Daily Front Row

2010 September 28

Milan Tech MVP Award: Filipa Fino

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Filipa Fino and Anna Wintour
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Vogue’s Filipa Fino earns Chic's Monday MVP award for managing to fix boss Anna Wintour’s Blackberry (which seemed frozen for a little while) while still taking notes about the accessories during the Roberto Cavalli show. Fino miraculously fixed the phone and handed the gadget back to Wintour during the first half of the showcase.

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2010 September 27

Overheard at Moschino...

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Moschino, Spring 2011
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"These head bands are so tight. Can someone take them off? I don't want to die from head bleeding!" ---a model to backstage staff.

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2010 September 27

We Don't Think So, Suzy!

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Suzy Menkes
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Spotted: Suzy Menkes popped into the Etro show on the late side and calmly sat on the staircase floor of section A. Three publicists immediately averted the Menkes discomfort by delaying the show for a few minutes, personally walking the IHT doyenne to her seat.

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2010 September 27

A Moment With...Karolina Kurkova

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Karolina Kurkova
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She may be a mom, but she's still a super---a fact proved when Karolina Kurkova took to the runway at Missoni, MaxMara, Pucci, and more (and that's just in Milan!). Chic caught up with her at Gianfranco Ferré, which she opened.

This is the first time you've been to Milan in ages!
Yes, absolutely. Like six years! So it's been fun recognizing the places that I used to go and seeing the same people within the same houses all over again.

Do you have a singular memory that stands out?
I always remember doing the Prada exclusive at 16. This was before I was aware of all the big labels or really knew their history. I always remember being at the Prada house when I had that job: it was very white, very simple, very quiet. I used to run around and laugh a lot---everyone always knew that I was in the building. When I started, Stefano from YSL was still there, Fabio who still does Miu Miu and Prada was there, and bunch of others have moved on. So I remember being that light bulb of energy.

Is it still a big deal to open a show?
Yes, of course. But I also don't mind being a surprise in the middle, or the end too. I think the whole opening and closing thing matters to younger models a lot more. Sometimes they think it's the end of the world if it doesn't happen. I'm just at a different stage in my career.

What's your favorite gelato flavor?
I usually love yogurt here which is hard to find in other places. Other than that, coconut would be it.

What happens to baby Tobin when you travel in Europe?
He'll come with me to Paris. It's very important to have my family close to me. My husband is coming with Tobin, and so is my mom. And Tobin actually traveled to Paris three times with me already, but he was conceived in Paris so you can say he's a French baby anyway! Having him in the same place as I am is so important to me. I'm not seeing him for a few days in Milan, so it's already very hard.

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2010 September 27

Novel Concept

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Alexandra Lebenthal, Daniel Colon, R. Couri Hay
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Is one's own book the fashion set's hautest new accessory? Latest case in point: Alexandra Lebenthal's The Recessionistas, a chick lit-ish take on the Lehman-era meltdown of 2008 and the Upper East Side lvies it changed irrevocably. Lebenthal, one of the few women to run her own Wall Street firm, wrote her debut novel over a three-month period last summer. "I suppose I could have taken a fourth month to develop the characters!" she joked last Thursday night, when she toasted the tome at the Four Seasons Grill Room during a cocktail party hosted by Diana Taylor, Felicia Taylor, and Alexandra Trower. A fashion/finance hybrid crowd, including Elliot and Silda Wall Spitzer, Bettina Zilkha, Alina Cho, and Kate Betts, braved the UN traffic on Park Avenue to celebrate over champagne and canapes.

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2010 September 27

Anna Squared!

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BryanBoy, Anna Piaggi, Anna dello Russo
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When The Daily saw the two ultimate Italian fashion muses, Anna Piaggi and Anna Dello Russo, sitting next to one another front row at Ferré, we were naturally excited and had some questions for our favorite pairing. Does one have to be named Anna to be a muse? "A lot of sense of humor comes with a name," decided Dello Russo. "Well, maybe it's a coincidence that we're both Annas, but I'm not sure you have to be an Anna to be bold," said Piaggi. "The thing is, we really do admire each other. We're totally free and we're both very positive women."

"We've known each other for twenty years," added Dello Russo. "We used to work together a long time ago. And you really have to have fun when you get dressed." And get this: both alpha Annas have also have another connection. "We're also both Aries!" pointed out Dello Russo. "So I guess that makes us both bold." The Vogue Nippon muse was born on April 9 (like Marc Jacobs and Martin Margiela), while the Vogue Italia icon was born on March 22. At Pucci, when the two Annas sat together again, even Suzy Menkes couldn’t contain herself. “I just can’t resist this,” she exclaimed before snapping the duo on her disposable camera.

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