AFTER HOURS: Prada will be among those spicing up the post-show party scene during New York Fashion Week. On the heels of last year’s performance by Jack White‘s The Raconteurs, the Milan house plans to host another bash at its SoHo store on Sept. 7, this time with a private concert by new rockers The Hours. Last year’s shindig was a celebrity magnet, with the likes of Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, Eva Mendes, Mischa Barton, Winona Ryder, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Lisa Marie Presley rocking to the tunes. This year, there could be a sighting of Damien Hirst, who is friends with The Hours’ Antony Genn and Martin Slattery, and financed their debut album. He also created the skull image for the album cover.
DOLLED UP: Alber Elbaz is giving the concept of collectable fashion a new twist. The Lanvin designer has teamed up with the Taiwanese craftsman Franz to create a series of miniature porcelain dolls wearing signature looks from his collection. The hand-painted, stiletto-wearing figurines, starting with this fall-winter season, will each be produced in a limited series of 800 and cost 250 euros, or $345, a pop.
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CRYSTAL BALL: Industry veteran Herve Martin, most recently product general manager of Ferragamo, has exited the Florentine firm. According to market sources, he is headed to Starwood in a senior management role. He could not be reached for comment. Martin is perhaps best known as the longtime president of Kenzo. He has also worked at Louis Vuitton and Cartier.
GOOD CLEAN FUN: Maggie Gyllenhaal will have the chance to show off any noirish tendencies in the upcoming Batman sequel “The Dark Knight,” but the actress was all sunshine and smiles last week in Nantucket, Mass. The actress and Peter Sarsgaard stole away with their daughter Ramona to one of The Summer House’s fishermen’s cottages in Sconset. After dining at the Summer House Restaurant, Gyllenhaal, Agent Provocateur’s new poster girl, and her beau sidled up to the piano to sing along with other diners.
COMING OF AGE: Christos Garkinos and Cameron Silver, co-owners of Los Angeles designer consignment store Decadestwo, hosted a party last Wednesday night to celebrate the boutique’s recent expansion, followed by cocktails at Social Hollywood that drew the likes of Garcelle Beauvais, Alyson Hannigan and Joely Richardson. China Chow, dressed in a vintage black lace Lanvin dress, couldn’t resist perusing the store’s new inventory, which includes a rack of Tom Ford-era Gucci pieces. “When I come into the store, I act like I work here,” she joked. “I’m in the back rifling through things, telling them to take things off of eBay.”
Ali Larter, clad in a Balenciaga jacket and vintage Levi’s, shared Chow’s enthusiasm for the store. “I’m always here,” she said. “I pop in on random Tuesdays at 10 o’clock when I need something yummy.”
Jared Leto dropped by to lend support to his mother, Constance Leto, whose jewelry line, Linda + Constance, was on display. Leaning over the glass case of baubles, Leto pointed to a small cluster. “Look at this nice little pile of sold things,” he said with pride.
Silver, who recently returned from consulting stints in Europe for companies including Pringle and Samsonite, said, “It feels like we’re really grown-up now. Combined, Decades and Decadestwo are 18 years old — we’re finally legal!”
SHOW TIME: Commuun, the rising eco-oriented, Paris-based brand designed by Japanese duo Kaito Hori and Iku Furudate, will be staging its first show this October. The brand recently scooped up two Andam awards from LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Longchamp that will help finance the show. “The collection will be much lighter with lots of transparency,” commented Hori. Since starting out in 2006, Commuun has sold its clothes in stores such as Corso Como 10 in Italy and Dover Street Market. New accounts tapped since the launch of the brand’s first pre-collection for spring 2008 include L’Eclaireur in Paris and Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York.
MINI PHAT: Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons aren’t the only designers in the Phat Fashions empire. Their daughters, Ming Lee, seven, and Aoki Lee, four, are fast becoming designers in their own right. The sisters will launch their own collection, called Ming and Aoki, at a tea party and runway show at their mom’s Baby Phat showroom this morning. Event organizers hinted the launch will be sweet-filled, with a Candy Land theme, to showcase the new children’s collection.
GIRL POWER: Fashionistas made room for actionistas last Thursday when Warner Bros. celebrated the latest collection of apparel and accessories for its Supergirl brand at action sports shop Nine Star in Los Angeles. Hosted by a committee of female athletes, including pro surfers Holly Beck and Serena Brooke and seven-year-old skater Alize Montes, the party highlighted the famous S-shield recast in pink, white and purple on women’s-only items such as $54 string bikinis from Rip Curl and a $30 T-shirt from Surf Diva. Celebrity guest Brooke Burke, who knows about taking risks as the former skydiving and crocodile-fighting host of adventure TV show “Wild On,” said she hopes her three daughters, who range in age from six months to seven years, will grow up to be supergirls. “The most daring of all is the six-month-old,” Burke said. Warner Bros. plans to nurture more actionistas when it will host an all-girl action sports jam mixing music, fashion and athletic activities including a surf demo and skateboarding in San Diego on Sept. 16.