Dozens of A-list stars turned out Monday night at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to celebrate two visionary artists of the fashion industry.
The Annual Costume Institute Gala is one of New York City’s best-dressed red carpet events. The event is known as the “Oscars of the East.”
“It’s another illustration of what makes this city so exciting,” actress Sarah Jessica Parker said. “In large part due to Anna Wintour.”
Wintour, the co-chair and Vogue magazine editor-in-chief, played host to a crowd draped in masterpieces. “I always say you can look at a great fashion photograph and you can tell just as much as what’s going on in the world as a CBS news program,” Wintour said. “I mean, fashion is history, fashion is culture, fashion reflects the times, and that’s really what the Costume Institute sets out to do.”
The red carpet.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala on Monday had more than its share of gorgeous gowns on the red carpet, as we showed in our photo gallery. But there were some other fashion moments that were drawing stares for other reasons. Christina Ricci’s Thakoon dress with the ginourmous bow, for instance. Did she plan to stand up all night? Florence Welch’s Alexander McQueen made her look like a wedding cake or a polar bear. Marc Jacobs was the night’s most outre, in a transparent lace dress, white boxers and pilgrim-buckle shoes. “I didn’t want to be boring,” he reportedly said. Also eye-catching, but more in a good way, was model Coco Rocha who bypassed gowns for a stunning vintage Givenchy pants outfit, pink bustier, shoes by Sergio Rossi and pink dip-dyed hair. It didn’t quite match the occasion, but it sure was a fun look.
Alice Cooper, 64, plays himself in Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows,” which opens Friday. The film is set in the early 1970s, when Cooper was at the peak of his popularity. On the red carpet at the movie’s Hollywood premiere on Monday, he talked about aging — kind of. “They decided that they were going to do a computerized thing where they make me [look like I'm from] 1972,” he said. “And I said, ‘Well, don’t make me look younger. In ’72, I was a mess. I looked 20 years older in ’72 than I do now.’” [Los Angeles Times]
An Australian artist says the label on Madonna’s Truth or Dare fragrance ripped off his trademark logo. [Toronto Sun]
After the announcement a few days ago that the House of Schiaparelli is returning from the dead this year — it’s been closed since 1954 — people are wondering if John Galliano will be named creative director. [Cut]
Fashion designers are lauding the election of Francois Hollande as France’s new president. [WWD] (subscription required)
And now that she won’t bogged down by being first lady of France anymore, model Carla Bruni plans to release a new album in an effort to revive her show biz career. [Daily Mail]
Esteban Cortazar, best known for his three seasons at Emanuel Ungaro, is relaunching his signature brand, with the help of Net-a-Porter. [WWD] (subscription required)
A former employee is suing Chris Burch on charges of discrimination, saying he was fired for not being gay. The $1-million suit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, claims that Burch (ex-husband of Tory Burch) said he “only hired gay men because they were productive and he trusted them.” Burch’s lawyers deny the allegation. [New York Post]
Brad Pitt is the new celebrity face of Chanel No. 5, one of the world’s most classic women’s fragrances. [Racked]