>> An audience of 300 ran the gauntlet of PETA protestors, Police officers, and a metal detector to hear Andre Leon Talley wax lyrical last night at FIT on everything from blogs and the Internet — "love it . . . the Internet is very important to fashion" — to his original career path — "I went to school to be a French teacher, but I always knew I wanted to be in fashion" — to a current project in the works — "I'm working on something that I hope maybe one day can become a one-man Broadway/Off Broadway show."

He rattled off his personal Costume Institute Gala best dressed list, "in this order":  "of course Anna Wintour in exquisite Chanel," Lee Radziwell in "a beautiful Ralph Rucci sequin paillette caftan," Renee Zellweger in an "extraordinary" Carolina Herrera, Isabel Toledo, Ricky Lauren "dressed as Marlene Dietrich," and Cassie, of whom he added: "she was dressed by a new young designer called Laquan Smith [Editor's note: who Talley has recently taken under his wing]."

Talley says his own Met Gala ensemble came under fire, however »

Riccardo Tisci casts longtime personal assistant, former fit model, and transgender friend, Lea T., along with models Mariacarla Boscono, Joan Smalls, Ming Xi, Catherine McNeil, and Malgosia Bela for his fall 2010 Givenchy campaign.

"You’re not exploited in front of an artist, you’re exploited when you have to work in a boring job."—Olivier Zahm defending Terry Richardson.

Bill Wackerman takes over the business side of W magazine.

Versace has been awarded a $20 million payout in a counterfeiting case against "wilful counterfeiting and trademark violations".

Plus-size models picketed Australia Fashion Week, claiming designers only cast skinny girls.

Decades founder Cameron Silver is launching an affordable line of denim with 16 styles priced at $99-$119.

M.I.A. in Alexander Wang for Gap, Jamie Bochert in Rodarte for Gap, Kirsten Dunst in Rodarte for Gap, Kerry Washington in Thakoon for Gap

The eight dresses designed by past CFDA/Vogue Fashion Funders for the Gap and worn to the Costume Institute gala on Monday are now on display in a pop-up shop next to Gap's Fifth Avenue flagship. The dresses—created by Alexander Wang, Rodarte, Thakoon, and Sophie Theallet—will be on view through the end of May and available for purchase (to the highest bidder) via an online auction hosted by Gap. Proceeds will be donated to the Met's Costume Institute, adding to the $9 million raised for Monday's event.

>> Vanessa Traina Shot for Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2010 Ads —Vanessa Traina was nary to be seen at the Costume Institute Gala earlier this week, but she's popped up in Paris instead, where she's reportedly being shot in the city streets by Benoit Peverelli for Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2010, styled by Vogue Paris's Geraldine Saglio. [@LiveFashionWeek]

André Leon Talley was at the Fashion Institute of Technology last night to talk with Valerie Steele as part of the The Museum at FIT's Fashion Culture series. A crowd of more than 300 stood in long lines and were require to pass through metal detectors, which were on site due to the presence of PETA activists. To the audience of fans and fashion-lovers, Talley did not disappoint. He had the crowd laughing out loud for most of the talk.

Peppered between stories of his days assisting Diana Vreelend while she organized the Met's Costume Institute ("I treated her office like walking into the Vatican") to his days working in Andy Warhol's Factory as Interview's receptionist ("I answered phones and picked up Mr. Warhol's lunch), Talley shared plans to return to America's Next Top Model. Calling Tyra Banks, "a fabulous business woman," the Vogue contributor explained he coined the word 'drekitude' while watching Rachel Maddow repeat 'quackitude' on her MSNBC show and thinking of the German word for garbage, drek. As for next season, Talley promises there will be a new 'tude in his arsenal.

As an only child from a modest family in Durham, North Carolina, Talley is quick to admit he owes much of his success to the help and encouragement of more-established members of the fashion community, but is just as fast to add, "I've slept in many designers' beds, but never with a designer—male or female." Talley is in return committed to helping out the younger generation, calling attention throughout the talk to new designers in the audience and one in particular. The crystallized NAACP tee shirt he wore under his white Chado Ralph Rucci cape to the Met earlier this week was designed by a man he found selling Obama hats out of the trunk of his car in Harlem. He bought 48.

In terms of future plans, the editor and now television star would like to hit the Broadway (or off-Broaway) stage and says he has been working for years on a one-man show. We're certain his adoring fans (including us) will be happy to fill those seats.