erin wasson

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld gathered his always interesting mix of fashion and art friends together in the Lower East Side last night to debut "The Martus Maw," an exhibition of sixteen mixed media pieces from the French artist Nicolas Pol. It was the fourth presentation from Feedback, the art firm Vladimir opened in 2008.

The space he chose was a former packing plant, and the meat hooks dangling from the ceiling presented an interesting counterpoint to the neon-accented pieces and the glam crowd sipping champagne to tunes from DJ Nick Cohen. The event was thrown in conjunction with RVCA's artist network, and fittingly, friend of the label Erin Wasson came out to rub shoulders with an otherwise Euro-heavy set that included Stavros Niarchos, Daphne Guiness, and Olympia Scarry.

Vladimir's mother Carine practically stole the show, however, when she arrived wearing head-to-toe lace and a black cape with Jean Paul Gaultier in tow. Once the preview wrapped up, a select few headed over for a meal at Vlad's favoritie restaurant, Indochine.

Photos courtesy Patrick McMullan

The Accessories Council hosted their annual ACE Awards in NYC last night to honor the most influential movers and shakers in the industry. Tomas Maier was on hand to be celebrated as designer of the year for his work with Bottega Veneta, and Diane von Furstenberg smiled with a DvF-clad Molly Sims before heading in to accept the Accessory Visionary award. Hilary Rhoda took a turn down the carpet, while fellow model Agyness Deyn was there to pick up Burberry's Brand of the Year Award on behalf of her good friend Christopher Bailey.

We caught a moment with TOMS's Blake Mycoskie, who was honored with the year's Humanitarian Award. He posed for photos in a black velvet Dolce & Gabbana tux that he paired with a zebra-print pair of TOMS straight from his new holiday collection. Mycoskie arrived alongside a Victoria Beckham-wearing Erin Wasson, which got us thinking about a future Erin Wasson x TOMS collaboration. "Maybe!" Mycoskie said. "You know I need more and more talented people. I am running out of ideas." The pair apparently go way back after meeting in their native Texas a few years ago. "We're both from Texas," said Wasson. "I met him three years ago in Dallas during his first of his TOMS American tour. They were cruising around in an Airstream, going around store to store when they first were starting the company, and that's how we met."

Nine West's Fred Allard won the evening's Visionary Award, and he opened up about the trends he's sees being big this Winter — he finds the over-the-knee boots "very sexy" but thinks clogs are "not a major trend." Despite saying that celebrities like Halle Berry, Rihanna, and Eva Longoria are big fans of Nine West, Allard won't be hiring them for any ad campaigns in the near future. He said, "Celebrities are attached to a very strong personality. We decide to pick our models and change our models every two seasons and there is a reason behind that. I just don't want to be stuck with one vision of a woman. . . we are fashion shoes for the masses."

Lady Gaga, meanwhile, turned up over an hour late and quickly posed for the waiting cameras before heading in to accept the Stylemaker Award from Marc Jacobs. Other guests included Alexander Wang, Glenda Bailey, Christian Siriano, and a Zappos-friendly Betsey Johnson — click here to see the full list of winners.

New York 11/02/09. Getty and Pacific Coast News Online

You've seen most of the front stage at New York Fashion Week. Now it's time to go to the back, where designers are putting finishing touches on their creations and models are getting dolled up. This gorgeous foursome posed right after getting their makeup done at Nicole Miller. It's a highly stressful place to be right before a show, but backstage is simultaneously thrilling. Celebs, models, designers, press — it's a necessary madhouse. Ready? Grab your pass, let's go!

>> Alexander Wang may have changed up his collection's look for Spring 2010, but he's not about to lose his street cred.  He partnered with Katie Grand and LOVE, rented out a Mobil gas station last night, and brought a crowd — which included Trish Goff, Daphne Guinness, L'Wren Scott, Erin Wasson, Vanessa Traina, plus fellow designers Esteban Cortazar and Gareth Pugh.

Despite the fact that the station's gas tanks were drained yesterday afternoon and the venue drenched with nonflammable suds, cigarettes were verboten; nicotine-dependent guests were constantly reminded with "Please stop smoking!" announcements. To take their minds off those forbidden cigarette, there were performances by both Courtney Love, who told the audience she received (ironically) a carton of cigarettes and a pair of shoes to play, and Santigold; plus guests had a free run of anything in the station's convenience store: Bee Shaffer took advantage of the candy aisle.

Alexander, for his part, seemed to be enjoying himself — he chatted up Lily Donaldson and Frankie Rayder, got down with Hanne Gaby Odiele (below), and jumped onstage and into Courtney Love's arms during her performance.

>> Alexander Wang hinted recently that he was ready to evolve, telling W's September 2009 issue: "As soon as people get used to what you’re doing, you have to change direction."  And evolve he did for Spring 2010: the look of his last few collections, with their body-clinging shapes and primarily black palettes, was replaced by a generally looser silhouette and all shades of khaki, tan, olive, and gray.  He told WWD that Spring 2010 for him "is very much about classic American sportswear," and the idea is visible in pieces like a sweatshirt dress with football pad detailing (below) and all the shinguard-like socks cut out at the back of the calf.

But Wang didn't give up the sexy side of his label — there were plenty of bra tops, crop tops, and and lingerie-style shorts to go around.  The house was unsurprisingly packed, with Katie Grand (Wang's after-party co-host), Terry Richardson, Olivier Zahm, Diane von Furstenberg (Alex's CFDA-appointed mentor), Erin Wasson, Devon Aoki, Liya Kebede, and Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin all front row.  Frankie Rayder, Angela Lindvall, and Iselin Steiro walked, newcomer Mirte Maas opened, Karl Templer styled, and Wang's three styles of sunglasses debuted.

>> Erin Wasson, who dropped by Charlotte Ronson just hours before her own RVCA show, brought the party to the Tents with a little live performance by Gang Gang Dance while a movie shot in the California desert played above them on a big screen, reflecting the show's inspiration.  Behati Prinsloo and boyfriend Jamie Strachan were front row, as were Bruce Willis and his wife Emma Heming; the runway for Erin's first catwalk show got underway fashionably late — almost an hour after the scheduled time.  

She told the Huffington Post of her move from presentation to the biggest Tent: "I was given a wonderful opportunity to be here. I did have doubts though. Was it too much too soon? Who am I to think that I belong here? It was very humbling. It was a very hard decision to make but when life hands me an opportunity I'm always up for the challenge. Go big, and go home!"  As for her appearance as a party girl in Sofia Coppola's upcoming movie Somewhere: "[It's] half a second. If you blink you're going to miss me. I have no speaking lines."