>> For the second year running, the Whitney Art Musem Gala was Donatella Versace's party.  Editors — Olivier Zahm, Lauren Santo Domingo, Glenda Bailey — commingled with designers — Peter Som, Moises de la Renta, Ruffian's Claude Morais and Brian Wolk — and a smattering of models like Chanel Iman and Hana Soukupova. Christopher Kane's Versus designs even made an appearance — the Fall 2009 crystal shoes were on Byrdie Bell's feet, and Taylor Momsen — who seems to be close with the Versaces, particularly Allegra, changed into a black Spring 2010 Versus frock for the Studio Party post-Gala Dinner.

Donatella was fashionably late to the party — two hours in, she was nowhere to be found; perhaps she was still upstairs tending to VIPs — as was Lindsay Lohan, who swept in, all blonde hair and gold dress — earning comparisons to Donatella's trademark look. Lohan said she came "for Donatella" before beelining to Brian Atwood for a chat.  Keeping with the "art chic" theme, the walls of one whole room at the party downstairs was covered in paper for guests to scribble on.

>> Three weeks after they were tasked with designing the Spring 2010 Emanuel Ungaro collection, Estrella Archs and artistic advisor Lindsay Lohan took their runway bow — the former dragging the teary latter by the hand — yesterday to a beefed-up photographer's pit and an audience, many of whom just came because of the expected spectacle.

The result wasn't pretty: the collection's super-short minidresses and heart-shaped pasties peeking out of blazers and on the models' foreheads were ruled "a bad joke of a fashion show" by Style.com. Lohan's involvement was compared to "a McDonald’s fry cook taking the reins of a three-star Michelin restaurant" by the New York Times's Eric Wilson. Fabien Baron's take? "Call the fashion police!”  And Harper's Bazaar's Glenda Bailey wouldn't even comment: “You know, if you don’t mind, I have to run out the door.”  Even Dree Hemingway weighed in: "the first half might as well be alex wang last spring and i did see [Lohan] sporting that hot pink blazer of his..."

Lohan, who is reportedly being paid millions by Ungaro, called the show "the hardest thing I've ever done."  Beforehand, she selected $150,000 worth of Ungaro clothes at the Paris flagship with CEO Mounir Moufarrige's blessing, supposedly cancelling an interview with Suzy Menkes.  Some expect her to be gone before next season — even though she already said she was sketching for the next collection — but her contract is multiyear, and Moufarrige said his main goal in hiring her was to generate publicity, noting that he was suprised criticism hasn't been more negative.  And even after the wave of bad reviews came out yeseterday, Ungaro's owner Asim Abdullah was defiant that either Lohan reignites the long-struggling Ungaro, or “we go down in a blaze of glory. Or unglory."

>> Prabal Gurung is on the verge: Glenda Bailey stopped by this afternoon at his sunlit Flag Art Foundation presentation, Harper's Bazaar posse in tow, to schmooze with the designer; Meredith Melling Burke — in cropped Fashion's Night Out tee, natch — got a personal tour of the collection by the designer; fan Rachel Zoe — who recently dressed Demi Moore in Prabal — stopped by with assistant Brad Goreski, causing the usually imperturbable fashion crowd to collectively gawk; and Cathy Horyn stepped out of the elevator as I was leaving.  

For his second eponymous collection, the Bill Blass alum, inspired by "Maggie Betts, Zoe Saldana, and Indre Rockefeller," as listed in his show notes, stuck largely to what he does best: cocktail dresses, all in a palette of cobalt, white, and black.  The piece de resistance? A stunningly simple electric blue gown.   

>> After missing out on the Chanel Mobile Art opening and the Versace-hosted Whitney gala earlier this week, Anna Wintour was back in fine form — with Karl Lagerfeld at her side and Chanel on her person — at the Fashion Group International's Night of Stars last night.  It was a night of family — Donatella Versace picked up the Superstar Award as Allegra Beck Versace looked on, Franca Sozzani was honored with her son Francesco Carrozzini in attendance — and friends — honorees Christopher Bailey and Francisco Costa brought Kate Bosworth and Ashley Olsen, respectively.  Host Simon Doonan kept it light, at one point joking that Carla Sozzani had to make it back to the Marriott Marquis in time for a speed-dating session.
*image: source, source

>> Despite a scathing review in The New York Times yesterday, the" black hole of bad art and superficial temptations," otherwise known as the Chanel Mobile Art exhibition, brought out the well-heeled last night.  Editors were in full force — Carine Roitfeld and Franca Sozzani swarmed Karl Lagerfeld upon his arrival, Glenda Bailey and Amy Astley made early cameos — but there was no Anna Wintour in sight . . . nor Bee Shaffer for that matter.  Strange, considering how close they are with Karl — Bee was at the Versace-hosted Whitney gala the night before, but no Anna there either.  But speaking of missing persons — Catherine McNeil and Freja Beha Erichsen fans will be happy to know that after their well-documented disappearances during Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks, they've popped up again — together, no less.
*image: source, source