Actress Brittany Murphy died unexpectedly yesterday, and her famous friends have taken to Twitter to express their condolences. Ex-boyfriend Ashton Kutcher called her a “little piece of sunshine,” later adding, “see you on the other side, kid.” [E! Online]
Buzzwords for 2009 include Octomom, death panel, and Tea Party. Not to be outdone, fashion’s contribution is [...]

Johnny Depp and Patti Smith are two of the most oft-referenced style icons in the world, so no big surprise that they’d also turn out to be potent influences—on each other. At MoMA’s party for Tim Burton last night, the frequent Burton leading man (in Tom Ford) and the still-punky chanteuse (in what looks like [...]

With the spectacular view from the 49th floor of 7 World Trade Center as backdrop, Patti Smith wowed her audience at Pratt’s annual Legends scholarship benefit gala last night. The rock icon, who was honored alongside Marc Jacobs and David Rockwell, played four songs, including “Because the Night,” complete with an audience sing-along. Jacobs, who [...]

This World & Nearer Ones , the first edition of a new public art quadrennial, PLOT/09, opens on Governors Island tomorrow. It’s not quite a real island getaway, but it’s a free summer adventure right in the city, with 19 site-specific works by international artists both emerging and well known (Klaus Weber, Lawrence Weiner, Mark [...]

Paris was awash with velvet-rope parties last night, but the best performance in town was not put on by one of many DJs shipped in for the evening. That honor went to Patti Smith, who took the microphone at St. Germain des Près church. The style icon wasn’t in town for fashion week, though. She [...]

By Friday night, New York fashion week had reduced itself to a blur of rain, Champagne, and nude-colored clothing (at least I think that was a trend—at this point, I can no longer be sure). So what better way to cap off the week than with rain, Champagne, and naked emotion? Mother Nature, damn her, [...]

Fashion Week notes from the Style.com and men.style.com contributing editor. Look out for more animated opinions in the days ahead.