A fashionable turnout to MOCA's 30th

Drawing the international jet set, the Museum of Contemporary Art's 30th anniversary festivities this weekend were a reminder of how cozy the art and fashion worlds have become. Miuccia Prada kicked things off Friday night with a party at her epicenter on Rodeo Drive. All of the merchandise had been removed from the store, and the walls were covered in book-print wallpaper to celebrate the launch of the designer’s new tome, which documents the fashion house’s work on the runway and in film, art and architecture.

The same synergy was at work at the MOCA NEW gala Saturday, where Prada designed the costumes for a performance art piece created by her friend, Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli. Lady Gaga, in a crystal-mesh dress and a silver crinkly crown designed by Frank Gehry, played her song “Speechless” on a bright pink, butterfly-festooned piano customized by Damien Hirst as members of the Bolshoi Ballet twirled in tutus, also designed by Prada. (Nevermind that Michael York stumbled over Miuccia's name while introducing the work, described as the Ballets Russes, Italian-style.) The hat and costumes, as well as masks designed for the performance by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, are up for grabs in an online auction that ends Nov. 30, with proceeds benefiting the museum. 

The event, which raised $4 million, was co-chaired by philanthropist Eli Broad (museum savior, who rescued MOCA from financial ruin earlier this year) and arts advocate Maria Bell, gallery owner Larry Gagosian and Russian-born art wunderkind Dasha Zhukova. Grand Avenue was closed to traffic to make way for the enormous party tent with a marquee entrance. The dinner's theme was Russian, with shots of vodka and pickled vegetables at the tables and Russian propaganda-style posters lining the walls. 

Zhukova (above right), who is the girlfriend of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, the editor of British fashion magazine Pop, and half of the design team for denim label Kova & T *, looked radiant (at 7 ½ months pregnant) in a spidery black macrame and crochet fringe Rodarte dress. The Russian beauty is a new star in the art collecting world, having founded the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow in September.

Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy sat at Zhukova's table, along with designer-photographer Hedi Slimane and 13-year-old blogger Tavi Williams (who told us, at the previous evening's Prada event, that she had been personally invited by Zhukova).

At the pre-dinner cocktail party (with music "curated" by Pharrell Williams -- is it just us or is "curated" just a fancy way of saying "built a playlist"?), we ran into Los Angeles designer Jeremy Scott, wearing a leather harness on top of his tuxedo jacket that perfectly played off his Mohawk coif, and chatted briefly with celebrity blogger Perez Hilton -- who told us with some measure of glee that though the glittery hoodie he was wearing was from American Apparel, he was really excited about the outfit he'd assembled for the upcoming American Music Awards. He described it as a "kind of but not really sailor suit": white with navy blue accents from Moods of Norway, white Doc Martens and hair dyed "Gwen Stefani blond."

Guests at our table included John Legend, dashing in a Prada tuxedo and bow tie, and his girlfriend, model Christine Teigen, who had to be sewn into her peach-colored, asymetrically draped Prada cocktail frock. She was having a problem with the zipper, she said, and luckily the Bolshoi Ballet’s tailor was on hand at the Prada store to help prevent a wardrobe malfunction.

Other party people included Katherine Ross, wife of Michael Govan, director of the L.A. County Museum of Art, who wore a black gown with a hand-pleated bodice by L.A.’s J.C. Obando; Vogue West Coast Editor Lisa Love chose a black sequin Yves Saint Laurent tuxedo; Elizabeth Wiatt in a painterly sheath by Erdem Moralioglu; and actress Marisa Tomei (on the arm of Decades' Cameron Silver) in vintage pink Jean Desses. Angelina Jolie (in a black velvet strapless Armani Prive gown) and Brad Pitt (in a Tom Ford tuxedo) came and went before the gala began, telling photographers they had to attend a friend's wedding.

After the Damien Hirst-decorated Steinway & Sons. piano was auctioned off for $450,000, the cool kids decamped to an after party at the Prism Gallery in West Hollywood. (The Prism, founded by 23-year-old Australian gallerist and artist PC Valmorbida, opened on Thursday night with yet another shindig). On the way in, we chatted with Nicky Hilton, who was all a-sparkle in a short black sequin Bob Mackie dress she borrowed from her mother. “She just gave me all of this stuff by Mackie. I love it,” she said.

Designers Angela and Margherita Missoni were there, as was Tom Ford — complaining about the lighting in the cramped VIP party in the old restaurant space next door. (Now that he’s a film director and all.) For a few moments we cooled our heels next to Neil Patrick Harris, who seemed to be valiantly trying to stand out of harm's way as VIPs swarmed the porch with the urgency of spawning salmon headed upstream.

At one point the lights on the VIP veranda flickered off for a few seconds -- reminding us a bit of the opening moments of the evening's centerpiece (the full title of which was "Ballet Russes Italian Style (The Shortest Musical You Will Never See Again") and then went dark.

When they came back on, and we found ourselves butt-to-butt with Eva Mendes and Brian Grazer, elbow-to-elbow with Takashi Murakami and bust-to-bust with Rose McGowan, it felt for all the world like the evening's performance art hadn't really ended when Lady Gaga left the stage. 

It had just entered a second act.

-- Booth Moore and Adam Tschorn

*[Updated 11/17/09] An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Dasha Zhukova was no longer designing the label Kova & T.

Top photo: Lady Gaga, in a Prada dress and Frank Gehry hat, performing at the MOCA's 30th anniversary gala. Credit: Anne Johansson / For The Times.

Second photo from top: Dasha Zhukova in Rodarte. Credit: Wire Image.

Third photo: Marisa Tomei in vintage Jean Desses. Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

Fourth photo: Designer Jeremy Scott. Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

Bottom photo: Rose McGowan in Donna Karan. Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Runway fete for the 2009 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists

The 2009 Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists brought their designs to the Chateau Marmont last Friday for a runway show beneath the palm trees and billboards in the hotel’s back garden.

Sally Singer, fashion news director of Vogue, introduced the 11 women's wear, menswear, jewelry and accessory designers, who have worked in everything from banking to wardrobe styling and have trained under the likes of Helmut Lang, Karl Lagerfeld and Ralph Lauren.

Each designer showed five spring/summer 2010 looks. The afternoon's highlight was Ohne Titel, designed by Alexa Adams and Flora Gil, who met as students at Parsons School of Design. Their knit dresses, tops and leggings are really fabric art—a marvel of stark architectural lines, body-conscious banding and draping inspired by Egyptian wall paintings. (The two were also feted on Thursday night at the salon-style Zainab boutique in Hollywood, which carries their collection. )

Both Gary Graham and Alabama Chanin showed edgy prairie looks (corsets, petticoats and ticking stripes for Graham; homespun layers and fraying embroideries for Chanin), while L.A. shoe designer George Esquivel’s handmade boots and lace-up shoes looked lived in and loved.

In the menswear category, Simon Spurr is a rising star for slim-cut suits that are American prep with a dash of British tailoring. He said afterward that he wished his pieces had been ironed before hitting the runway, but I kind of liked their rumpled texture. (Decades' Cameron Silver wore his support on his sleeve -- literally -- turning out in one of Spurr's suits.)

The crowd was a chic one, filled with celebrities (ranging from the familiar faces, Eva Mendes, Mary-Kate Olsen and Jessica Alba, to relative newcomers including recently redheaded Lily Collins and "Glee's" Dianna Agron, who was bound for LAX and the World Series, where the cast would sing the National Anthem before Game 3).

There were plenty of designers looking on too (Juicy Couture’s Pamela Skaist Levy and Gela Nash Taylor, Russell Simmons, Jeremy Scott, J.C. Obando, Chrome Hearts’ Laurie Stark, Toms Shoes' Blake Mycoskie and Trovata's John Whitledge), along with hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai, the beauty partner for the event.

Model/designer Erin Wasson was dressed very Venice Beach boho, in blousy print pants and motorcycle boots, and carrying an ethnic handbag. (She was bound for the beach for Halloween, to go camping with her dogs and swim in her birthday suit, she said.) Commenting on her recent turn as preppy purveyor J. Crew’s catalog cover model, Wasson said she had heard more comments about that than anything else in her career. Apparently, some people in the blogosphere considered it a betrayal of her edgy image. Her response? "Hey, a model's got to work."

After the show Vogue West Coast Senior Editor Lisa Love, in a dress by Obando, a finalist from last year's competition, escorted guests to the lobby for Champagne, macarons and tea. The winner of the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund prize, which includes cash and industry mentoring, will be announced in New York on Nov. 15.

-- Booth Moore

Top photo: A spring look from Ohne Titel. Credit: Donato Sardella /WireImage courtesy of Vogue.

Bottom photo: A spring look from Simon Spurr. Credit: Donato Sardella /WireImage courtesy of Vogue.

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'This Is It' movie showcases Michael Jackson's fashion comeback [Updated]

At "Michael Jackson This Is It," moviegoers will not see the elaborate costumes created for the tour that never was, bedazzled with 4 million Swarovski crystals and lighted up using LED technology. Those are on display at the O2 Arena in London, where the tour had been scheduled to begin in July, and will go on to New York and Tokyo.

But what they will see, in addition to tough and tender moments that humanize the pop singer and one hell of a music and dance show, is an amazing array of designer outfits Jackson wore to rehearsals.

A black leather pagoda-sleeve jacket and a crystal-trimmed tuxedo designed by the likes of Christophe Decarnin for Balmain, Kris Van Assche for Dior Homme and Tom Ford speak to Jackson's renewed relevance in fashion circles, and the changing relationship between music and fashion.

Jackson became a style icon in the 1980s because of his individual, often theatrical styling choices for the stage -- the single sequined glove, the white socks, the fedora. But his recent comeback was engineered with the help of fashion designers, with Balmain's Decarnin recognizing the retro appeal of tennis-ball-shaped shoulders and over-the-top embroidery, and Jackson appearing in his designs.

Fashion Diary: Roll the credits on the spring runway season

Gossip, first impressions, trends in the making, celebrities and style setters. A regular feature by fashion critic Booth Moore.

The collections weren't just compelling this season, many of them were downright gripping. Just look at this amazing shot from John Galliano's show last week. The movie clapboard invitations set the scene for a "girl goes to Hollywood to become a star" theme. And the show didn't disappoint, with stunning visuals and a special effect that had bubbles falling from the ceiling and exploding into puffs of smoke in the models' wake.

The bias-cut chiffon gowns might have been fit for a starlet, but they didn't break any new ground for Galliano. But does that really matter anymore? He probably could have shown the same Hollywood-inspired collection he did a year ago; and between all the bubbles and Prince in the front row, no one would have noticed. Call it a sequel.

Coming on the heels of Rodarte's feathered Gothic romance in New York, Raf Simons' sultry strip down in Milan (complete with a soft-core film clip), Chanel's high-class barn-raising, Hermes' grassy tennis match and Alexander McQueen's Atlantis blockbuster in Paris, Galliano's cinematic tale underscored that fashion and entertainment are growing ever closer each season. (And I'm not talking about Lindsay Lohan's turn as creative advisor for Emanuel Ungaro.)

Paris Fashion Week: A fluttery mesh at Valentino

In a season when everyone is showing the kind of feminine frills and bows that Valentino made his signatures, it is too bad that the house's new designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli could not have produced a more compelling collection.

The focal point was the short dress done in boudoir pale shades of sheer organza folded and draped into overly frilly meringues, creating the effect of the dress wearing the woman, rather than the other way around. Gowns were also overwrought with too much sheer mesh, and too many bows and sequins.

Sparkly sheer lace pants and T-shirts, and a leather jacket covered in sculpted roses seemed to be on the right track, as far as making the brand relevant to a new generation. But even the limited edition shoes, customized by milliner Philip Treacy with stiff lace frills jutting out the back, couldn't disguise that this was a collection thin on ideas.

-- Booth Moore

Photos: Valentino's Spring-Summer 2010 runway

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Photo: Valentino's Spring-Summer 2010 show. Photo credit: Peter Stigter & Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times

Paris Fashion Week: Sexuality lurks beneath the surface at Miuccia Prada's Miu Miu collection

There was a sly sexuality to Miuccia Prada's Miu Miu collection, shown in Paris on Wednesday to a packed house that included actress Renee Zellweger.

Like little Lolitas with long braids in their hair, Prada's models stalked around the runway in cropped jackets and slim-fitting pants in white-on-black panther or reclining nude prints. Meow!

The covetable, girlish prints showed up on clutch purses and chunky platform shoes with ankle straps, too -- should be money in the bank.

Dresses with white schoolgirl collars and pleated skirts were short and sweet, with decolletage-enhancing details such as satin bustiers and crystals arranged in designs that suggested chandeliers, hearkening back to the terrific spring Prada collection shown in Milan two weeks ago. Double score for Miuccia.

-- Booth Moore

Photos: Miu Miu's Spring-Summer 2010 runway

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Photo: Miu Miu's Spring-Summer 2010 collection. Credit: Miu Miu

Paris Fashion Week: Marc Jacobs celebrates individualism at Louis Vuitton

Isn't it ironic that Marc Jacobs, creative director of a multi-million dollar global luxury goods empire that lives or dies by the allure of having the newest LV bag, would use the Paris runway to showcase individual style?

That's exactly what he did at Louis Vuitton, sending out a tribe of stylish ragamuffins in overgrown Afro hairstyles, that looked as if they got creative with whatever was in their closets and headed out to strut their stuff.

Nothing appeared expensive, sparkly or particularly new (though of course, it all was). In fact, a few of the oversized messenger bags in a faded LV logo print denim looked as if they could have been a few years old. Call it inconspicuous consumption.

With the runway show webcast live on Facebook, it was only natural for Jacobs to tap into the new democracy of fashion online. But what were the clashing print jumpers, LV logo-ed spandex shorts and patchwork plaid jackets really saying? That your look and your handbag don't need to change every season.

It was as if aspirational took a small step back toward accessible.

-- Booth Moore

Photos: Louis Vuitton's Spring-Summer 2010 runway

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Photo: Louis Vuitton's Spring-Summer 2010 show. Credit: Peter Stigter & Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times

Paris Fashion Week: Want a French twist on minimalist classics? Try Yves Saint Laurent

Stefano Pilati is on a roll at Yves Saint Laurent. For spring, he built on his terrific fall collection, further establishing the house as the premiere destination for minimalist classics with a French twist.

YSL is the place to go for a white pantsuit that looks like no other--crisp pants and a jacket with ballooning sleeves and a double collar. There's the shirtdress that's a wardrobe staple, and then there was the one that became a thing of beauty in Pilati's hands, with a funnel neck, bow-tied in front, and a softly draped skirt. Even a basic black leather pencil skirt had a chic twist--subtle black dots.

This collection was intended to be a study in contrasts, the sharp tailoring of a white sleeveless jacket offset by the romance of decorative pinwheels of pleats, for example.

But there were things that didn't work, such as shorts with corset lacing over the tummy (because every woman wants to draw attention to that area), and a passage of blousy peasant dresses with strawberry embroideries that felt like a silly intrusion into an otherwise grown-up and sophisticated look.

-- Booth Moore 

Photos: Yves Saint Laurent's Spring-Summer 2010 runway

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Photo: Yves Saint Laurent's Spring-Summer 2010 runway. Photo credit: Peter Stigter & Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times

Paris Fashion Week: Alexander McQueen embraces his role as fashion’s reigning provocateur

It was a story of eco-evolution wrapped around an Atlantis theme, combining Hollywood film effects with the latest in digital technology. And it was the coolest spectacle to hit the Paris runway in a long time.

At the end of a month-long, multi-city runway season showcasing the Spring 2010 collections, Alexander McQueen -- a man whose imagination knows no bounds -- fully embraced his role as fashion’s reigning provocateur. He webcast his sci-fi fantasy live through a collaboration with director Nick Knight and Showstudio.com, turning it into an unmediated, international event, instant content for the blog and Twitter-sphere and a powerful advertisement.

Paris Fashion Week: Chloe's drab line of 1970s-era canyon chic

Chloe's Hannah MacGibbon didn't fully capitalize on the momentum of her last spring collection of crepe blazers and shorts with softly scalloped edges, which became a kind of uniform for young Hollywood this summer.

For her new spring collection, the impulse toward rustic chic was a timely one. And there was undoubtedly a whiff of those stylish, 1970s-era ladies of the canyon in cream gauze wrap dresses, tiered, pleated chiffon gowns, oatmeal-colored blanket capes, stirrup pants and buttoned-up shirts, worn with flat brown sandals.

But many of these clothes crossed the line from utilitarian to dull. And the suffocating heat in the venue didn't help people stay awake.

-- Booth Moore

Photos: Chloe's Spring-Summer 2010 runway

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Photo: On the runway at Chloe's Spring-Summer 2010 show. Credit: Peter Stigter & Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times