An Embarrassment of Pulchritude at the ABT Diamond Jubilee Gala

On Monday night–afternoon really, it was two hours before the sun went down–at the apogee of the merry month of May, The American Ballet Theatre rolled out the red carpet and they all came. Posing with poise were a flock of femme fatales rarely seen in these parts since Conde Nast stopped throwing those midnight soirees in his Park Avenue penthouse.

Escada sponsored the Spring Gala and clothed many of the lovely ladies, including the American model Hailey Clauson, the Dutch mannequin Daphne Groeneveld, and Sarah Arison, the fetching Carnival Cruise heiress from Miami.

Speaking of Hailey Clauson, she caused a scandale when, at age 15, she walked the New York runways for Oscar De La Renta, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Donna Karan. Exposed, the designers claimed they had “no idea” she was underage. A year later, her parents collected a tidy sum from Urban Outfitters and two other retailers who sold tee-shirts featuring a “risqué photo” of young Hailey. She’s clearly a girl to keep an eye on, no? Yes.

As for Amy Fine Collins, the Vanity Fair fashion oracle tells Orb, “I was wearing a hand-sequined 2-piece Thom Browne dress and coat with Manolo Blahnik shoes and Marina B earrings.” Mrs. Collins is a muse for Mr. Browne, just as she was once a muse for the genius designers Geoffrey Beene and Ralph Rucci. Couturiers like to dress her because you can’t miss her in a crowded room.

[by R.T.]