Nab this Michael Kors gown for $800, or these Manolo Blahniks for $150, at the Posh Sale.

Not all European designers in New York this week came for the Costume Institute fete. Alexis Mabille, one of the bright young lights of Paris fashion, is in town to celebrate a friend's birthday. His Gotham sojourn provided a break from working on the collection he will show during the July haute couture season, the follow-up to his breakthrough effort in January in which he turned his fancy for fanciful bowties into a fabulous lineup of young, alluring clothes. While Mabille hopes to retain the chic factor next time out, he won't show at Angelina's tearoom again, and not only because the venue is too small to accommodate his growing guest list. It seems that Mabille has transferred his allegiance to another famed Parisian sweets emporium, Laduree, for which he has designed a bowtie cake, to hit the menu in June in several delectable flavors including citrus, strawberry and pistachio. "It's interesting to do something completely new," he said. Speaking of which, while his New York exploits typically center on downtown, this trip has taken Mabille off the beaten path of hip. On Wednesday a friend took him to the Frederick Law Olmstead Awards luncheon in Central Park's Conservatory Garden, named for the park's great landscape architect. There, he marveled at "all these ladies dressed in pastels." And one evening he found himself at Swifty's. "It wasn't young," he said, gallantly ignoring the occasionally indiscreet nips and tucks one might notice in such a venue. Rather, Mabille gauged the crowd by its accoutrements: "So many JAR earrings! So many Cartier necklaces!"

Top: A look from Alexis Mabille's January couture show. Bottom: Mabille with a model.

Now that Valentino has retired from the fashion house he founded, he's spending more and more time in New York. The city that never sleeps seems to be agreeing with the legendary designer, who is exhibiting a stamina that much younger party boys would envy. In the past ten days we're seen him at the New York City Ballet gala; at designer Adam Lippes' apartment for writer Bob Colacello's 61st birthday party; and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Insitute gala with Claudia Schiffer on his arm. Tonight, socialite-turned-actress Alison Sarofim will host a fete celebrating Valentino's 76th birthday party at her West Village townhouse.

Aside from the social scene, it may be the designer's new Jacques Grange-designed apartment that has made the Big Apple so alluring to Val. Unlike his more over-the-top residences in Capri, Rome, Gstaad and London (not to mention his Louis XIII-era chateau outside Paris) his Manhattan apartment is much more understated, according to Grange.  "He wanted it to be more modern and light. He wanted a change," Grange told me recently. One
impetus for the shift is Valentino's extensive collection of contemporary and modern art, for which he wanted a more neutral background. 

After last night's Broadway premiere of Top Girls—the star-studded cast includes Marisa Tomei, Martha Plimpton and Elizabeth Marvel—revelers headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for an after-party of schmoozing, boozing and a buffet of the restaurant's fine cuisine (think extra-drippy Caesar salad). I asked Plimpton what she thought of the party's venue. "It fits in with the theme of the play, I guess," said the actress. "How so?" I asked, trying to surmise the connection between Caryl Churchill's cerebral work and the neon-lit 43rd Street tourist destination. "Well, the 80's! For maybe 30 seconds in 1983, [this place] was really cool," she quipped.

Dressed in a sleek, sheer belted wool number, Plimpton herself looked anything but dated. Turns out that the ensemble was custom designed for her by Malan Breton, best known for his appearance on season three of Project Runway. The designer, who was also at the party, told me the two met via an unlikely and thoroughly modern channel: Myspace.com. "We had mutual friends," says Breton.

"Myspace is better than Facebook," Plimpton declared. "Facebook takes over your life!"

Above: Martha Plimpton with Malan Breton. Photo: Bennett Raglin/Wireimage

When Benoit Jamin and Isabelle Puech (above right) decided to upgrade their New York retail digs, they didn't comb the island, weighing the relative hipness factors of different neighborhoods. They just packed up their little Nolita Jamin Puech shop and moved around the corner to a new outpost on Prince Street that's triple the size. "We pulled this together in 20 days," says Puech, gesturing at the 1,400-square-foot space. "It's now the biggest of our eight stores, and we can show everything here. We couldn't do that before." Not that the shop is filled floor to ceiling with the culty, super-embellished handbags. In fact, the outsize furnishings play a starring role. Puech and Jamin went to great lengths to gussy up the place, making many trips to Paris's Marché Paul Bert in search of festive decorations. They also enlisted the help of interior designers Michel Perraches and Eric Miele to source industrial antique furniture and other beyond-the-fringe objets, including a waist-high stack of early 20th century leather gymnasium mats, WWII airport lamps used to land war planes and 19th century Venetian chairs accented with gold and silver leaf. Sourced in Europe and shipped Stateside, it's all for sale. So what happens if the store is stripped bare of its covetable décor? "We'll just rush back to the flea market as fast as we can," says Puech.