Woman to Woman

Tod's should seriously consider an inside hire for the next face of the brand. Since taking the reins of the house's accessories and ready-to-wear collections more than a year ago, designer Alessandra Facchinetti has proven that she not only has a keen, fresh sense of what women want, but that she's the perfect model for her own creations. "When you're designing, there's always one point when you have to ask yourself, 'Would I wear this?'" Facchinetti said during last night's Tod's dinner at Il Principe at Soho's Hotel Hugo. Judging by the way Facchinetti worked her silver leather skirt and airy baby blue top, we'd say the answer to that question was a firm yes.



Yesterday's dinner marked the first official New York event Tod's has thrown since Facchinetti came on board, and the fashion set turned out to give the creative director a warm Manhattan welcome. "She took me to the Met ball last year, and we just really liked each other," offered Maggie Gyllenhaal , who's gearing up for her new television miniseries, The Honourable Woman ("I've never been more proud of anything I've made in my life," she told us), as well as a Broadway play this fall. Considering that the actress wore a colorful Valentino number to last week's Met Gala, we wondered if she had a particular fondness for Italian brands. "I do like the Italian thing. I was married in Italy, I like Italian people, so yeah, I guess I do like Italian clothes," she mused.



Italian food isn't too shabby, either. Guests including Katie Holmes , Leandra Medine , Waris Ahluwalia , and Caroline Issa were offered nibbles like mozzarella and tomato bites and arancini before sitting down to dinner. Designer Misha Nonoo arrived just as partygoers were heading to their tables. "I have to say that I really like what Alessandra is doing. The clothes are very clean and very modern. I think it's a great direction for Tod's to head in." Lucky for her, then, that Tod's has a stateside retail expansion in the works. "That will probably happen in two seasons, but in September, we're going to completely redo the Tod's store on Madison," said Facchinetti. Sounds like this New York festa will not be Facchinetti's last.

—Katharine K. Zarrella