By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 9/07/12 12:58pm

fashion week

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

Fashion’s Night in Hell: Why We Hate Fashion’s Night Out

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. Read More

By Benjamin-Émile Le Hay 9/06/12 5:21pm

fashion week

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

The Oscar: De La Renta Honored by the Couture Council

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. Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 8:00am

the eight-day week

Michael Bloomberg

To Do Monday: Fore a Good Cause

Michael Bloom-berg really, really cares about health—we’re sure we’ll lose those pesky five pounds now that we can’t buy 32-ounce sodas anymore! But he can’t change everything by passing laws, so tonight he appeals to the private sector’s charitable side by headlining an out-of-town golf tourney. The Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia and Parkinson’s Foundation’s golf tournament takes Read More

By Tatiana Boncompagni 4/05/12 8:00am

As Seen in SCENE

Good Days by Unruly Heir

Tattle Tales: Tinsley’s Tell-All Tome

There are a few things you don’t expect to see on the cover of a novel. Socialite Tinsley Mortimer’s name is probably one of them. And yet next month, Mortimer, the “It” girl-turned-handbag designer-turned-reality star, will publish her first novel, Southern Charm, about a “Southern Belle thrust into the frenzied world of high society in New York City.” In other words, it’s a roman à clef, and not a very veiled one at that. The book’s plot couldn’t any more closely mirror Mortimer’s real life (or that which she is somewhat public about) without having to be marketed as a memoir. Read More