Bruni-Sarkozy Set for Couture Week... Writer's Bloc...

FIRST AND LAST: If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy during Paris couture week later this month, you’re in luck — but you might have to stay an extra day. Although France’s glamorous First Lady has yet to attend any high fashion shows, she’s confirmed as special guest and sponsor at the annual Sidaction benefit gala at the close of the week on Jan. 29. Bruni-Sarkozy, whose brother died of AIDS in 2006, has been active in fighting the disease for the last few years, and she officially confirmed her engagement as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS ambassador last month.

WRITERS’ BLOC: Pierre Bergé has come up with a wordy initiative: an anthology of prefaces penned by authors. The 290-page French-language tome, titled “L’Art de la Préface” and published by Gallimard, groups 17 of Bergé’s favorite childhood prefaces, including novelist and political agitator Maurice Barrès’ reflections on Rachilde’s “Monsieur Venus” and Giono’s provocative introduction to Homer’s “The Iliad,” in which he sides with the Trojans.

 

KIMMEL’S HAPPENING: Adam Kimmel is drawing on the art-fashion link once again. The New York-based men’s wear designer, who counts high-profile artists and poets among his entourage, has chosen the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac for his men’s wear presentation and Paris Fashion Week debut on Jan. 22. But don’t expect to see models racing down a runway — Kimmel will present his fall/winter collection as an installation.