Anne Hathaway and Valentino Garavani; Beyoncé at the 2013 Met Gala
Gatsby at MoMA, Punk Style at the 2013 Met Gala
The starriest New York party I ever attended was The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala benefit last Monday. But lets take it back 24 hours, to Sunday night, when Dispatches caught a screening of The Great Gatsby at The Museum of Modern Art. Host Quintessentially Lifestyle invited a flood of notables: Eve, Prabal Gurung, David Schwimmer.
Carey Mulligan talked to Dispatches about director Baz Luhrmann's elaborate sets. “They’re amazingly helpful getting into character,” she said. Luhrmann himself noted that Leonardo DiCpario hooked him up with Jay-Z, one of the film's executive producers. “I told him my hip hop idea,” said Luhrmann. “And DiCaprio said, ‘Jay-Z is up at The Mercer, come meet him.’” Jay-Z happend to be working on a song when the trio met up—a song which ended up on the film's soundtrack.
On to Monday: The Met Gala was a real life 2013 update of a Gastby fête (multiplied by 100)—with punk styling. Held in celebration of the new exhibit "Punk: Chaos to Couture," the gala was hosted by Anna Wintour and Vogue. Co-host Rooney Mara arrived in a one-shoulder gown and Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci on her arm. “I’ve been dressing people I respect,” said Tisci. “And I’ve been working with Rooney and my gang very closely, to make a second skin.”
Fellow designer Tom Ford dressed in a classic tux, but the Mudd Club regular mentioned that his punk moment was New Wave. And I was jealous of Amare Stoudemire, because Calvin Klein loaned him a thin black leather tie, something I'd been hunting for all week.
Karolina Kurkova wore tons of first nuckle gold rings, one of which slipped off. She doubled back to Dispatches' spot on the carpet (while I was talking to Katie Holmes, also in Calvin Klein) searching for the lost bauble.
Madonna; Rooney Mara and Riccardo Tisci at the 2013 Met Gala
Zac Posen designed what he called a “mean and green” dress for Uma Thurman. “We both have punk inside us,” he offered. But Posen may have accidentally punked Thurman with the low cut of her dress.
The big names just didn’t stop arriving: Tiger Woods, Jennifer Lopez, my head couldn’t even bother turning for Kristen Stewart—although mobs of fans across Fifth Avenue were shrieking.
Kate Beckinsale wore Alberta Ferretti. “We went for rich punk,” she joked. And Hilaria Baldwin, dressed in Carmen Marc Valvo, said that she and fellow expectant mom Kim Kardashian bumped bellies when they hugged.
I took a deep breath from the heady celeb action; then Anne Hathaway and Valentino Garavani extended a cheery welcome. "I created this dress in 1992," said Valentino of Hathaway’s gown. She said she asked him if he’d ever done punk, and he said, “I don’t think so.”
Miranda Kerr had sharp silver spikes sticking out of the side of her purse. And not to be outdone, Sarah Jessica Parker wore a Philip Treacy mohawk headpiece. Vogue’s Hamish Bowles was her date. “Hamish has the after-afterparty to go to,” kidded SJP.
Beyoncé’s Givenchy boots laced way up her calves. I asked if Jay-Z had helped her tie them. “Jay is out of town!” she cried out, exasperated.
“Punk means not caring what people think [and] enjoying who I am!” said Madonna, who summed up how she was able to look hip in a short dress with a cross hanging from her ass on a chain in one word: "'tude." This gala was a ball.
Joseph Altuzarra at the New York City Ballet Spring Opening Night Gala; Chris Pine at the Star Trek Into Darkness premiere
Baz Luhrmann Talks Met Gala, New York City Ballet Fêtes Spring Opening Night
And on Tuesday, believe it or not, The Cinema Society and Town & Country magazine hosted yet another screening of The Great Gatsby. Lady Gaga and beau Taylor Kinney snuck in just before the film ran. She had long, straight blonde hair, a black dress, and big shoulders.
I chatted with Baz Luhrmann for 20 minutes, mostly about the previous night's Met Gala. “For me it was just the image of Rooney Mara in the punk look shaking everyone’s hands in the receiving line, very formally, with all the punk models running down the stairs,” he said. Luhrmann also said that he’d dreamed up the idea to do the film while traveling aboard the Orient-Express, drinking wine, and listening to The Great Gastby on Books on Tape.
As I had already seen the picture, I snuck off to designer (and collector) Jean Pigozzi’s apartment for the launch of his LimoLand swimwear for Barneys. Designed by Ettore Sottsass, the apartment is filled with Pigozzi’s collection of Japanese and African art. As for the swimwear, boat and airplane prints are inspired by the designer's friends' yachts and private planes. Loved that.
Then on Wednesday, designer Joseph Altuzarra debuted costumes that he created for the New York City Ballet at its Opening Night Spring Gala. Vacheron Constantin, the Swiss watch company, circa 1755, sponsored the event. “I'm wearing Band of Outsiders,” Altuzarra told Dispatches. “This freed me to do things I wouldn't normally,” he said of working with the Ballet. “It felt amazing!”
The next night, at the New York debut of Star Trek Into Darkness, Chris Pine let it slip that if asked he will play Captain Kirk yet again, “Whether I’m up for it or not,” he said, “I’m contractually obligated, but I can’t wait!” A thousand Trekies screamed as he signed autographs.
After Star Trek, I raced over to author Alexandra Lebenthal’s stately pad for the launch of her sister Claudia’s new website, Style of Sport. At the door, I told designer Bibhu Mohapatra (nice guy) how great Alexandra had looked in his gown at the Ballet's opening night.
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