As always, drag queens, club kids and other fabulous denizens of the night elbowed their way into the tents at Bryant Park on Tuesday, September 12, 2006 to witness the mirth and mayhem that is a Heatherette show.
And, as always, designers Richie Rich and Traver Rains rose to the challenge - and then rose just a little bit higher, all to the delight of the packed house crowd, which included Anne Slater, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Oksana Baiul, Ingrid Cesares, Brandywine, Kenny Kenny and MTV's John Norris. This time, though, the big name celebs weren't in the audience, but on the runway, and the big news wasn't the faux wedding onstage but Rich's post-show announcement of his own impending nuptials, scheduled to take place on the Heatherette runway next September.
"It's my third Heatherette show, and it's always fun," said Norris. "I've known Richie for probably longer than either of us would want to admit, and I'm always happy to support him and Traver when I can."
The theme of the duo's Spring 2007 collection was Passport to Paradise, in which our heroine (a certain blonde hotel heiress) goes on vacation to a tropical island, where she is kidnapped by pirates and gypsies before being rescued and finding true, happily-ever-after, love.
The show opened with a chiffon gowned Paris Hilton rolling a Heatherette wheelie bag down the runway (which had been painted with yellow lines to look like an airport tarmac), lip-synching to her own hit, "Turn It Up." She was followed by buff, shirtless, well-oiled "air traffic control" studs who used their glow sticks to lead a parade of models outfitted in gold lame leggings, hot pants and bikinis, more buff "gypsies" whose tattered shirts and pants suggested months spent stranded on a desert island - or maybe they'd been trapped in a backstage dressing room with the feisty Ms. Hilton? - and there were several lasses also got up in lace-chiffon tatters that still managed to smack of Heatherette glam (sequins, sparkles and glittery crystals winked off most of the flirty frocks).
After a showing of sweet eyelet dresses, I love Heatherette-print rompers and striped chiffon hoodies, eight energetic dancers in grass skirts took to the stage to camp it up to the sounds of "Surfin' Safari," followed by Paris, this time strolling hand-in-hand with her sister Nicky - both wearing preppy striped polos and matching shorts - with a gaggle of models in brighter-than-bright sarongs, pareos and bikinis hot on their ankle-strapped heels, one of whom held a tiny little dog, a la Hilton's late, lamented Tinkerbell, in her arms.
New York socialite and girl-about-town Tinsley Mortimer vamped in a tennis outfit to the strains of Madonna's "Holiday," trailed by Theodora Richards, Mena Suvari, Lydia Hearst, Mya (wearing hot pants and carrying a surfboard) culminating in r&b songbird Kelis working the heck out of a neon pink tulle mini-crini.
Then the lights dimmed dramatically and, to the tune Hail to the Chief (why, we're not sure), Nicky Hilton, dressed in a strapless tuxedo dress, led a procession of models in 3-D flower-strewn bikinis down the runway. They were followed by Amanda Lepore, who waved a Holy Bible over her bouffanted head, and then came Paris, dressed as a bride in blue (well, she can't very well wear white anymore), on the arm yet another boy toy. After Reverend Lepore joined the two in unholy matrimony and the happy couple posed for photos, the groom swept the bride into his arms and carried her back up the runway, where Rich and Rains waited to take their final bow while the crowd went bonkers.
Rains cited a Heatherette St. Barth's photo shoot for inspiring the tropical getaway theme, but the wedding had more personal origins.
"I'm feeling love in the air," said Rich backstage while swarms of people clamored for his attention. "My boyfriend proposed to me - for real - and that's when I realized we've never had a Heatherette wedding before. So why not do it with Paris and Nicky?"
Enough about the faux Heatherette nuptials. Did Rich accept his beau's proposal?
"Yeah, I'm gonna get married," he said with a huge grin. "I think I'm gonna do it on the Heatherette runway, too. In a year!"
You heard it here first.
photos courtesy of FashionWireDaily
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