Everything Chanel

Retailers are always scrambling to find—and buy—the next big thing, but it’s hard to find a better divining rod than Paris’ Maria Luisa Poumaillou. At her eponymous Parisian stores (and, as of last fall, the Maria Luisa shop in Paris’ revamped Printemps), Poumaillou carries the best and brightest international designers, and has since their Young Turk days. But the editors and designers who gathered last night were celebrating Poumaillou’s own designs for her house collection, begun quietly as a capsule two seasons ago and now launching as a full range.

Elie Saab’s post-show party in his sweeping apartment in the 16th was well under way, with a parade of top French fashion editors, Princess al-Thani of Qatar, and a lavish Lebanese buffet, when Dita Von Teese swept in around midnight.