Where do kids with life-threatening illnesses and Donatella Versace — she of the mile-high heels and skintight dresses — converge? Well (yesterday at least), at the Whitney. On Wednesday afternoon, the designer exercised her maternal muscles at an event for Art Unites, a charitable collaboration that aims to aid children in the US and China by exposure to the visual arts. Along with  Whitney director Adam Weinberg and artist Ellen Harvey, Versace joined a group of New York City kids with chronic diseases to produce drawings on the theme of “friendship.” The kids’ artwork will be fashioned into one-of-a-kind Versace tote bags, with proceeds going to the Starlight Children’s Foundation and One foundation. “After they finished, their faces were so happy,” Versace told us. “And it made me happy to think of the children.”

Last spring, upon parting ways with the new owners of Calypso, the fashion empire she founded with a single boutique in St. Barths in 1995 and grew into a $60 million operation, Christiane Celle wasn't exactly ready for life as a Caribbean beach bum. Instead, she opened Clic, a photography and art bookstore in New York's SoHo this past October. A month later, she debuted a second location in St. Barths, and in the time since, has opened two new SoHo gallery spaces and (most recently) a location in East Hampton.

What made you decide to open Clic?
When I sold Calypso, I decided that I wanted to do something very different. My husband [Antoine Verglas] is a photographer and I've been collecting books and photographs for years so this felt natural to me.

It's a difficult time for bookstores, with even Barnes & Noble shutting some of their locations. Does this concern you?
At somewhere like Barnes & Noble, there is always a section of photography books but you get a bit lost. I thought there was a need for a small, family-owned business for just photo and art books. Some of the books I carry you can find on Amazon.com but with art books and coffee table books I think people want to touch the them and see them in person.

What book will you be bringing as a hostess gift when you visit friends this summer?
One of my favorites is called Yard Sale by Adam Bartos. It's a great book full of all the weird things you see at summer yard sales. He's a great photographer.

Running a bookstore, you probably meet some interesting people.
The other day a man came with a book he had done when Andy Warhol died. He photographed the funeral and everyone who attended and he said, "You don't have my book. You should carry it!"

How is running a bookstore more challenging than running a fashion boutique?
At Calypso, we would just put a dress in the window and then 100 women would come in for the dress.

Do these books ever inspire you to want to design clothes again?
Yes, like when I got books about Chanel and Valentino into the store. I do miss fashion. I miss the traveling. I used to go to India. I used to go to Morocco. I know right now I can't do any fashion because I have a three-year non-compete clause with Calypso but I still go shopping and get excited when I meet new designers.

Have you met any great new designers?
I just met a girl who has a wonderful line called Harvey Faircloth. I recommended her to a friend of mine, who is going to carry the collection at her store. So yes, I'm still keeping an eye out.

What's your next big project?
We have a show opening July 13 at our 255 Centre Street gallery that features prints from a book by Karla and James Murrary called Storefront: The Disappearing Face of New York. It features about 400 images of small stores in New York shot over ten years. Almost half of them have already closed. It just shows that New York needs more family owned stores like ours.

 

Who says male models have nothing to talk about? Jon Kortajarena is known as one of the most colorful guys in the business, and that hasn't worked against him: He's everywhere these days, in editorial spreads and in ad campaigns from Tom Ford to Diesel. We caught up with the 24-year-old Spaniard in Paris yesterday, after the Louis Vuitton Men's show.
 
What was your worst modeling experience?
My first fashion week in Milan, at age 18. I was like, "What am I doing here?" I was feeling so alone. It was freezing cold and I didn't bring the right clothes. And I couldn't communicate because my English was even worse than it is now. Instead of saying, "She is blond," I would say, "She is yellow hair!"
 
What's the last book you read?
I just finished Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. It was very special. I'm in a difficult moment in my personal life now. Heart things. I don't mean medical heart problems—I mean relationships. Love things! So the book taught me about accepting life how it comes. Sometimes you are fighting for things you can't fight for.
 
Didn't you just work as an actor for the first time?
Yes. I can't give details about the movie yet, but it was an unbelievable experience. I felt more secure in front of the camera than in real life. In my normal life I have so many insecurities. I am learning from them, or trying to learn.
 
How much time do you spend at the gym?
Almost none. I really hate the gym. So I go running. When I lift weights I feel like I am hurting myself. I would rather do other things. Swimming sometimes. Why should I be two hours in a gym, suffering so much, with all these people that I don't know and don't want to know?
 
Have you ever fallen down on the runway?
Yes! It happened during, like, my second show! But I was lucky because it was on a stairway that was mostly hidden, so the audience couldn't see anything.
 
Who hits on you most often—women or men?
I don't get hit on a lot. Really. I do see people looking at me but normally it's me who takes the first step. (laughs) I'm the one who walks over to see what's going on.

Photo: Louis Vuitton Spring 2010 Men's collection, George Chinsee.

Yesterday at the Oscar de la Renta boutique on Madison Avenue, waiters carrying silver trays offered lemonade, white wine and Apple & Eve juice boxes. It was the launch of the designer’s first girls’ dress collection, and New York’s most polished mommies and preschoolers dutifully showed up. The collection, de la Renta’s first for children, does not hold back. Think: elaborate pleats, cap sleeves and ruffles in gorgeous fabrics (like a silk chine taffeta) that a trophy wife would weep over. The prices range from $220 to $330; the designer is donating $100 per dress to the Children’s Defense Fund.

Best friends Ivy Kargman, 3, and Landon Lipton, 3, got matching dresses

Jill Kargman, right, with Landon Lipton

Refreshments


Photos by Nicole Keating

Is it something in the Los Angeles River water? At last week's CFDA Fashion Awards, two of the top awards went to LA designers—Kate & Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte and Band of Outsiders's Scott Sternberg. So for a CFDA-award winning perspective on the TMZ, we sent Sternberg a Five Minute Questionnaire on taking home the trophy, dressing Paris Hilton and surviving life on the LA-NY axis.

The evening of the CFDA awards, describe in 10 words or less the 30 seconds after they called your name.
Hug, kiss, walk, carpet, stairs, stage, Jimmy Fallon, Italian dude.
 
How many trips a year between LA and NYC?  
10, give or take. 

Which airline?
Delta.

Would you ever show in LA?
No.

Would you ever move to New York?
Yes. No. Maybe.
 
What does the New York fashion & media elite not get about LA?
The importance of exceptionally good Mexican food in one's life.

What's the one article of clothing you would refuse to design?
Adult diapers.

What car do you drive?
A 2000 starter Benz.

What is your most memorable film-fashion moment?
My head's exploding with this question.  All memorable.  Top of mind is Godard's La Chinoise, from which I took inspiration for this fall's collection.

Speaking of designers and film, would you rather be a director, like Tom Ford, or the subject, like Valentino?
I would rather be a director, like Scott Sternberg.

If Paris Hilton called to borrow your clothes, what would you tell her?
That the moon is on fire and she better get outside and help put it out right this instant.

Which do you prefer: Hills or beach?
Hills.
 
Mozza Pizzeria or Mozza Osteria? 
Pizzeria.

Palm Springs or Joshua Tree? 
Palm Springs.

Waverly Inn or Monkey Bar?
No.

HuffPo or Perez Hilton?
HuffPo.

Sasha or Malia?
Tie.
 
Kris or Adam?
Dylan.
 
Jon or Kate?
 Who?

Photos: top, Steve Eichner; all others, George Chinsee.

This summer Dunhill is launching a luggage collection designed by Andrew Harper, the guru behind the exclusive monthly travel newsletter the Hideaway Report. But here’s the rub: Harper doesn’t really exist, at least not by name. The report is published by a man who journeys around the globe anonymously and uses the pseudonym for his writings; he took over the post from the original—and equally secretive—“Andrew Harper,” who launched the newsletter 30 years ago. Harper’s designs for Dunhill include a carryall, a document case and a rucksack—and no, he’s not worried about blowing his cover by toting his signature bags. “I expect that so many people will find the line appealing that I’ll be able to blend right in,” he says.

Rucksack, $1285.00 available at Dunhill.com

On Tuesday night, the spotlight was on Parsons' newly minted alumni at the Nolita boutique Debut. The shop's art gallery-inspired set-up was the perfect stage for the class of '09's impressive thesis collections, which featured everything from ostrich feathers to neoprene. Here, a look at a few of the standout young designers:


ROBERT FITZSIMMONS
For Fitzsimmons, 26, that old "if you don't succeed" adage couldn't ring more true. In just a few short years, he went from having his application portfolio rejected by Parsons to graduating with one of the school's highest honors, Designer of the Year for womenswear.  Fitzsimmons, who has also worked as a carpenter and painter, tells us that his sci-fi-esque collection was inspired by Maureen Dowd's book, Are Men Necessary? and explores a scenario of "polarized femininity, aggressive and delicate" in saturated hues and laser-cut lapels. (Debut's owner, Lisa Weiss, was actually sporting one of Fitzsimmons's designs, a blue shift made from an embossed technique he created by fusing three layers of fabric.)  "Most important for me is to work under someone whose ideals I admire," says the designer, who's currently interviewing with fashion houses. "Namely, an entrepeneurial spirit and a conviction about keeping production in New York."

JONATHAN COHEN
Fall might be the season to bring back the 80's, but the 23-year-old Cohen is taking it a step further.  Inspired by the cult documentary Paris is Burning, Cohen, a San Diego native, finds his muse in some of NYC's most celebrated drag queens of that period. With exuberantly colorful dresses, coats and skirts in sexy, dance-friendly silhouettes, the collection has enough personality to last another decade. But don't be put off by Cohen's fascination with the edgy drag subculture.  He loves its "excessive and upbeat" attitude but updates it with materials such as neoprene and feminine prints. Although he eventually would like to start his own line, "I want to work for a fashion house for a few years first," he says, mentioning Marc Jacobs, Christopher Kane, Phoebe Philo and Oscar de la Renta as a few designers he admires. "I'm sending out resumes and waiting to see what happens." 

FABIOLA ARIAS
Arias, 22, is the only designer in her class to have launched her own line while still at school. While completing her final year at Parsons, she sold her first ready-to-wear collection to Ikram, Michelle Obama's favorite Chicago boutique. "Ikram Goldman has been incredibly supportive," says Arias, who was born in Havana and raised in Miami. Arias's touchable dresses -- romantic confections of square, pixilated fabric -- reflect her background as a painter and were one of the standouts of the evening. Says Arias, "My goals for myself now that I've graduated are to expand my brand to women who view themselves as a visually composed collage of art, elegance and fantasy." 
 

Read more about this year's standout Parsons grads HERE

By now, we've received plenty of comments about Steven Klein's Bruce and Emma Willis shoot. As expected, many of them have been about Emma's mysterious gorilla suit. But a sizable number have been about the footwear—namely, the gravity-defying Nina Ricci lace-up platform boots that Emma flaunts.

Here's the deal: Olivier Theyskens created the boots for the Fall 2009 Nina Ricci show, where a few other versions (all with a sickle-shaped hole where the heel should be) were also on display, including one in glittery fuchsia. According to the designer, the platform of the shoe is handmade of wood, and there is an internal metal support to hold up the foot. The size of the platform is 11cm for a 10cm heel size.

We hear that between shots, Emma swapped the boots for her Ugg slippers, but managed quite well throughout the shoot, at times using Bruce as a crutch.
 
Accessories Market Editor Shiona Turini, no stranger to the killer shoe herself, says that she tried the Riccis on when they were in the office. "They were not impossible to walk in," she confirms. "You just had to lean forward."

Below, the glittery pink version from the Nina Ricci runway

Today's Daily News reports that none other than designer Yigal Azrouel is behind the breakup of Billy and Katie Lee Joel. We can't speak to the truth of it, but we can say that WWD reported last December that Katie and Yigal were constant companions during Art Basel Miami, dancing into the wee hours at the club Bella Rose one night, and making the rounds together at the big ArtForum party at the Bass Art Museum another night.

"My vision is not about fantasy; it's about reality. I design for women, and I have my eyes on what I want you to look like," the Israeli-born designer, 36, recently told W magazine (see our March 2009 story on him HERE). Aside from his successful women's collection, he now has retail stores in the Meatpacking District and East Hampton; a menswear line; and a brisk accessories business. As his friends know, he is rarely seen without a wrapped scarf himself, and he designs several styles each season. As he explains, "both boys and girls like them."

Photos: Steve Eichner, Christina Paige

At the CFDA awards, the stars of the evening are the fashion talents, of course. On Monday night, the spotlight was on the Mulleavy sisters, Italo Zucchelli, Alexander Wang, Justin Giunta, Anna Sui and the other big winners. (See WWD's full coverage of the event HERE.)

We'd like to take a moment, however, to call out a few of the best-dressed "civilians" of the evening. After all, it's the ladies who shop who keep fashion in business.

Daphne Guinness in Proenza Schouler, with Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough

Julie Macklowe in Calvin Klein

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld (in Balmain) and Sophia Hesketh

Dree Hemingway with (and in!) Alexander Wang

Amanda Brooks in Diane von Furstenberg

Photos: Guinness, Hemmingway: Scott Rudd; Others, Steve Eichner.