Anyone who still needs proof of fashion's status as an international language could have heard it spoken with unequivocal fluency last week in São Paulo. The hub of activity was the palatial shopping emporium Daslu, which welcomed a global cast of stylish characters to a string of celebrations that notably included an in-store wedding. In what is surely a first, the shop has added a chapel where gilded Brazilians can get hitched. And that's precisely what Mônica Mendes, Daslu's international director of marketing, did. But she had to put her honeymoon on hold for a few days to ensure the smooth running of the week's other main event, a lavish bash to celebrate new books by Vogue editor at large André Leon Talley and New Yorker fashion editor Michael Roberts.

The party-hopping guests included the store's owner, Eliana Tranchesi, her fashion director, Donata Mereilles, gorgeously ageless socialite Ruth Malzoni (she 'copters from her country estate to Daslu's roof-top heliport), and entrepreneur-fashion plate Cris Saadi. Oskar Metsavaht, Cris Barros, and Carlos Miele represented the local design community. Then there was the international contingent, some of who—actor Rupert Everett, behind-the-scenes tastemaker Robert Forrest, and Roberts himself—have been seduced into putting down temporary roots in Brazil. Their visiting friends and colleagues were surely starting to feel twinges of envy after the lunches and dinners with which they were fêted—the freewheeling vibe at São Paulo's restaurants and clubs being more than enough to convince visitors that Brazilians do it better.

Back in the Big Apple, meanwhile, the locals were busy showing that they're no slouches when it comes to throwing a gala. Charlotte Moss, Allison Sarofim, and honorary chair Christy Turlington were the hosts for the season opener of the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center, which included cocktails, a performance, supper, and a guest list that ran from Tatum O'Neal to Nina Griscom to Peter Bacanovic. "We're so happy the season has opened," Fe Fendi said, "because it's just too many months without it." Even the less experienced patrons appreciated the buzz of opening night. "It was my husband's first ballet ever!" a very pregnant Turlington, in a Marc Jacobs sheath, said of her filmmaker spouse, Ed Burns. "And he really liked it; I think it was the perfect performance for a newcomer."

—Tim Blanks (São Paulo) and Tracey Lomrantz (New York)