Fashion Scoops: Spotting Madonna … Full Frontal Dress … Seven Up

SPOTTING MADONNA: Where do you go in L.A. after a hard day’s shoot? Madonna and Guy Ritchie headed for L.A.’s Locanda Veneta, the popular Italian bistro on Third Street, after shooting the October cover of Vanity Fair all day on Saturday. Perched in a little corner near the window, the couple dined late, Madge donning tight low-waist black pants and a cropped black top, her hair styled in a tightly curled chin-length bob, à la her "Dick Tracy" period. Diners hardly noticed the low-key couple — but the paparazzi sure did. Ten photographers had gathered in front of the restaurant by the time the two finished their meal.



FULL FRONTAL DRESS: One of the possible side effects of running a hip boutique in Los Angeles is that you just might be scooped up by Hollywood. That, apparently, is what happened to designer Nathalie Seaver, owner of Seaver at 8360 West Third Street, who was plucked by director Steven Soderbergh for "Full Frontal." The film opens Friday and stars Julia Roberts and Mary McCormack. Soderbergh commissioned the designer to create an over-the-top black sequined halter dress for an Eliza Doolittle-esque scene in which a sweats-clad McCormack transforms herself. Seaver even got a cameo. "It’s really like a Liza Minnelli-Halston dress from the Seventies," she said. "It’s one of those things that someone who doesn’t know what to pick will think is the right thing." For all the wrong-pickers of the world, Seaver is selling custom versions at the store for between $375 and $425.



SEVEN UP: Maybe it’s just a great excuse to showcase Latin jazz artist Johnny Polanco and his acclaimed band. The CaliforniaMart is feting seven Los Angeles-based designers of Latino heritage on Aug. 9, the first day of the fall II/holiday market, with a party. There will even be salsa tips by choreographer Albert Torres for those buyers who might know more about retail than dancing. "I guess it’s trendy to be Latino," mused designer Estevan Ramos, who is represented in the Circle 5 Showroom and is also being honored along with Alicia Lawhon, Eduardo Lucero, Alan Del Rosario, Cynthia Vincent, Tova Celine and Freddi Rojas.