Ever try to assemble a group of fashion types for something that’s not a launch, an opening, or a worthy cause? Harley Viera-Newton, Lily Kwong, and Stephanie LaCava gave it a shot last night, hosting a dinner in the East Village that was billed as “Just for Fun.”In truth, Dom Pérignon had one of its [...]

Elise Øverland is a frequent visitor to India, where she’s picked up no small number of friends (and a few inspirations for her collections, too). The Norway-born designer was recently on the subcontinent for the wedding of Shivraj Singh, the Prince of Jodhpur—along with Sting, Trudie Styler, Sarah Ferguson, and more.Having spent so much time [...]

When Elise Øverland met the South Korean violin prodigy Hahn-Bin at a dinner at Peter Marino’s, she was taken with his spirit and talent. So she wrangled her friend Diana Widmaier Picasso to bring him by her studio for a fitting, her friend the downtown nightlifer Martin Cohn to teach him to walk, and lo [...]

Keep an eye on the castings at Elise Øverland this season: Heidi Klum and her fellow judges from Germany’s Next Top Model (pictured) will be front-row judging their contestants, who will be among the catwalkers. Spoiler alert? [Fashionista]Prada and Fendi have agreed to move their Milan women’s shows to an earlier date, effectively extending fashion [...]

The crowd at Allison Sarofim’s West Village town house got totally hosed last night—literally—when a disgruntled neighbor doused the backyard patio. It happened just as the after-party for Julia, a new drama starring Tilda Swinton, was getting into full swing. The hostess (who was also celebrating her birthday) muttered something unprintable, but then she and [...]

Tourism is one industry hurting as badly as fashion, but in India, happily, business is still booming. Take Vikram Chatwal’s next Dream Hotel, in the lush city of Cochin in the state of Kerala, opening this weekend with one of Chatwal’s trademark over-the-top fêtes. It would be hard to best his week-long, multi-city wedding festivities, [...]

Elise Overland has always been a gem-embellished, leather-obsessed, artfully feral kind of gal, so when it came to finding inspiration for her Fall ‘09 collection the answer was obvious: sushi. “A friend gave me this intellectual cookbook from Japan,” she explained over drinks at the West Village restaurant Charles, after the show. “At first I [...]

With the Villency Emerging Fashion Fund now five years old, few of us question seeing stylishly outfitted mannequins in the windows of the 57th Street furniture store. The latest fashion-centric displays are now up—a coterie of mannequins sporting ensembles from the Spring 2009 recipients of the prize: Elise Øverland and Threeasfour. The latter’s wares reflect [...]

Noot Seear, the Canadian model and a child of international social worker parents, has come up with a novel approach to fundraising. “No more slideshows and sit-down dinners,” she said at Milk Studios last night, where she was hosting a Be Bare fashion show and auction. “Plus, I think this will help get the boys [...]

Elise Øverland was worried that Hurricane Hanna was going to ruin her turnout for her presentation Saturday afternoon. “Oh, thank goodness it’s not empty,” she was starting to tell us when a woman wearing a headset interrupted her in what seemed to be a panic. Curious what disaster had struck, we asked for details. “It’s [...]