Milan Fashion Week Scoops

(MILAN) FERRETTI FANS: Winona Ryder and Marisa Tomei may at first appear to have little in common, but their love of fashion--and in particular Alberta Ferretti's fashion--is what unites them in Milan tonight. The actresses will headline an impressive front row of Italian cinema stars and artists, including Ginevra Elkann, Gianni Agnelli's granddaughter, who are expected to turn out to support Ferretti, who's replaced her typical afternoon show with an evening one instead. Following the show, Ferretti will save her guests some shoe leather, as she'll host an intimate seated dinner at the same Via Senato locale for her front row guests, as well as top editors and retailers.

MADE FOR MOSCHINO: Rosario Dawson made her second front-row cameo of the week at Moschino's show Tuesday. The actress said she just wrapped up filming on Explicit Ills in Philadelphia with director Mark Webber. Seated alongside her were British actress Sienna Guillory, whose next film Inkheart also stars Halle Berry, and Chinese actress Shu Qi, who arrived in Milan solely for Moschino and will be invited to help the Italian house celebrate a new duplex shop opening in Beijing in November. "Moschino is different and special; the designs are young," said the fresh-faced beauty, whose recent movie, Blood Brothers, closed the 64th Venice Film Festival. The same can be said for her personal style, having paired her Moschino dress and long leather opera gloves with a stunning looking pair of favorite earrings. "I got them on the street," she giggled.

BOTTEGA ON THE BRAIN: While new dad François-Henri Pinault, who was expected at Bottega Veneta Tuesday, was a no show (perhaps he got caught in traffic trying to buy cigars for the gents), his fellow executive, Gucci Group chief Robert Polet, was present with not only his wife, but his 22-year old daughter, Anne-Christine. "I have always loved fashion and am excited to be at my first big show," said the blonde beauty, who's currently studying for her masters in international management at Milan's Bocconi University. One thing's for sure: the fashion protégée understands the power of product placement, arriving with a tan Bottega woven leather bag on the crook of her arm. "But I am not wearing Bottega," she quipped. "The dress is Topshop."

RAF'S EARACHE: Sometimes a designer has his moments, and for Raf Simons, that moment came following his stellar back-to-back Jil Sander shows on Tuesday. Editors and retailers who typically race backstage following the show to congratulate Simons were met by the unfortunate news that they would not be able to get face time with the designer that morning. Simons, as it turns out, wasn't being antisocial, but was suffering from an ear infection and unable to greet his friends and loyal followers. Stefano Tonchi had this to say of the show: "The two obvious themes were deconstructionism and lightness. And Raf brought those two ideas but used his own language."

COSTUME NATIONAL'S CIRCUS: Where was L'Wren Scott Tuesday night following the Prada show? Not holed up at the Bulgari or hobnobbing with the fashion elite at La Langhe. Rather, the statuesque beauty was sprawled out on a giant black cushioned bed along with British friends Harriet Quick and Sydney Ingle-Finch in the two-story living room at Carlo Capasa's North Milan duplex. Capasa, the chief executive officer of Costume National, joined his brother, Ennio, the line's designer, in hosting a group of friends to celebrate the brand's 21st anniversary and the release of their new Assouline book, 21 Costume National. "I don't live too far from here, but I moved just a few months ago and it's still being renovated," said Ennio. "Maybe next season."

But before the champagne can truly start flowing, the Capasa brothers have to present their signature Costume National collection in Paris next Wednesday. "It's a little bit like a circus," laughed Ennio, on having to pack his entire team up to travel to Paris. The designer also revealed that he has joined forces with the city of Otranto, located on the coast of Puglia, to revitalize parts of the town.

Back out on the massive candlelit outdoor terrace, Julie Gilhart recalled buying her first Costume National collection. "They were these shrunken sweaters that were so tiny they looked like baby knits, but they had a lot of Lycra in them so that you could just wrap them around your body like second skin," she said, as Hamish Bowles, Lauren Goodman, Ezra Petronio, Franca Sozzani, and longtime Karl Lagerfeld muse and model Marpessa all perched nearby. Horacio Silva's take on Costume National? "Until I get too fat, I can still wear it," he laughed.

CONNOLLY'S CONUNDRUM: Mark Connolly was lucky to have any fashion pages in the October issue of Condé Nast Traveler at all. Connolly, the magazine's style director, arrived in Singapore this past July for a fashion shoot only to find that his five trunks filled with over $150,000 worth of merchandise from brands like Louis Vuitton, Versace, and Dolce & Gabbana had gone missing. "I had to run around Singapore to see if there were press offices open," he recalled at the Roberto Cavalli show. "Then a tropical rainstorm erupted on the day we shot, so we had to move indoors and it became a mostly interiors shoot." As it turns out, Connolly had flown straight to Singapore, but his team, with trunks in tow, arrived on British Airways via London, which was on a high terror alert at the time. "The shoot was meant to be an incredible take on Singapore's modern design, and what it ended up being was a great fashion story with a little less edge than I would've liked," he said. "But frankly, I was happy I managed to get eight pages out of it." The good news is that all five trunks did eventually show up: one arrived at the end of the first day of shooting, another on the last day of the shoot, and as the team was checking out, the final three were delivered. "It was a grim moment," Connolly reported.

FASHIONABLY FIT: What was Michael Carl doing moments before the start of the Roberto Cavalli show? Plotting his jogging trail for Paris Fashion Week. The Allure fashion director is running the November 4 New York City Marathon, and to prepare, he has to complete one more 19-mile and 21-mile run no later than two weeks before the marathon. "In New York, I run down the West Side Highway from my apartment, over the Brooklyn Bridge, through and around Prospect Park, and back," he said. As for what'll keep him occupied during his sprint? His trusty iPod, of course. "It'll have Whitney Houston, The Commodores ("especially Nightshift"), TLC, and Kelly Clarkson, but I have to take a break at one point to eat a banana and get the iPod recharged," he said. "U2 is my power group."

CAVALLI'S COURT: In an unusual move considering there were no celebrities to greet, Roberto Cavalli walked out to the photographer's pit prior to the start of his show, where he greeted Franca Sozzani while photographers circled, and even granted a few pre-show interviews. Perhaps he was doing his best to distract the growingly impatient audience and the show's one hour delay? (A woman's voice came on over a loudspeaker on two separate occasions to apologize for the delay in both English and Italian as strings played through the speakers). But perhaps Nina Garcia had the best explanation for the behavior, taking note of the venue's Hall of Mirrors backdrop. "This is Versailles!" she exclaimed. "He's holding court for his people."
JIM SHI