A NIGHT OF STARS

Iman with Alber Elbaz at the New York Night of Stars party

The socialising went on past midnight when Iman hosted a pre-party to celebrate New York's Night of Stars Honorees - Barney's Chairman Howard Socol and Alber Elbaz of Lanvin. But then the invitation did promise 'Grub, Dancing & Shenanigans.'

Held at The Bowery Hotel, currently one of Manhattan's hippest boutique hotels, the packed out party throng spilled out onto the wide upstairs terrace, whilst a couple of hipsters nonchalantly played pool at the far end. The Bowery's new(ish) Italian restaurant, Gemma, provided the promised Grub: delicious pasta, filet mignon and cheeses, although the assembled fashion crowd, including every fashion editor of note, and a throng of Ebaz-admiring American designers (Philip Lim, Narciso Rodriguez, Behnaz Sarafpour, Alexander Wang and Thom Browne), seemed more interested in chatting than eating.

Iman rose inches above the packed out room (New Yorkers are a short breed in general), towering over Ebaz who, clad in his customary look of unstructured black velvet jacket and huge floppy bow tie, was the hit of the evening.

"We've known each other for ever: Iman's known me since I started designing dresses, and I've known her since she started as a model. We've been friends ever since," a clearly enthused Elbaz told us, once we could extract him from the swarms of women all queuing up to tell him how much they loved his dresses.

With her hair cut in this season's sharp fringe, Iman wore Lanvin, straight from the Spring/Summer 08 collection: a ravishing strapless purple frilled cocktail dress, accessorised with turquoise Lorraine Schwartz drop earrings. She praised Elbaz's "modern, elegant and beautiful designs", confiding that, "He's the only designer who could get me into a dress, and a short one at that.

From Sasha Wilkins in New York