The Stars Align

"When I saw the invitation, I assumed I was receiving an award," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the Fashion Group International's Night of Stars last night. "After all, I created twelve years of mayoral outfits with just two pairs of loafers and two colors of business suits. If that doesn't qualify me for a lifetime award, I don't know what does." As it happens, our outgoing mayor was presenting an award to his friend and CEO of Coach, Lew Frankfort , but that doesn't mean Bloomberg can't relate to the fashion set. On the contrary, he knew exactly how to get the room buzzing when he announced that Hudson Yards—where Coach is set to be the first landmark tenant—will in fact be the new home of New York fashion week. When Frankfort took the stage to accept his award, he also announced that Coach will donate $15 million toward developing fashion week's new home.



Simon Doonan, who hosts the event every year, got the crowd going with sarcastic, highly editorialized introductory remarks for all of the evening's award winners: "Carine , you were once in the gutters of Montparnasse, hurling unsolicited fashion critiques… Nadja Swarovski , they called you the Shirley Temple of the Tyrol, the star of Toddlers und Tiaras…And Alexander Wang , thanks to Benjamin Button disease and that gender reassignment surgery, you are now a youthful man, and getting younger every year." Among the other honorees being gently roasted by Doonan were Angela Missoni , Deborah Needleman , and Christopher Kane , who would later receive his award from Alexa Chung .



And if that didn't get guests going, when it came time for Marc Jacobs and Robert Duffy to receive their Superstar Award, not only did Miley Cyrus turn out to introduce them, but Aretha Franklin took the stage for a surprise performance of "Respect." Upon accepting his award, Jacobs thanked Duffy: "You are my partner in every sense, except the biblical one—we've never even kissed each other. But I look forward to our partnership continuing, as the most meaningful relationship I will ever know."



It's a poignant moment for Jacobs given his recent departure from Louis Vuitton. But as it turns out, unsurprisingly, the decision was a joint one. Duffy told Style.com, "I'm about to turn 60, so I just said to Marc, 'Listen, I'd really like to just have one full-time job.'"

—Todd Plummer