Armani Alias Ali

Giorgio Armani insured his star status at this week’s presentation of the first Woolmark Awards for mens’ fashion by sending Ali MacGraw to accept the honor in his place. Held at the Mens Fashion Assn. press preview in Rye Brook, N.Y., on Thursday, the awards, sponsored by the Wool Bureau, replace the Cutty Sark Menswear Awards. Last year, Buckingham Wile, owners of Cutty Sark, ended its 9-year stint as sponsors of the Oscar of menswear. The other five Woolmark Awards given at a ceremony, presented by Lena Horne and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., went to American designers Joseph Abboud, Bill Robinson and Ronaldus Shamask, London designer Paul Smith and to the Gap for its creative advertising campaign and for bringing fashion to the mass market. About 800 fashion editors voted on a list of 10 nominees chosen by a committee of editors and retailers. Four special Woolmark Awards “for continuing influence on mens fashion” went to former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry, Estee Lauder, MTV and Ray-Ban.

Movie Closing

Closer to home, the doors to the Armani boutique in Beverly Hills were shut tight one day this week, while a movie was being made inside. Listen heard about it from our Hollywood correspondent, who happened to be walking by the store. The movie, “Joe Vs. the Volcano,” stars Tom Hanks, who will wear the designer’s clothes in most scenes.

Blackwell Broil

Mr. Blackwell’s Worst-Dressed List may cover 30 years of inflammatory observations, but now all those mortally (and otherwise) wounded can savor the sweet taste of revenge, at a Blackwell roast, Thursday at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Lynn Redgrave will host the ceremony, and a slew of celebs from Blackwell’s infamous threads list will tear their nemesis to shreds--verbally and with good humor, we presume. The irrepressible fashion critic says he’ll take it all in stride and notes that it’s for a worthy cause. Proceeds go into the coffers of the American Parkinson Disease Assn. He also concedes, “If you can hand it out, you’d better be able to take it.” And in his own defense, he maintains that the list, never meant as a vendetta, operates on this basic principle: “Whoever made the list needed one qualification--to be an honest-to-goodness mess.”

Places in the Heart

Actress Amy Irving, who is going through what the press calls “an amicable separation” from director Steven Spielberg, seemed to know exactly what she was looking for at the New Stone Age gallery in West Hollywood. Fran Ayres, co-owner of the gallery, tells us Irving went straight to a case containing earrings by New Orleans artist Thomas Mann. She purchased a pair of bronze hearts . . . and a pair of bronze daggers. Hmmmm.

Theo Heads for the Beach

Beverly Hills retailer Herb Fink may be the busiest merchant in town. Fink, who owns six Theodore stores and the Claude Montana and Sonia Rykiel boutiques in Beverly Hills, says he’s opening a Malibu Beach store (Theodore Beach) “probably” in August. He’s also expanding his Rodeo Drive Theodore shop by opening a 2,000-square-foot mezzanine, but isn’t willing to talk yet about the new designer lines that he’ll carry there. And he was recently appointed head of the Rodeo Drive Committee, which has an ambitious new agenda. Fink reports the group is presently cooking up an “unusual and exciting” Christmas program as well as an Easter parade. And that the Rodeo Drive designer fashion show, which was originally planned for this year, is now scheduled for 1990. “We’ll have 20 of the top designers in the world,” he says. “The problem this year was that we got started too late and were unable to get the proper backing on it for this year.” Oh yes, and the Rodeo Drive Committee is working on a beautification program that should eventually provide the street with new lampposts and sidewalks.

Premiere Struggle

Monday’s premiere of Paul Bartel’s new film, “Scenes From the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills,” filled the Directors Guild Theatre with stars. It was so crowded that Listen could find seats only in the second row. But that was close enough for actress Sally Kirkland (Oscar nominee for “Anna”), who took a place in the same row and said, “even with my glasses I’m pretty blind.” The post-premiere reception was a real dazzler, with the likes of Meg and Jennifer Tilly; Corbin Bernsen and his wife, Amanda Pays; Mary Crosby, and Beastie Boy/actor Adam Horovitz.

Leather Is Better

It’s the season when colors typically turn light and bright, but black is still playing well in some L.A. quarters. At North Beach, the leather store, actresses Theresa Russell, Soleil Moon Frye and Kathleen Quinlan all recently purchased black leather outfits: Russell picked up a black leather dress, Frye purchased a black leather bustier dress and Quinlan took home a black leather fringed jacket and black leather pants with silver ornaments on the legs. But it’s not just female celebs who are still hot on the black leather trail. “The Dating Game’s” Chuck Woolery bought three black leather jackets.