STYLE.COM/PRINT 04: FALL 2013

The Whitney Museum celebrated its twenty-second annual American Art Awards last night, with honorees including Reed Krakoff, philanthropist Martin Margulies, the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, and attorney Michael Ward Stout, a longtime legal advocate for artists. But their achievements were almost overshadowed by the question on everyone's mind: How is the new Whitney coming along? This past December, the last steel beam was installed in the new Meatpacking District location. Whitney cochairman Brooke Garber Neidich seemed excited, albeit a little anxious for the final stages of the project. "We're on schedule, on budget, and set to open in May 2015. But that's not very long at all in museum years!"

Dinner was nostalgic, a little less rowdy than the Whitney's Studio Party, and guests got to share what they love most about the museum on the brink of its new location's opening. "I love the Whitney," Diane von Furstenberg told Style.com. "But I loved when I heard they were moving downtown." That means no more treks up to Madison Avenue for DVF—the new site is just a stone's throw over The Standard hotel from her headquarters on Fourteenth Street.

After an acoustic performance of songs by Martha Wainwright, Krakoff opened up about his personal relationship with the Whitney. When they first met, he and wife Delphine would sneak away from work together. "We thought the most decadent thing in the world was to go to the museum on a Tuesday at 2:20, when nobody was there, and walk hand in hand through the galleries."

Jefferson Hack decided to take advantage of all the boldfaced names in L.A. between the two Coachella weekends by hosting a celebration of the latest issues of AnOther Magazine and AnOther Man with Mazdack Rassi at Milk Studios. While Michelle Williams graces AnOther Magazine's spring/summer issue, Another Man's latest went the way of music, featuring Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner. "There's a really strong creative community here, and it's more and more becoming a place for experimentation," Hack said of L.A., where the Arctic Monkeys made their latest album. "I think the space, the light, the lack of socializing that happens in other cities gives artists the time to hunker down and be in their own world—they've migrated here for those reasons."

And artists in all forms came out last night. Joshua Jackson, Frankie Rayder, Liberty Ross with brother Atticus Ross, and Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy all dined together just outside Rassi's studio space. And despite everyone's best efforts, conversation remained festival focused—even for Johan Lindeberg, whose weekend trip to Indio was brief. "I was there the first night, and then in the morning, when I woke up, I knew I could not do this, since I've been traveling so much," Lindeberg said. "So I took my car and drove four hours up into the desert to my friend's house close to Death Valley, stayed there one night, and then back down to Joshua Tree." As plates were cleared, a new stream of guests, including Hannah Bronfman, Hanne Gaby Odiele, and Orlando Bloom, filed in to the music of Irina Lazareanu and Warpaint, at perfect pace for Weekend Two.

"Neither rain, nor snow…" as the postal adage begins. Admittedly, there was no actual precipitation Tuesday night as Vanity Fair feted the start of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival at the State Supreme Courthouse—but there were some robust winds. Winds that were gamely braved by the well-heeled set. Despite dropping temperatures, Sienna Miller sported a flirty black frock, Karolina Kurkova bared an immaculately tan hint of midriff, and Evan Rachel Wood (baby bump included) opted for a sleeveless Gucci number.

One of the evening's hosts, Vanity Fair editor in chief Graydon Carter, was spotted with Fran Lebowitz comparing blazer sleeves to see whose navy was deeper. Style.com has yet to receive a conclusive verdict. The courthouse steps were lined with hundreds of illuminated paper flowers. As guests filed up the stairs to waiting trays of Champagne flutes, police commissioner Ray Kelly chatted with TFF cofounder Robert De Niro.

Vera Wang, wearing brocade trousers and a fedora, told Style.com that she hoped to attend some festival screenings but had other pressing business at hand—the finishing touches on her latest bridal collection, which she described as "a bit Breakfast at Tiffany's." For Rachel Roy, festival picks are all about family values: "My brother is the film curator of the MoMA, and I asked him what I should see!" Zac Posen was accompanied by model Tao Okamoto, wearing one of the designer's gowns, an exquisitely detailed canary confection that he summed up as "very Ladurée." Oui, Zac.

Whoopi Goldberg was on hand both as festival juror and filmmaker. Her Kickstarter-funded directorial debut, I Got Somethin' to Tell You, premieres at the Festival on Saturday. "[Directing] is never something I thought I would be doing, ever," she said. "It's a little freaky."

The Art Production Fund's Yvonne Force Villareal and Doreen Remen hosted their fourth annual spring benefit gala at ABC Carpet & Home last night, and the unusual setting charmed one and all. "The only problem with a magic carpet ride," Sir Salman Rushdie explained to Style.com, "is that I never know what to wear—it gets pretty cold up there." The dress code was "dreamy," and Remen's Alon Livne dress more than qualified. "We work with artists who are changing the world with their authentic voice," she said, "and people want to support that."

Support it they did. Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, and Kiki Smith came out to toast the evening's honorees, Richard Pandiscio and Yoko Ono, the latter of whom took the stage and assured them all that her art opus isn't coming to a close anytime soon. Ono has collaborated with the APF for years on "Imagine Peace" installations in Las Vegas, on the tops of New York City cabs, and at the Summer Olympics in London. "People think that when you get older, you get smaller and smaller," she said. "But my life is getting more and more exciting."

It's hard for the Bowery's contemporary-art institution, the New Museum, to throw a party in a space more impressive than its own Sky Room, which overlooks lower Manhattan, but Cipriani Wall Street was a close second for its annual Spring Gala last night. Jenna Lyons thought the usually buttoned-up Financial District space was a great place for a downtown art party: "That's what I like about the New Museum: They never pick the obvious choice."

The museum transformed the cavernous Greek Revival building by filling it with forty-four seven-foot white spheres suspended in the air. With a global helium shortage—who knew?—museum deputy director Karen Wong told Style.com it was no easy feat. And although one John Baldessari painting raised over $200,000 in the auction, Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa really only had eyes for those balloons. "I wish they had auctioned them off! They would have been perfect in my garden, for summertime."

Proenza Schouler's Lazaro Hernandez toyed with the idea of sucking the helium out of said balloons, but then again, maybe Cipriani wasn't the appropriate venue for such shenanigans. After all, he and Jack McCollough were honorary chairs of the evening. "We love the New Museum because it's near our office and makes for a quick trip," said McCollough. "We don't get out of the office much these days."

STYLE.COM/PRINT 04: FALL 2013

It's no secret that where Karl Lagerfeld goes, fashion follows. At last night's dinner celebrating the launch of his plastic shoe capsule for the Brazilian brand Melissa, the in-crowd was out in force. Carine Roitfeld, Olivier Zahm, André Leon Talley, Lady Amanda Harlech, and Arianna Huffington descended upon En Sushi in the West Village to toast the kaiser's tooty-fruity-scented kicks, some of which feature glittery ice-cream cone heels. "It was a very basic choice," said Lagerfeld of his accessories' scrumptious details.

"I met Karl a decade ago when we were shooting for V Man. We're like family," said model Brad Koenig during a cocktail fête at Melissa's Soho store earlier in the evening. (He's not exaggerating—Lagerfeld is his catwalking son Hudson's godfather). Indeed, the dinner had a "family" vibe— Michelle Harper and Jenny Shimizu demonstrated their workout routine at the table while munching on sashimi, guests like Karlie Kloss, Constance Jablonski, and Karolina Kurkova (who was pretty thrilled about winning The Face) giggled and struck silly poses for the camera, and Lagerfeld, who sat at the head table with the star of his Melissa campaign, Cara Delevingne, felt so at ease that he took off his famed sunglasses. (For those who are wondering, yes, there are eyes under there).

Speaking of the campaign, the bondage-tinged Karl-lensed photos lined the Melissa boutique, as well as the dimly lit sushi joint. "I loved it," said Delevingne of her provocative shoot. "I walked in and they were like, 'We got all the clothes from a sex shop,' and I was like, 'Perfect! Love it. Exactly what I want on a Monday afternoon!'" Karl's explanation of the theme? "I think people are frustrated," he said with a grin, suggesting that the increasingly popular "bondage look" was a vehicle to let loose. "And Cara took to it very well. I think she likes to play around."

It seems there's nothing like an Ayurvedic cleanse to sharpen an appetite for tequila. Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough landed in London direct from a three-day retreat in Mexico, and, if they managed to curb their desire for a cigarette, they definitely couldn't say no to the margaritas that were flowing like wine at the dinner Net-a-Porter's Natalie Massenet hosted for them last night. McCollough insisted tequila was the kick he needed to counter exhaustion, not just from all the cleansing and traveling, but also after an expedition earlier in the day to take in the Bowie exhibition mob scene.

The venue for the evening was the fancy steak house 34. Hernandez and McCollough, CFDA-nominated yet again, are also just 34, though Massenet insisted in her pre-dinner remarks that was pure coincidence. Not remotely random, however, has been Proenza Schouler's success on Net-a-Porter. Massenet indicated her own outfit and the dress worn by Freida Pinto as reasons why. She also said that was why the guest list was so heavily oriented toward women—Jonathan Newhouse, Juergen Teller, Dinos Chapman, Derek Blasberg, Imran Amed, Anthony Miles, and Daniel Marks notwithstanding. The ladies love Lazaro and Jack. But, last night, so did the guys.

Walking through the halls of Saturday night's Purple magazine party at Milk Studios Los Angeles, it was hard not to get the impression that everybody was somebody. At a minimum, they dressed the part. And with good reason, according to actor Paz de la Huerta. "I feel like Olivier doesn't follow trends. He doesn't follow people everybody already knows about. He picks out real artists—the rare gems and diamonds," she told Style.com. In the current issue, which features cover girl Miranda Kerr (well, OK, everybody already knows her), those gems include fashion designer J.W. Anderson and the Bronx-born artist Steve DiBenedetto.

Purple founder Olivier Zahm spent the night jumping from one downtown notable to the next. In between air-kisses for the likes of Pom Klementieff and Chloë Sevigny, he paused long enough to relay his thoughts on the current Zeitgeist. "It's the Instagram decade," he said. "And, in a way, people don't need magazines because of it. But what's interesting is that this permanent connection is also transitory and amnesia-inducing, so you lose the sense of time, which turns magazines into record-keepers. That's why I only do biannual issues. I would be lost in the moment doing monthly ones." MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch was among the revelers. "I've followed the magazine since the beginning," Deitch said. "Purple doesn't isolate art as a separate discipline. The magazine successfully folds it into design, and, of course, sex."