Ryan Lochte, Anna Wintour and Dwayne Wade at Calvin Klein Collection's FNO bash.

The Observer positively loathes the yearly shopping-and-style populist event known as Fashion’s Night Out. While we certainly understand this social philanthropic “fashion for everyone” affair championed by Anna Wintour and friends, it absolutely obliterates the little decency that remains in luxury shopping in this city. Yes, we all find the attitudes inside the gilded foyer of Hermès to be a bit frigid, but isn’t it completely understandable that if someone was overseeing the aggressive push of $15,000 ostrich-skin merchandise to a marvelously affluent and demanding clientele day after day that they would develop an extreme snob complex? Besides which, unwelcoming as shops such as Hermès may be, the atmosphere does establish some sense of order and brand image, and people can actually browse and shop in peace.

Order means nothing during the evening of Fashion’s Night Out. Peace? Fuggetaboutit! Instead, posh shopping establishments become laden with breathing and mobile fashion atrocities. These individuals bring an uncouth, boisterous je ne sais quoi to boutiques such as Rebecca Taylor, Brunello Cucinelli, Oscar de la Renta, Alexis Bittar and Rag & Bone. They purchase nothing, spill their drinks frequently, scream, hiss, push and even fight. But occasionally order presides, publicists greet attendees and pleasantries and frivolities are exchanged. Donna Karan’s Stephan Weiss book launch party at her boutique on Madison Avenue was one such example.

Nina Arianda and Debra Messing, and designer Michael Kors judge the competition.

The Observer was holed up in the office late, despite fabulous offers of champagne at Carolina Herrera and meet-and-greets with Olympian Alex Morgan at watchmaker Girard-Perregaux uptown. By the time we did escape for fresh air the chaos had commenced. We traipsed delicately to a few events that still lingered. Most memorable was a raucous karaoke competition at Michael Kors where Nina Arianda, Debra Messing and Kate Upton made an appearance. The Observer could only take the sweltering heat and packed crowds so much. Across the way, Calvin Klein Collection hosted a special in-store event with Vogue’s Ms. Wintour, who patiently signed September issues, and Miami Heat NBA Star Dwyane Wade, who stood proudly by his new book, A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger Than Basketball. Newly-crowned fashion week front-row whore/Olympic gold medalist swimmer, Ryan Lochte, also made a splash at the fling. Editors and the "in crowd" mingled with Bryan Adams, Amir Khan, models Liu Wen, Hanne Gaby, Karen Elson and Mathias Lauridsen, and DJ Mia Moretti.

Downtown we trekked next. Soho was out of the question—too crowded, too unruly, t0o cramped. A quick glance at our invites and we elected for Diane von Furstenberg’s Meatpacking shindig with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Upon arrival The Observer regretted ever having set foot outside of the office. Masses teemed the glassy entrance of DvF’s fortress. It had all gone too smooth and we deserved it. Fashion’s Night Out had reared its ugly head. Travesties shoved. With not a publicist in sight to assist with swift entry, we rolled up our sleeves, promptly cut the line and frantically waved a business card at a bouncer. Ushered inside, we wanted to know what all the fuss was about?

In the end, it was better to sip and dance at Richard Chai’s afterparty at Catch with an intimate set of revelers. Once the bar ran dry, we bailed. We traveled through the hordes creeping and stumbling sloppily on the Meatpacking cobblestones to the New Museum where Supra unveiled its Royal shoe collection. More Ryan Lochte and vodka—wowee!

Au revoir until next year, Fashion’s Night in Hell.

Anna Wintour, Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta and Sarah Jessica Parker

Quelle chance that the venerable philanthropist and socialite Jean Shafiroff invited The Observer to wine and dine at her table at the David H. Koch Theater for Fashion Institute of Technology’s 2012 Couture Council of The Museum luncheon.  Despite the hefty $1,000-a-head price tag, around 600 guests, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Barbara Walters, Anna Wintour, Simon Doonan, Fe Fendi, Diane von Furstenberg, editrix and realty star Nina Garcia, Carolina Herrera, Mario Buatta, Yaz Hernandez, Martha Stewart, Dennis Basso, Ruben and Isabel Toledo, YUE editor Chiu-Ti Jansen and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, paraded uptown for the ruckus.  FIT’s clout was undeniable with so many powerful New Yorkers packed into the gold-leaf foyer. Truth be told, 2012 Couture Council Artistry of Fashion honoree Oscar de la Renta certainly deserved credit for the monumental turn-out.

The festivities took place early at 11.30a.m., with the sylphlike, the supremely coiffed, and the magnificently nipped-and-tucked sloshing back glasses of rosé and chardonnay. It was a bit too early for The Observer, but we took in the self-appreciating, Fashion Week crowd with great enjoyment. Kisses and posing were promptly cut short, as the Couture Council committee and organizers ushered the aristocrats and fashion frenzy to their tables.

Then a few speeches that went largely ignored and lunch was served.

“I don't know where this was swimming early,” grumbled one guest, poking at some nondescript white fish. “The Hudson river!” he suggested, answering his own query, “It's a boring plate.”

Since no one exactly gobbled down the cuisine—it’s not de rigueur in these circles—the program seemed to move along swiftly.

Mayor Bloomberg, who presented Mr. de la Renta with the 2012 Artistry of Fashion Award, started with a series of well placed jokes about his fashion status to warm up the crowd, before acknowledging the legendary Mr. de la Renta.

“Oscar is more than a fashion visionary... You can't swing a stiletto without hitting one... I'm his biggest fan,” the mayor said. “His clothes have been to more award shows than Meryl Streep.”

After a standing ovation, the CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award winner took the stage to accept his award from the mayor.

“I live in the best city, in the best country,” began Mr. de la Renta.

“I'm so proud to be here today with so many of my friends who have been important to my career. I love what I do.”

The 80-year-old designer who left his native Dominican Republic to study in Spain, has held leading roles at Balenciaga, Lanvin, Balmain and Estée Lauder, before beginning his eponymous label to critical and financial success. Today, his designs are coveted by editors, starlets and the mega-rich alike.

“Fashion is not really about what I did but what I'm doing now," Mr. de la Renta concluded, “I've been at it 50 years and I'm still leaning.”

Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld and Ingrid Sischy and the Gordon Parks Centennial Gala. (Leandro Justen/PatrickMcMullan.com)

We strolled into the Museum of Modern Art last Tuesday, for a gala honoring the centennial of the birth of the renowned photojournalist Gordon Parks, who passed away at 93 in 2006.

A quick nod to the door guy, and then promptly to the bar. Still off the sauce, we grabbed a seltzer and turned around to survey the scene, only to be immediately interrupted by a bronzed figure that had surveyed our less than macho bar order. “Did you just order a sparkling water, m’boy?” photographer Peter Beard asked us.

“Regrettably so,” we admitted to the man whose legendary life-long bender makes Bowie’s Thin White Duke phase look like rehab.

“Very sorry to hear that,” he said, extending a hand, the very one that he touched Cheryl Tiegs with so many years prior.

Mr. Beard spoke to us about the Gordon Parks Foundation. “I’ve been involved with it since before you were born, but it’s my wife Nejma who’s on the advisory board,” he replied proudly.

We noticed a wrinkle in the space-time continuum out of the corner of our eye. It was the monochromatic septuagenarian sun god of fashion: Karl Lagerfeld. He cut a swath through the crowd in his calculated yet effortless way that we’ve come to know and love, signaling that it was, in fact, time to sit down.

As we climbed the stairs to the second-floor atrium, it became clear that the seat-to-guest ratio was a bit off.  What should have been a subdued sit-down process quickly becomes a game of sudden-death musical chairs, but this wasn’t a pack of snotnose asthmatics in an elementary classroom. We were playing with Sarah Jessica Parker, Russell Simmons, and Anna Wintour.

Waiters and busboys frantically searched for extra chairs as more than a few tables, who’d paid big bucks for plates of filet, found themselves short a seat or two.

While extra chairs maintained a holding pattern above the heads of the rich and famous, we’d been cleared for landing. We sat next to James Murphy, of LCD Soundsystem, who was serving as the evening’s DJ. He admitted that he’s been a bit overworked lately, despite his retirement from the band.

“Originally we had no intention of filming the four-hour ‘last’ concert at Madison Square Garden, but at the eleventh hour we did. I’m still editing the thing together.”

We noted that the last concert was pseudo-religious evening for us, and Mr. Murphy hinted that was the idea behind the film, titled Shut Up and Play the Hits, which will be playing in theaters across the globe July 18, one night only.

“It’s for the people who didn’t get to experience it the way it was meant to be,” he said, seemingly still apologetic for the online ticket-sales debacle that caused the band to add three additional shows before the final performance last spring.

Anderson Cooper, son of Gloria Vanderbilt who was a long-time friend of Mr. Parks, took the stage and cued up the rest of the evening with a few anecdotes the man of the evening: “The guy made Shaft, people!” he exclaimed, leading into a heartwarming recounting of his interactions with the photographer as a young man.

Clive Davis, Annie Leibovitz, and John Legend followed, giving speeches laden with anecdotes, professional and personal, about Mr. Parks, whose body of work was expansive and will continue to touch many.

Chanel’s Little Black Jacket is having a moment—though it’s not like this classic hasn’t been having a moment ever since Coco drew up the pattern for the look that established her as the greatest couturiere of her time.

But this June, Chanel is celebrating its iconic mascot with a travelling photo exhibit featuring images from the forthcoming book, The Little Black Jacket: Chanel’s Classic Revisited. Due out this fall, the book was born out of a collaboration between none other than Karl Lagerfeld and Vogue Paris’ former editor in chief, Carine Roitfeld who styled various celebrities and personalities wearing the little black jacket while Lagerfeld stood behind the camera capturing the reinvention of this wardrobe staple with black and white film.

It comes to no surprise that, with their powers combined, Lagerfeld and Roitfeld recruited some of the biggest names in fashion, music, film and society to model for The Little Black Jacket. Some of the bold-faced names featured in the book include Alexander Wang, Joan Smalls, Yoko Ono, Charlotte Casiraghi, Sarah Jessica Parker, Theophilus London, Elizabeth Olsen, Sofia Coppola and Anna Wintour (who modeled with her back to the camera, but we’d recognize that signature bob anywhere!).

The exhibit launched in Tokyo this past April and is set to travel to eight different countries, making its appearance in New York on June 8th through June 18th at 18 Wooster Street. While the exhibit will include over 100 photographs, Chanel boutiques throughout the city will also take part in the homage, presenting a selection of jackets from the Paris-Bombay Métiers d’art Collection.

Chairman Chuck Wall, soprano Deborah Voigt and general manager and artistic director George Steel, all of the New York City Opera. (Ryan McCune/PatrickMcMullan.com)

An evening with bejeweled socialites, soprano Deborah Voigt and Tony-winner Ted Sperling? Sign us up! Last Wednesday, May 16, at its spring gala, the New York City Opera proved that despite a year marred by operational drama, it is alive and well.  In fact, it's been a pretty damn good season. (We had trouble getting seats for Così Fan Tutte's final performance.)

The Observer's chaotic schedule meant that we once again missed cocktail hour, but we arrived at the Central Park Boathouse just in time for a heaping plate of pasta e verdure.

"Wow, you drew quite a crowd," we said to a publicist, eyeing Anna Wintour at a front table.

Immediately we found a partner in crime, Lorin Bertakis, who looked electrifying in a pink Bottega Veneta dress. "I just love Bottega and Tomas Maier," cooed Ms. Bertakis. "I think Lanvin is getting a bit stale." Bold words indeed. She then introduced her mother hen Sue Carey, who glistened in an over-the-top ashen number and enough vintage Tiffany and Chanel diamonds to sink a cruise ship. "I like everything old!" exclaimed galpal Sarena Weil in vintage Oscar de la Renta, "including my husband." We exchanged some friendly words with designer Victor de Souza and Dawne Marie Grannum, a muse in one of his creations.

Ms. Voigt was introduced and sashayed up to the staged in a jewel-encrusted Pilar Rossi gown and Bulgari jewelry.

"It's a nice change to be in a dress and not a breast plate," joked Ms. Voigt to patrons, referring to her recent role in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, before she dove into a lengthy repertoire of Wagner and show tunes. Her exceptional vibrato and diction was well received and she wisely kept things light but sturdy with a series of Gershwin favorites.

"I'm sure that if I try to walk through that door they'll take me down," said Ms. Voigt afterwards to The Observer about her pricey threads and bling.

Guests were asked to booze up before Christie's led a live auction of various special NYCO experiences. All four packages sold without much hassle.

The man that had angered quite a few NYCO fans, general manager and artistic director George Steel, slithered over to our table. His ballsy move to divorce the company from its Lincoln Center digs was shunned by many. "The whole evening has been a celebration of a great season," he said. "We bring in repertoire that would otherwise not be here." Over another round of bubbles, Mr. Steel voiced his confidence in the future of NYCO.

Ms. Voigt also noted that "City Opera has been great home for American singers… I think what has happened [NYCO leaving Lincoln Center] is very upsetting." "An evening like this is important to rally support," she added.

As Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks played classics for the remaining stragglers, we kissed our tablemates àdieu and trekked back to the newsroom for more work.

This year's co-host Carey Mulligan at the 2010 gala (Getty Images)

The event that launched a million style.comslideshows is back—2012’s Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Ball is on! This year’s iteration of Vogue’s takeover of the Temple of Dendur celebrates an imagined series of conversations between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, with honorary chair (the ever-chic) Jeff Bezos. We guess the Amazon honcho/would-be next Steve Jobs knows something about fashion ... after all, our Kindle is sylphlike and slim and is always dressed in summer whites. Other guests are likely to include just about every working actress, singer and model, though the recently wed Anna Wintour darling Carey Mulligan is to serve as co-chair of the event.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, invitation only.

My mother once told me that I avoided joining large playgroups because I had a fear of “disappearing” into them. Apparently I was a very metaphysical child, noticing at an early age that girls who hung out together inevitably developed a sort of hive-mind mentality—dressing the same, talking the same, laughing (at me) the same.

In my recent bid to increase my social standing and ingratiate myself into a group of fancy ladies, I have resolved to hit the charity circuit. But it’s not as easy as it sounds.

The sheer number of organizations throwing fundraisers on any given night is mind-boggling, and one misstep could lead a budding socialite to donate her time, energy and money to an unfashionable cause.

As in high school, everyone wants to be part of the cool kids’ table. (Unlike high school, however, that table will now set you back $75,000.) The Frick, New Yorkers for Children, the Metropolitan Museum, City Harvest, Save Venice, The Museum of the City of New York, The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, The New York Botanical Gardens: These are some of the more desirable charities, as famous for their glittery, star-studded fêtes as for the causes themselves, which are unquestionably, without a doubt, “the reason we’re all here.”

Luckily, you don’t need a million dollars in order to start your social career. Just a couple hundred to join a juniors group. These organizations are the training wheels for future socials: where young men and women learn how to plan the perfect party, fill tables and woo A-listers to show up and be photographed.

For advice on how to be chicly charitable, I turned to publicist R. Couri Hay, who has worked with most of the Hearst children, Lauren Bush, Harry Winston, Sloan-Kettering, Bergdorf Goodman and Bulgari. Mr. Hay suggested I start with museums: the Apollo Circle for the Met, Whitney Contemporaries, Junior Associates of MoMA. The biggest requirement to being on a junior board (league, committee, whatever), he said, wasn’t money but age.

“I’m the one you can blame for cutting the age limit down,” the sprightly PR machine said. “I started it years ago, when I was the junior committee co-chairman of American Ballet Theatre. I noticed that people were creeping in not just over 30 or 35—but over 40! When I was on the board for the Bronx Zoo event where we actually moved it into the zoo, I put my foot down. I was like ‘Forget it! Juniors are 21 and under!’”

In Mr. Hay’s ideal world, the drinking age would be the cut-off for Juniors; 35, for Associates and beyond. “But there was hell to pay for that, because everyone wanted the cheap tickets,” he recalled. Events held by junior committees are less expensive than their adult counterparts, and they tend to be less formal. Youthful, even. “I don’t want to name names, but I would look around a room at a junior event, and there were these very big figures who argued that they went out every night and didn’t want to pay big ticket prices.
“Plus, the old group always wants to mingle with the young,” he added ruefully.

The biggest tragedy, in Mr. Hay’s opinion, occurred when Anna Wintour took over the Met’s annual Costume Institute Gala in 1995 as co-chair and canceled the post-party dance the following year. Under former co-chairs Diana Vreeland and Pat Buckley, the after-party attracted a younger set, who could spare the $100 for the late-night dance. But under Anna, even buying a place in the Met’s $1,000-per-year Apollo Circle (age limit: 39) won’t guarantee you an invite to the Costume Ball. (Though you might get invited to their unofficial after-party on the roof of The Standard.)

Looking back, Ms. Wintour told The Wall Street Journal in 2011, “It was much more fashion industry before. When I became involved, I started to invite the Nicole Kidmans and the Cate Blanchetts, and then tried to bring in the worlds of politics, literature, painting and music.”

Today, at $25,000 a head and $250,000 a table, the gala brings in a lot more money than it used to. The problem is it’s all old money now. Literally.

“That was the Armageddon for the biggest junior party there ever was,” Mr. Hay said sadly, referring to Ms. Wintour’s reign at the Met. “She thought it was ‘unseemly’ to have her celebrities walk past these ‘freaks’ partying all night, but there really was this fabulous fashion on display. Young people cutting up their own clothes and creating whole new looks.” Besides, in Mr. Hay’s opinion, those “freaks” were going to be the people donating millions in a few years. “I always said today’s juniors are tomorrow’s seniors, and the museums have mostly picked up on that.”
So how does one get on a board? “You go to parties, you buy tickets and tables, and you spend money,” Mr. Hay explained, as if I were a small child. “It is charity, after all.”

Well, some of us have a hard time raising taxi money for the trip home to Brooklyn, let alone getting our nonexistent friends to pony up thousands of dollars to buy tables. But baby steps. What do junior committee members even do?

“For me, being on a board meant raising money, since raising money means raising awareness,” Mr. Hay said. Mr. Hay worked to rope in co-chairs with last names like Hearst, Rockefeller and Roosevelt.
“My job was to gather around me a circle of my friends whose names meant something,” he continued, “Because let’s face it, New York isn’t just one big club for anyone to join. People came to these events because they wanted to rub elbows with socially prominent young people; they wanted to gawk at them, dance next to them and network with them. And then if it was a great party, Emily Smith would write it up, and that would raise awareness.”

The nuances between different sorts of events became clear to me the other night. Clutching my invitation to the Spring Thaw party, thrown by the Young Members Circle of the Museum of the City of New York, I rushed uptown for what I thought would be a repeat performance of the museum’s lavish Winter Ball. The previous month, the Director’s Council (presided over by social arbiter Mark Gilbertson) held a dazzling fête at the Plaza for the same institution. I arrived at the Museum’s UES location, breathless in a flouncy Betsey Johnson cupcake dress, looking like a debutante in frosting.

When the doors opened, I was greeted by men and women in after-work attire. Some were in jeans. The open bar was serving only gin, wine and beer, and the food was limited to some nuts and candy. I felt ridiculously out of place—one of the first times in my life I might have actually overdressed.

It turns out the Young Members Circle is a totally different breed of junior philanthropy than its more exclusive brethren. Membership is $100, and events usually run about $40-$50 for nonmembers. Since most members are young professionals with full-time jobs, committee chairs are simply whoever volunteers, and most of the event planning is done via a shared Google Doc, according to current committee co-chair David Semanoff. Last year the group raised $40,000 for the museum, including membership fees. In comparison, the Winter Ball raised $445,000 in one evening.

It seemed clear that joining the Young Members Circle would not help me grasp another rung on on the social ladder. As my editor pointed out, I could become a member of the zoo and get a free t-shirt and parking passes, but that wouldn’t make me a socialite.

Still, as I stood around people of my own age and tax bracket (all of whom were down-to-earth, relaxed and fun—three strikes against them on the Social Register), I began to see the appeal in the Young Member’s Circle’s approach. There’s something refreshing about a charity group that openly courts new blood, whether or not it’s blue.

In 1983, three years after Caroline’s marriage to Philipe Junot ended, she walked the down aisle with Stefano Casiraghi, an Italian heir, socialite and businessman. The couple had three children: Andrea in 1984, Charlotte in 1986 and Pierre in 1987. On October 3, 1990, Caroline’s husband was killed in a speedboat racing accident. Caroline fled to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in France, where she and her children were kept out of the media spotlight until rumors surfaced about her relationship with Prince Ernst August of Hanover (a direct descendant of King George III). The rumors were put to rest—at least temporarily—when the Prince and Princess wed in 1999.

The family is notorious for keeping mum and avoiding interviews with the press and until recently, Caroline was successful at shielding her children from the gossip pages. As of late, headlines seem focused on the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Pippa Middleton’s fashion fancies and the rowdy party lifestyle of Prince Harry. But now, all eyes are on Princess Caroline’s three, stunningly gorgeous and shockingly private children—and with good reason.

Not to say the Casiraghi clan hasn’t been on our radar, but only lately have they been the center of attention. Since their coming of age, they have quickly made up for lost time. They were first introduced at the annual Bal de la Rose, created by Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace and has become the second most famous gala in Monaco (after the Red Cross Ball). Later in 2007, pictures surfaced of them at Valentino’s Haute Couture Fashion Show and his 45th Anniversary Gala Ball with the likes of Alejandro Santo Domingo, Eugenie Niarchos and Anna Wintour’s daughter Bee Shaffer. Though they have not yet received official royal titles, their very lineage—and subsequent bewitching genes—makes them hard-pressed to escape the limelight as staples on the international scene and faces of the modern monarchy.

However, despite their tabloid-tainted family, the three, for the most part, have kept themselves out of a scandalous spotlight. Unlike their uncle Prince Albert, who kept stateside during his studies at Amherst College in Massachusetts and later popped up in the Manhattan and Hamptons social scene, Andrea and Pierre have yet to be known for their bachelorhood or their wild ways with women.
Since 2004, after meeting at boarding school near Paris, Andrea, the eldest son and second in line to the throne after Caroline, has had a long-term romance with Columbian beer heiress, Tatiana Santo Domingo. Andrea has been a presence in Manhattan since 2007 when he was studying for his master’s degree in International Affairs at The New School, but  he's somehow remained relatively elusive despite sharing a townhouse in Washington Square Park with his girlfriend, who holds her own as a member of one of the most visible families in New York. Listed as one of the “most beautiful people in the world" by People in 1999, Andrea tries to hide in plain sight, even skateboarding around Soho.

Charlotte, the 25-year-old breathtaking beauty was recently named the face of Gucci’s Forever Now campaign, shot by photographer Peter Lindbergh. She captivates audiences not only with her looks, but with her talents as an avid equestrian, amateur show jumper and Olympic hopeful. With her pouty lips, olive skin and hazel eyes, she bares a striking resemblance to Angelina Jolie. And like Jolie (and her own family members), Charlotte has caught the attention of the fashion world.

While the Duchess of Cambridge has garneredattention for her traditional and, dare we say, pedestrian fashion choices, it was Charlotte’s undeniable style and striking splendor that landed her the coveted cover in September 2011 of Vogue Paris. Famed photographer and celebrity BFF Mario Testino (who has also photographed William and Kate, as well as Princess Diana) shot Casiraghi. She follows in the fashionable footsteps of her mother Caroline, who also graced the cover of the magazine in 1983 (which was designed by Andy Warhol). Charlotte's fashion résumé also includes Editor-at-Large of the environment and green lifestyle publication Above Magazine and cofounding editor (with pals Elizabeth von Guttman and Alexia Niedzielski) of Ever Manifesto which supports the eco-friendly fashion movement. She appeared on Vanity Fair’s Best Dressed list in 2006 and is one of Karl Lagerfeld’s favorite muses. Expect many more fashion shoots and paparazzi shots of Charlotte’s every stitch of clothing.

Charlotte has thus far stayed out of any scandals—despite the fact that many were up in arms over her reported split from longtime boyfriend, British curator Alex Dellal (yes, Chanel model Alice Dellal’s brother—royals gravitate to other boldface names). It is rumored that she’s now dating French comedian, Gad Elmaleh (she was spotted slipping out of his apartment in January). Though Elmaleh is more than 10 years her senior, Charlotte has certainly deviated from the various and rumor-inducing relationships that her mother and aunt once had.

Pierre’s relationship, though hardly racy, is also one of interest as he’s been seen gallivanting around Milan, Rome and the Spanish hippie island enclave of Formentera (Kate Moss’ haunt) with Italian Countess and TV personality Beatrice Borromeo. But most recently, the third in line to the throne of Monaco has made headlines due to his involvement in a brawl at the exclusive Meatpacking District boîte, The Double Seven, where the alleged antagonist, businessman and ex-club owner Adam Hock, punched Pierre in the face and was charged with four counts of third-degree assault. It was reported that 24-year-old Pierre was partying with a trendy clique of European expat party boys including shipping heir Stavros Niarchos III (with model girlfriend Jessica Hart), Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld and their friend Diego Marroquin. Imagine a very fancy frat pack, with bottles of Cristal replacing cans of Budweiser.

Last summer, in the wake of the British royal wedding—that of Kate and William—was the marriage of the 53-year-old prince and the 33-year-old Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock, which ended the longtime bachelorhood of Prince Albert and a three-decade wait for a new princess. The last wedding of a ruling prince in Monaco was that of his mother and father in 1956. While the wedding was stocked with A-list guests and other royals, the most anticipated welcome may have been for the other members of the Grimaldi family, specifically the Casiraghis and the people on their arms.

The three garner attention in their own right, but it doesn’t hurt that they can be found front row, partying and jet-setting with equally chic “children of” such as the Santo Domingos, the Niarchos’, Margherita Missoni, Bianca Brandolini d’Adda and the Restoin Roitfeld siblings. Whether stateside or across the pond, these three are inevitably the ones to watch. While the social spotlight can fade with time, royalty is always in fashion.

The President and First Lady, discussing the plot of 'Never Let Me Go' (Getty Images)

No Shame in her game! Academy Award-nominated gamine Carey Mulligan attended last night's State Dinner in honor of her Prime Minister, David Cameron--but as a plus-one (perhaps the President didn't care for the Wall Street sequel, and believes money does sometimes sleep?). She attended with her boyfriend Marcus Mumford, whose band Mumford and Sons performed. Hopefully her brush with power was an education for Ms. Mulligan.

Other boldfacers reportedly in attendance: Anna Wintour, who brought Shelby Bryan; John Legend, who brought model Chrissy Teigen (didn't she used to be Christine); Harvey Weinstein, who brought Georgina Chapman (whose Marchesa designed Michelle Obama's gown); and George Clooney, who did not bring Stacey Keibler. Hey, awards season is over!

John Galliano - Runway Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011 (Eric Ryan/Getty)

“I love Hitler. People like you would be dead today. Your mothers, your forefathers, would be fucking gassed and fucking dead.” Fashion designer John Galliano spewed these despicable, beyond hateful and offensive words, in February 2011 at his favorite watering hole, Café La Perle in Paris’ chic Marais district. Galliano—seemingly drunk or high, or both —was caught on video by Philippe Virgitti, a receptionist, and his girlfriend Geraldine Bloch, a museum curator. The couple also said Galliano called them: “dirty whore,” “ugly,” “fucking Asian bastard” and “dirty Jew face.” The shocking footage of Galliano’s anti-Semitic rant was released for the world to watch in horror. Then 47-year-old Fatiha Oummedour, a French citizen, came forward claiming that Galliano hurled similar insults at her for no apparent reason. Galliano was arrested and charged with “public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity,” which is against French law. He was fined 6,000 Euros and found guilty of making racist and anti-Semitic remarks.

The flamboyant designer of Christian Dior and his own namesake label was quickly canned by Dior on March 1, 2011. Sidney Toledano, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Christian Dior Couture, said: “We unequivocally condemn the statements made by John Galliano which are in total contradiction to the long-standing core values of Christian Dior.” Natalie Portman, the face of Dior at the time and once seen posing with Galliano, was even more ardent in her dismissal of the fallen fashion designer: “I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video of John Galliano’s comments. In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way.” Just a few weeks later, Portman won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Black Swan. And as the ultimate fashion slap in the face wore Rodarte, not Dior, to pick up her statue. Once the darling of the fashion world, Galliano became an outcast—the Mel Gibson of the runway. And as the internet was overloaded with anti-Galliano comments, he issued a press release with the obligatory, carefully crafted apology for his actions and then vanished—evidently to rehab.

But not everyone was satisfied with Galliano’s plea for forgiveness or his light sentence. Moshe Kantor, the President of the European Jewish Congress said the “slap on the wrist” sent the wrong message to those who use hate speech. “It is outrageous,” Kantor denounced. “This sentence demonstrates that there appears to be a culture of impunity in the entertainment world.”
Yet despite his vanishing act, one year on, there is still a man named John Galliano who is one of the living masters of his craft. One year on, there is still a fashion label that bears his name and is putting forth collections. And one year on, Dior has yet to find a suitable replacement for him at the helm of the house.

There has been tremendous observation of the movements of all the actors in this sordid play. Suzy Menkes, the Head Fashion Editor for the International Herald Tribune, said in a recent New York Times article, in trying to fill the position at Dior, it has been rumored, “Seven designers already approached have either been turned down or backed away.” And there is still not a replacement in sight. The biggest talk was that Marc Jacobs would fill the position, but that turned out to be just a rumor. At press time, Belgian designer Raf Simons, who won raves for his collections at Jil Sander, was said to be a shoe-in as Galliano's replacement at the house of Dior.

As for Mr. Galliano, he is keeping himself very much undetectable; so much so, he seems to have disappeared altogether. It is against the law in France to incite racial hatred and it has been said that Galliano has been staying in the South of France since the criminal case against him had been settled. Another source in Paris alleges he has occasionally spotted Galliano out and about drinking. As for his next moves, a source close to the designer’s partner, Alexis Roche, has said they are seriously considering moving to Los Angeles, a city known for its eternal forgiveness—yet also a town with a large and powerful Jewish population. Just look at Mel Gibson’s career, or rather lack of a career, as an example of what happens to celebrities who make public pronouncements that insult a whole lot of people.

Recently, Mr. Roche, also known as “Lexy,” created a Twitter account and was tweeting with other fashion industry professionals (such as makeup artist Pat McGrath and stylist Edward Enninful) while out at various fancy events in Paris. This sudden communication suggests the Galliano camp may be opening up a bit and that movement from the designer may be on the horizon. And just last month, Galliano surfaced publicly in London where he attended the 50th birthday party of his old pal DJ Jeremy Healy. A “spy” told the New York Post that Galliano seemed “sober” but that his appearance “caused quite a flutter in the room.”

INTO THE LOOKING GLASS
There has, however, been a positive outcome from this situation in that a deep introspection of the fashion industry unto itself has occurred. It is not a secret that fashion is a stressful business. The great Yves Saint Laurent famously battled demons throughout his career, and Christopher Decarnin, Balmain’s former designer, parted ways with the house due to overwhelming pressure. And tragically, editor Isabella Blow and designer Alexander McQueen both took their lives seemingly due to the high-stakes world in which they worked. After this latest incident with Mr. Galliano, everything in the way that fashion functions, from the rate at which designers are expected to produce in order to meet higher and higher profit goals, to the practice of placing singular value on a figurehead designer, has come under scrutiny.

Increasing production demands on designers has become a large part of this broader conversation. Anja Vang Kragh, a designer who worked closely with Galliano both at Dior and his eponymous label, describes her time working for him as some of the best years of her life. Though in regard to the workload, she says, “To me it was quite strange that when a collection didn’t do well at Dior, the big bosses would come and say, ‘Well now we do a cruise collection or kid's collection or menswear,’ in order to make up for it. What surprised me was that they just didn’t ask for better clothes.” Vang Kragh went on to say, “I think now they are doing 16 collections, and no matter how genius you are, no one can work this much all the time.”

Especially for Mr. Galliano, who by all accounts looked over every one of those 16 lines personally as well as his own line. “He would never let things go, there was not one thing that was not supervised by him,” says Elisa Palomino, a designer based in London. Palomino was one of the first people to join the team at Galliano as his studio manager and remains in Galliano’s close stable of consorts. “He was so right and when you would see it you would know,” she says. “He has had a wonderful team over the years, but the talent is his.”

Recently, LVMH has made a move showing heightened consideration of their designers. The brand Céline, another strong label in the French conglomerate’s stable, recently cancelled its Paris runway show and instead opted for a presentation because its designer, Phoebe Philo, was eight months pregnant.

And maybe Galliano isn’t really all that valuable? Not having a designer for Dior as the “official face,” as fashion writer Vanessa Friedman calls it, has not hurt sales a bit. Dior’s retail sales were up 27 percent in the first three quarters of 2011, and general turnover went up 21 percent compared to the same period in 2010. Ms. Friedman adds, “Maybe they don’t need a high-cost, high-maintenance, high-salary star at the helm?”
“You take a company like Nike, whose numbers are so tremendous, that no one can touch them. And what does Nike do?  They put a team of innovators, as opposed to an individual behind their products, which is better strategically,” says David Gensler, the CEO and founder of the Keystone Design Union which consults for brands like Nike on corporate strategy. “Don’t put all the attention on the quarterback, focus on the team as a whole. The fashion industry often makes the mistake of putting all the attention on the figure head, instead of saying, ‘here is the team.’”
There are fashion brands that have utilized this method successfully, most famously, Maison Martin Margiela. One of the more experimental and revered houses in fashion, the Margiela brand is built on anonymity. The designer and founder, Martin Margiela, has never so much as been photographed, bar one picture, which ran in The New York Times in 2008, taking complete attention away from himself as a figurehead. As a result, public focus is kept on the clothes and the collaborative effort it takes towards their creation. Clearly there are other successful models than “designer as figurehead,” so perhaps it can even work for Dior. Is John Galliano needed to lead a label, much less, wanted?

WHO IS BILL GAYTTEN?

There is, however, a mystery man in this scenario by the name of Bill Gaytten, who is now the Acting Creative Director of both Dior and Galliano. While he has garnered a lot of attention in this past year as a result of the position he has acquired, very little is known about him aside from the few collections he has put forth and that he has spent decades working alongside Galliano. Fashion industry professionals seem to know very little of him, while some who have worked closely with him have refused to discuss him, and even those who were willing to discuss Gaytten, had few things of significance to say. The critics panned his first collection, which was for Dior couture, beginning with Cathy Horyn from The New York Times. “He’s a sweetheart, but not a designer,” she said, and called some elements of the collection “dumb” and added, “That immaculate Dior polish was not evident.”

In the same review, Ms. Horyn questioned why a studio assistant has been given such a heavy position in taking over both Dior and Galliano, and Anja Vang Kragh, also expressed confusion at the choice. Vang Kragh said he wasn’t present at the studios on a daily basis. “It was like he was almost working there freelance, up until 2003,” Vang Kragh says. “As a person I really like Bill, he has always been a warm, sweet guy, it’s just really weird what’s going on here, that his [Galliano’s] close friend and assistant is the new John Galliano.” Since his first couture show, Mr. Gaytten has shown another season of collections and has made moves as Creative Director of Galliano. For the most recent Dior collections, he seems to be erring on the side of caution, relying on perfect technical creations, sans Galliano’s trademark drama and over-the-top showmanship. As a result, critics have been more positive in their reviews, calling his latest couture offering, “technically persuasive,” “pure nostalgia” and “a class act by any standards,” even in spite of it lacking emotion.

He also recently released the first new ad campaign for Galliano under his creative direction, which employed a Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas theme, a choice that raises the question of prudence. Utilizing this film as a reference naturally raises eyebrows, as it is a tale laden with drug and alcohol abuse, two of the things that were a part of Mr. Galliano’s downfall.

The hand that LVMH may be playing with Mr. Gaytten is also curious. In a recent post-show interview after Dior’s spring couture show, he said to Grazia magazine, “I am super organized, fully programmed. I do what I am told.” It is unclear to what he refers when talking about what he is being told to do, though one interpretation could be that it is in reference to direction coming from corporate entities above him at LVMH.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
LVMH is still a majority stakeholder in the Galliano brand, and exactly how much is difficult to discern as French laws differ from U.S. laws in terms of what is, and isn’t, available for public knowledge. Though, if it is structured anything like Marc Jacobs, of which LVMH owns 96 percent on last account, then Mr. Galliano may have a miniscule say, at best, at what goes on there. Though LVMH chief, Bernard Arnault, has very clearly stated, “He will not be working for LVMH.” So perhaps getting back the Galliano label is simply out the question at this point. Is this the end of Galliano’s fashion career?
That said, the Galliano label’s sales have increased in the Middle East, Moscow and Asia, and strategically, this can mean big business for the brand in the long run, and a platform from which to rebuild. It also exhibits consumer faith in the brand, in spite of what has happened. Fern Mallis, Fashion Consultant and the former head of the CFDA and IMG, seems to think forgiveness is in order, telling SCENE, “We live in a world of forgiveness, while what he said was awful, people deserve a second chance.” This idea of forgiveness is a surprising, yet almost unanimous sentiment from all those in the fashion world who were willing to speak on the topic. There are even whispers that Anna Wintour is trying to “help” get Galliano back on his feet.
“We love to build celebrities up knock them down, but we also love a comeback," says Mickey Boardman, Editorial Director of Paper magazine. “But first he has to get to a point where people would really believe he is sorry. Then they would accept him again.”
But some think Galliano needs to do much more than just convince people he regrets the horrendous things he said. Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre said, “It is up to him to make amends to the community he demeaned and to the public at large.” They feel his earlier apology was not sufficient. “It is important to emphasize that a cleverly worded press release is not sufficient. If John Galliano is truly sorry for what he did, only his future deeds will tell us how sincere he is.”

And what Galliano’s future holds—whether on the catwalk or in Hollywood—remains unclear.

Stay tuned...