FASHION : People Who Need Stylish People
Bicci is a chic restaurant around the corner from the Four Seasons hotel and the fashion crowd’s watering hole--hold the gas, as they say--while in Milan. Just in case a fool supposed he or she might crash the party inside, a sign on the door warns “Completely Booked,” more or less. Luckily, we had reservations for lunch and people-watching Thursday.
Who was there? Who wasn’t? The Armani People. The Gucci People. A Prada Person. The Harper’s Bazaar Crowd. Veteran model Carol Alt, her tiny waist cinched with a big black belt, in town for the Maska show (which also boasted Marisa Berenson, Ute Lemper and Dayle Hadden). And, saving best for last, we spotted the teeniest, tiniest little risotto lover, spitting up on mommy Patricia Duff’s trim-as-can-be shoulder, along with papa, Revlon’s Ron Perelman. You’re never too young to be seen in the right places.
Nipping at Their Heels: Super-models Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista, and Super-Model-in-Progress Bridget Hall skipped the Milan shows, leaving Kate Moss, Nadja Auermann, Claudia Schiffer, Kristen McMenamy and Naomi Campbell to carry the load of stardom all by their pretty selves. One “big model,” we were told by a “big designer,” actually arrived in Milan, but decided she was “too tired” to work and stayed in bed, a la Julia Roberts’ character in “Ready to Wear.” Drawing the most gossip here, though, was a tall blonde Brazilian model, Gianne Albertoni, who is rumored to be all of 13. Gianfranco Ferre told Women’s Wear Daily that Gianne wouldn’t be appearing in his show. “She has such a stupid face.”
Roommates: Speaking of “Ready to Wear,” the marble lobby at the Four Seasons here was the scene of many a “Ready to Wear” moment. Like models Amber Valetta (in long ivory cashmere coat and high-heeled black suede boots) and Shalom (looking stunningly boyish in gangly black pants, black Converse sneaks, leather jacket and de rigueur cigarette) settling their bill. “It’s not difficult,” Valetta was saying to the nice man at the front desk. “You just split the bill exactly in half and send half to my agency and half to hers. “ Trotting down all those runways for thousands of dollars an hour makes a girl cranky.
There’s a Conde Hush, All Over the World: Get out your score cards, please. The talk of Milan was how flamboyant stylemeister Andre Leon Talley had been knocked off his pretty perch at Vogue. Talley, you’ll recall, was profiled in the New Yorker’s recent fashion issue, and packs as much style per square inch as the late Diana Vreeland--sans the white pancake makeup, of course. Rumor-mongers suggest Talley had been pushing the magazine’s budget envelope, but the made-for-television fashion maven was overheard telling friends here, “I needed my independence.” Also newly independent is former L.A. Style fashion editor Anne Crawford, who was until recently fashion editor of Town & Country. Stay tuned.
