STAR SEARCH: Diane von Furstenberg arrived at her holiday party in New York on Tuesday night hoisting a burning object — apropos given her fund-raising role for the new Statue of Liberty Museum, and the liberty theme of her summer collection.
The object was, in fact, a roll of smudging sage that she used to perfume her flagship Meatpacking boutique, and a new, adjacent 600-square-foot room she christened as an “interactive, experiential” gallery celebrating zodiac signs. Visitors can take in — i.e.  take selfies for Instagram — Konstantin Kakanias artworks on the walls and thousands of Swarovski crystals dangling from the ceiling. They can also park themselves on a sparkling crescent moon propped in one corner, as Glamour’s Samantha Barry did upon arrival. The “celestial” experience is to run through February, with a new decor and activations unveiled every two months.
There’s an exit into the retail store, which stocks zodiac gifts, stickers and postcards as mementos. Setting the sage aside, von Furstenberg toted a camera through the crowd and snapped photos of guests next to their birth signs. Revelers include Fran Lebowitz, Andy Cohen, Sofia Sanchez de Betak and magician David Blaine.

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The Grammy award-winning producer’s watch is launching Zenith’s e-comm platform.

The luxury retailer has teamed up with ExKite for a line of sporty, sustainable, and one-of-a-kind jackets.

The BBJ 777X will have the longest range of any business jet at 13,400 miles—not to mention plenty of cabin space.

This is the first of the Bard lover’s whiskies to be made in High West’s own stills.

The Japanese watchmaker’s new trio of timepieces for the American market are now available for purchase.

GIGLI’S TRIBUTE: Romeo Gigli was recognized on Wednesday in Milan by Brera’s prestigious Art Academy, which bestowed the Honoris Causa Diploma in communication and art teaching to the designer. Gigli also received the title of honorary member of the institution.
“Romeo Gigli, who made culture, books, traveling and kindness his own style, understands that many secrets challenge us and are hidden in mythical stories.…Gigli’s language morphed into clothes that wanted to reveal the most hidden secret: that of poetry,” stated the academy, which emphasized not only Gigli’s contribution as a designer of high fashion, but also his “ability to use the spiritual activity that created myths,” creating a “mythological vision of reality.” The academy also underscored the designer’s “tireless research [and] his ability to transform the light and history in fabrics, clothes and accessories,” his “great contribution to the enhancement of the Italian culture,” and how the designer “infused his passion for beauty, history and the journey in his work.”
The designer was born in 1949 in Castel Bolognese, near Ravenna, to a family of antique book sellers and studied architecture at university. Gigli launched his own brand in 1983 and conceived looks with architectural shapes combined with romantic, Renaissance touches, dashes of

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While President Trump has made many a faux pas on the world stage this year, the same could be said for First Lady Melania Trump in the fashion and interior design sphere — and some of them even trump 2017’s Hurricane Harvey and Manolo Blahnik heels incident.
Here’s a round-up of her outfit choices that got everyone talking over the past 12 months:
 
Kenya Safari Outfit
FLOTUS’ getup during a solo trip to Kenya in October led to a lot of raised eyebrows, particularly her choice of pith helmet during an expedition in Kenya’s Nairobi National Park. The issue? It gave off imperialist vibes, harking back to the times when European military officials sported such outfits while commanding colonial armies in Africa.
She didn’t take the criticism lying down, telling reporters: “We just completed an amazing trip. We went to Ghana. We went to Malawi. We went to Kenya. Now here we are in Egypt. I want to talk about my trip and not what I wear. That’s very important — what I do, what we’re doing with USAID, my initiatives — and I wish people would focus on what I do, not what I wear.”

FLOTUS looks out over Nairobi National Park. 
Carolyn Kaster/AP/REX/Shutterstock

 
That Jacket
Amid the furor surrounding the

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Puja Clarke has been named senior vice president of fashion buying and e-commerce at Moda Operandi.
She reports to Ganesh Srivats, chief executive officer of Moda Operandi, and will be based at the company’s New York headquarters.
Most recently, Clarke was with Tesla, where she was general manager of global merchandise and e-commerce. Before that, she was vice president of global retail merchandising at Marc Jacobs, director of global merchandising at Burberry in London, and also held merchandising roles at Prada in the U.S. and Asia.
Clarke will partner with Moda Operandi’s recently named women’s fashion director, Lisa Aiken, and men’s fashion director Josh Peskowitz, who both came on board this fall.
Srivats joined Moda Operandi as ceo in August, having been vice president of Tesla.
“Puja has an innate aptitude for understanding the needs of fashion customers and designers, which makes her uniquely positioned to excel in this integrated role at Moda Operandi,” Srivats said. “Having worked with some of the most influential luxury brands and designers in the world, Puja will be valuable in shaping the Moda Operandi platform as we seek to provide the best possible representation to the brands we work with.”
Clarke added, “Moda Operandi’s mission of digitally connecting the customer directly

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