DISH OF THE DAY
Byline:
FUR PLAY: They probably won’t be kitsch enough to blast “I Am What I Am” or “I’ve Got to Be Me” over their soundtrack, but Karl Lagerfeld and the Fendis will be brazenly politically incorrect when they show today. “The furs come first,” announced Gilles Dufour, proudly showing off heaps of chinchilla, sable and ermine. And forget all those fur-lined cloth coats. This season, Dufour said, the fur is “all worn on the outside.” And why not? Asked how business was, Carla Fendi snapped, “I am molto contenta. Fake fur is over.” Fendi pointed out that many former clients — including some high-profile Hollywood types — have returned to the fold. “Even the actresses aren’t so p.c. anymore,” she explained. “We’re seeing many of them back in the shop.”
Bergdorf Goodman is also back. President Dawn Mello confirmed Tuesday that the store will be opening a Fendi corner in its fur department. “I think Fendi is the best,” said Mello. “They are a world-class name.” Bergdorf used to carry Fendi but dropped the line in 1989 because of a dispute over sales points in New York. That also happened to be the year that Mello left the store to join Gucci.
MODEL TALK: The big news on the Milanese catwalks is 13-year-old Gianne Albertoni. The Italian press fussed over the doll-faced, 5’10” Brazilian blonde, who graced the runways at Gianni Versace, Versus and Emporio Armani — and plans to appear at the Prada and Gianfranco FerrA shows. She created such a hullabaloo at Erreuno that the Italian daily “Corriere della Sera” ran an in-depth interview with the prepubescent. “I can only model one month a year, when I’m not in school,” she said backstage at Versace. “It’s fun, but I also like to go shopping and listen to music.”