous lingerie down the runway. Each VS show is typically one great party by itself, but the models and guests just can’t get enough that even the show’s after party is still packed with hordes of A-list people.

The 2008 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show lived up to everybody’s expectation. The show was held at the amazing Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach on November 15, 2008. In fact, the show was one of the hotel’s re-opening highlights after wiping out a whopping $1 billion for its renovation.

The fashion show was another total success with a theme focusing on “glamour, sophistication and return to elegance.” Seated at the front row were stars like Sean “Diddy” Combs, Kim Kardashian, Martha Stewart, John Stamos, Lenny Kravitz, and Paris Hilton. Thirty-five gorgeous models flooded the glittering runway to the tunes of Kanye West and Chris Brown while artificial rose petals were pouring down. Usher also delivered musical performances, singing a medley of his hit songs. Other highlights of the show were the giant-sequined gift-bow wings on Heidi Klum and Adriana Lima modeling the 1,500-carat fantasy bra that is reported to be valued at $5 million.

After the show, an exclusive after party was held at the hotel’s LIV club. Guests splurged on the all-night open bar while free Victoria’s Secret goodie packs were handed on the way out. Guests who were at the club included actor Terrence Howard, Diddy, Paris Hilton, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mario Lopez, and the VS models.

The night before the fashion extravaganza, Fontainebleau held a $5 million grand re-opening soiree where VS models were on hand to cut the ribbon. Talk about Marisa Miller, Doutzen Kroes, and Heidi Klum, together with the hotel’s new owner and CEO Don Soffer. Guests who were present at the bash included Alex Rodriguez, Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Kristin Cavallari, Brody Jenner, and Kim Kardashian; plus a surprise performance from Mariah Carey.

Fashion designer Marc Jacobs threw an extremely exclusive Fashion Week after party at Robert de Niro’s Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca. Known for throwing big bashes without really thinking up on the guest list, this September 2008 New York Fashion Week after party was a different one. For starters, the party was divided into two groups. One group gathered at the open bar while Jacobs and select friends partied in the back courtyard.

Second, while the group of people huddled closely at the bar danced, mingled, and enjoyed their merrymaking, the designer and his friends, including actresses Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst, and director Sofia Coppola, savored a three-course steak dinner. The meal was served to them in style by a uniformed staff. Although there were about 100 guests, not all were invited to the exclusive family-style dinner table.

Jacobs threw the party to celebrate the success of his Fashion Week show where models sashaying to Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” paraded the designer’s latest masterpieces. Jacobs’ collection combined grunge with gleaming fabrics, Hollywood glamour, and vintage looks. The designer also acknowledged all the celebrities who attended his shows like Winona Ryder, Jennifer Lopez, Sofia Coppola, Martha Stewart, Joel Schumacher, Anne Hathaway, Elijah Wood, Kanye West, and Nicole Richie. Not all these celebrities were invited to the party, though, as even Lord of the Rings alumna, Wood, had a difficult time getting into the after-show bash.

Hathaway, who essayed the role of an ugly duckling-turned-fashionable princess in The Devil Wears Prada, did not join the other celebrities at the fashion show but was present at the tightly-guarded after party. She had to miss Jacobs’ show because she was at the U.S. Open. She had her fill at the party, though, even if she had to leave early.

Other celebrities and A-list guest who found their way into Marc Jacobs’ Fashion Week After Party at Greenwich Hotel included Jessica Simpson, fashion stylist Rachel Zoe, Perry Farrell of Lollapalooza, and Sonic Youth frontwoman Kim Gordon. Jacobs’ business partner, Robert Duffy — who revealed that he and the designer have not eaten in 24 hours — was also around.