New York Fashion Week: Celebrities a must-have accessory
Celebrity sightings and New York Fashion Week go together like a navy blue blazer and gold buttons, and the fall-winter 2012 shows, which officially wrapped up here on Thursday, were no exception.
It’s to a designer’s advantage to invite high-profile potential customers — and sometimes even pay them for coming — since they attract publicity and help build buzz for the brand.
So stargazers had plenty to watch, starting as soon as New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz — three days off a Super Bowl win against the New England Patriots — cut the ribbon at Lincoln Center to kick off a series of Mercedes-Benz fashion week events. Two days later he took in his first-ever fashion show at Tommy Hilfiger, where he sat next to Bradley Cooper.
Academy Award nominee Viola Davis jetted in from the BAFTA Awards in London to sit front row with Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour at Vera Wang’s show. Emma Stone, her cast mate from “The Help,” and Rooney Mara, one of Davis’ competitors for lead actress, took in the Calvin Klein collection. Other high-profile fashion fans making the rounds included Zoe Saldana (seen at Prabal Gurung); “Smash” costars Anjelica Huston and Debra Messing (at Michael Kors); Jessica Alba (also at Michael Kors) and Uma Thurman (at Tommy Hilfiger’s women’s runway show).
Joe Jonas reportedly skipped the Grammys so he could take front-row seats at Simon Spurr and Calvin Klein’s men’s shows (among others), joined by Kellan Lutz. (Zac Efron sat with them at the Klein show.) “Today” show correspondent Jenna Bush Hager was spotted at J. Crew; Matt Damon took in his first show — Naeem Khan — on Valentine’s Day with wife Luciana Barroso; and soccer star David Beckham attended wife Victoria Beckham’s show.
The most surprising star-sighting had to be producer-director George Lucas, who seemed as out of place at the Rodarte show as a droid at the Mos Eisley Cantina. But he professed later that he is a fan of the Mulleavy sisters’ work. “My girlfriend wears them, and my daughter wears them, and I’ve seen them in Paris but never here,” he said.
