
Ginger Brang and Me
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
I may have missed New York Fashion Week because of the Toronto International Film Festival, but thanks to Hugo Boss, I enjoyed all of the highlights of a hot show last night—the sexy clothes, the drop-dead gorgeous models and, of course, the A-List celebrities in the front row. In fact, stunning Julianne Moore was sitting right in front of me—and next to Hal Rubenstein and Cindy Weber-Cleary, In Style’s fabulous Fashion Directors.

Cindy Weber-Cleary and Hal Rubenstein
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
"It looks so beautiful--I love it!" Kristen Davis raved about Julianne’s return to her redheaded roots (she briefly went blonde for a film role). A photographer appeared and begged to take their picture together. "Okay, but I'm going to get in trouble," Kristen joked before briefly posing with Julianne, then bolting back to take her seat on the other side of the catwalk, where she was perched next to actresses Maggie Gyllenhaal and Kate Winslet (like Julianne, they were dressed head to toe in Boss Black). When the lights went down and the blonde models began strutting down the runway, Maggie and Kate whispered their reviews of the revealing looks to one another.

Photo: Patrick McMullan
A different type of show got underway after the fashion action ended: Suddenly waitresses dressed in French maid uniforms wheeled out carts containing carbs (!) and champagne flutes filled to the rim with bubbly. The crowd then poured themselves into a room that resembled a post-modern jazz club, where waiters served small plates of Chilean sea bass and the Moet flowed freely all night long. Think: Dim lighting, black walls, leather furniture--it was a sexy, smoky scene illuminated only by strips of neon lavendar lights on the ceiling. On a small stage, that fashionista Woody Allen and his band played jazz as everybody’s favorite DJs, The MisShapes, prepared for their late-night set.

Me and Leigh Lezark
Photo: Patrick McMullan
"I'm obsessed with the new Radiohead album, but I'm not sure that I can follow Woody with that kind of music," the MisShapes’ Leigh Lezark told me. I was impressed with Leigh’s rock star lifestyle—she had just flown in from L.A. and she was fighting off her jet-lag with a glass of champagne, so clearly she’s not afraid to drink and deejay. Nearby, I bumped into one of my favorite photographers, Patrick McMullan. (Like Leigh, Patrick has a new book out called Glamour Girls, so if you’re looking for cool holiday gifts, well, look no further than these two stylish tomes.) "I have to constantly keep moving—I’m like a shark," joked Patrick, who then introduced me to actress Olivia Palermo. "I'm a big fan of your magazine," said Olivia, who is also a part-time model. “I just did a shoot with my friend Lydia Hearst for Heatherette,” she added. “It was wild! I had lightning bolts painted on my face." And to prove it, she showed me the David Bowie-inspired results on her Blackberry. Fashion rocks!
-- James Patrick Herman