Camilla Belle and Maria Sharapova
Photo By STEPHANE FEUGERE AND DOMINIQUE MAITRE
Launch Slideshow 5 images
FULL COURT PRESS: There's nothing like a nod from one of fashion's godfathers for encouragement. And Valentino's Alessandra Facchinetti expressed her gratitude by pausing to give Giorgio Armani a baci as she took her runway bow. Armani confirmed that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been invited to his dinner at Ledoyen tonight. "She is so elegant, she doesn't need much to be perfect," he said of her style, adding he's looking forward to vacationing on his new 213-foot yacht, baptized Main. Also in attendance were Camilla Belle and Maria Sharapova, who talked tennis and clothes. "This is my first couture show," enthused Sharapova, while Belle raved about recently attending the Wimbledon tennis tournament in London. Sharapova, who has been collaborating with Nike on her tennis outfits, said she takes inspiration from the cities she travels to for her on-court look. "We are pushing the boundaries of what we wear all the time, and Nike works with a lot of mills in Italy so we're working with some incredible fabrics," she said.
UNDER COVER: Monique Lhuillier's attire for Jean Paul Gaultier's show, a Lanvin trench worn with nothing underneath, wasn't an intentional risqué fashion statement. The bridal designer's luggage went missing on her flight into Paris on Sunday. "I've been calling Alitalia every two hours. If I'd been going on vacation to Saint-Tropez it would have been OK, but I'd planned all of my outfits for the couture shows and had made special pieces for the week," she lamented. Back in Los Angeles, the designer has just completed a china and crystal tableware line for Royal Doulton, and said she has a number of spin-offs due out over the coming months, including a stationery line and a bed and bath collection. Across the way, actress Roxanne Mesquida said she's penning a novel with her writer mother. "It's about a mother-daughter relationship." Nathalie Rykiel, meanwhile, noted that she's planning a "major" surprise for her mother, Sonia Rykiel, for the house's 40th anniversary. "It's something that has never been done before. It will be unveiled at the ready-to-wear show," she hinted.




