Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Douglas Hannant previewed his spring collection in the Terrace Room of the Plaza on Monday night, which is located just upstairs from the designer's brand new, Geoffrey Bradfield-designed boutique. Given Hannant's popularity with the Upper East Side moneyed set, a long list of society fixtures turned up to pay tribute to Hannant, including Tinsley Mortimer, Cece Cord, Bettina Zilkha, Jennifer Creel, Annie Churchill, Alexandra Lebenthal, Gillian Hearst, and Valesca Guerrand-Hermès. Roving party reporter Douglas Marshall caught up with Beverly Johnson, legendary model and the first African-African woman to appear on the cover of Vogue, to ask her about the modeling biz today and Tyra Banks. More

More than 1,200 people descended on Skylight Studios on Wednesday night for the Whitney's annual Art Party. Sponsored by BCBG Max Azria, the designer (left, with co-host Camilla Belle) and wife Lubov welcomed the likes of Lake Bell, Lydia Hearst, Gretchen Mol, Hilary Rhoda, Calvin Klein, Jason Wu, Tinsley Mortimer, Genevieve Jones, Fabiola Beracasa, Ali Larter, Lindsay Price, Stacey Bendet, Olivia Palermo, Meredith Melling Burke, Alexis Bryan Morgan, Ivanka Trump, Byrdie Bell, Bradley Cooper,  Alexis Bledel, Selita Ebanks, Hana Soukupova, Claire Bernard, Amber Tamblyn, Adam Lippes, Alexandra Richards, Anne Slowey, Lydia Fenet, Roopal Patel, Gilles Mendel, Lela Rose, Brooklyn Decker, Zani Gugelmann, Allison Aston, Esteban Cortazar, Jessica Joffee, at least two members of the Willis clan (Tallulah and Scout), and the man who runs the show at Whitney, Adam Weinberg. [PMc, Wireimage, FWD, WWD, VF, Style.com, ArtInfo]More

Happy Birthday | Tory Burch turns 43 today. Former governor Mario Cuomo is turning 77. Helen Hunt is 46. Neil Patrick Harris is turning 36. Courteney Cox is 45. Fashion designer Douglas Hannant is turning 47. PR agency chief Richard Edelman turns 55. Socialite Bettina Zilkha is turning 50. Gallerist Marian Goodman is 81. Former Yankee Andy Pettitte is turning 37. Hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam turns 52. Ice Cube is is 40. Leah Remini is turning 39. Porn star Mary Carey is 29. And Project Runway Season 2 winner Chloe Dao turns 37 today.

An army of A-listers showed to last night's 69th annual American Ballet Theatre spring gala (and, if they were lucky, got a glimpse of Michelle Obama dressed in a black Alaia dress and Thakoon jacket). Among those in attendance: Anna Wintour, Carolina and Reinaldo Herrera, Chuck Schumer, Christine and Steve Schwarzman, David and Julia Koch, Caroline Kennedy and Ed Schlossberg, Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa, Ivanka Trump, Caryn and Jeff Zucker, Annette and Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, Lorne Michaels, Desiree Rogers, Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, Renee Zellweger, Sigourney Weaver, Tory Burch, Iman, Grace Hightower, Rachel Roy, Robbie Myers,  Hamish Bowles, Renee Fleming, Lisa Perry, Muffie Potter Aston, Amanda Brooks, Peter and Jamee Gregory, Yvonne Force Villareal, Marina Rust Connor, Marjorie Gubelmann, Nina Griscom and Leonel Piraino, Karen and Richard LeFrak, Blaine Trump, Harry Evans, Hilary Rhoda, Coco Rocha, Mariska Hargitay, Lindsay Price, Kim Raver, Ruben Toledo and Isabel Toledo, Dree Hemingway, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, and Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos (left), a former dancer himself. [PMc, Wireimage, Style.com] More

• Fashion Week will move from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center beginning next year. [NYT]
• Former frenemies Rachel Zoe and Nicole Richie kissed and made up at a party in LA last week. The hugfest went down in front of a cameraman filming footage for Zoe's reality show, though, so a bit of skepticism may be in order. [WWD]
• Macy's is eliminating 7,000 jobs. [BN]
• Jonathan Adler is launching a Barbie collection in 2009; it will include "designer pottery, pillows, decorative objects." [SW]
• Douglas Hannant tells the WSJ he's traveling the country and hosting events to sell his label. He also shaves five years off his age, but who's counting? [WSJ]
• Last week, Karl Lagerfeld said the recession wasn't having much of an impact on him; today he says he's fully embraced the "New Modesty." As for why he eliminated the VIP section at the Chanel show last week, it was to "create equality in an unfair world." Thanks for doing your part, Karl. [WSJ]
• The hot, new trend from Stockholm Fashion Week? Shaved heads! [Pipeline]

A bevy of models turned out on Wednesday night to celebrate Australian photographer Russell James' new book at the Stephan Weiss studio. Host Donna Karan and guests like Alan Cumming, Desiree Gruber, Ally Hilfiger, Douglas Hannant, Veronica Webb, and Josh Bernstein mingled with models like Alessandra Ambrosio (left), Angela Lindvall, Erin Wasson, Doutzen Kroes, Brooklyn Decker, Noemie Lenoir, Julie Henderson, Zuzana Gregorova, and Oluchi. [PMc, Wireimage, FWD]More

Cinema Society, Nextbook and Grey Goose hosted a screening of Defiance last night with an after-party at Shang inside the Thompson LES. Host Andrew Saffir and the film's stars, Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber, and director, Edward Zwick, were joined by Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone, Naomi Watts, Olivia Palermo (left), Jason Pomeranc, Agyness Deyn, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Donna Karan, Martha Stewart, Jay McInerney, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Eric Villency, Amy Sacco, Russell Simmons, Zani Gugelmann, Ivanka Trump, Andre Balazs, Steve and Christine Schwarzman, Ann Dexter-Jones, Ellen Barkin, Paula Froelich, Richard Johnson and Sessa von Richthofen, Larry Gagosian, Bettina Zilkha, Carson Kressley, Jennifer Creel, Valesca Guerrand-Hermes, Rachel Roy, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Douglas Hannant, Rosanna Scotto, Heather Matarazzo, Joshua Bell, Leelee Sobieski, Jill Hennessy, Debbie Bancroft, Marina Rust Connor, Nina Griscom, Caroline Murphy, Judah Friedlander, Patrick McMullan, Liam McMullan, Mary Alice Stephenson, Dan Abrams, and Dave Zinczenko. [PMc, Wireimage, The Daily] More

Jane Rosenthal, Beth Ostrosky, and Julia Szabo hosted a canine-friendly screening of Marley & Me on Wednesday night as part of the Tribeca Cinemas Series. Accompanied by her bulldog, Bianca Romijn-Stamos, Ostrosky was joined by guests like Rosenthal's husband Craig Hatkoff and daughter Isabella (with their dog Buddy), Cece Cord (with her pooch Tiger), Kiera Chaplin (with Jezabelle), Douglas Hannant (with Ava), Abigail Breslin, Cindy Adams, Ellen Ward and Chuck Scarborough, Rachel Roy, Denis and Ann Leary, Hoda Kotb, Pat Duff, Jill and Allie Zarin, Richard Kind, Alison Becker, Jennifer Missoni, and Wendy Diamond. [PMc, Wireimage, VF] More

Adrian Grenier and Jessica Stam hosted Scott Harrison's third annual Charity: Water benefit last night at the Metropolitan Pavillion. Attendees at the event included Richie Rich, Olivia Palermo, Whitney Port, Byrdie Bell, Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict, Rocco DiSpirito, Jenna Elfman, Emma Snowdon-Jones, Jamison Ernest, Cee-Lo, and models Larissa Bond and Masha Rudenko. [PMc, Wireimage, GoaG] More

UNICEF's 5th annual Snowflake Gala took place on Wednesday night at Cipriani 42nd Street. Bryant Gumbel entertained the crowd of 500 and Lucy Liu was honored with the Danny Kaye Humanitarian award. Attendees included Michael Bloomberg, Jenna and Barbara Bush, Maggie Betts, Roland Betts, Lauren Bush and David Lauren (left), Marcus Samuelsson, Charlie Trotter, Charlotte Moss, Pamela Fiori, Gillian Miniter, Douglas Hannant and Frederick Anderson, Elyse Newhouse, Donny Deutsch, Alexandra Lebenthal, Jessica Joffe, Tea Leoni, Matt Lauer, Meredith Melling Burke, Cynthia Lufkin, and CNN's Sanjay Gupta. [PMc, Wireimage, Style.com, The Daily] More

♦  Narciso Rodriguez was the man of the hour at Bergdorf Goodman last night, where he celebrated the launch of his new coffee table book with guests like Julianna Margulies (left), Jessica Alba, Linda Fargo, Reed Krakoff, Virginia Smith, Roopal Patel, Jim Gold, Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Simon Doonan, Hal Rubenstein, Jaime King, Christopher Wheeldon, Dani Stahl, Linda Wells, Mickey Boardman, Patti Scialfa, and, his dad, Narciso Rodriguez Sr. [Paper, PMc, The Daily] More

1) Donna Karan's annual designer garage sale in support of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund was co-hosted by InStyle and Kelly Ripa on Saturday. Betsey Johnson, Lydia Hearst, Euan Rellie, Lorraine Bracco, Jessica Stam, Katie Lee Joel, Debbie Matenopoulos, Hana Soukupova, Charlotte Ronson, and Nanette Lepore browsed stalls manned by the likes of Rachel Zoe and Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, raising $3.6 million. [FWD]

2) In the evening Robert Wilson hosted the 15th annual Watermill Benefit, where Lisa Anastos, Anthony Haden Guest, Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky, Alan Wyse and Kim Catrall, Campion and Tatiana Platt, Roger Waters, Rufus Wainwright, Amanda Hearst, Fabiola Beracasa, Valesca Guerrand Hermès, Douglas Hannant, Debbie Bancroft, Rachel Zoe, Lisa Perry, Debbie Bancroft, Ross Bleckner, Bob Colacello, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Michelle Paige Paterson, Alexandra Stanton, Jamee Gregory, Jessica Joffe,  Jonathan and Somers Farkas, Chris and Cristina Greeven Cuomo, Hope Atherton, Joe Zee, Roberta Myers, Simon de Pury, Kim Heirston and Richard Evans, Lauren Ezersky, Jon Stewart, Lisa de Kooning, Jay McInerney and Anne Hearst participated in auctions for exotic prizes like an Einstein chair and a golden palomino mare. [PMc/FWD] More

1) The 303's new gallery in Chelsea was christened last night with a performance by The Virgins and partiers Lisa Spellman, Kirsten Dunst, Matt Creed, Thurston Moore, Serge Becker, Anna Sui, Byrdie Bell, Cynthia Rowley, Poppy de Villeneuve, Genevieve Jones, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Magnus Berger (left), Jessica Stam, Marilyn Minter, Sean MacPherson, and Rogan Gregory. [PMc/FWD] 

2) On Tuesday night, Isabel and Ruben Toledo's home was the venue for a celebration of Isabel's award from the Couture Council of the Museum at FIT. Museum director Valerie Steele and Harper's Bazaar's Glenda Bailey hosted guests including Vera Wang, Stan Herman, Marylou Luther, Joe Zee, Joanne Pailey, Yigal Azrouel, Pamela Fiori, Michael Vollbracht, Simon Doonan, Kai Kühne, Kristina O'Neill, Marjorie Gubelmann, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Liz Peek, Narciso Rodriguez, Helen Lee and Tim Schifter, Matthew Modine, Mickey Boardman, Linda Fargo, Douglas Hannant, Threeasfour's Adi and Gabi, Iris Apfel, and Bill Cunningham, who cooled themselves in the un-air-conditioned loft with cocktails and handpainted fans. [PMc/FWD]More

1) At the Harold Pratt House, the New Yorkers For Children Fall Gala was previewed with a Tuesday night gathering of Campion Platt, Andre Leon Talley, Jeffrey Kalinsky, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Dayssi Olarte De Kanavos, Douglas Hannant, Kate Schelter, Katie Lee Joel, Derek Blasberg, Debbie Bancroft, Joy Bryant, Daniel Benedict and Andrew Saffir, Annelise Peterson, Jamee Gregory, Fern Mallis, Jennifer Creel, Fabiola Beracasa, Oscar De La Renta, Thakoon Panichgul, Tom Florio, Zac Posen, Zani Gugelmann, Lauren Santo Domingo, Phillip Lim, Heather Mnuchin, and Peter Som. [Guest of a Guest]

2) Many of the above then headed down to Chelsea, where the fashion crowd embraced their new style icon Michelle Obama at a cocktail party and dinner fundraiser organized by Vogue and Calvin Klein.