Zac Posen celebrates the launch of his new Z Spoke line in Los Angeles

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There is never a shortage of celebrities at Mr. Chow on a Saturday night and this last weekend Zac Posen made sure of it by bringing his friends and fans, including Rachel Bilson, Amber Valetta, Emma Roberts and John Legend, to the Beverly Hills eatery to celebrate the launch of his new Z Spoke line.

“This is not a diffusion line or the ‘look for less’” said Posen, in between greeting the gaggle of socialites who would accost him every five seconds. Eva Chow and Vera Wang were the most exuberant, plowing through yours truly to get to the designer in what felt like a tipsy game of Red Rover. “The collection has its own identity along the lines of a Miu Miu. It’s for the gallerina, the hipster growing up and going to work. It’s for her, her mother and her grandmother,” he said. Classic American sportswear is a term that kept coming up too -- all words one would use when you wanna sell, sell, sell. And with a starting price point of $78, this line will bring the designer into a much more accessible market than his red carpet creations.

The night’s celebrities all modeled looks from Z Spoke. Emma Roberts, for example, was in a fitted black skirt, a red corset belt and a white blouse and Rachel Bilson sported a green-and-black-printed dress that she wore over her own black leather pants. “It’s nice to have all of the price options and something you can actually buy,” Bilson said. Thrifty Zac fans will have more to look forward to when he rolls out accessories for Z Spoke in fall 2010.

Earlier in the day, Posen met customers at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, making it there despite a blizzard delaying his flight from New York. Forty young women also braved rain to meet Posen in person and check out the his Z Spoke.

“I can’t afford the Zac Posen collection,” said Alex Margol, a student at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising . “I really like the [lower-priced] Z Spoke cardigans but I’m counting down the days until Posen’s Target collection [is out April 25].”

Posen said he designs Z Spoke for the “hipster that grew up” in both price and size: “I wanted to create a collection that’s age diverse and body diverse -- we go from 0 to size 14. Next season we go up to size 16. Our obi belts [$165] give shape and contour. Z Spoke is not just a diffusion of our top line, it’s quirky minimalist sportswear with American sophistication.’

Z Spoke’s prices start at $78 for a logo T-shirt and go to $445 for patterned stretch-knit dresses.

The crowd favorites were the brightly colored cardigans ($375) based on ones in Posen’s closet. ”I wear cashmere sweaters all the time,” he said.

When he’s in Los Angeles, Posen said he always makes a pit stop at vintage clothing store The Way We Wore, because owner “Doris Raymond has been a fairy godmother. I like driving up in Los Feliz. Since I’m a New Yorker, I love to drive. My friend Rosson Crow lives in Silver Lake and I visit her studio and see her paintings -- she does prints for my collection.’

Posen also enjoys celebrity haunt The Ivy.

“I go for chopped salad and crab cakes,” Posen said. “It’s such a hoot. I always think I’m in a 1980s movie in there.”

Z Spoke is available now, exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue.

-- Melissa Magsaysay and Max Padilla

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(bottom) Some looks from Z Spoke. Credit: Max Padilla