Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld Kicks Off Fashion Week, With a Little Help from Mom

It’s not quite Fashion Week, but that didn’t stop a bevy of fashion’s bold-faced names from gathering last night for the opening of the latest curation of Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld. Set in a massive, raw West Side space, the pop-up exhibition, Ouattara Watts: Vertigo, features new works by the Ivory Coast-born, New York-based artist—oversized canvases with thick expressionistic brushstrokes, graffiti-style scribbles and mixed-media collages.

Among the first guests to set off flashbulbs was the author Salman Rushdie, followed by the slightly more congruous Diane von Furstenberg. Next up, Carine Roitfeld, who wowed the crowd in spring Prada hot-rod pumps and a fluttering flapper-style Marc Jacobs skirt. Also from the gallerist’s home team were his glowingly expecting sister Julia Restoin-Roitfeld with boyfriend Robert Konjic, as well as his girlfriend Giovanna Battaglia, in a Christopher Kane Resort dress.

Throughout the night, the space surged with familiar faces—Waris Ahluwalia, Johan Lindeberg, Rachel Roy—and It-girls—Shala Monroque, Jen Brill—plus, straight outta the early aughts, Nicky Hilton and Stavros Niarchos. By 8:30, the scenesters and hangers-on (art? there was art?) appeared, making it past the army of iPad-wielding doorgirls and spilling the packed party into the streets. Another success for the youngest member of the Roitfeld clan.

• Posted Feb 08, 2012
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