The next night I went with a couple friends to the Belvedere party, which every model and their mother decided to attend. I should have known when I saw on the invite that the Misshapes were the DJs that it would be model central. I mean models to the Misshapes are like gold diggers to investment bankers.  Keep reading…

But more importantly, vodka connoisseur, and one of my favorite memoirists, Chelsea Handler was there along with more former boss Ashley Olsen (no really I used to work for the Olsen twins, and no she didn’t remember me), Estelle, and Matthew Williamson. I really wanted to run up to Chelsea and tell her we’re secret BFFs, but fortunately I didn’t have that much vodka yet.

The good part is they gave us goodie bags with bottles of Belvedere so when we moseyed over to the Paper Planes party which was NOT open bar (tsk, tsk) we could use our bottles to doctor up some soda water on our own.

Nonetheless I loved the new issue. It was nice to see something super colorful and FUN for a change! I love fashion, but sometimes it just takes itself too seriously. But I digress. My new fav DJ Harley Viera Newton was shot by Fernando Lahoz and Walker Brockington for the issue. And she looks HOT!

A favorite to fashionistas everywhere, Henry Holland was a hit at London Fashion Week with Pixie Geldof, Little Boots, Alexa Chung, and Estelle in attendance, and now HH has announced that his new line, H! By Henry Holland will be sold at the department store Debenhams, selling for 5-60 Euros.  Never fear US fans, the collection will be online too! Look for it in stores and online in February 2010. I can’t wait!

LINK LOVE: In Style

News has it designer Rachel Roy will be teaming up with Estelle to launch a  jewelry line! The edgy collaboration is set to hit shelves in spring 2010. In addition to the jewelry collection, Estelle has plans to host the opening party for Rachel’s pop-up shop during fashion week this September.

Dita Von Teese, Katy Perry. Tokio Hotel, N.E.R.D, Estelle, Cyndi Lauper, Dangerous Muse,Robyn, Róisín Murphy, Yelle, Moby, Yoko Ono, and Katharine Hamnett are the celebrities joining H&M and Designers Against AIDS (DAA) for Fashion Against AIDS, to help fight the disease and raise youth awareness.

All of the celebs collaborated with H&M on designs for T-shirts, T-shirt dresses, vests and bodies. 25% of the sales price will be donated to youth HIV/AIDS awareness projects. The collection, in 100% organic cotton, for both guys and girls will go on sale in H&M’s youth DIVIDED department from May 28 2009.

LINKAGE: Just Jared

The designer ears are currently being auctioned and will be available for one month, you can buy a pair on buyoncegivetwice.co.uk, and all the proceeds go to Great Ormand Street Hospital Children’s Charity in order to help redevelop this incredible hospital.

LINKAGE: My Fashion Life

I’m often fond of saying that after a certain while, living in New York becomes like living on a Monopoly board: same players, same places, same scene—the only thing missing is the free parking.

I found myself reminiscing about Fashion Week as I exited the cab on the south corner of Bryant Park for my first event on Wednesday evening: the Rachel by Rachel Roy launch and über-private reception in her showroom.

Arriving on the twenty-something floor and walking into the well-appointed and chic showroom space, I almost felt like I was back in the exclusive Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge where many happy memories have been formed over the past three seasons, most involving champagne and celebrities.

My first instinct was to relieve one handsome cater waiter of a cocktail and then scope out the room.  Teen Vogue editor Amy Astley was perusing the collection while Beth Ostrosky Stern mingled with other guests that included Kelly Killoren Bensimon and model-turned-DJ Sky Nellor.  In the back, Alexandra Richards was DJing, playing lots of Cut/Copy and MGMT that put me more in the mood to dance than look at clothes.

I went over to Ms. Roy to ask her about her new collection.  She was imposingly tall with dark, piercing eyes.  “The new collection is a bit younger and edgier,” she said.  “It’ll be sold exclusively in Macy’s beginning in early August.”

My next stop was the Belvedere Black Raspberry launch party downtown in a pop up space created just for the three-night long celebration.  Inside, slogans like “Maceration is perfectly natural” lined the walls.  Confused but intrigued, I had to ask one of the publicists outside what this meant.  Apparently, maceration is one of those words like “jactation” that sounds dirty but is actually quite technical—it refers to some type of esoteric fermentation process that infuses fruit with vodka.  Sexy stuff.

Within the next half hour, nearly everyone that had been at the Rachel Roy presentation was now here, drinking their macerated cocktails (there’s a two-word combination that definitely sounds dirty but isn’t).  Kelly Bensimon was the first celebrity to arrive, carrying the Jonathan Kelsey “Belvie” bag, specially designed for the occasion.  Sky Nellor also made the trip downtown.  “I’m flying out to LA to DJ the USA/Vanity Fair party,” she told me when I asked her what she was up to.

Soon after, the woman of the hour, Estelle, arrived to a flurry of flashbulbs.  “I’m working on my new album,” she said when I finally got my chance to speak to her.   Next up was Erin Lucas from The City, wearing a lace ensemble with Christian Louboutin pumps.  We talked about sudden fame and having cameras around all the time—both seemed quite natural to her.

The next evening all my events were on the same corner of the Monopoly board in SoHo.  Running an hour behind, I headed over to a giant loft for the Serge Strosberg vernissage called “Les Demoiselles de New York” featuring nightlife icons such as Kenny Kenny painted in an expressionist style on a giant tableau.

After a few minutes, I had already rolled the dice and landed at my next stop: The Randolph on Broome for the StyleCaster/Famegame party.  The tiny space filled up quickly—to the point that it was nearly impossible to move—no one was passing go, no one was collecting a cocktail at the bar.  We stayed for a drink and on the way out and once again ran into Erin Lucas as well as designer Keith Lissner (now also a cast member on Bravo’s Project Runway spinoff, The Fashion Show).

We had come full circle when we ended up once again at the Belvedere pop up space for the second night’s party with Out Magazine hosted by Patrick Duffy.  I first said hello to Kenny Kenny who I had just missed at the vernissage before hijacking the passed hors d’oeuvres plate.  Perhaps to escape the monotony of characters that had been imported from The Randolph, I soon turned to drink—a dangerous thing in the presence of an open vodka bar.  Before I knew it, I’d ended up at the unofficial after party at SubMercer, hanging out with a group of drag queens when in walked Erin Lucas.  If one of us owned the properties on which we both seemed to keep landing, the other would definitely be mortgaging Pennsylvania Railroad right about now.

At the end of the day, maybe it’s sort of comforting knowing more or less exactly what’s to be expected with each event—after all, when you take a chance, you might just end up in jail.

Adrien Field

In New York, as in The Beatles’ song, you get by with a little help from your friends. So, when you find yourself not invited to any fun events, you reach out to those around you and do everything short of begging to be their plus one.

When on Sunday at the DKNY fragrance launch my publicist/friend Meghan invited me to the GenArt party that Tuesday night, I jumped at the opportunity. The GenArt film festival had already been in full swing since last week and I had yet to attend an event. It seemed fitting the party was hosted at BLVD on the Bowery as this year’s main sponsor was a car company.

Exiting the cab, I had high hopes when I saw paparazzi circling outside like hungry vultures—furtively glancing over in a vain hope one might take my picture. When that inevitably did not occur, I at least expected a celebrity-packed room inside. While there were a few bold-face names including Moby, Jennifer Love-Hewitt and that minx of a teacher from Gossip Girl who seduces Dan Humphrey, they were hidden away as GenArt separated the famous from the ticket-buying fans.

Even though I wasn’t one of the people forking over cash to go and gawk at B-list celebrities, I still couldn’t help but feel a little unfabulous after the event. So attending a party for “Beautiful People” was exactly what I needed to get my spirits and ego back where they belong: in a deluded fairytale world of red carpets and photographers.

You know a party’s exclusive when an editor can’t get into his own magazine’s event. On Thursday night, the stretch of sidewalk around Ninth Avenue and W 16th street was packed shoulder to shoulder with hipsters and downtown nightlife fixtures all vying to get inside Hiro ballroom for Paper Magazine’s “Beautiful People” party, celebrating the latest issue.

Word on the street was the event had received over 4,000 RSVPs and so the door was tighter than Joan River’s face. Thanks to my photo in the last issue and blatant disregard for the two-block-long line, I was lucky enough to make it inside, briefly making an appearance on the step and repeat before heading downstairs to partake in the revelry and company of the evening’s beautiful people.

Guests who made it in before the fire marshals put Hiro in lockdown included Kat DeLuna, Erin Fetherston, The Blonds, and Richie Rich while among those stuck outside were recording artist Estelle, Lydia Hearst, Paper Editor-at-Large Peter Davis and countless others.

While hundreds were left simultaneously fuming and freezing outside, inside DJ Cassidy—who also appeared in the issue—warmed up the party with a set of mostly 80’s dance hits. By 9:30, everyone seemed to be feverishly awaiting cover girl Katy Perry’s performance. Camera flashes exploded as Katy came on stage in a shimmery sequin mini-dress and launched into Hot N’ Cold. She rounded out her four-song set with a spirited rendition of “I Kissed A Girl,” all the while wielding a giant inflatable tube of chapstick.

After a night like that, I would have normally cashed out and ended the week on a high note, but when I heard from a much cooler friend there was a secret “Free Beatrice” party being held to rally support for the recently shuttered haughty hipster haven, I knew I couldn’t miss it—if only for indulging my ego by getting into yet another ultra-exclusive fête.

It was with some nervous excitement that on Friday night I made my way to the chic and newly opened Cooper Square Hotel where an elevator took us up to a giant penthouse with soaring city views on all sides. The picturesque location was probably the furthest thing from the darkened and dungeon-like basement of Beatrice, but the skinny hipsters were very much the same. There was smoking, Mary-Kate Olson and guys relieving themselves off the balcony and in the showers—all proving that you can the hipsters out of The Beatrice, but you can’t take The Beatrice out of the Hipsters.

Adrien Field

www.AdrienField.com

Adrien@AdrienField.com