Stage-Dior Manners: Model Takes Pratfall, Actress Prattles at Galliano’s Gathering

At the Dior Cruise Collection 2008 fashion show on the evening of Monday, May 14, at 7 World Trade Center, model Milana drew gasps from the crowd as she repeatedly teetered and fell onto all fours while trekking the snaking runway in shoes with what appeared to be large marbles appliqué’d on the soles.

Mouths were also agape at actress Charlize Theron, 31, in a knee-length black Dior gown. “He’s incredibly talented,” Ms. Theron said of the collection’s designer, John Galliano, a blinding sunset lighting up her golden locks. “I love him as a person, and it’s great to work with him. We’ve worked together on many dresses for awards ceremonies and stuff, and it’s just a delight to be around him and to see how far he’ll take it—but always with a great sense of understanding a woman’s body, and that’s always important to me, because I’m not a believer in wearing what’s high in fashion; I’m a believer in somebody looking at your body and knowing what’s going to look good on you …. ” Well, O.K., then!

“I loved the hair, I loved the makeup, I loved everything,” said Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, 26, model and daughter of French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld, in an alluring continental accent. “It’s very fresh and colorful, and I think that’s what we want right now, because spring is just beginning. And, at the same time, it looked straight out of a movie—a mix of the mother in The Graduate and this alien in Mars Attacks! But still wearable. Except for the shoes!”

Actress Penelope Cruz, 33, was also there, in floor-length ruffled silk, but she “Cruz”-ed right by The Transom. Not so actress-model Veronica Webb, 42, who is to appear in Bravo’s upcoming series, Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style. “It was totally a 60’s throwback,” she opined of the runway presentation. “But wartime always breeds nostalgia.”