Terence Koh: You should see his idea of underwear.Photograph by Patrick McMullan
Zac Posen is so far ahead of his time he held his after-party in a yet-to-be-opened restaurant’s downstairs bar. The D’Or at Amalia, attached to Vikram Chatwal’s Dream Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen, will someday become a destination, but last night it was hardly party-ready.
The women’s bathroom was flooded and dark, and the elevator shaft was left open for the sole purpose of illumination, filling part of the basement with freezing cold wind. Woman after woman in four-inch heels gingerly tiptoed through puddles to reach the open bar (those wearing boots simply plowed through). The dance floor was an oasis, and a packed one. Through the mad crush of bodies, we could see Paz de la Huerta getting hit on; model Hilary Rhoda (who looks like Bee Shaffer, only a couple of feet taller) scanning the crowns of men’s heads; and Posen himself sitting on the bar, smoking cigarettes and watching his friends in the band Stylafone play a truly, um, forgettable set. Upstairs, an adorable Rachel Bilson sequestered herself into a corner. (A reporter told us she’d “been a nightmare all week,” so we kept our distance.)
We eventually caught up with relentless self-promoter and Bronx resident Ian Benardo — the one who asked to see Simon Cowell’s “working visa” and got ushered out by security on American Idol. We also spotted the fabulous Terence Koh on his way out, virtually incognito under white-fur hat, coat, and scarf (the latter he’d fashioned himself using an iMac cable). Koh said he’d only been to his friends’ shows — Benjamin Cho and Marc Jacobs — but had found his signature piece during the menswear shows earlier this month: “Kim Jones did a bunny suit!” Of course. — Jada Yuan
