RTRC

50% Inspiration, 50% Perspiration

When the sumptuous, Barneys-sponsored Dries Van Noten: Inspirations previewed at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs last night, fellow countryman Cédric Charlier was one of the first through the door. "I've been an admirer since the beginning, so I'm thrilled to see such a commemoration of Dries' work," he said. "He's a model for me, for his independence above all, but also his longevity and his creative force." Guests Thursday night, including Rick Owens , Michelle Lamy , Phillip Lim , and Maria Cornejo , lingered over a collection contextualized by other fashion icons (an embroidered jacket by Schiaparelli, a Bar jacket and skirt by Christian Dior), as well as film excerpts (The Piano, A Clockwork Orange) and a number of art masterpieces. Van Noten reckoned that the 400-odd pieces on show represent perhaps 5 percent of his archive. "From the moment that I could afford to keep things, I did. It was great to dive into all those bags and see what was there and talk about it. [The show] really tells a story."



Things got crazy on several levels over at the jam-packed Balmain after-party at the famed Crazy Horse cabaret. There was a private show by the dancers; a host of models from the Balmain show; and, above all, the real reason for the shoving, yelling, smashed glasses, chair climbing, and general hysteria: Rihanna . To her tremendous credit, the star kept her cool, smiling sweetly and posing (in a much-murmured-about mesh top) with Balmain designer Olivier Rousteing . "She is the most amazing woman ever in the world, I love her, she's so humble and so talented," the designer shouted over the din. "She's not just an inspiration to me, she's an inspiration to my whole generation and many to come." Asked whether she liked the show, whose high-kicking, writhing dance numbers ranged from pole dancing and rope acrobatics to a rousing rendition of "Champagne Taste," Rihanna exclaimed simply, "I fucking loved it!" Squeezed into the VIP banquettes alongside Joan Smalls , Rosie Huntington-Whitely , Jessica Alba , Angela Lindvall , and Anja Rubik , Karlie Kloss said, "I took ballet for many years; I've been up on that stage. I can totally understand the strength and discipline it takes to do that. I have real respect for those women." Added Lindvall, "I've just started doing aerial yoga. [This show] gave me a million ideas. Those girls really own it."

—Tina Isaac-Goizé

A Momentous Mercredi

On the Avenue Montaigne, the panel of forty fashion authorities (including Style.com's Tim Blanks) tasked with whittling down the LVMH Prize short list gathered alongside nominees' friends and fans to take a closer look at the fledgling talents. Even Karl Lagerfeld and Kanye West turned out to peruse. Some designers were relatively known, such as Simone Rocha and Simon Porte Jacquemus , but most were not. "I was very impressed by the diversity of applicants," remarked Delphine Arnault after her walk-through. "It's really exciting to meet them. These are the stars of tomorrow." Jean-Jacques Picart reckoned that he reviewed close to six hundred of the 1,221 submissions. "It's very interesting, and so moving—you sort of get addicted," he said. Offered Pat McGrath, "The quality of their work is incredible; it will be almost impossible to choose. But I've got to go home and get my brain together first!"



A few blocks up the Seine, at Monsieur Bleu, Vionnet owner Goga Ashkenazi and Olivier Zahm welcomed an eclectic bunch, including Anthony Vaccarello, Angela Lindvall , Farida Khelfa , André Saraiva , Catherine Baba , and Sarah Andelman, for a buzzy, loud, and decidedly Purple party that rocked over to Le Baron sometime after midnight, only to pick up even more steam. Emerging at the scene, Lindvall offered, "That's the thing about Purple parties: They mean endless nights!"



Meanwhile, on the Left Bank, things were taking a turn for the nostalgic. "It was definitely a trip down memory lane," said Lazaro Hernandez . "Oh, yeah, I mean, our collections are so autobiographical," added Jack McCullough . Hernandez again: "It's like, 'That's the idea we came up with that day on the road trip—'" "Or, 'Wow, remember that time we got in that fight…'" So concluded McCullough, as he and Hernandez talked about the process of putting together their new exhibition at Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche. The exhibition, which opened Wednesday evening with a cocktail soiree and a concert by Ariel Pink, features about eighty looks culled from more than ten years' worth of Proenza Schouler collections. And according to McCullough and Hernandez, it amounts to a very appropriate introduction to the French consumer.



"What's amazing is that Bon Marché is such a Paris institution," Hernandez noted, as guests such as Arizona Muse , Humberto Leon , and Victoria Traina milled around, studying looks. "And so this exhibit, it's not just for the French fashion people, it's for all the Parisians who shop here." Indeed, the store offered the Proenza boys prime real estate on the ground floor for the show, which includes not only clothes but a short film about Hernandez and McCullough and their creative process, and a video cube flashing up old show footage and collection prints. There is also a pop-up shop, with PS1s in exclusive colors and other Proenza goodies.



"I think the main thing we learned from this whole process was, we're more consistent than we give ourselves credit for," McCullough posited. "Yeah, we tend to feel kind of bipolar going from one show to the next," Hernandez added, "because the ideas are always so different." "But," inserted McCullough, in that familiar, dynamic Proenza Schouler duo way, "going back through everything, we were like, 'Oh, hey, we actually have a thing here, don't we?'"

—Tina Isaac-Goizé and Maya Singer

Swede Success

The last time H&M came to Paris, the Swedish fast-fashion chain was feting its capsule collaboration with Isabel Marant. Under a giant disco ball. Last night, the reason for all the champagne was the Fall collection of its own house label. Jessica Alba , Solange Knowles , and Miranda Kerr posed for the paparazzi in the front row, and French pop star Cécile Cassel (the half-sister of actor Vincent Cassel) performed onstage. H&M doesn't do anything small. On the catwalk, Joan Smalls, Mariacarla Boscono, Anna Ewers, and the gang wore big smiles and clothes that tapped into the season's key trends: oversize tailoring and wispy, lingerie-inspired slips; shearling outerwear (the shearling is faux, but the suede and leather are real); chunky sweaters; and even glittery sports jersey minidresses à la Tom Ford via Geoffrey Beene.



"We're always thinking about the girl who wants to look cool and effortless," said Ann-Sofie Johansson, the head of design, new development. It didn't go unnoticed by Jourdan Dunn , who sat out this show to watch from the front row with the other bold-facers. "I really liked the shearling that Nadja Bender was wearing and the white piece that Lindsey Wixson had on," she said. "There's a lot of wearable stuff. That's the thing about H&M, it's very wearable." From a pro like Dunn, that's high praise.

—Nicole Phelps

Ice Age, Redux

The Oscar ceremony may not take place until Sunday, but the celebrations have officially begun in Tinseltown. Bulgari, along with host Naomi Watts , celebrated red-carpet style across the ages last night at the Soho House. The brand brought together a bevy of starlets, including Olivia Munn , Emmy Rossum , and Dianna Agron , to pay homage to Hollywood glamour. Among a crowd that included Ashley Greene and Erin Wasson , guests eyed the oversize images lining the perimeter of the garden terrace, featuring celebrated actresses adorned in Bulgari bijoux. But not all thought was just about baubles—the impending red carpet was top of mind, too. "I hope there are bold choices that are made, because it's been a bit bland," Camilla Belle said. "I hope someone comes up with something very exciting, colorful, and fashion forward."



Representing one of this weekend's biggest contenders were American Hustle's Elisabeth Röhm and Jeremy Renner , who came to fete 130 years of Bulgari and settled into a back corner alongside Kate Hudson . Photographed amid the vitrines of archival and heritage gems, Watts, wearing a brilliant choker by the brand, reflected on the jewelry's timeless quality: "They're bold, dramatic, but not over the top. They've been around for such a long time, and yet their older stuff still stands up today," she said, admiring a picture of friend Nicole Kidman's own Bulgari moment overhead. But as an attendee of Sunday night's main event, Watts admitted she's yet to decide on a dress. "It's so hard to choose jewelry before the dress because that's obviously such a big part of it," she confessed. "If the dress doesn't look good, then the necklace doesn't get the right moment."

—Alexis Brunswick

Veruschka: From Vera to Veruschka

A Goode Cause

Eric Goode has a knack for bringing people together. First, it was with his iconic eighties New York nightclub, Area, and again last night, when many of those Area veterans gathered for a fundraiser at The Bowery Hotel for Goode's Turtle Conservancy in Ojai, California. Drawing together a crowd of friends from the eighties inevitably means one thing: nostalgia. "We probably met at Area, but my sober memory with Eric doesn't really start until the nineties, when we used to play basketball on the streets," said Fisher Stevens , who accepted an award for his support of the Conservancy. "It wasn't until recently that our relationship became about saving animals." Turns out, saving animals is a cause that can get a lot of people together: Peter Beard , Harvey Keitel , Scout LaRue Willis , Padma Lakshmi , and Stella Schnabel all came out to support the initiative.



An eighties photograph of Madonna taken by her then-stylist Maripol was a crowd favorite at the silent auction, as was an embellished turtle shell by Julian Schnabel (also in attendance). Wait, turtle shell? One guest took a double take: "I hope that thing died of natural causes! We're at a turtle fundraiser!" The origins of the shell weren't clear, but no matter: It ended up going for $40,000 at auction.



All jokes aside, as Goode explained, turtles are the most threatened group of animals on the planet. In addition, honeybees are mysteriously disappearing, as are crucial oxygen-producing plankton. Said Goode: "There have been five big extinctions on Earth; the last one was the dinosaurs. This extinction is the sixth, and unfortunately it's because of humans. But that also means that we hold the keys to the future." Stevens added: "And we have to do something. When the ecosystem falls apart, we fall apart." Club kids have to grow up at some point, right?

—Todd Plummer