What do a former catwalk queen in her third trimester, a massive yet calm Great Dane, and a Canadian Irish folk-dance troop led by a rising modeling star have in common? Not much, other than they were all under one roof for Fashion’s Night Out. And that roof happened to belong to the DKNY store on Madison Avenue.
A radiant and very pregnant Karolina Kurkova helped launch The New York Observer’s magazine Observer Playground for parents. In a short black dress and sky-high heels, the mommy-to-be had a never-ending smile and exclaimed, “I like the music!” while dancing to the Jackson 5 and Luther Vandross. Karolina even showed off her innate maternal skills by twirling the braids of a young fan as she posed for a picture with her.
Model Karen Elson stopped in to support her friend Karolina and shared with us her favorite aspect of fashion week. “I love seeing old friends. That’s my favorite part. I see so many old friends that I haven’t seen in a while and we get together, have wine, and hang out. Then we go to work and get to put pretty dresses on,” said Karen before descending down the long stairway.
As the Observer party wound down upstairs, downstairs was nearly over capacity. Models Anne V. and Sessilee Lopez wandered about in their Fashion’s Night Out T-shirts waiting for Coco Rocha and her Irish folk-dance group from Canada to turn the accessories section into a modern revival of Riverdance.
Performing various dances for over 30 minutes to a captivated audience, a winded yet eloquent and gracious Coco implored the crowd to clap more, and then said, “Wow, my voice is annoying.” Hardly!
After rocking out to create garage band-themed flip books with fans at Barneys and then dashing across the street to a packed house at DKNY, we wouldn’t be surprised if Madison Avenue between 60th and 61st streets is renamed Coco Rocha Way. ~ Alia Mansoori
