By Benjamin-Emile Le Hay 9/10/12 10:00pm

Fashion Week

The atmosphere of American Express Skybox. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for American Express)

Taking a Break Behind-the-Scenes Backstage with American Express

“We like that you feel a little chaotic and it’s all very well planned,” explained a representative from American Express. “This is an opportunity for us to give back to our premium card members who are passionate and we are giving them a very immersive experience, as you can see, with the models running around.”

Cardmembers are spoiled with backstage tours, coups de Champagne and a gourmet spread worthy of a sultan.

“They get rushed into a show right as it is about to begin and then the best part is that after the show they get to come back into the studio and the designer comes in for a Q&A,” we were informed by one of our hosts.

The Observer threw back a few a glasses in the sun-lit salon that had been tastefully decorated with cozy loungers and a private hair salon replete with stylists, before we were ushered to the front-row of Cushnie et Ochs’s runway presentation last Friday. Read More

By Irina Aleksander 6/09/10 2:35pm

Some Spikes With My Pearls, Please, Mummy!

The trick to finding your favorite designer at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards is to scan the room for their 6-foot-tall dates. On Monday, June 7, at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Gwyneth Paltrow’s sleek blond ponytail bobbed near Michael Kors; Devon Aoki’s dark mane meant Zac Posen was Read More

By Michael Miller 10/27/09 11:54pm

Eva-Licious! Actress Topples Tray; Designers Weave Through Festive Week

Big week for the fashion crowd!

On the eighth floor of Saks on Oct. 20, CFDA president Steven Kolb hosted a party for his organization’s American Fashion Cookbook, now in its second printing, though Mr. Kolb admitted: “If we were to do a recipe quiz with all the designers in the cookbook and asked Read More

By Chloe Malle 10/27/09 11:51pm

Quail for the Beasties: Weber Wistful as Tina and Harry Fete Donatella

Tina Brown was up to her old tricks on Tuesday, Oct. 21, hosting a luncheon for 50 with hubby Harold Evans, honoring fashion dowager Donatella Versace, at the couple’s maisonette near the East River.

Model Christie Brinkley arrived promptly, wearing a pale gray pencil skirt and matching motorcycle jacket. “We just drove in from Read More

By Caitlin Keating 6/17/09 12:26am

‘It’s a Family Affair,’ Says DVF of Celeb-Clogged CFDAs

Outside Alice Tully Hall on the evening of Tuesday, June 16, a large group of models was standing immobilized on a block of stairs. Inside, the Council of Fashion Designers of America were holding their annual awards.

The organizer’s president, designer Diane von Furstenberg, stood near the entrance in a white knee-length dress, snapping Read More

By Frank DiGiacomo 3/27/00 12:00am

Who Is Mayor Rudy Mincarelli in a New Thriller?

Fashion Week: Outta Gas?

What do Detroit assembly lines have to do with Manhattan hemlines?

Phil Guarascio’s announcement on March 17 that he will retire as vice president of corporate advertising and marketing for General Motors Corporation has heightened Seventh Avenue scuttlebutt that the Council of Fashion Designers of America is in danger of Read More