Marni party

It was an event I had been looking forward to for weeks. The invite said it was going to be a "private dinner party" hosted by Sofia Coppola, Marni designer Consuelo Castiglioni and H&M’s creative director Margareta van den Bosch" to celebrate the pre-launch of the Marni for H&M collection. But last Friday, the day of the party, my husband threw his back out and both of my kids came down with a cold. I was beat. I debated going out. But I love Marni. And I love H&M. And I knew the party would be interesting, to say the least. So, I rallied and cobbled together an outfit--a Vince sequin blouse, with a metallic silver pleated H&M skirt, a gem-studded vintage belt, Lanvin heels, and red-beaded earrings that I got from a Lucky cover shoot years ago. At the party, I found myself completely star struck. Not by all the celebrities in attendance (among them, Milla Jovovich, pictured above with me). But by the collection, itself. It's out-and-out dazzling, filled with striking African print dresses, metallic tops and bottoms, geometric-patterned coats and skirts--all very signature Marni. The accessories also made me swoon, especially the palette collar necklaces, bold shell-like necklaces and silver leather and rope sandals. The party venue, the John Sowden House in Los Feliz, was appropriately glamorous. Built in 1926 by Lloyd Wright, the eldest son of Frank Lloyd Wright, it is also known as the “Jaws House,” because the facade resembles the gaping mouth of a great white shark. Bryan Ferry belted out the Sofia Coppola-directed campaign video's theme song in the house's central open-air courtyard. I watched from under a heat lamp, while Mel Gibson danced to my right and Sofia Coppola and her husband swilled champagne in front of me. It was a very fun LA night. Now, I am looking forward to March 8th, when the collection hits stores. Lucky has a preview of the entire collection here.