GALLERY GIRL: Wren's Melissa Coker showed her collection of cool-girl basics at Culver City, Calif.'s Taylor de Cordoba Gallery Tuesday night, along with a video featuring Kim Gordon and Arden Wohl. Despite the lack of valet parking, those who braved parking on dark side streets and darting across busy La Cienega Boulevard included Coker's old boss, André Leon Talley, actress Shannyn Sossamon, singers Abigail and Lily Chapin (who are releasing a new album next week and also modeled in Jesse Kamm's show at Gen Art), artist Chris Vasell and local designers Jasmine Shokrian, Gregory Parkinson and Pegah Anvarian.
FRIENDS AND FAMILY: It was an impromptu reunion of Lanvin designers Tuesday night in Paris at the annual fund-raising gala for the Pompidou museum. Steps away from a giant Louise Bourgeois spider sculpture, Alber Elbaz compared notes with Maryll Lanvin, who held the design reins at the French house from 1980 to 1989. Discussing its famed archive, Elbaz said he visits it often, and that he always finds something new. "There's always something that catches my eye. My eye is catching and my hand is sketching," he related, bursting into laughter.
Le tout Paris showed up at the event, including Pierre Bergé, Bernadette Chirac, Maryvonne Pinault (an eye-catching vintage Cartier turtle brooch perched on her shoulder), Martine Sitbon and Azzedine Alaïa, whose fans flocked to him to show off their curve-hugging Alaïa frocks.
INNER WORKINGS: Preaching what she practices, Parisian lingerie designer Chantal Thomass is curating a major lingerie exhibition for the Textile Museum in St. Gallen, Switzerland, where many lingerie production sites are based. It opens May 7 for a six-month run. "It's about the evolution of the woman's body throughout time," said Thomass, adding that the show will encompass corsetry from the 19th century through a range of contemporary creations by the likes of Calvin Klein, Victoria's Secret and Chantelle.
EYE ON THE PRIZE: Upping the stakes, French fashion association Andam is to allocate a single prize of 150,000 euros, or around $230,000, to a lucky designer on June 25. The award, geared as a financial springboard for young talents, is typically doled out to several laureates with Viktor & Rolf and Martin Margiela among past winners. Contenders for this year's prize include Rodarte, Threeasfour, Preen and Gareth Pugh. Andam's organizers have also brought on board a more international spread of jury members, including Jefferson Hack, editor in chief of Another Magazine, and Joseph Quartana, owner of New York's Seven boutique.


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