Tod's is best known for its leather accessories, so the fact that the Italian label published a book for a change was certainly reason enough to team up with Vanity Fair to throw a fete on Tuesday night at the brand's Madison Avenue headquarters. Co-hosts including Julianne Moore and Brooke Shields were on hand to toast the project — a series of portraits of stylish Italians called "The Italian Touch."

For Shields, the tome's subject matter was spot-on. "Everything [Italians] do has passion," said the actress, whose paternal grandmother was Italian princess Donna Marina Torlonia. "They don't do clothing, they don't do food, they don't do clubs without passion."

Moore, meanwhile, chatted about acting in Tom Ford's first film, "A Single Man." "Directing came very naturally to him," said the actress. "He always knows extactly what he wants--he didn't seem to struggle with making this film at all." In the flick, Moore plays a woman who falls for her childhood friend — though the feeling isn't exactly mutual. "She's desperate for him to love her but he's gay," explained the actress, before adding, "It's a very familiar story."