By Lisa Marsh
Special to DNAinfo
MANHATTAN — Sitting in the front row at Costello-Tagliapietra, Padma Lakshmi was nursing a sore throat Thursday.
"I was yelling at the party last night — the Amfar benefit," she said. "It was a lot of fun, but I had to leave early to go on Andy Cohen’s show. It was interesting to walk in last night in this huge ballgown dripping in diamonds. He was very excited." We bet.
Fresh from the spring campaign for Neiman Marcus, Susan Sarandon was in the next seat. "It’s fun to pull it together every once and again," she said of the campaign which also featured her daughter, Eva Amurri Martino. "There’s a video of the shoot as well."
For some designers, the first day of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week was an early one. About 30 of them trekked down to FIT to preview "Impact: Fifty Years of the CFDA." The 100 looks on display illustrate what each designer considers his or her moment of impact, something not so easy to define.
"It honestly was hard to come up with something that defined me," Reed Krakoff, who designs for Coach and his namesake line, told DNAinfo.
"I look at everything and I think, 'my dress looks so pathetic,'" said Diane von Furstenberg of her simple, yet iconic wrap dress.
Donna Karan was almost scared back to the drawing board. "I’m shocked how much the exhibition looks like what I’m going to show next week," she said.
The exhibit is open now through April 17, 2012.
Looking a little worse for the wear the morning after her catwalk debut, Aisha Tyler took in the Tadashi Shoji show. "I will say, Tadashi is always a mellow show and that's what I need today — there's no drama backstage," she said. What went on in the controlled chaos at the Heart Truth Red Dress Collection show?
All we can surmise is that Diet Pepsi must have some deep pockets to secure Mary Kate Olsen, Debra Messing, Kristen Chenoweth, Kelly Rutherford, a collection of reality show-types and socialites, for its front (and only) row at the Diet Pepsi Style Studio presentation in the tents Thursday evening — the mere mortals had to stand. The last time Diet Pepsi did something like this, it was rumored that Blake Lively was paid $40,000 to show up for a drive-by. Nice work if you can get it.
Also spotted serving at the Diet Pepsi Style Studio, Liberty floral print-loving Simon Doonan is sporting an uncharacteristic beard these days. "I’m having a sex change," he admitted to DNAinfo. "I’m finally becoming a man."
Adopting a serious tone, he added, “A lot of people I meet at airports call me ma’am. I figured out I’d better grow a beard because my gender was regularly being misidentified."
Doonan's husband Jonathan Adler designed the Pepsi set. "I’m all up in Pepsi’s grill and I love Diet Pepsi — yum," Adler admitted.
It is expected that editors and retailers have grueling show schedules, but a designer? Today, Tommy Hilfiger will attend Peter Som’s show, his daughter Ally’s show for NAHM and then show his own men’s wear. And, on Sunday, he’ll attend Simon Spurr’s show and show his own women’s wear. Som and Spurr consult with Hilfiger on his own collections, so his support makes sense. Or perhaps he just likes the attention.
Apparently, the paparazzi were so hungry for celebs Thursday that they chased Alexa Chung across the plaza at Lincoln Center. What does she do again?
For all DNAinfo.com's Fashion Week coverage, click here.
