The dinner that Chanel hosted for the Tribeca Film Festival drew recent Oscar noms Viola Davis and Melissa Leo, along with Adrien Brody and Matthew Modine—not to mention buzzed-about artists who had donated works as festival prizes. Still, all the girls wanted to talk about was their Karl Lagerfeld creations. Kerry Washington said she chose her cap-sleeve shift because it reminded her of a certain contemporary style icon. "I liked it because it was period and chic, yet conservative—very Michelle Obama, very hopeful," she said. Vanessa Traina, who came with her sister Victoria and mother, Danielle Steel, put it simply: "I like short, I like black, and I like lacy. I love Chanel!" Terence Koh—who else?—took the cake: He showed up in a women's Chanel vest—"very Space Odyssey meets club kid"—and proceeded to pull three black diamond-encrusted J12 watches from his pockets, asking, "Can we fax a picture of me to Karl wearing all this?"

Not that the whole night was diamonds and tweed; some people did have work on their minds. "I spent all day watching the shorts," explained festival juror Mary-Kate Olsen from her perch next to Bradley Cooper, who is judging features. "And when I leave here I've got more work to do." In the middle of it all was Tribeca's king himself, Robert De Niro. When we asked what he thought about the Chanel looks, he replied, "Well, I think the ladies look great tonight."

— Derek Blasberg