On Friday evening, the design-minded masses along with LACMA Muse and the Los Angeles Art Association flocked to Minotti, the high-end Italian furniture showroom on Beverly Boulevard, where owner Mary Ta opened her minimalist glass doors to celebrate the LA Art Show’s Young Collector’s Night.
The week-long Art Show, which kicked off on January 20 and is primed to be our local answer to Miami’s Art Basel, is a city-wide art walk (or more L.A. appropriate, art valet), where galleries unleash their budding talents to those wealthy enough to support them.
But surprisingly, there were fewer art pieces displayed at Minotti than we expected, as it seemed that the featured group of young, international artists were each only permitted to show one or two works of their choosing.
Standout pieces included Italian artist Mattia Biagi’s “Stay out of My Closet,” a life-size black tar wolf wearing Little Red Riding Hood garb, and Joe Davidson’s “Bed 
Landscape,” a yard-long cluster of plaster cast pill bottles and toiletries meant to replicate a miniature city. The work provided me with a sense of pride that if I one day decide to clean out my medicine drawer and paint the bottles red I too could compose the city of my dreams.
The crowd, which included jeweler Loree Rodkin and designer Valerj Pobega, wore outfits that were almost more interesting than the artwork. The ladies were all about patterned tights and faux fur while pea coats and scarves served as the standard attire for amicos in attendance. But highlights included a Beverly Hills native (after all, Ferrari Maserati was a sponsor) toting her medium sized pooch in his holiday-red sweater, a man with cat-eye reading glasses and a thin handle-bar mustache, directional twenty-somethings who looked as though they pulled a page from Lady Gaga’s playbook and one super-tan, Ed-Hardy clad cougar who had clearly been under the knife recently and had no idea why she was at the event (or, more likely, her face just permanently feigns surprise).
But perhaps that is what a true Angeleno scene really is: a diverse mix of those searching for a cultural landmark, those who just landed without a clue and those simply seeking champagne gratis.
–Liza Kaplan
Photos above from left to right: Kristen Jensen and Andre Marciand; Valerj Pobega and Minotti owner Mary Ta. Below from left to right: Loree Rodkin, Jeff Berry, William Moore and Carolina Gray; Mattia Biagi’s “Stay out of My Closet”; general atmosphere and Lars Hypko and Lani Hammetp. Donato Sardella/WireImage.com
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Just how much is Joan Jett worth? Apparently one thousand big ones, which was the going rate for non-VIPs to see the iconic rocker and her Blackhearts band shred the stage at Harry O’s in Park City last night. A curbside melee went down as hundreds of fans, passersby and scenesters stood in frigid temps just toplead their case for admission to bouncers. We heard bribes, lies, fakery and begging. One pleasant movie-exec even accousted a member of our own party after pinning her against the steel barricades in a rush to the front.
Though a rather nasty case of ADD prevents me from sitting through most feature length films, I’ve arrived at the Sundance Film Festival nonetheless. All weekend long I’ll be bringing you the style scoop from screenings, soirees and, of course, gifting suites (it wouldn’t be a proper film fest without some swag, after all). Though I’ve only been here a couple hours, I’ve so far spotted a ludicrous amount of skinny jeans, plaid shirts and knit skull caps that lead me to believe I’m at Teddy’s on a Friday night and not actually Utah.
Whatever inconsistencies may plague L.A. Fashion Week, you know you’re not in for amateur hour when taking your seat at Kevan Hall. The red carpet veteran staged an elaborate and tantalizing show deep inside Universal Studios on Saturday evening, with models materializing from a faux-Parthenonesque façade and descending black, plush-carpeted stairs in gold jacquard gowns and taffeta cocktail dresses with the origami pleats and folds. The show was hosted by auto dealer Rusnak, which exhibited a squadron of six-figure luxury cars on the lot, fawned over by scores of gated-community dwellers (Westlake Village? Calabasas? Hard to tell.) who attended with Jimmy Choos and ample cigars.
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In creating my debut collection for Maison Francis Kurkdjian, I was inspired by the people closest to me. I observed the way they live. I am like a sponge, capturing the essence and the esprit of our world today. My Maison, which marries tradition and cutting-edge technology, is a tribute to Paris. It’s dedicated to the great joys and simple pleasures of life. A Piece Of Me (APOM), for instance, was inspired by my trip to Lebanon a few years ago. We were traveling on a road lined with cedar trees and we drank what the locals there call white coffee which is just a hint of orange flower oil infused in hot water. It was sublime. Lumiere Noire was inspired by my friend, the great actress Catherine Deneuve. She has a cool aura of mystery and a natural warmth about her at the same time.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, a bejeweled Judith Leiber clutch is as recognizable as arm candy comes.
Nightlife impresario Brent Bolthouse, a key figure behind the success of L.A. hotspots including Hyde Lounge and Chef Michael Mina’s XIV restaurant, has left Sam Nazarian’s SBE Entertainment Group, confirmed to Style Section L.A. by Bolthouse’s rep.
Avi Brosh, the developer and creative visionary behind the chic 
We presumed that fashion would be flourishing at the Phoenix show (with Metric as opening act) at the Greek Theatre on Wednesday night. And the style savvy crowd didn’t disappoint.
