Rumors that Prince would sing only new material during his Friday night concert at Donatella Versace's after-show party kept some fashion types away. Suckers! His Purple Badness reprised "Kiss," and "Anotherloverholeinyohead," then performed "Let's Go Crazy" during his encore. Model trio Lily Donaldson, Irina Lazareanu, and tiara-topped Lily Cole didn't seem inclined to party like it was the early eighties, but those alive when Purple Rain was released, which included most of Donatella's VIP section (Stefano Tonchi, Hal Rubenstein, Ingrid Sischy), certainly did. Halfway through his cover version of "Everyday People," Prince handed off a tambourine to Versace. It wasn't in the designer's hands long, though, before Suzy Menkes snatched it out. "When he came back for 'Purple Rain' it was a real moment," said the International Herald Tribune critic afterward. "We were all in heaven."

The previous evening, a terrace of the private home-turned-museum, Museo Bagatti Valsecchi, was the comparatively serene location for a cocktail party hosted by Anna Wintour and Franca Sozzani to introduce Condé Nast's Chuck Townsend to the Milan fashion community. Karl Lagerfeld, Gianfranco Ferré, Emilio Pucci's Matthew Williamson, and many others came to meet the company's president and CEO. The evening's good-natured spirit was encapsulated in the moment when Paula Crawford, mother of the Who's On Next-winning shoe designer Courtney Crawford, asked Roberto Cavalli if he would pose for a picture with her. "I love what you do," she said. "You're so beautiful," the designer suavely replied. "How could I say no?"

— Nicole Phelps