party lines

CFDA’s Stephen Kolb Touched Eliot Spitzer the Morning After

Stephen Kolb might have a new affinity for
hand-washing.Photo: Patrick McMullan

Fashion and politics go hand in hand. Literally. Last night at the cocktail party for CFDA Awards nominees we caught up with CFDA executive director Stephen Kolb, who reminisced about the time he met — and touched — Governor Eliot Spitzer in Washington, D.C. Kolb visited our nation’s capital to lobby for copyright protection for fashion designers with Narciso Rodriguez on February 14, the day after Spitzer allegedly hired a prostitute. “Our lobbyist was walking me around and she said, ‘Come here, let me introduce you to somebody,’” Kolb recalled. “She brings me over, and she’s like, ‘I’d like you to meet Stephen, he’s the executive director of CFDA,’ and I’m like, ‘Who is that guy?’ and they’re like, ‘That’s your governor, Eliot Spitzer,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, oh my gosh, yeah.’ I don’t know what the hell he was doing in Washington, but I shook his hand.” Um, gross! “I shook his hand the next day! I’m thinking about how creepy that is now! No, I’m joking. So, I mean, it happened on the 13th?” Allegedly, yes. “Alright, well, he looked happy on the 14th!”

Other fashion people at the party, like nominee for the accessories design award Tory Burch, were not so well-versed in their governor’s alleged sexcapades. She professed ignorance because, you see, she just got off a plane from Boca Raton. “I really don’t even know what to say. How about you?” she asked her publicist. No, Burch — do you think he should resign? “I think he’s going to have to if there’s any truth to it,” she said. “I really hope not. I like him.”
— Kristin Butler

Related: Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, and Tory Burch Nab CFDA Noms
Mr. Rodriguez Goes to Washington (for Copyright Protection)

CFDA’s Stephen Kolb Touched Eliot Spitzer the Morning After